Charles Kinder
Professor of English and Director of the Writing Program
412-624-6299
412-624-6299 or 412-521-0884
chuckkinder@aol.com
CL 609-F
Before Chuck Kinder became a full-fledged fictioneer, whose work reflects his personal philosophy that everything one writes should be as literally true as the Bible, he worked variously as a coal miner, moonshiner, bartender, bouncer, bandit, prize-fighter, circus performer, tango teacher, white-water river guide, professional cook, cowboy, and itinerant college professor. Along the way he received both a BA and MA in English and Creative Writing from West Virginia University, and then entertained two years of graduate study at Stanford University as an Edith Mirrillee’s Writing Fellow, whereupon he was appointed to a three-year position as a Jones Lecturer in Fiction at Stanford. He has been a Writer-in-Residence at the University of California at Davis and the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. He has lectured at Casa delle Letterature and the Universita La Sopienze in Rome, and the Scuola Holden in Turino, Italy. Kinder frequently performs and tours with The Deliberate Strangers, an alt-country, outlaw band often on the run..
Research and Publications: Chuck Kinder is the author of the novels, SNAKEHUNTER (Alfred A. Knopf) whose Gnomon Press paperback is still in print; THE SILVER GHOST (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich), which was reprinted in 2004 by Fazi Editore in Italy; and HONEYMOONERS: A CAUTIONARY TALE (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), a 2001 New York Times Notable Book, which has been reprinted in Italy (where it became a best-seller), France, Spain, and most recently Israel. His most recent book is a redneck noir, pulp romance meta-memoir titled LAST MOUNTAIN DANCER: HARD-EARNED LESSONS IN LOVE, LOSS, AND HONKY-TONK OUTLAW LIFE, which was published in 2004 and reissued in quality-paperback by Carroll & Graf in 2005. It will be reprinted in 2007 by Fazi Editore in Italy.
Honors and Awards: Besides the Edith Mirreelles Writing Fellowship at Stanford, Kinder’s awards include a National Endowment for the Arts Grant in Fiction, A Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Award in Fiction, a Dorothy & Granville in, an Appalachian Heritage Denny C. Plattner First Place Award for Nonfiction, and a Most Improved Prisoner of the Month Commendation from the WV Fayette County Christian Jailers Association.
Teaching
Graduate courses:
Fiction Workshop
Topics in Fiction
Undergraduate Courses:
Senior Seminar in Fiction
Topics in Fiction
Other Duties & Services:
Director of the Writing Program
Chair, Writing Program Curriculum Committee
Chair, Writing Program Graduate Admissions Committee
Graduate Procedures Committee
Personnel Committee
Planning & Budget Committee
Curriculum and Staffing Committee
