Ockert, Jason

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Ockert, Jason

PERSONAL:

Born in IN. Education: University of Florida, B.A., 1995; Syracuse University, M.F.A., 2000.

ADDRESSES:

Home—NY. Office—Ithaca College, 126 Administration Annex, Ithaca, NY 14850. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY, assistant professor of writing, 2000-07; Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC, assistant professor, 2007—. Also worked as a fact-checker for National Geographic.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Atlantic Monthly Fiction Contest winner, 1999; Mary Roberts Rinehart National Fiction Award, 2002.

WRITINGS:

Rabbit Punches (short stories), Low Fidelity Press (Brooklyn, NY), 2004.

Contributor of short fiction to books, including Virgin Fiction 2, Rob Weisbach Books, 1999; New Stories from the South, 2007; and The Best American Mystery Stories, 2007. Contributor of short fiction to periodicals, including Indiana Review, Panhandler, H_NGM_N, Mid-American Review, Oxford American, Alaska Quarterly Review, Bathhouse, Black Warrior Review, Knight Literary Journal, Highway 14, Oyster Boy Review, CutBank, RiverCity, and McSweeney's. Contributor of short fiction to Web sites, including Reinventingtheworld. com.

SIDELIGHTS:

Jason Ockert told CA: "I first started writing in order to exert some kind of control over the way in which I understood the world. As a child and adolescent, I didn't feel as if I had much say in how my life was run. Writing became a kind of emotional stabilizer.

"My work has most been influenced by the southern grotesque and the Russian gothic genres. Music has also had an impact on the way I write. I've been affected by bands like The Replacements, XTC, Tom Waits, and Pavement, to name a few.

"My process for writing short stories is to begin with some core emotional dilemma or consideration and then wrap sentences around that idea until I get it as close to right as possible. I am most interested in writing pieces that walk the ‘improbable line’ without getting carried away. I do a lot of revising and restructuring.

"When writing a novel, I write down tons of notes—ideas, impressions, snippets of dialogue, anything that happens to come to mind. At some point, those notes spill over to the narrative and I begin an initial draft.

"The most surprising thing I have learned as a writer is that I am a writer. I grew up appreciating the value of a hard day of work on the job. Writing was something I did on my own time and I coveted it in a way. To be able to answer the question here to you now is the biggest surprise.

"The writing project I've completed most recently is always my favorite.

"I want my work to resist being forgotten by the reader."