Visiting Writers

J.C. Hallman

J.C. Hallman grew up in Southern California. He studied creative writing at the University of Pittsburgh, the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins, and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

Hallman’s nonfiction combines memoir, history, journalism, and travelogue. His first book, The Chess Artist, tells the story of Hallman’s friendship with chess player Glenn Umstead. His second, The Devil is a Gentleman, is an intellectual apprenticeship with philosopher William James. In Utopia explores the history of utopian literature in the context of visits to six modern utopias in various stages of realization. Wm & H’ry examines the copious correspondence of William and Henry James. B & Me is an account of Hallman’s literary relationship with Nicholson Baker. Hallman’s latest, Say Anarcha, tells the harrowing story of the birth of modern women’s health, and will appear from Henry Holt in June 2023.

Hallman has also published a book of short stories, The Hospital for Bad Poets, and edited two anthologies of “creative criticism,” The Story About the Story and The Story About the Story II.

Among other honors, Hallman was a recipient of a 2010 McKnight Artist Fellowship in fiction, and a 2013 Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation in the general non-fiction category.

Awards

  • 2010 McKnight Artist Fellowship in fiction in 2010
  • 2013 John Simon Guggenheim Foundation in the general non-fiction category
  • 2009 Pushcart Prize for “Ethan: A Love Story” first published in Tin House Magazine
  • “A House is a Machine to Live In” was featured in the 2010 Best American Travel Writing

To learn more about J.C. Hallman, visit www.jchallman.com

Appearing In

ACWP Practitioners Conference

2 Nov 2024
10.00am to 11.00am

Room: The Forehead

[Keynote] Face the Facts

Whatever we face suggests its opposite—what we are unwilling to confront. Either way, a story emerges. The ironic nature of literature, whether dramatic or otherwise, is reflected in words that carry dual meanings or purposes. For this reason, these words often serve to express paradox. J.C. Hallman challenges the concept of “face” and its absence in nonfiction (Steinbeck), fiction (Salinger), and poetry, as he looks squarely at the fundamental truths of literature. As the poet says, “Your car is your face.” But what does she really mean?

Speaker: J.C. Hallman
Moderator: Barrie Sherwood

Singapore Book Council

19 Oct 2024
10.00am to 1.00pm

Venue:
Singapore Book Council Training Room, Goodman Arts Centre Block E #03-32

[Lecture] How You Say What You Say is Part of What You Mean

What defines imaginative writing and “creative nonfiction”? Join ACWP Visiting Writer J.C. Hallman as he examines one of the most inscrutable pieces of writing ever produced—James Agee’s six-page-long “Knoxville:nSummer, 1915”—to reflect on the too-often-overlooked foundations of the techniques, strategy, and purpose of literature.

The programme is suitable for readers and writers of all levels, and is co-presented with the Singapore Book Council.

 

Course Code: WS-JH

Registration closes 3 November 2024

Creative Nonfiction with J.C. Hallman

There isn’t much debate about what nonfiction is—journalism, biography, history—but creative nonfiction is a much more slippery bugbear. Occupying a paradoxical space between factual writing and artistic expression, creative nonfiction is nonfiction that aspires to the condition of literature, elevating factual narratives through narrative techniques that bring life and art into the nonfiction form. Despite its growing presence, creative nonfiction remains relatively new and less institutionalised than other literary forms like fiction and poetry.

Course Code: WTW-JH

Registration closed 20 August 2024

Writer To Writer

Share your ideas, gain fresh insights. Book a one-on-one mentoring session with award-winning writer J.C. Hallman to receive expert guidance on your writing project and support for your writing journey.

 

Full Programme Schedule
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