Van Newell

Hi, I’m Van Newell, a writer living in Birmingham, Alabama. I’ve also lived in Arkansas, California, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey and New York which is where I received an MFA in Writing from Columbia University. I used to work in reality television but now I teach in the Department of English at The University of Alabama.

My work includes nonfiction, fiction, and the occasional script or academic essay. Examples include: First dates interupted by enviromental diasters, neglected state parks, Applichian food, opening a bookstore in the tablet age, online gaming and lonliness, purple-and-gold punk rock proms, Sunkist soda cans and the lifeguards who love them, and the theft of a gas station ATM after a tornado.

I have been awarded the Hackney Award, the Alabama Writers Conclave Award, and an America Reads Fellowship from the United States Department of Education. My work has also been short-listed for a Pushcart Prize, a Humanitas Fellowship, the SideWrite Prize, and the Lascaux Prize. My writing has been published in The Raven’s Perch, Modern Southern Folklore, The Lascaux Review, Medium.com, Ala-Lit.com, New Guard Review, Aura, and Writers Forum among others.

I have written two manuscripts: a novel Smile and Dial (think Devil Wears Prada meets Better Call Saul) and a story collection His Eye Is On The Sparrow where each story takes place in a different state of the Deep South. I am currently working on a nonfiction project about one state that nearly shut down all 21 of its’ state parks.

Thanks for stopping by. Please say hi , vannewell1@gmail.com

Hi, I’m Van Newell, a writer living in Birmingham, Alabama. I’ve also lived in Arkansas, California, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey and New York which is where I received an MFA in Writing from Columbia University. I used to work in reality television but now I teach in the Department of English at The University of Alabama.

My work includes nonfiction, fiction, and the occasional script or academic essay. Examples include: First dates interupted by enviromental diasters, neglected state parks, Applichian food, opening a bookstore in the tablet age, online gaming and lonliness, purple-and-gold punk rock proms, Sunkist soda cans and the lifeguards who love them, and the theft of a gas station ATM after a tornado.

I have been awarded the Hackney Award, the Alabama Writers Conclave Award, and an America Reads Fellowship from the United States Department of Education. My work has also been short-listed for a Pushcart Prize, a Humanitas Fellowship, the SideWrite Prize, and the Lascaux Prize. My writing has been published in The Raven’s Perch, Modern Southern Folklore, The Lascaux Review, Medium.com, Ala-Lit.com, New Guard Review, Aura, and Writers Forum among others.

I have written two manuscripts: a novel Smile and Dial (think Devil Wears Prada meets Better Call Saul) and a story collection His Eye Is On The Sparrow where each story takes place in a different state of the Deep South.

Thanks for stopping by. Please say hi , vannewell1@gmail.com