Gwyn, Aaron 1972-

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GWYN, Aaron 1972-

PERSONAL: Born 1972, in OK; married (divorced). Education: University of Denver, Ph.D.

ADDRESSES: Home—Charlotte, NC. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Algonquin Press of Chapel Hill, P.O. Box 2225, Chapel Hill, NC 27515-2225. E-mail— agwyn1@email.uncc.edu.

CAREER: University of Denver, Denver, CO, former instructor; University of North Carolina, Charlotte, currently assistant professor of American literature.

WRITINGS:

Dog on the Cross: Stories, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC), 2004.

Contributor to anthologies, including New Stories from the South: The Year's Best, 2002; contributor to journals and Web sites, including Black Warrior Review, Glimmer Train, Louisiana Literature, Chiron Review, Appalachian Heritage, and Sojourn.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Ink, a novel.

SIDELIGHTS: The setting for Aaron Gwyn's first story collection, Dog on the Cross, is the state of Oklahoma, the author's birthplace. The stories relate events during a summer when the small town of Perser's Pentecostal church is visited by a teenage faith healer. Booklist contributor Margaret Flanagan felt that each story can stand on its own, but she said that as a collection they afford a view of "the occasionally uplifting but more often dangerously fanatical elements of religious fundamentalism." Flanagan compared Gwyn's stories to those of Flannery O'Connor in that he uses religious faith to analyze human behavior.

Among the stories is "Courtship," which is about the gay relationship of Jansen and Dennison, while "The Offering" focuses on a woman who loses her voice and is unable to speak out in worship. "Against the Pricks" finds fourteen-year-old Gabriel cleansed during a revival, but then viciously confronting an innocent girl. "In Tongues" concerns itself with the loss of the gift of tongues by Reverend Hassler, whose ministry is destroyed when profanity pours from his mouth during a sermon. A Kirkus Reviews contributor noted that there are positive stories, too, such as "Truck," in which the liberal Spencer admires and envies his mother's faith, but the critic added that "the powerful and well-plotted closing pieces are a no-holds-barred indictment of fundamentalism run amok." Among the grimmer stories is "The Backsliders," in which a young man is killed by a church elder after he and another man are discovered having sex in a cave; and the title story, about a puppy found nailed to a cross. The Kirkus Reviews writer concluded by saying that when Gwyn "hits his stride, he's terrific," and dubbed Dog on the Cross "an auspicious first."