Stephen Goodwin

Stephen Goodwin

Stephen Goodwin

Emeritus Faculty

Creative Writing: fiction; non-fiction; online writing and publishing

Stephen Goodwin (M.A., University of Virginia, 1969) is the author of three novels, Breaking Her Fall, The Blood of Paradise, and Kin.  His short fiction has appeared in Gentleman's Quarterly, Shenandoah, Sewanee Review, and the Georgia Review; and his articles, reviews and essays have appeared in a number of magazines and newspapers, including the Washington Post, American Scholar, and Virginia Quarterly Review.  He has also written extensively about golf for regional and national magazines, focusing -- as he does in his book, Dream Golf -- on the history and current practice of golf course architecture.  For two years, Goodwin directed the Literature Program at the National Endowment for the Arts, and he has received fellowships from the NEA, the Ingram Merrill Foundation, and the Guggenheim Foundation. In addition, he has served as the president of the foundation for the PEN/Faulkner literary prize. He teaches traditional workshops, courses in modern and contemporary American literature, and an online writing course that tries to keep up with the the rapidly changing environment of online writing and publishing.

Selected Publications

Breaking Her Fall. New York: Harcourt, 2003.

Dream Golf: The Making of Bandon Dunes. New York: Algonquin Books, 2006.

The Blood of Paradise. Charlottesville: UP of Virginia, 1979.

"Father's Day," American Scholar, June 2014

"Best, Tom," Virginia Quarterly Review, Fall 2014

"Jersey Boy -- Remembering Alan Cheuse," Idaho Review, Fall 2016

"We Can't Make You Whole Again," American Scholar, June 2018

Transgressions" and "Vanity" (essays available on Goodwin's website).

Courses Taught

ENGH 513:  Writing the American Landscape

ENGH 608: Online Writing

ENGH 660: 20th Century American Novel

ENGH 685:  21st Century Fiction

ENGH 751:  Advanced Fiction Writing