Lawson, Doug

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LAWSON, Doug

PERSONAL: Born in NJ; married; children: Skyler (daughter). Education: University of Virginia, M.F.A.

ADDRESSES: Home—Near Richmond, VA. Agent— c/o Author Mail, Red Hen Press, P.O. Box 3537, Granada Hills, CA 91394. E-mail—doug@douglawson. org.

CAREER: Writer. Founder and editor of Blue Moon Review online, 1994—.

AWARDS, HONORS: Transatlantic Review award, Henfield Foundation, 1995; Henry Hoyns fellowship; O'Henry honorable mention; Virginia Commission for the Arts grant, 1998.

WRITINGS:

A Patrimony of Fishes (stories), Red Hen Press (Granada Hills, CA), 1997.

Contributor to literary journals, including Glimmer Train Stories, Mississippi Review, and Sycamore Review.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Jersey Devils (stories).

SIDELIGHTS: Doug Lawson is the editor of Blue Moon Review, the first online literary quarterly, which he founded in 1994. He is also a frequent contributor to literary journals and is the author of the story collection A Patrimony of Fishes. A Virginia Quarterly Review contributor called this work "brilliant . . . a spicy soup of intelligent American writing."

Miranda Schwartz commented in the Washington Post Book World that "Lawson's characters are often down on their luck, buffeted about by the turns of fate" and concluded by saying that "this quiet, unflashy collection tells of lives in which knowledge comes not with a burst of enlightenment but a sign of resignation." In reviewing A Patrimony of Fishes for Eclectica.org, Chris Lott called the work "one of those rare collections that actually lives up to its blurbs." Lott wrote that "two of the stories . . . merit particular attention, because I think they are not only excellent in their own right, but they exemplify everything that I found intriguing about the volume." The two are "Elephant," about Chuck, a delusional man who thinks he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, and the title story, a second-person tale about a successful New York real-estate agent who returns to his small hometown.

Lott noted that A Patrimony of Fishes "is populated with stories that you will read once with exhilaration and then, later, a second time, with thoughtfulness. The reality in the events can be difficult to ascertain, but the truth in them shines brightly, guiding the readers. Lawson's craftsmanship puts us fully inside the minds of characters which his insight makes complex enough that we can't completely understand them. These are not fictional characters who resolve themselves into fundamental clarity, or are they 'people we know.' They, and this entire collection, are much more interesting than that."