Craig Nova

Craig Nova
Born (1945-07-05) July 5, 1945 (age 81)
Los Angeles, California, US
EducationUC Berkeley
Columbia University
OccupationsWriter, educator
Notable workThe Good Son (1982)
Spouse
Christina Barnes
​
(m. 1993)​
Children2
WebsiteOfficial website

Craig Nova (born July 5, 1945, in Los Angeles) is an American writer and novelist. Since 1972, he has published 14 novels and 1 autobiography, with his 15th novel, The Last Sweet Taste, slated for release on July 7, 2026. His 2002 Wetware was made into a 2018 film of the same name starring Jerry O'Connell. His writing has appeared in Esquire, The Paris Review, and The New York Times Magazine, among others. His awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, three National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, and an American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Award in Literature.

Biography

Nova was born in Los Angeles and raised in Hollywood, California. His father worked in the aerospace industry. Growing up, he played with the daughter of Jayne Mansfield[citation needed] and raced cars with Steve McQueen. At age 17, he lived with a family friend, whose father was a writer. Nova completed a BA at University of California, Berkeley and an MFA at the Columbia University's writing program.

Nova's first novel, Turkey Hash (1972), won the Harper-Saxon award in its publication year. This book was followed by The Geek (1975), which featured illustrations by Brad Holland. Nova was inspired to write The Good Son (1982), which follows a former military pilot in the aftermath of World War II, by his father-in-law, who himself was imprisoned in a German concentration camp after being shot down in combat. The novel is broken up into different "books", each narrated by a different character. The sequel, All the Dead Yale Men, was released in 2013. Nova's book Cruisers (2004) was inspired by the 1997 Colebrook Incident in New Hampshire. The Constant Heart (2012) was included in that year's New Yorker's Best Books list. As of April 2026, he has released 14 novels and 1 autobiography, with another novel slated for release in July 2026.

In addition to writing, Nova has also taught at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). He was a visiting creative writing instructor at Drew University in 1975. In 2005,[citation needed] he was made the Class of 1949 Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at UNCG. He served on the judge panels for the 2006 National Book Awards and the 2012 PEN/Hemingway Award.

Personal life

Nova is married to Christina Barnes, a graduate of MIT and a former employee of CBS News. They wed in New York City before moving to Vermont, where Nova's maternal grandfather had land, to start a family. They have two daughters, Abby and Tate. In 2004, they lived in Putney, Vermont, but have since moved to North Carolina. The couple's Hillsborough house was featured in The News & Observer in 2022.

Awards and honors

Bibliography

Novels

Autobiography

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mehren, Elizabeth (June 16, 1994). "Growing Up in Tinseltown Creates Fiction on the Fringe : Author: Craig Nova left Hollywood's dark danger for the lush greenery of Vermont. But L.A. kept gnawing away at him". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 7, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hijuelos, Oscar (July 16, 2013). "Author Craig Nova: "The novel is the way we discover what we really believe"". Salon. Retrieved April 7, 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Nova, Craig 1945-". encyclopedia.com. April 1, 2026. Retrieved April 7, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "The world according to Nova". Interviewed by Bowman, David. Salon. October 7, 2004. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007.
  5. 1 2 "The Last Sweet Taste". Skyhorse Publishing. Retrieved April 7, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Jay Craven's 'Wetware': New sci-fi film noir tours Vermont". Rutland Herald. June 15, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2026.
  7. 1 2 Fassler, Joe (June 11, 2013). "There's No Such Thing as Good Writing: Craig Nova's Radical Revising Process". The Atlantic. Retrieved April 7, 2026.
  8. 1 2 "Guggenheim prizes are awarded to 313". The New York Times. New York City, New York, US. April 10, 1977. Retrieved April 7, 2026.
  9. 1 2 Annual Report, Fiscal Year 1971 (PDF) (Report). National Endowment For the Arts. 1972. p. 106. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  10. 1 2 Annual Report 1974-75 (PDF) (Report). New York State Council on the Arts. 1976. p. 73. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  11. 1 2 McDowell, Edwin (January 6, 1985). "Art endowment gives $2 million to 100 writers". The New York Times. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  12. 1 2 "Letters group gives prizes to 8 writers". The New York Times. April 15, 1984. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  13. 1 2 "A Sort of Official Silence". Interviewed by Clement, Raul. Mayday Magazine. January 1, 2010. Retrieved April 7, 2026.
  14. 1 2 3 "The Rumpus Interview with Craig Nova". Interviewed by Carman, Sean. The Rumpus. November 20, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2026.
  15. ↑ "The Contributors". Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art (10): 181–182. 1986. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  16. 1 2 Huston, James D. (December 17, 1972). "A novel of debris". The San Francisco Examiner, US. p. 221. Retrieved April 7, 2026.
  17. ↑ "The Geek". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky, US. December 21, 1975. p. 65. Retrieved April 21, 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ Irving, John (October 3, 1982). "Desire, Ambition and Father". The New York Times. Retrieved April 7, 2026.
  19. ↑ "Vermont author to speak at Northshire Bookstore". Bennington Banner. Bennington, Vermont, US. August 28, 2004. p. 22. Retrieved April 7, 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  20. 1 2 Stasio, Frank; Campbell, Nicole (March 21, 2013). "Author Discusses Masculinity, Romance And Cosmology". WUNC News. Retrieved April 7, 2026.
  21. ↑ "Craig Nova". University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Archived from the original on September 3, 2013.
  22. 1 2 "Drew summer term has varied offerings". Daily Record. Morristown, New Jersey, US. June 1, 1975. p. 20. Retrieved April 7, 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  23. ↑ "UNCG will host a reading..." News and Record. Greensboro, North Carolina, US. April 2, 2006. p. 130. Retrieved April 21, 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ "Judges select finalists for 2006 National Book Awards". National Book Foundation. October 11, 2006. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.
  25. ↑ Allam, Chantal (December 8, 2022). "Historic Hillsborough home, circa 1770, on sale for under $1M. Here's a look inside". The News & Observer. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  26. ↑ "Interview with Craig Nova". Washington Independent Review of Books. September 17, 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2026.