McCOWN, Clint 1952-

PERSONAL: Born March 7, 1952, in Fayetteville, TN; son of James E. (a secret service agent) and Mary Jane (Wallace) McCown; married, September 2, 1982; wife's name, Cynthia P. (a professor); children: Caitlin Ann, Mary Alison. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education:

Attended Circle-in-the-Square Theatre School, 1973-74; Wake Forest University, B.A., 1974, M.A., 1978; attended University of Alabama, 1980-81; Indiana University, M.F.A., 1985. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Presbyterian.

ADDRESSES: Home—1826 Sherwood, Beloit, WI 53511. Office—Box 23, Beloit College, 700 College St., Beloit, WI 53511. Agent—Curtis Brown Ltd., 10 Astor Place, New York, NY 10003. E-mail—mccownc@beloit.edu.

CAREER: National Shakespeare Company, actor, 1974-75; North Carolina Visiting Artist Program, poet-in-residence, 1976-78; Alabama Information Network (Alanet), investigative reporter, 1978; James Sprunt Technical College, instructor, 1979; Beloit College, Beloit, WI, professor of creative writing, 1984—, director of Creative Writing, 1988—, chair of Department of English, 1991-94, 1999—; University of Glasgow, visiting professor, 1988; Associated Writing Programs, member, 1988—; Antioch Writers Workshops, board of directors member, 1999—; faculty member at several writers' conferences and workshops; judge for numerous writing contents; gives public readings and guest lectures.

MEMBER: Writers Guild of America (East).

AWARDS, HONORS: American Fiction Prize, 1991 and 1993; Society of Midland Authors Award for Best Fiction, 1995; Pulitzer prize nominations, 1995 and 2000.

WRITINGS:

Love Poem (play), produced on Broadway by the Circle-in-the-Square Theatre, 1974.

A Christmas Carol (play; adapted from the book by Charles Dickens), produced at the Neuse Theatre, Smithfield, NC, 1976.

Sidetracks (poetry), Jackpine (Winston-Salem, NC), 1977.

Elections in Alabama: Exercise in Futility (documentary), broadcast 1978.

Wind over Water (poetry), Northwoods (Thomaston, ME), 1985.

The Member-Guest (novel), Doubleday (New York, NY), 1995.

Exclusions in the Policy (play), produced at Wake Forest University, 1997.

War Memorials (novel), Graywolf (St. Paul, MN), 2000.

Also author of Public Affairs (thirty half-hour radio documentaries), Alanet, 1978; and eight hundred five-minute news broadcasts for Alanet, 1978. Editor, Indiana Review, 1982-83, and Beloit Fiction Journal, 1985—. Contributing editor, Colorado Review, 1997—; and Hayden's Ferry Review, Puerto del Sol, Mid-American Review, Quarterly West, Bellingham Review, Cimmaron Review, Willow Springs, and Fourth Genre, all 1999—. More than thirty-five contributions to anthologies and periodicals, including Clackamas Review, Colorado Review, Golf Digest, Hawai'i Review, Writers' Forum, Mid-American Review, American Fiction, Sewanee Review, Denver Quarterly, American Fiction, and Gettysburg Review.

WORK IN PROGRESS: The Member-Guest (screenplay), for River One Films; The Rave Mocker (screenplay), for Warner Bros.

SIDELIGHTS: Clint McCown told CA: "I suppose I write to try to get at a better understanding of things.

"Besides my own life, I'd say my strongest literary influences are Flannery O'Connor and Raymond Carver.

"I have to work slowly. I'm not one who tends to gush out a draft; instead I tend to focus on the craft in minute detail.

"Perhaps the greatest shaping force was the fact that my family had moved seven times by the time I entered eighth grade. Throughout my formative years I was cast continually in the role of the outsider. As a consequence, a major theme in my work seems to be the examining of artificial cultural barriers that dictate behavior. I like exploring the ways in which people do—or don't—struggle to fit into society."