Joe Meno

American writer

Novelist
writer
playwright
music journalist

NationalityAmericanAlma materColumbia College Chicago

Joe Meno (born September 15, 1974) is an American novelist, writer of short fiction, playwright, and music journalist based in Chicago.

Biography

After attending Columbia College Chicago, Meno spent time working as a flower delivery truck driver and art therapy teacher at a juvenile detention center. His first novel Tender as Hellfire was published when he was only 24 and received strong reviews from sources like Library Journal. His short fiction has appeared in literary magazines like TriQuarterly, Ninth Letter, Joyland: A hub for short fiction, and Other Voices. He currently teaches fiction writing at Columbia College Chicago. He is a frequent contributor to Punk Planet magazine, where his comic strip Iceberg Town is featured.

Selected bibliography

Tender as Hellfire. Akashic Books, 2007/St. Martin's Press, 1999.
How the Hula Girl Sings. Akashic Books, 2005/ReganBooks, 2001.
Hairstyles of the Damned. Akashic Books, 2004.
Bluebirds Used to Croon in the Choir: Stories. Northwestern University Press, 2005.
The Boy Detective Fails. Akashic Books, 2006.
Demons in the Spring. Akashic Books, 2008.
The Great Perhaps. W. W. Norton, 2009.^[1]
Office Girl. Akashic Books, 2012.^[2]
Marvel and a Wonder. Akashic Books, 2015.^[3]

Plays

The Boy Detective Fails.
Once Upon a Time or the Secret Language of Birds.
Star Witness.

Musicals

The Boy Detective Fails.^[4]

Awards

Nelson Algren Award, 2003 a prize for short fiction given by the Chicago Tribune.

Hairstyles of the Damned was selected for the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers program for its November 2004 – January 2005 season.

Bluebirds Used to Croon in the Choir was selected as the winner of the Society of Midland Author's Award for Fiction 2005.

Demons in the Spring was a finalist for The Story Prize in 2009.

The Great Perhaps was a winner of the Great Lakes Book Award for Fiction in 2009 and a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice.

References

^ Review of the book in the New York Times, June 12th, 2009.
^ Review of the book in the New York Times, October 5th, 2012.
^ Review of the book in the New York Times, September 11th, 2015.
^ Jones, Kenneth (April 5, 2011). "DC's Signature Plans Four New Musicals; Writers Include Adam Gwon, Hunter Foster and More". Playbill.