Biography

JAMIE CAT CALLAN

Artist and Author

 


Jamie Cat Callan lives on a small farm in Upstate New York. Her work has appeared in The Sun Magazine, Story, The Missouri Review, Story, the New York Times, and elsewhere. She has received awards from the New York State Council on the Arts, the Massachusetts Council on the Arts, and The Connecticut Commission on the Arts, The Ragdale Foundation, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and more. She is the creator of The Writers Toolbox (Chronicle Books) and the author of Parisian Charm School (Penguin Random House) and is currently working on a novel set in Paris during the May 1968 uprisings, along with illustrations and painting to accompany the pages.

                                                                 PUBLISHED BOOKS

Parisian Charm School, Penguin Random House, 2018

Ooh La La! French Women’s Secrets to Feeling Beautiful Every day, Kensington Books, 2013

Bonjour, Happiness!, Kensington Books 2011

French Women Don’t Sleep Alone, Kensington Books, 2009

The Writers Toolbox, Chronicle Books, 2007

Just Too Cool, NAL, 1987

The Young and the Soapy, 1984

Over the Hill at Fourteen 1982

 

EDUCATION

 

M.F.A., U.C.L.A., School of Film and Television.  Screenwriting.  Graduated Cum Laude, 1991

 

M.A., Goddard College.  Creative Writing.  Graduated, 1980

 

B.A., Bard College.  Literature.  Graduated Cum Laude, 1975

 

 

                             TEACHING EXPERIENCE

 

 

2023, SPENCERTOWN ACADEMY ARTS CENTER, Creative Writing Instructor on-line.

 

2021, FALMOUTH LIBRARY, History project utilizing the library’s collection of vintage postcards.   

 

2021, SPENCERTOWN ACADEMY ARTS CENTER, Creative Writing Instructor on-line. 

 

2018, RIDGEFIELD WRITERS CONFERENCE, Creative Writing Instructor and presenter.

 

2009-2011, MFA PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MAINE, STONECOAST, Professor and Thesis Advisor.

 

2001-2006, WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY, Adjunct Professor, teaching The Architecture of Fiction in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program.

 

2001, YALE UNIVERSITY, Visiting Lecturer, Guest Fellow in Yale College, teaching Short Fiction Workshop to selected juniors and seniors.

 

1994-2005, FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY, Adjunct Professor, teaching Freshmen Comp, Fiction and Screenwriting in University College.

 

1995-Present, N.Y.U. SCHOOL OF CONTINUING EDUCATION, Instructor, teaching fiction writing and fiction writing.

 

1996-2003, EDUCATIONAL CENTER FOR THE ARTS, New Haven, Connecticut, teaching contemporary fiction and literature to gifted students in arts high school.

 

1996-2006, MASTER TEACHING ARTIST--CONNECTICUT COMMISSION ON THE ARTS, Writer-in-Residence throughout the State of Connecticut, conducting author talks and teaching students creative writing, story structure, community story-telling, and theater to at-risk children.

 

 

Short  Nonfiction and Fiction

 

The Sun Magazine, 2023

Shadowgraf Journal, 2015

Modern Love, New York Times, 2006

Missouri Review,  Spring 2000.

American Letters & Commentary,  Summer 1998.

UCLA Magazine,  Sept. 1997.

The Missouri Review, Spring 1997.

Onthebus, Spring 1997.

The Baffler,  Spring 1995.

American Letters and Commentary, Spring 1994.

American Way Magazine, May 1994, and Sept. 1994.

Buzz Magazine, April 1993.

Verve Magazine, Fall and Winter 1992.

UCLA Quarterly, 1991.

Turnstile, Fall 1990.

Story Magazine, Spring 1990.

 

 

 

                        AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS

 

American Library in Paris, Nominated for American Library in Paris Book Award, copy of Parisian Charm School in permanent collection, 2018.

Soap Opera Confidential, Anthology edited by Elizabeth Searle and Suzanne Strempek Shea, 2017.

Massachusetts Council on the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, 2012.

Writers Digest Short Short Story Competition, Finalist 2004

Connecticut Commission on the Arts--Artists Fellowship in Fiction 2001.

Best American Erotica, Anthology edited by Suzie Bright, 2001.

Missouri Review Editors’ Prize Finalist in Fiction, 2000.

Pushcart Prize Nomination, American Letters & Commentary 1995

Writers Digest Magazine Competition, First Prize for Literary Fiction, 1994 and 1991, and a finalist in 1993 and 2000.

Napa Valley Writers Conference Scholarship, 1994.

Story Magazine Competition Finalist in Humorous Fiction, 1991.

UCLA English Department Ruth Brill Scholarship in Fiction, 1990.

Hemingway Days Festival Finalist in Short Stories, 1990.

Goldwyn Award in Screenwriting, 1989.

Jack Nicholson Award in Screenwriting, 1989.

The Southern California Chapter of Zeta Phi Eta, National Professional Fraternity in Communication Arts & Sciences Award 1989.

UCLA Chancellor's Fellowship in Screenwriting, 1987.

Bread Loaf Writers Conference Fellow in Children's Fiction 1986.

PEN Syndicated Fiction Award for Short Stories, 1986.

Columbia University/Doubleday Award in Fiction, 1984.

New York State Council on the Arts Grant for Fiction, 1980.

 

ARTIST RESIDENCES

 
 

Vermont Studio Center, February 2024, Fellowship in Writing

Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, March 2023. Visual Arts Fellowship.

Virginia Center for the Creative Arts International Fellowship to Auvillar, France, 2009, 2011 and Teaching Fellow in 2010.

Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Fellowship in Virginia in 2012.

Virginia Center for the Creative Arts International Fellowship to Malta, 2013.

Virginia Center for the Creative Arts International Fellowship to Oberpfalzer Kunstlerhaus in Schwandorf, Germany, summer 2004

Eastern Frontier Society Norton Island Residency, 2003.

Helene Wurlitzer Foundation Fellowship, Taos, New Mexico, 2002.

Vermont Studio Center Fellowship in Fiction, August 2001.

Djerassi Foundation Fellowship, Big Bear, California, 1997.

Dorland Mountain Artists Colony Fellowship, 1989.

Ragdale Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, 1986, l987 and 1994.

Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Fellowship 1983, 1985, 1992, 1996, 1999.

Edna St. Vincent Millay Artist Colony Fellowship, 1981.