Charles Baxter (poet)



Charles Baxter (born May 13, 1947) is an American author of fiction, nonfiction and poetry.

Life
Baxter was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to John and Mary Barber (Eaton) Baxter. He graduated from Macalester College in Saint Paul, and taught high school in Pinconning, Michigan, for a year.

In 1974 he received his Ph.D. in English from the University at Buffalo with a thesis on Djuna Barnes, Malcolm Lowry, and Nathanael West. He began his university teaching career at Wayne State University in Detroit. He then moved to the University of Michigan, where for many years he directed the Creative Writing MFA program. Many of his students have gone on to successful writing careers; they include Gretchen Mazur, Helen Fremont, Michael Byers, Jardine Libaire, Porter Shreve, Davy Rothbart, John Fulton, Marc Nesbitt, Patrick O'Keeffe, Jess Row, Francesca Delbano, Peter Orner, Heidi Julavits, Karl Iagnemma, Achy Obejas, James Morrison and Elwood Reid. He currently teaches at the University of Minnesota and in the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers.

Novels

 * First Light (1987). An eminent astrophysicist and her brother, a small-town Buick salesman, discover how they grew so far apart and the bonds of love that still keep them together.
 * Shadow Play (1993). As his wife does gymnastics and magic tricks, his crazy mother invents her own vocabulary, and his aunt writes her own version of the Bible, Five Oaks Assistant City Manager Wyatt Palmer tries to live a normal life and nearly succeeds, but...
 * The Feast of Love (2000) (Pantheon Books), a reimagined Midsummer Night's Dream, a story told through the eyes of several different people. Nominated for the National Book Award. A film version of the book, starring Morgan Freeman, Fred Ward and Greg Kinnear and directed by Robert Benton, was released in 2007.
 * Saul and Patsy (2003). A teacher's marriage and identity are threatened by a dangerously obsessed teenage boy at his school.
 * The Soul Thief (2008). A graduate student's complicated relationships lead to a disturbing case of identity theft, which ultimately leads the man to wonder if he really is who he thinks he is.

Awards

 * 2008 Minnesota Book Award for General Non-fiction.
 * National Book Award (Finalist) for The Feast of Love, 2000
 * The Award in Literature, American Academy of Arts and Letters, 1997
 * Ohio University Spring Literary Festival (Honoree), 1995
 * The Cohen Award for the best essay published in Ploughshares, 1994
 * The Daniel A. Pollack-Harvard Review award to Shadow Play, 1994
 * The Gettysburg Review nonfiction prose award for "Fiction and the Inner Life of Objects," 1994
 * Michigan Author of the Year Award, 1993
 * Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Foundation Fellowship, 1992–95
 * Lawrence Foundation Award, 1991
 * Arts Foundation of Michigan Award, 1991
 * Guggenheim Fellowship, 1985–86
 * Michigan Council for the Arts Grant, 1984
 * 1984 Associated Writing Programs Award.
 * National Endowment for the Arts Grant, 1983
 * Lawrence Foundation Award, 1982

Poetry

 * Imaginary Paintings (1989)
 * The South Dakota Guidebook (1974)
 * Chameleon (1970)

Short stories

 * Harmony of the World (1984)
 * Through The Safety Net (1985)
 * Gryphon (1985)
 * A Relative Stranger (1990)
 * Believers (1997)
 * Gryphon: New and Selected Stories (2011)

Non-fiction

 * Burning Down The House: Essays on Fiction (1997)
 * The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot (2007).

Edited

 * A William Maxwell Portrait: Memories and Appreciations (2004)
 * Bringing the Devil to His Knees: The Craft of Fiction and the Writing Life (2001)
 * Best New American Voices 2001 (2001)
 * The Business of Memory (1999)