Nick Kowalczyk

BIOGRAPHY
   Born in Lorain, Ohio, I began writing at age eighteen for The Chronicle-Telegram in Elyria, Ohio, as a freelancer. I later graduated with a degree in journalism from Ohio University, where I was  named one of America's 'Top Ten' journalism students by the Scripps Howard Foundation. I took my first job as a reporter for The Kansas City Star because I liked the idea of beginning my writing career where Ernest Hemingway briefly worked as a young man. I stayed at the Star for two years. From there, I worked as a book publicist at Andrews McMeel Publishing, where my accounts included G.B. Trudeau's Doonesbury collections, joke books, self-help books, and various general nonfiction trade titles. In 2005 I went back to school to study creative writing in the University of Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program and earn an MFA. I joined Ithaca College's writing department in 2008.
   My writing has appeared in the literary magazines Ninth Letter, American Literary Review, and Gulf Coast, the scholarly journal POROI, as well as Men's Edge and Perspectives. My awards in 2007 included the David Diamond Prize from the Society for the Study of Midwest Literature, a finalist spot in the nonfiction contest at Mid-American Review, and a writer's residency at the University of Iowa Museum of Art; in 2008, I received the Walter Rumsey Marvin Grant from the Ohioana Library Association.
   I teach classes in nonfiction, including Feature Writing, Magazine Writing, and Personal Essay, in addition to advising the student literary magazine StillWater.

DEGREES

•    M.F.A., University of Iowa, Nonfiction Writing Program, 2008
•    Bachelor of Science in Journalism, Ohio University, 2002

SPECIALTY AREAS

• Literary Journalism
• Feature Writing
• Magazine Writing
• Autobiographical Nonfiction

SOME PUBLICATIONS

• “Manhood, Lorain-Style,” personal essay, Poroi, University of Iowa, 6, 1, published in July 2009 “Writing Public Culture” issue
• “Nick Kowalczyk on the Lorain, Ohio Experience,” an interview with Rust Wire blog, posted April 27, 2009
• “Dear Lorain,” literary journalism/personal essay, Ohioana Quarterly, Vol. Ll, No. 3, Fall 2008
• “Publicly Blind: A Journey,” journalism profile, Arts & Sciences magazine, University of Iowa, Fall 2008
• “As I Lay Dying,” literary journalism, Ninth Letter, Summer 2008
• “Constructing Spotted Dog,” literary journalism, American Literary Review, Spring 2007

WORK IN PROGRESS

• The Story of Home (a meditation on family, social class, and the decline of Lorain, Ohio)