John Fleming
Professor
CONTACT
Office: CPR 318
Phone: 813-974-9567
Email
BIO
John Henry Fleming (PhD, University of Louisiana-Lafayette) is the author of four books of fiction. The Legend of the Barefoot Mailman, a Florida historical novel told as a tall tale, was reviewed as 鈥渨inningly satiric鈥� by The New York Times, 鈥渁n engrossing and highly entertaining tale鈥� by Library Journal, and 鈥渁 gem of a first novel鈥eftly narrated in a wry, tongue-in-cheek style reminiscent of Mark Twain or Ambrose Bierce鈥� by the Christian Science Monitor.
Fearsome Creatures of Florida, an illustrated literary bestiary, has 鈥渕uch ingenuity, much wit, much verbal magic,鈥� according to horror writer Peter Straub. Creative Loafing wrote, 鈥淟ike Where the Wild Things Are, Fearsome Creatures reminds us why we obsessed over monsters as children鈥� Required reading for any eco-conscious Floridian.鈥�
The Book I Will Write, a novel-in-emails about a publisher and a would-be writer named John Henry Fleming, was originally published serially at Atticus Books and featured opportunities for reader input to influence the novel鈥檚 trajectory.
Songs for the Deaf, his story collection, is 鈥渁 joyful, deranged, endlessly surprising book of stories鈥� according to writer Karen Russell. Orlando Weekly compared Fleming鈥檚 work to that of George Saunders and Donald Barthelme. The Sun Sentinel wrote that the stories in Songs for the Deaf read like 鈥渃ampfire tales from the state鈥檚 coolest scout leader.鈥�
Fleming鈥檚 short stories have appeared in McSweeney鈥檚, The North American Review, Mississippi Review, Fourteen Hills, Carve, and many others, as well as the anthologies 100% Pure Florida Fiction and The Future Dictionary of America. His awards include two Literature Fellowships from the State of Florida and an International Book Award for Songs for the Deaf, which was also short-listed for CLMP鈥檚 Firecracker Award.
In addition to his PhD in Creative Writing from The University of Louisiana-Lafayette, he holds an MA in Creative Writing from The University of Southern Mississippi and a BA in Psychology from The University of Virginia. At USF, he teaches graduate and undergraduate fiction writing, an honors seminar in the Literature of Horror, special topics courses in Novel Writing and Song Lyrics Writing, and the graduate Literary, Editing, and Publishing course. He also directs graduate theses and is advisory editor of . Outside USF, he鈥檚 an obsessive disc golf player, iced mocha drinker, and e-bike fl芒neur. Visit his website at.
EDUCATION
PhD, University of Louisiana-Lafayette
AREA OF SPECIALTY
Creative writing/fiction