Christopher Bollen

{{Infobox person

| name =

| image = Christopher Bollen Librairie Mollat interview 2016.png

| alt = Photo of Christopher Bollen

| caption = Bollen in 2016

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1975|11|26}}

| birth_place = Cincinnati, Ohio, US

| alma_mater = Columbia University (BA)

| occupation = Novelist, editor

}}

Christopher Bollen (born November 26, 1975) is an American novelist{{cite news|last=McInerney|first=Jay|title=Chris Bollen|url=http://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/christopher-bollen/|access-date=24 April 2012|newspaper=Interview Magazine|date=1 September 2011|archive-date=9 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209083307/https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/christopher-bollen|url-status=live}} and magazine writer/editor who lives in New York City.{{cite web|last=Pollack|first=Maika|title=Christopher Bollen|url=http://artforum.com/words/id=28982|work=artforum.com|publisher=Artforum|access-date=24 April 2012|archive-date=8 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108120402/https://www.artforum.com/words/id=28982|url-status=live}}

Describing his novels, The Daily Telegraph notes that "Bollen writes expansive, psychologically probing novels in the manner of Updike, Eugenides and Franzen, but he is also an avowed disciple of Agatha Christie."{{cite news|last=Kerridge|first=Jake|title=Orient by Christopher Bollen, review: 'highly pleasing'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/11524712/Orient-by-Christopher-Bollen-review-highly-pleasing.html|access-date=24 July 2015|magazine=The Daily Telegraph|date=14 April 2015|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326165315/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/11524712/Orient-by-Christopher-Bollen-review-highly-pleasing.html|url-status=live}}

Early life

Bollen grew up in Cincinnati, where he graduated from St. Xavier High School.{{cite magazine|title=Meet 19 Authors with Local Ties|first=Eileen|last=Bunch|magazine=Cincinnati|date=October 27, 2020|url=https://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/article/meet-19-authors-with-local-ties/|access-date=April 16, 2023|archive-date=April 16, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416063914/https://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/article/meet-19-authors-with-local-ties/|url-status=live}} He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University in 1998.{{cite news|last=Rouen|first=Ethan|title=Christopher Bollen '98's Love-Hate Letter to New York City|url=http://www.college.columbia.edu/cct/winter11/bookshelf1|access-date=24 April 2012|newspaper=Columbia Today|date=1 December 2011|archive-date=23 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623012815/http://www.college.columbia.edu/cct/winter11/bookshelf1|url-status=dead}}

Career

Bollen was the editor-in-chief of Interview from early 2008 to mid-2009, after serving as editor-in-chief of V.{{cite news|last=Koblin|first=John|date=3 March 2008|title=The Post-Sischy Interview|newspaper=The New York Observer|url=https://observer.com/2008/03/the-postsischy-iinterviewi/|access-date=24 April 2012|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326165324/https://observer.com/2008/03/the-postsischy-iinterviewi/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Management Changes at Interview Magazine|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/business/media/20interview.html|access-date=15 October 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=19 July 2009|archive-date=6 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306145506/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/business/media/20interview.html|url-status=live}} After stepping down as editor-in-chief, he continued on as editor-at-large of Interview.{{cite news|last=Rovzar|first=Chris|title=164 Minutes With Christopher Bollen|url=http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/encounter/christopher-bollen-2011-9/|access-date=24 April 2012|newspaper=New York Magazine|date=11 September 2011|archive-date=3 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003153512/https://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/encounter/christopher-bollen-2011-9/|url-status=live}} On May 21, 2018, the publication ceased operations completely after nearly 50 years.

Bollen also writes about art and culture at other publications like Artforum and The New York Times.

=Novels=

Bollen published his first novel, Lightning People, in 2011.{{cite book|last=Bollen|first=Christopher|title=Lightning People|year=2011|publisher=Soft Skull Press|location=San Francisco|isbn=9781593764197|page=368|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dSYjuAAACAAJ}}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Lightning People is about downtown New York City in 2007.{{cite news|last=Brown|first=Jacob|title=Asked & Answered: Christopher Bollen|url=http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/asked-answered-christopher-bollen/|access-date=24 April 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=20 September 2011|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326165322/https://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/asked-answered-christopher-bollen/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Sachs|first=Sam|title=Rootless Urban Transplants|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111904787404576528804116245500|access-date=24 April 2012|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=3 September 2011|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326165322/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111904787404576528804116245500|url-status=live}}

His second novel is titled Orient, a thriller published in May 2015 by HarperCollins named after Orient, New York (the tip of the North Fork of Long Island). The Los Angeles Times writes that Orient "might well be this summer's most ambitious thriller or this summer's most thrilling work of literary fiction."{{cite news|last=Pochoda|first=Ivy|title=Review: Christopher Bollen's 'Orient' a literary thriller with wit and style|url=http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-ca-jc-christopher-bollen-20150510-story.html|access-date=24 July 2015|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=8 May 2015|archive-date=18 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230918151825/https://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-ca-jc-christopher-bollen-20150510-story.html|url-status=live}} The Times further describes it as a "juicy mystery at the tip of Long Island at summer's end, when the season's fleeting pleasures have blown away, revealing the fractured and fractious year-round community that remains behind when the casual visitors have returned to the relative safety of New York City."

