Vincent Czyz

{{Infobox writer

| name = Vincent Czyz

| image = Portrait of Vincent Czyz.jpg

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| birth_date = {{birth-date|b. 1963}}

| birth_place = New Jersey, United States

| education = {{Plainlist|

| occupation = Writer, professor

| period =

| genre = Novel, Short Story, Essay, Criticism

| subject = Literary Fiction

| movement = Postmodernism

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Vincent Czyz (/ˈtʃɛz/ Chez; born 1963) is an American writer and critic of Literary fiction. His work often explores mythological motifs, religious themes, and dreams as a substrate of reality.{{cite journal |title=Plato's Gospel |journal=Logos Journal |date=August 31, 2011 |volume=2011 |issue=Summer |url=http://logosjournal.com/2011/summer_czyz/ |access-date=8 January 2022}}

Biography

Vincent Czyz was born in Orange, New Jersey and raised in nearby East Orange.Politano, Teresa. [https://www.nj.com/inside-jersey/2016/08/jersey_city_author_weaves_byzantine_tale.html "Jersey City author weaves byzantine tale"], Inside Jersey, August 11, 2016. Accessed April 23, 2022. "Czyz, who lives in Jersey City, is an ambitious writer, eager to seek the profound and eager to share his discoveries.... But he also grew up in East Orange, boxing and wrestling, and bought his first assault weapon at age 15." He graduated in 1981 as the salutatorian of his class at Lakeland Regional High School.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100329131/lakeland-regional-high-school/ "Lakeland graduates 331"], The Record, June 19, 1981. Accessed April 23, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The Lakeland Regional High School held its outdoor commencement last night, graduating 165 boys and 166 girls. Suzanne Heerschap was valedictorian, and Vincent Czyz was salutatorian."

He received a B.A. from the Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, an M.A. from Columbia University, and an M.F.A. from Rutgers-Newark. He lived in Istanbul, Turkey for seven years, teaching English at several Turkish universities. He also taught creative writing at The College of New Jersey.{{cite news |last1=Politano |first1=Teresa |title=Jersey City author weaves byzantine tale |url=https://www.nj.com/inside-jersey/2016/08/jersey_city_author_weaves_byzantine_tale.html |access-date=2022-01-08 |work=THE CHRISTOS MOSAIC |agency=NJ.com |issue=Inside Jersey |publisher=Advance Publications |date=August 11, 2016}} He lives in Jersey City, New Jersey with his wife, Neslihan, and their son.{{cite web |title=Our Writers |url=https://bosphorusreview.com/author-page |website=Bosphorus Review of Books |publisher=Matbuat Publishing Group Ltd |access-date=8 January 2022}} His older brother is former American boxer, light-heavyweight champion Bobby Czyz.{{cite web |last1=Czyz |first1=V |title=The Cold War and its Fallout |url=https://longreads.com/2018/06/15/the-cold-war-and-its-fallout/ |website=Longreads |date=15 June 2018 |publisher=Auto Mattic |access-date=2022-01-08}}{{cite news |title= Czyz-grant Not A Joke |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/08/sports/l-czyz-grant-not-a-joke-230590.html |access-date=2022-01-08 |publisher=NY Times}}

Writing

Czyz is the author of a short story collection, two novels, and a collection of essays. His short stories and essays have appeared in journals, magazines, and several anthologies, including, the New England Review, Shenandoah, AGNI,{{cite web |title=Authors |url=https://agnionline.bu.edu/about/our-people/authors/vincent-czyz |website=AGNI Online |date=30 January 2018 |publisher=Boston University}} The Massachusetts Review, Georgetown Review, Tin House,{{cite web |title=Monet in Mourning |url=https://tinhouse.com/monet-in-mourning/ |website=Tin House |date=2 August 2013 |publisher=Win McCormack |access-date=8 January 2022}} The Arts Fuse, Tampa Review, Boston Review,{{cite journal |title=Authors |url=https://bostonreview.net/articles/npm-2011-vincent-czyz-prose-thinly-veiled-ikea-superstore/ |journal=Boston Review |date=30 April 2011 |last1=Czyz |first1=Vincent }} Copper Nickel, Southern Indiana Review, Skidrow Penthouse, and a contribution in the festschrift collection Stories for Chip (2015).{{cite web|url=https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?518396|title=Publication: Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany|website=The Internet Speculative Fiction Database isfdb.org|date=September 20, 2015|access-date=February 1, 2022}} In his prefatory note to Adrift in a Vanishing City, Samuel R. Delany characterizes Czyz's short story collection as, "a small landmark in the sedimentation of new form in fiction".{{cite web |title=John Keene, Greg Gerke, and Vincent Czyz Reading |url=https://thoughtgallery.org/events/john-keene-greg-gerke-vincent-czyz-reading/ |website=Thought Gallery |access-date=2022-01-08}} Czyz's novel, The Christos Mosaic, is described by the American New Testament scholar Robert M. Price as including "genuine, radical biblical scholarship in a beautifully rendered adventure full of unforgettable characters, set in exotic locales vividly and poetically described".{{cite web |title=The Christos Mosaic |url=https://www.ipgbook.com/the-christos-mosaic-products-9781943075034.php |website=ipgbook |publisher=AMPHORAE PUBLISHING GROUP}}

