Pizzolatto, Nic 1975-

PERSONAL:

Born 1975, in New Orleans, LA.

ADDRESSES:

E-mail—nicpiz@email.unc.edu.

CAREER:

Writer and educator. University of North Carolina, visiting writer.

AWARDS, HONORS:

National Magazine Award in fiction finalist, 2004.

WRITINGS:

Between Here and the Yellow Sea (short stories), MacAdam/Cage Publishing (San Francisco, CA), 2006.

Contributor to periodicals, including Atlantic Monthly, Missouri Review, Shenandoah, and Iowa Review.

SIDELIGHTS:

Nic Pizzolatto is a writer of short stories and an educator. In Pizzolatto's collection of stories, Between Here and the Yellow Sea, he presents nine sad, sometimes emotionally grim stories that explore the multitude of ways that "people fail to connect," commented Booklist reviewer Joanne Wilkinson. In "1987, the Races," eleven-year-old Dru accompanies his father to the racetrack, where he looks on with a mixture of shame and affection as his father unsuccessfully tries to connect with a woman who has no interest in him. Sharon, a teacher and the protagonist of "A Cryptograph," forlornly searches for her missing son, her only clue a paint-stained stencil in the shape of a tank. One of her students, Eaton Slavin, remembers seeing the tank painted on a telephone pole in town, and he takes Sharon there. She paints a message for her son on the pole, but lets the police arrest Eaton for the perceived vandalism. In "Nepal," glazier Thomas is contracted to finish the windows in a castle built in Missouri in 1922. There he meets Carmen, niece of the castle's wealthy owners, who feels that Thomas bears considerable resemblance to her dead fiancé, who was killed in the war. Her fascination with Thomas leads to him receiving a prestigious assignment, but nearly results in tragedy as well. The book's title story concerns a plot by Bobby, a sewer-treatment plant employee, and his ex-football coach, to rescue the coach's daughter from the world of pornography by forcefully kidnapping her and bringing her home. Previously unknown secrets about the father and daughter's relationship causes Bobby to reconsider his involvement and his attitude toward his former coach, even as the plan to save the woman turns disastrous. Wilkinson concluded, "These sad, beautifully constructed stories will resonate with fans of the form."