Marc Nieson, MFA
BIOGRAPHY
Marc Nieson joined Chatham's MFA in Creative Writing and MFA in Film, Digital & Technology faculties in 2006. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and NYU Film School. His background includes children’s theatre, cattle chores, and a season with a one-ring circus. He’s won a Raymond Carver Short Story Award, the Literal Latte Fiction Award, Pushcart Prize nominations, and been noted in Best American Essays. His memoir, SCHOOLHOUSE: Lessons on Love & Landscape, came out from Ice Cube Press in 2016. His award-winning feature film screenplays include The Speed of Life, Dreamcatcher, and Bottomland. He edits creative nonfiction for The Fourth River, and is at work on a new novel, Houdini's Heirs.
AWARDS
Prose
- Finalist, Iowa All Reads Book (Schoolhouse)
- Finalist, Press 53 Award for Short Fiction Collection Contest
- Notable Essay, Best American Essays
- 1st Place Winner, Literal Latte Fiction Award
- Pushcart Prize Nominee (nonfiction)
- Finalist, Wordstock Ten Short Fiction Contest
- Finalist, Chautauqua 2010 Nonfiction Contest
- 1st Place Winner, Raymond Carver Short Story Award
- Pushcart Prize Nominee (fiction)
- Million Writers Award Nominee
Screenwriting
- Venice Film Festival, The Speed of Life — Special Jury Prize
- Sedona Int’l Film Festival, The Speed of Life — Excellence in Screenwriting
- BerlinBeta Int’l Film Festival, The Dream Catcher — Best Narrative Feature
- Troia Int’l Film Festival (Lisbon), The Dream Catcher — Best Narrative Feature
- Festival du Film de Paris, The Dream Catcher — Best Narrative Feature
- Cinema Jeune Public de Val de Marne (Paris), Dream Catcher—Best Narrative Feature
- Thessaloniki Int’l Film Festival, The Dream Catcher — Best Narrative Feature
- Locarno Int’l Film Festival, The Dream Catcher — Best Narrative Feature
- Los Angeles Independent Film Fest, The Dream Catcher — Best Narrative Feature
- Houston International Film Festival, Bottomland — Best Feature Film
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Books
- Schoolhouse: Lessons on Love & Landscape, Ice Cube Press
Anthologies
- Secret Destinations: Travel Writing Anthology, “Taksim” (short story)
- Double Kiss Anthology, Mammoth Books, “Sinking the Eight” (short story)
- Grist Anthology‑10 Year Anniversary, “Houdini’s Heirs” (novel excerpt)
- Everywhere Stories, Press 53, “The Ring” (short story)
- Prairie Gold Anthology, Ice Cube Press, “Lost & Found” (memoir excerpt)
- Carve Magazine Anthology, “The Last Hours of Pompeii” (short story)
Journals
- Conjunctions, “The Fortune of Cities,” (short story)
- The Iowa Review, “Every December,” (memoir excerpt)
- TriQuarterly, “Orientation,” (memoir excerpt)
- Carve Magazine, “The Last Hours of Pompeii,” (short story)
- The Literary Review, “What I Did on My Summer Vacation,” (memoir excerpt)
- American Way Magazine, “The Perfect Shell,” (short story)
- Green Mountain Review, “In the Basement,” (memoir excerpt)
- Tahoma Literary Review, “Taksim,” (short story)
- Folio, “An American Winter,” (travel essay)
- Literal Latte, “Sinking the Eight,” (short story)
- Chautauqua, “Lessons in Anatomy,” (memoir excerpt)
- Brevity, “Finish Work,” (craft essay)
SELECTED PRESENTATIONS
- NonfictioNOW Conference, Wellington NEW ZEALAND, On Self & Society: The Memoir of Political Witness
- NonfictioNOW Conference, Reykjavik, ICELAND, Quest(ion)ing Memoir’s GPS
- Colloque International sur La Littérature, Port-au-Prince, HAITI,On Cr eative Nonfiction – Potholes in Port-au-Prince
- International Writing Program, Iowa City, IA, Writing Within & Without Gender
- NonfictioNOW Conference, Phoenix, AZ, Too Many Dead Grandmothers
- Associated Writing Program Conference, Minneapolis, MN, Teaching in Prisons, Prisons in Teaching
- Associated Writing Program Conference, Washington DC, Collaboration: Love It Or Leave It
- Associated Writing Program Conference, NYC, Memoir and the Tightrope of True-ish-isms
- Iowa City Book Festival, Iowa City, IA, International Panel: Sense of Place
- Steel Pen Creative Writers’ Conference, Merrillville, IN, Activating Memory into Memoir
- Educational Justice Project Symposium, Univ. of Illinois - Champaign Urbana, IL, Writing in Prisons, Prisons in Writing
- Educational Justice and Appalachian Prisons Symposium, Univ West Virginia, Morgantown, WV, Words Without Walls
- Writers Connect Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, Place as Character in Novels and Short Stories
- Writers Connect Conference, Pgh, PA, The Character of Place
- Hands-On Literary Festival, New Orleans, LA, Gendered Personas