Biography
Shawn Shiflett is an Associate Professor in the English and Creative Writing Department, Columbia College Chicago, and a fiction writer. His debut novel, Hidden Place (Akashic Books, 2004), received rave reviews from newspapers, literary magazines, and Connie Martinson Talks Books (national cable television, UK and Ireland). Library Journal included Hidden Place in “Summer Highs, Fall Firsts,” a 2004 list of most successful debuts. He received an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship for his work and was a three-time Finalist for the James novel-in-progress contest, sponsored by the Heekin Group Foundation. New City Newspaper elected Shiflett to their Chicago Lit 50 list, an annual ranking of top figures in the Chicago Literary scene. His essay, “The Importance of Reading to Your Writing” (Creative Writing Studies, UK) was published in 2013. His novel, Hey, Liberal! (Chicago Review Press, 2016), a story about a white boy going to a predominately African American high school in Chicago during the late 1960’s, has received acclaim from Booklist, The Chicago Tribune, Kirkus Review, Newcity Lit, Windy City Review, Mary Mitchell (Chicago Sun-Times), Rick Kogan (WGN Radio), and others. In 2018, he performed his oral story performance “How My Yo-Yo Could Have Gotten me Killed,” and in 2019 he performed “Oriole Park.” He is currently on the Chicago Writers’ Association Board of Directors and is also working on a non-fiction, multicultural project: collecting oral stories concerning race. He received a M.A. English degree with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Central State University, Oklahoma, and a B.A. from Columbia College Chicago. www.shawnshiflett.com.
Instructional Areas
Fiction Writing, particularly the novel. Also dream and dream-based stories. I've recently begun to collect oral stories from narrator's on the subject of Race in America.
Degrees
B.A., Creative Writing Columbia College Chicago 1976
M.A., English/Creative Writing Central State University 1983