Chanelle Benz is a British American author and associate professor of English at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York.[1] She is known for her short story collection The Man Who Shot Out My Eye is Dead (2017) and her novel The Gone Dead (2019).

Chanelle Benz
LanguageEnglish
NationalityBritish
Alma materSyracuse University
Notable works
  • The Man Who Shot Out My Eye is Dead, The Gone Dead

Early life and education edit

Benz was born in London to English and Antiguan parents.[1] Benz lived in London until the age of 7, when her family moved to New Jersey, then Sunset, Utah, and lastly, Centreville, Virginia.[2]

Benz earned a bachelor's degree in acting from Boston University before earning an MFA in creative writing from Syracuse University in 2012.[3][4] At Syracuse University, she studied under the writer George Saunders.[2][1]

Career edit

Benz published her first book, a short story collection titled The Man Who Shot Out My Eye Is Dead in 2017.[1][5][6] In 2019, Benz published her first novel, The Gone Dead, about a woman who returns to her childhood home in the Mississippi Delta and uncovers information regarding the death of her father.[7][1][2] The novel was reviewed positively in The New York Times[8] and The Washington Post.[9]

Both books were published by Ecco Press, an imprint of HarperCollins.[10][11]

Benz has also published works in Granta, The New York Times, Guernica, Fence, and The American Reader, among other publications.[12]

Sources edit

  1. ^ a b c d e "English Professor Pens Novel About Race, Justice and Memory - Syracuse.edu". www.syracuse.edu. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  2. ^ a b c Schaub, Michael (2017-04-21). "Meet Chanelle Benz, whose debut book is 'The Man Who Shot Out My Eye Is Dead'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  3. ^ "Chanelle Benz". College of Arts & Sciences at Syracuse University. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  4. ^ Teich, Mitch; Canton, in; NY. "First Person: Writer Chanelle Benz on Mississippi in the '70s". NCPR. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  5. ^ electricliterature (2017-01-19). "Chanelle Benz Is Rewriting History". Electric Literature. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  6. ^ "'The Man Who Shot Out My Eye Is Dead': Stories worthy of that great title". Dallas News. 2017-01-13. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  7. ^ Simon, Scott (June 22, 2019). "Chanelle Benz On 'The Gone Dead'". NPR. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  8. ^ Sexton, Margaret Wilkerson (2019-06-20). "The Legacy of Slavery in Two Novels of the American South". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  9. ^ "Review | In 'The Gone Dead,' a woman's questions about her father's death reveal a town's racist history". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  10. ^ "Chanelle Benz". Harper Collins. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  11. ^ "Prof. Chanelle Benz Lauded As 'Riveting New Voice in American Fiction' | Rhodes News". news.rhodes.edu. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  12. ^ "SUNY Canton". www.canton.edu. Retrieved 2023-03-06.