Renowned Novelist Thomas Mallon to Become Director of GW’s Creative Writing Program
May 4, 2010
WASHINGTON – Critically acclaimed novelist Thomas Mallon will become the head of GW’s creative writing program, part of the University’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Mallon, who has been teaching at GW as an adjunct professor since 2007, will begin his new full-time role as director later this month and will teach one English class each semester.
“The English department is thrilled to have Tom both as a faculty member and as the incoming director of creative writing,” said Gayle Wald, professor and English department chair. “He is a writer and teacher of incredible energy and generosity, and he will be a terrific leader of our creative writing program as it enters a phase of reassessment and revitalization.”
Dr. Mallon thinks that a lot of students don’t realize how much imagination they have until they are pressured to use it. He believes that every student can improve his or her ability to plot a story, pace a story, deepen the characterization and learn to write with different emotions.
“I like to push students to their limits and want to give students the most exciting and rigorous experience they can have,” said Dr. Mallon.
Dr. Mallon has written seven novels that have touched on historical events such as President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, the McCarthy era and the early days of the American Space Program. His writing regularly appears in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly and The New York Times Book Review.
Dr. Mallon received his bachelor’s degree from Brown University and earned his Ph.D. in English and American literature from Harvard University. He then taught modern British literature and essay writing for 12 years at Vassar College. In 1991, Dr. Mallon left teaching to become the literary editor at GQ and to focus on his own writing. In 2005, he served as the deputy chairman for the National Endowment for the Humanities.
“The full-time addition of Tom Mallon—an acclaimed novelist, journalist, and non-fiction writer— to our English faculty is a real coup for us,” said Peg Barratt, dean of GW’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. “His talent will elevate our Creative Writing Program to a new level of excellence.”
Established in 1821 in the heart of the nation's capital, GW's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences is the largest of the University's academic units with more than 40 departments and programs for undergraduate, graduate and professional studies. Columbian College provides the foundation for GW's commitment to the liberal arts and a broad education for all students. An internationally recognized faculty and active partnerships with prestigious research institutions place Columbian College at the forefront in advancing policy, enhancing culture and transforming lives through research and discovery.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Jill Sankey - 202-994-6466 - jpsankey@gwu.edu
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