David Samuel Levinson

Instructor Biography:

MFA, author of the forthcoming novel Antonia Lively Breaks The Silence (Algonquin, 2012), and the story collection, Most Of Us Are Here Against Our Will (Viking Penguin UK, 2005). Mr. Levinson’s short stories have been published in Prairie Schooner, The Brooklyn Review, and The New Penguin Book of Gay Short Stories.  He was a top finalist for the Flannery O’Connor Short Story Prize and has received numerous fellowships. 

To see if David is teaching a course this quarter, click here.

 Instructor Statement:

As far as I see it, here is the difference between the novel and the short story: the novel is like a great rambling house that we inherit, whereas the short story is more like a small rented apartment. In the novel, we have plenty of rooms to walk around in, and plenty of space to work with. Redecorating the house can be daunting, and we must be vigilant, always, to the details that make each room what it is. In the short story, we are necessarily more confined. And we must be even more vigilant to the way we decorate it. Too much clutter and it becomes claustrophobic. Too spare and it doesn't quite feel lived in. But once we’re done with the short story, we get to pack everything up, and go. Not so with the novel, which expects us to stay for a goodly amount of time before we stick the for-sale sign in the yard, and move.