Bollen's third novel, The Destroyers, was published on June 27, 2017, by HarperCollins. It is set on the island of Patmos, Greece, where the Book of Revelation was thought to be written and was describing by the New York Times as{{Cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/books/review/the-destroyers-christopher-bollen.html|title = Money, Murder and a Missing Heir in a Thriller Set in Greece|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 18 August 2017|last1 = Ziolkowski|first1 = Thad|access-date = 26 February 2021|archive-date = 25 April 2023|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230425041055/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/books/review/the-destroyers-christopher-bollen.html|url-status = live}} "evoking a seductive mood of longing mixed with regret." It was honoured with The Fitzgerald Award in France.{{cite web |author= |url=https://www.bellesrives.com/site/uploaded/documents/en_documents_fichier_60.pdf |title=The American Christopher Bollen Is the Laureate of the 8th Edition of the Fitzgerald Award |date=8 June 2018 |access-date=29 January 2022 |archive-date=2 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402002855/https://www.bellesrives.com/site/uploaded/documents/en_documents_fichier_60.pdf |url-status=live }} His fourth novel, A Beautiful Crime, was published in January 2020 by HarperCollins.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/christopher-bollen/a-beautiful-crime/|title=A Beautiful Crime|website=Kirkus Reviews|access-date=2019-12-23|archive-date=2020-12-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203020347/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/christopher-bollen/a-beautiful-crime/|url-status=live}} The novel deals with two young gay men involved in a heist in contemporary Venice, Italy.{{Cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-285388-2|title=Mystery/Thriller Book Review: A Beautiful Crime by Christopher Bollen. Harper, $27.99 (400p) ISBN 978-0-06-285388-2|access-date=2019-12-23|archive-date=2020-08-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819005738/https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-285388-2|url-status=live}} It was a Best Book of the year 2020 by Oprah Magazine.{{Cite web|url = https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/books/a34659750/best-books-of-2020/|title = These Are the Best Books of 2020, According to O, the Oprah Magazine|date = 19 November 2020|access-date = 26 February 2021|archive-date = 27 January 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210127221835/https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/books/a34659750/best-books-of-2020/|url-status = live}} The novel went on to be a finalist for the 2020 Los Angeles Times Book Prize.{{cite web| url = https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2021-03-02/lat-book-prizes-finalists-2020-wilkerson-emezi-et-al| title = Here are the finalists for the 2020 L.A. Times Book Prizes - Los Angeles Times| website = Los Angeles Times| date = 2 March 2021| access-date = 2021-10-15| archive-date = 2021-05-22| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210522030735/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2021-03-02/lat-book-prizes-finalists-2020-wilkerson-emezi-et-al| url-status = live}}

Bollen's short story "SWAJ", a queer retelling of Peter Benchley's Jaws published in the Brooklyn Rail,{{Cite web|url=https://brooklynrail.org/2020/10/fiction/SWAJ|title=SWAJ|first=Christopher|last=Bollen|date=October 6, 2020|website=The Brooklyn Rail|access-date=October 15, 2021|archive-date=May 31, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531200256/https://brooklynrail.org/2020/10/fiction/SWAJ|url-status=live}} was selected for inclusion in 2021's The Best American Mystery and Suspense.{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2021/10/12/best-american-mystery-suspense-steph-cha-modern-collection/6058638001/|title=Excellent new 'Best American Mystery & Suspense' revives stale genre series with diverse voices|first=Tod|last=Goldberg|website=USA TODAY|access-date=2022-01-29|archive-date=2022-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326165323/https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2021/10/12/best-american-mystery-suspense-steph-cha-modern-collection/6058638001/|url-status=live}}

Bollen's fifth novel, The Lost Americans was published in March 2023 by HarperCollins.{{Cite web |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/christopher-bollen/the-lost-americans/ |title=The Lost Americans |publisher=Kirkus Reviews |date=2023-03-14 |access-date=2023-06-13 |archive-date=2023-03-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315030056/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/christopher-bollen/the-lost-americans/ |url-status=live }} Set in Cairo, it deals with the mysterious death of a weapons defense contractor and his sister's attempt to solve the mystery of his murder. Bollen's portrayal of a gay Egyptian character during the current political climate received particular praise. New York Times called it "sobering, shocking," "gripping and genuinely moving.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/14/books/review/christopher-bollen-lost-americans.html |title=A Body, a Cover-Up and a Dangerous Quest in Cairo |publisher=NY Times |date=2023-03-14 |access-date=2023-06-13 |archive-date=2023-06-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230614043855/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/14/books/review/christopher-bollen-lost-americans.html |url-status=live }} The novel was a finalist for the 2024 Joseph Hansen Award for LGBTQ Crime Writing.{{Cite web |last= |date=2024-03-18 |title=2024 Publishing Triangle Awards Finalists Announced |url=https://publishingtriangle.org/2024/03/2024-publishing-triangle-awards-finalists-announced/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240428141600/https://publishingtriangle.org/2024/03/2024-publishing-triangle-awards-finalists-announced/ |archive-date=2024-04-28 |access-date=2024-05-20 |website=The Publishing Triangle |language=en-US}}

Bollen was a jurist for the 2023 PEN/Faulker Award for Fiction, won by Yiyun Li {{Cite news|url=https://www.penfaulkner.org/2023/04/04/announcing-the-winner-of-the-2023-pen-faulkner-award-for-fiction/#:~:text=Announcing%20the%20Winner%20of%20the%202023%20PEN%2FFaulkner%20Award%20for%20Fiction,-Apr%204%2C%202023&text=We%20are%20excited%20to%20announce,PEN%2FFaulkner%20Award%20for%20Fiction. |title=Announcing the Winner of the 2023 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction |website=penfaulkner.org |date=2023-04-04}}