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Christopher Castellani

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Christopher Castellani
Born1972 (age 51–52)
Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.
EducationSwarthmore College (BA)
Tufts University (MA)
Boston University (MFA)
Occupation(s)Author and artistic director for non-profit GrubStreet
SpouseMichael Borum (2004 to present)

Christopher David Castellani (born 1972) is the author of four novels and artistic director of the creative writing non-profit GrubStreet.

Family and education

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Christopher Castellani, the son of Italian immigrants, was born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware, and graduated from Salesianum School in 1990. He holds a B.A. in English literature from Swarthmore College, an M.A. in English literature from Tufts University, and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Boston University. He resides in Boston, Massachusetts.[1] He has been married to Michael Borum since May 21, 2004.[2]

Novels and other publications

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Castellani is the author of four novels. His first book, A Kiss from Maddalena, won the 2004 Massachusetts Book Award.[3] That novel and his next two, The Saint of Lost Things and All This Talk of Love, are devoted to the same Italian-American family and constitute, in one reviewer's phrase, "something of an opera buffa of the immigrant experience".[4] He is also the author of The Art of Perspective: Who Tells the Story, an installment in the writing craft series from Graywolf Press.[5] His short fiction and essays have been included in several anthologies.

Castellani's most recent book, Leading Men, is a fictionalized version of the relationship between Tennessee Williams and Frank Merlo.[6] Writing in The New York Times, David Leavitt called it "intricately designed as a Lego kit" and said: "Engineering may be the aspect of novel writing that deserves the most praise and gets the least, and Castellani is a first-rate engineer. At its best, his novel not only exults in the historical synchronicities and proximities he has discovered but catches the reader up in its rapture."[7] The novel is divided into two narratives and includes the full text of an invented, and intentionally bad, Tennessee Williams play.[8] Leading Men is currently being adapted into a feature film by playwright Matthew Lopez (writer).[9]

Academic and professional career

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Castellani taught English literature at Tufts University (1997–2000) and creative writing as a visiting professor at Swarthmore College (2007). In 2004 and 2005, Castellani was a Fellow at the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference at Middlebury College, and has served on the Bread Loaf faculty as well as the faculty of the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA. He is the artistic director of the creative writing non-profit GrubStreet,[10] and serves on the faculty of the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers.[11]

As a result of the lawsuits between writers Sonya Larson and Dawn Dorland described in a 2021 New York Times article Who Is the Bad Art Friend, some of Castellani's private emails were made public, including one where Castellani wrote of Dorland, "my mission in life is going to be to exact revenge on this pestilence of a person." GrubStreet director Eve Bridburg publicly expressed concern that Castellani's comments had "caused distrust and concern in our community."[12] Castellani published an apology to the GrubStreet community, expressing regret for his words and saying, "I wrote some of those unprofessional emails as an admittedly hyperbolic, deliberatively provocative, and highly performative way of supporting my friend and fellow writer."[13]

Awards

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Writings

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Novels

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  • A Kiss from Maddalena, Algonquin Books, 2003
  • The Saint of Lost Things, Algonquin Books, 2005
  • All This Talk of Love, Algonquin Books, 2013
  • Leading Men, Viking Books, 2019

Short fiction

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Non-fiction

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Anthologies and essays

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  • Now Write! Fiction Writing Exercises from Today's Best Writers and Teachers, Sherry Ellis, ed., Tarcher Books, 2006
  • Naming the World: And Other Exercises for the Creative Writer, Bret Anthony Johnston, ed., Random House, 2008
  • Mentors, Muses & Monsters, Elizabeth Benedict, ed., Excelsior Editions, 2012

References

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  1. ^ Castellani, Christopher. "About Christopher". christophercastellani.com. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  2. ^ Raczka, Rachel (May 17, 2014). "Celebrating 10 Years of Gay Marriage". Boston.com. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Previous Winners". Massachusetts Center for the Book. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  4. ^ Russo, Maria (April 5, 2013). "La Famiglia". The New York Times. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  5. ^ "THE ART OF PERSPECTIVE by Christopher Castellani | Kirkus Reviews". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  6. ^ Garner, Dwight (February 12, 2019). "'Leading Men,' a Novel About Tennessee Williams and His Lover, Casts a Spell From the Start". The New York Times. Retrieved May 14, 2019. Williams and Merlo's years together are the subject of Christopher Castellani's blazing new novel, "Leading Men." Writing fiction is to no small degree a confidence game, and "Leading Men" casts a spell right from the start.
  7. ^ Leavitt, Favid (February 20, 2019). "A Novelist Dares to Imagine Tennessee Williams in Love and at Work". The New York Times. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  8. ^ Price, Betsy (February 21, 2019). "'Saint of Lost Things' author focuses on Tennessee Williams and his lover in new book". Delaware Online. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  9. ^ "'The Inheritance' Playwright Matthew López to Pen Tennessee Williams Drama for Searchlight, Produced by Luca Guadagnino and Peter Spears (EXCLUSIVE)". November 23, 2020.
  10. ^ "Staff | GrubStreet". grubstreet.org. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  11. ^ Koven, Suzanne (February 5, 2013). "Book review: 'All This Talk of Love' by Christopher Castellani". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  12. ^ "Author at the center of 'Bad Art Friend' controversy leaves GrubStreet following review". www.wbur.org. October 29, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  13. ^ "Message from Christopher Castellani". grubstreet.org. October 30, 2021. Retrieved November 2, 2021. What matters is that my comments have evoked a range of negative feelings in members of the GrubStreet community and caused some to question my commitment to our values of mutual respect. Reading them has likely also caused Dawn Dorland personal hurt, which I sincerely regret.
  14. ^ "Christopher Castellani". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  15. ^ "Writers for Writers Award, Editor's Award". Poets and Writers. February 12, 2008. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  16. ^ "Mass Cultural Council | Gallery@MCC | Artist Detail". Massachusetts Cultural Council. Archived from the original on January 7, 2017. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  17. ^ "Christopher Castellani". www.arts.gov. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
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