Burke, Shannon 1966(?)–

PERSONAL: Born c. 1966; married Amy Billone (an educator).

ADDRESSES: Home—Knoxville, TN. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Random House, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.

CAREER: Writer. Formerly a paramedic in Harlem, NY.

WRITINGS:

Safelight (novel), Random House (New York, NY), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: Tennessee-based author Shannon Burke lived in a number of cities across the United States, and worked a variety of low-paying jobs prior to gaining success as a writer. Burke already knew he wanted to write when he became a paramedic in Harlem, New York, and the experiences he gained while at that job greatly influenced his work and his first novel, Safelight.

His job as a Harlem paramedic came about after Burke stumbled across a girl who had been shot in a New Orleans alley. Although he attempted to help her, she died the following day. The experience haunted Burke, who recognized that he might have been able to save her if he had known more about medical care procedures. He spent the next five years working in one of New York City's toughest neighborhoods, witnessing all manner of violence and coming in contact with a wide range of people: a young girl starved to death by her mother, a man attempting to jump from the roof of a friary, and a man with an asthma attack so severe that Burke had one chance to save the man's life—which he did. In an interview with National Public Radio host Scott Simon, Burke was asked if he took notes while on the job: "Usually, you wouldn't be taking notes on the job, but a lot of times, I'd get back, would write letters to friends and I'd write notes to myself and also it would seep into the writing … just little details, like what people wore, you know, how they looked, how someone acts in a desperate situation."

Safelight focuses on twenty-something New York paramedic and photographer Frank Verbeckas as he deals with life and death both on a personal and a professional level. After losing his father to suicide, Verbeckas falls for a young woman who turns out to be suffering from AIDS. Burke explores Verbeckas's state of mind as it relates to his relationships and through his behavior on the job, where he insists on carrying his camera and snapping disturbing photographs. Jyna Scheeren, in a review of the novel for Library Journal, commented that Burke's story "will arrest readers from the first paragraph," and Frank Sennett remarked in Booklist that "Burke tenderly illustrates the transformative powers of love between people riding out tough emotional times." A contributor to Kirkus Reviews opined that "the scenes between the lovers are touching, if a tad predictable, but it's Burke's evocation of a murky world, where savior and sinner come in one macho package, that makes this an exhilarating standout." Praising Safelight as "accomplished and haunting," New York Times Book Review contributor Julia Livshin added: "Burke demonstrates remarkable control, coaxing emotion from events that might seem mundane and tamping down the melodrama of what could have been overblown moments."