Dan Chaon


Dan Chaon is an American writer. He is the author of three short story collections and three novels, including Among the Missing, which was a 2001 finalist for the National Book Award. Chaon's stories have appeared in Best American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prize Anthologies, and The O. Henry Prize Stories. His 2017 novel, Ill Will, was named one of the best books of the year by publications including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and Publishers Weekly. It is nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award, Locus Award, and International Thriller Writers Award.
Chaon taught at Oberlin College, where he was the Pauline Delaney Professor of Creative Writing and Literature before retiring in 2018. His former students include such writers as Ishmael Beah, Megan Kruse, Emma Straub, Rumaan Alam, Edan Lepucki and Lena Dunham.
Among the Missing was named as one of the year's ten best books by the American Library Association, as a notable book of the year by The New York Times. His third short story collection, Stay Awake, was a finalist for The Story Prize.

Personal

Chaon was adopted and grew up in a village of 20 people outside of Sidney, Nebraska. His father was a construction worker and his mother was a stay-at-home mom. As a middle schooler, Chaon wrote a fan letter to Ray Bradbury, beginning a correspondence that continued for several years.
Chaon lives in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. He has two sons. His wife of 20 years was the writer Sheila Schwartz. She died of ovarian cancer in 2008.

Novels