Chatham University

Sustainability (MSUS) Faculty and Staff

Marc Nieson

Marc Nieson

mnieson@chatham.edu
Assistant Professor
Hometown : Brooklyn, NY
Joined Chatham : 2004

Academic Areas of Interest

Fiction, CNF, Screenwriting

Biography

Marc Nieson is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and NYU Film School. He's lived in New York City, Italy, Iowa and Minnesota. His background includes filmmaking, children’s theatre, building construction, and a season with a one-ring circus. Excerpts from SCHOOLHOUSE: A MEMOIR IN 13 LESSONS have appeared in the Literary Review, Iowa Review, Green Mountains Review, and Chautauqua. Recent short fictions appeared in Conjunctions, won the 2008 Raymond Carver Short Story Contest, and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Award winning feature-length screenplays include THE SPEED OF LIFE, THE DREAM CATCHER, and BOTTOMLAND, as well as the short film WHAT GREEN COULD BE (Hill District entry for GREETINGS FROM PITTSBURGH: NEIGHBORHOOD NARRATIVES). He serves on the faculty of Chatham University, and is working on a new novel, HOUDINI'S HEIRS. He lives in Friendship with his wife and daughter and a handful of trees.

Education

  • MFA University of Iowa —Writers' Workshop, 1994
  • BFA New York University — Institute of Film and Television, 1985.
  • AS SUNY at Farmingdale — Business Administration, 1980

Publications

  • 2010 • SCHOOLHOUSE: A Memoir in 13 Lessons (pub. pending)
  • 2007 • THE SPEED OF LIFE (Feature Film), Co-Writer. (Premiere/Special Jury Prize: 2007 Venice Int'l Film Fest)
  • 2008 • The Iowa Review (Win.) “Every December” (memoir excerpt)
  • 2005— • The Fourth River, Editor
  • 2002 • John Watt: A Memory Book (commissioned memoir)
  • 2000 • Great River Review (Spr/Sum) “A Place to Lie Down” (short story)
  • 2000 • A View from the Loft (Feb.) “On Process and Progress” (essay)
  • 1999 • A Loose Net of Words: Anthology “Borderlines” (novel excerpt)
  • 1999 • The Literary Review (Spr.) “What I Did on My Summer Vacation” (memoir)
  • 1999 • THE DREAM CATCHER (Feature Film), Co-Writer. (Winner 11 Int'l Film Festivals)
  • 1998 • A View from the Loft “On Metaphor and Luggage” (essay)
  • 1997 • American Way (Sept.) “The Perfect Shell” (short story)
  • 1997 • Lilith (Sept.) “The Simple Daughter’s Voice” (essay)
  • 1997 • A View from the Loft (May) “On Self and Society” (essay)
  • 1991 • BOTTOMLAND, (Feature Film) Co-Writer, Co-producer. (Winner 1992 Houston Int'l Film Fest)
  • 1993-99 • 1OO WORDS Co-founder/Editor

Awards

  • 2008• Pushcart Prize & Million Writers Award Nominee
  • 2008• Grand Prize, Raymond Carver Short Story Award
  • 2006• Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Arts — Writing Residency
  • 2004• Blacklock Nature Sanctuary — Writing Residency
  • 2003• University of Minnesota — Outstanding Teacher Award - English Department
  • 2003 • Willard R. Espy Literary Foundation — Writing Residency
  • 2002• Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Fellowship
  • 2002 • Centrum — Writing Residency
  • 2001• Blacklock Nature Sanctuary — Writing Residency
  • 2000• SASE/Jerome Fellowship
  • 1999• McKnight Artist Fellowship in Creative Prose
  • 1999 • Loft Faculty Award — Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Arts, Writing Residency
  • 1998• Jerome Foundation Literature Travel and Study Grant (Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica)
  • 1998• Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Fellowship
  • 1995• MUCIA Travel Grant (Haiti, guest speaker at Colloque International sur La Littérature)
  • 1993• University of Iowa — Teaching Assistantship in English Literature

Organizations

  • AWP

Achievements

  • Varied & Sundry

Presentations

  • Presenter/Moderator "Translating Across Borders : Indian Dialogues", Chatham Univer, Oct. ’05.
  • Panelist/Moderator "Publishing in Literary Magazines" 412 Creative Nonfiction Conf., Pgh, PA, Nov. ’06.
  • Panelist/Moderator "Memoir and Tightrope of True-ish-isms"AWP Conference, NYC, Jan. ’08.
  • Guest LecturerHamline University, Graduate Seminar, “On Memory and Memoir” Spr. ‘03.
  • Guest WriterLanguage and Landscape, Minnesota Museum of American Art, Spring ‘97.
  • Panel GuestFrom the Other Side of the Desk, The Loft, MN, Fall ‘96.
  • Colloquium PanelistColloque International sur La Littérature, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Spring ‘95.
  • Presenter/ModeratorWriting Within & Without Gender, University of Iowa, Fall ‘94. (Int'l Writing Program, Women’s Studies & Center for Int’l Comparative Studies).