John Dufresne
Biography
John Dufresne was born in 1948 in Worcester, Massachusetts. His father worked for the local power company while his mother worked in an office. He started writing while still in high school, both poetry and short stories. He took a B.A. from Worcester State College. After college, he did various jobs, including helping troubled children, before going to the University of Arkansas writing program. After getting his M.F.A., he went to teach in Monroe, Louisiana. He and his wife Cindy Chinelly then taught at other colleges, before he taught creative writing at Florida International University. He initially published a collection of short stories and since then has published novels, stories and guides to fiction writing and has written screenplays. He is best-known for his first novel, Louisiana Power & Light, a witty but tender story, set in Monroe, Louisiana, about a doomed family.
Other links
Bibliography
1991 The Way That Water Enters Stone (stories)
1994 Louisiana Power & Light
1997 Love Warps the Mind a Little
1998 Naked Came the Manatee (collaboration with twelve other authors)
2002 Deep in the Shade of Paradise (novel)
2003 The Lie That Tells a Truth: A Guide to Writing Fiction
2005 Johnny Too Bad (stories)
2008 Requiem, Mass. (novel)
2010 Is Life Like This?: A Guide to Writing Your First Novel in Six Months
2013 No Regrets, Coyote (novel)
2016 I Don’t Like Where This is Going (novel)
2018 Flash! : Writing the Very Short Story
2020 Storyville! : An Illustrated Guide to Writing Fiction
2025 My Darling Boy : (novel)