Nicholas Christopher

Nicholas Christopher (born 1951) is an American poet, novelist, and film critic.

Life
Christopher graduated from Harvard College with a B.A. He teaches at Columbia University. His work has appeared in The New Yorker,  Esquire, The New Republic, The Paris Review, The Nation, and The New York Review of Books. His novels can be considered as magic realist.

Writing
Salon: "If you were looking to write a crossover fantasy novel -- one whose audience extended beyond sci-fi enthusiasts and aging Tolkienistas -- you could hardly do better than to study "A Trip to the Stars." With this zestful riff on an enduring genre, Nicholas Christopher should easily satisfy the admirers of his previous novel, "Veronica." He is also likely to gain new readers, including those who foray reluctantly into so-called imaginative literature."

Loaded Questions: "The Bestiary, Nicholas Christopher's fifth novel, is a book about Xeno Atlas, a young man raised by his grandmother in the wake of his mother's death during birth. Atlas' father is shipman with a murky and often absent influence on the child's life. Xeno, who reports always feeling a close connection to animals first fostered by his grandmother, sets out on a world-wide adventure to find missing texts with mythical creatures. The book is magical, filled with characters you can't help but find sympathy for and mysteries you can't wait to be solved."

Recognition
Christopher was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1993 and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship.

Publications

 * The Soloist (1986)
 * Veronica (1996) Dial Press ISBN 978-0-385-31471-8
 * A Trip to the Stars (2000)
 * Franklin Flyer (2002)
 * The Bestiary (2007)

Edited

 * Walk on the wild side: urban American poetry since 1975. (1994) Simon and Schuster, 1994. ISBN 978-0-02-042725-4