John Copenhaver, MFA
Adjunct Faculty
(202) 213-2404
Education
- MFA, Creative Writing: Fiction, George Mason University, 2005
- MA, Literature, Middlebury College, 2004
- BA, English, Davidson College, 1997
Research Interests
- Creative Writing (Fiction)
- 20th Century Crime Fiction
- 20th Century Queer Literature
- Film Studies
Select Publications
Novels
- The Savage Kind, A Mystery. New York: Pegasus Books, 2021.
- Dodging and Burning, A Mystery. New York: Pegasus Books, 2018.
Articles
- “Femmes Fatales, Queer Rage, and Me.” Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide, Jan.–Feb. 2022, pp. 30–31.
- “The Femme Fatale: Subverting and Complicating a Noir Trope.” CrimeReads,13 Sept. 2019.
- “Blacklight: Is Patricia Highsmith’s Lesbian Classic ‘The Price of Salt’ Crime Fiction?” Lambda Literary Review, 31 Dec. 2015.
- More articles
Affiliations
- Mystery Writers of America (Mid-Atlantic Chapter VP)
- House of Mystery Radio Show Podcast (co-host)
- OutWrite: Washington, D.C.’s annual LGBTQ+ literary festival (Fiction Chair, Moderator)
- Sisters in Crime National
Courses
- ENGL 437: Advanced Fiction Writing
- ENGL/GSWS 354: Queer Literature: Transgression and Freedom in Queer Literature
- ENGL 307: Writing Fiction
Awards
- Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBTQ Mystery, 2022, for The Savage Kind
- Macavity Award for Best First Mystery, 2019, for Dodging and Burning
- DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities, Artist Fellowships, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.
- Larry Neal Writers’ Award for Fiction, 2015.