Awards

He is the recipient of the 1994 William Faulkner Wisdom Prize for Short Fiction,{{cite journal |title=1994 Pirate's Alley William Faulkner Prize for Short Story |journal=Poets & Writers |date=January–February 1995 |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=74 |url=https://www.pw.org/content/januaryfebruary_1995}} two fellowships from the NJ Council on the Arts{{cite journal |title=The Double Dealer Redux | journal=Pirate's Alley |date=Spring 1995 |volume=2 |issue=3 |page=23 }}

In 2011 he was awarded Truman Capote Fellowship at Rutgers University.{{cite web |title=Our Writers |url=https://bosphorusreview.com/author-page |website=Bosphorus Review of Books |publisher=Matbuat Publishing Group Ltd |access-date=8 January 2022}}

Bibliography

Adrift In A Vanishing City, a collection of interlinked avant-garde stories, was published May 10, 2015;{{cite news|last=Liederbach|first=Nate |title=Vincent Czyz, Adrift in a Vanishing City|url=http://logosjournal.com/2017/review-vincent-czyz-adrift-in-a-vanishing-city-rain-mountain-press-new-york-city-2015/|website=Logos Journal|date=2015|access-date=8 January 2022}} having first been released in 1998.{{cite news |last=Delany |first=Samuel |title=Shorter Views |publisher=Wesleyan University Press |date=1999}}

The Christos Mosaic (Blank Slate Press, 2015).{{cite web |last1=Bartell |first1=Melissa A. |title=ABOUT THE BOOK, THE CHRISTOS MOSAIC |url=https://www.bibliotica.com/tag/vincent-czyz/ |website=Bibliotica |date=11 February 2016 |publisher=Biblioteca |access-date=8 January 2022}}

The Three Veils Of Ibn Oraybi: a novella; published July 10, 2021.{{cite web |last1=Marano |first1=Michael |title=A Lovely Exotic Fantasy - Book Review: "The Three Veils of Ibn Oraybi" |url=https://artsfuse.org/232724/book-review-the-three-veils-of-ibn-oraybi-a-lovely-exotic-fantasy/ |website=Arts Fuse |date=13 July 2021 |access-date=8 January 2022}} The critic Diane Donovan of the Midwest Book Review{{cite journal |title=Small Press Bookwatch |journal=Midwest Book Review |date=July 2021 |volume=20 |issue=7 |url=https://www.midwestbookreview.com/sbw/jul_21.htm#literaryfiction}} stated, "Czyz weaves mystery, history, religious fervor, and social inspection into this story of struggle... Its lovely, lyrical language and thought-provoking encounters... explore the politics and psychological profiles of cultures that lived side by side...".{{cite web |title=Authors |url=https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/vincent-czyz/three-veils-of-ibn-oraybi.htm |website=Fantastic Fiction}}

The Secret Adventures of Order (2022):{{cite web |last=Holdefer|first=Charles |title=The Secret Adventures of Order– Vincent Czyz|url=https://www.full-stop.net/2022/09/09/reviews/charles-holdefer/the-secret-adventures-of-order-vincent-czyz/ |website=Full Stop |publisher=Biblioteca |access-date=20 January 2023}} a collection of literary essays, creative nonfiction, and biblical exegesis.

References

External links

{{cite journal |last=Liederbach|first=Nate |title=Review: Vincent Czyz, Adrift in a Vanishing City|url=http://logosjournal.com/2017/review-vincent-czyz-adrift-in-a-vanishing-city-rain-mountain-press-new-york-city-2015/|website=Logos Journal|date=2015|access-date=8 January 2022}}
{{cite journal |last1=Burghelea |first1=Clara |title=Interview with Vincent Czyz |journal=Miletus International Literature Magazine |volume=2020 |issue=Fall |pages=8–11}}
{{cite web |last1=Seidman |first1=Barry |title=Artists Vincent Czyz and Chris Johnson talk about their work concerning religion! |url=http://equaltimeforfreethought.org/2016/07/09/show-568-local-artists-vincent-czyz-and-chris-johnson/?fbclid=IwAR2pD6d3PLpog0TxGANLjipA8KF8v5yS2CO3SBkYM6P5bPzYfKaIdimlM3k |website=EQUAL TIME FOR FREETHOUGHT |date=9 July 2016 |access-date=8 January 2022}}
{{cite web |title=How a Decent Deity Got a Bad Rap |url=https://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2020/02/25/lucifer-how-a-decent-deity-got-a-bad-rap-part-1/ |website=Partially Examined Life |date=25 February 2020 |access-date=8 January 2022}}

Category:1963 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century American novelists

Category:21st-century American novelists

Category:American male novelists

Category:Lakeland Regional High School alumni

Category:Postmodernists

Category:Rutgers University–Newark alumni

Category:Rutgers University alumni

Category:Columbia University alumni

Category:Novelists from New Jersey

Category:Writers from East Orange, New Jersey