Flanagan, Erin 1971–

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Flanagan, Erin 1971–

PERSONAL: Born 1971. Education: University of Nebraska—Lincoln, B.A., 1994, M.A., 2000, Ph.D., 2004.

ADDRESSES: Home—Dayton, OH. Office—Wright State University, Department of English, 463 Millett Hall, Dayton, OH 45435. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Wright State University, Department of English, Dayton, OH, assistant professor.

WRITINGS:

The Usual Mistakes (short stories), University of Nebraska Press (Lincoln, NE), 2005.

Contributor of short fiction to periodicals, including the Colorado Review and the Baltimore Review, as well as to the anthology Best New American Voices, edited by Charles Baxter.

SIDELIGHTS: Erin Flanagan is a university faculty member who has focused on creative writing and women's studies. Her own writing interests have led to a series of short stories and contributions to literary journals. Her first collection of stories, The Usual Mistakes, includes twelve pieces, all of which center around Midwestern characters who are dealing with the consequences of their choices. In one story, a man tries to start his life over after killing a girl while driving drunk; another story depicts a man now living in a truck following a bout of infidelity. The lead story tells of Eleanor, a former motel receptionist who now works as a medical assistant thanks to fake credentials; yet she still needs to take on a boarder in order to make her mortgage payment. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly remarked that "the homogeneity of Flanagan's characters … threatens to spoil the whole, but the inventiveness of her … plots keep[s] common themes fresh." Annie Tully, writing for Booklist, stated that the works "lack the undercurrent of humor and pain that Flanagan seems to intend," but concluded they are "well told."