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John Fleming |
John Fleming is the author of
The Legend of the Barefoot Mailman (Faber & Faber, 1996),
which The New York Times called “winningly satiric” and The Christian
Science Monitor called “a gem of a first novel.” His short stories
have appeared in The North American Review, Georgetown Review, Santa Monica
Review, and Satire, among others. He received an M.A. in Creative
Writing from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Ph.D. in Creative
Writing from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now University of
Louisiana at Lafayette). He teaches creative writing at the University of South
Florida. About his experience at UL Lafayette he writes:
At UL Lafayette I lived in a
house and biked to class. Sometimes I sweat a lot, but I didn’t mind, and if my
professors did, they never told me. The English department played softball and
drank beer every Friday afternoon. The grad students played ultimate Frisbee
three times a week. One of my knees still occasionally hurts. We threw parties
in houses and cow pastures. We were all weekend groupies for April Fallon’s
band, Hand Bob the Spoon. We went to New Orleans for beignets, to Old Tyme
Grocery for shrimp poboys. We gave readings in coffee houses and bars. I
pretended to be an actor sometimes for the Eavesdrop Theater. One time I played
Orrin Hatch. Standing on a diving board, I gave a nomination speech for a
worthy recipient of the Wisely Award (if you don’t know, ask), and the worthy
recipient shoved me into the pool. I wrote obscure pop culture references on
tiny scraps of paper for a guessing game at Bisbano’s pizzeria, and then
chugged a beer when someone got it right. I served food to African musicians at
the Festival International. I played bourree and smoked cigars until 4 a.m. One
year, I edited The
Southwestern Review. I got writing done, too, including multiple drafts of
what would become my first published novel. I got lots of support from the faculty,
who never took more than a few dollars from me in monthly poker games. I came
to think of myself as a writer.
An Excerpt from
John Fleming’s Fiction
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© 2001, University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
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To contact us by mail: Director of Creative Writing, English
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Last updated: May 1, 2001.