Spike Spiegel
Novelist & Short-Story Writer
Portland, Oregon · (555) 014-7723 · s.spiegel@example.com · spikespiegel.example.com
Summary
I write literary fiction: 3 novels in print and more than 40 short stories in journals since 2009. I taught undergraduate fiction workshops for 6 years and now write full time from a converted garage in Portland. The typewriter on my desk is decorative; the one in this CV is not.
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Books
- The Quiet Part of the River. Larchwood Press, 2023. Novel, 312 pages. Third printing, 18,000 copies sold.
- Winter Auction. Larchwood Press, 2019. Novel, 288 pages. Longlisted for the (fictional) Cascadia Fiction Prize.
- Small Engine Repair for Beginners. Halbrook & Sons, 2014. Novel, 264 pages. Reissued in paperback, 2021.
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Selected Short Fiction
- "Deer Season," The Millbrook Review, Spring 2025.
- "Notes on a Borrowed Truck," Coldwater Quarterly, Issue 41, 2024.
- "The Neighbor's Piano," Ashfield Journal, Fall 2022. Reprinted in Best Pacific Stories 2023 (anthology, Larchwood Press).
- "Half a House," Granary Lane, Issue 17, 2020.
- "Route 30, Eastbound," The Millbrook Review, Winter 2018.
Full list of 43 published stories available on request.
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Teaching & Editorial Work
Adjunct Instructor, Creative Writing
Willamette Ridge College, Portland, OR · 2016–2022
- Taught 2 fiction workshops per term to cohorts of 12–15 undergraduates.
- Designed a revision-focused syllabus adopted by 3 other sections of the course.
- Advised 9 senior theses; 4 of those students later placed stories in national journals.
Fiction Editor
Coldwater Quarterly · 2013–2016
- Read roughly 900 submissions per year; selected 24 stories annually across 4 issues.
- Edited each accepted story through 2–3 revision rounds with the author.
Freelance Manuscript Consultant
Self-employed, Portland, OR · 2011–present
- Completed developmental edits on 60+ novel manuscripts for private clients and 2 small presses.
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Residencies & Awards
- Writer in Residence, Stone Harbor Arts Colony, Astoria, OR. 6 weeks, 2021.
- Resident Fellow, Juniper Flats Residency, Bend, OR. 4 weeks, 2017.
- Cascadia Fiction Prize, longlist, 2020 (Winter Auction).
- Millbrook Review Editors' Prize for Fiction, 2018.
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Education
MFA, Fiction
Pacific Meridian University, Seattle, WA · 2007–2009
- Thesis: a linked story collection of 11 stories, 3 of which were later published.
BA, English
Corvallis State College, Corvallis, OR · 2001–2005
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Miscellany
Represented by: Marta Quill, Quill & Field Literary (fictional agency)
Memberships: Authors Cooperative of the Northwest
Readings: 30+ bookstore and festival readings since 2014
Typing speed: 78 wpm, on a good day