Joseph Scapellato, a 2001 graduate of Lyons Township High School, has published a book of short stories and is slated to publish a novel.
Q: Where do you live?
A: Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: Western Springs
Q: What is the title of your book of short stories?
A: ‘Big Lonesome’
Q: When did you know you wanted to become a writer?
A: I always wanted to be a writer, ever since I was a little kid. Even before I could write I’d do comic books. I’d make boxes and dictate the text to my ever patient mother and she’d write it in.
Q: Where did you attend college and what was your major?
A: Marquette University. My major was writing intensive English. I could not take any creative writing classes until I was a junior and senior and so I was very hungry for it. After that, I went into a graduate school program at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. That really pushed me. I have no doubt I wouldn’t have published a book without my mentors in grad school.
Q: Do you have a full-time job other than writing?
A: I teach creative writing and English at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
Q: Are you married?
A: My wife’s name is Dustyn Martinicich. She’s a dance and theater teacher. She is from Joliet. We have a daughter, Vida, who is 7 months old.
Q: What is your book of short stories about?
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A: I started writing a bunch of stories about the West. As soon as I left the West, it started showing up in my work. It’s about the mythology of the American West.
Q: What is your next book?
A: It’s “The Made Up Man.” It’s due out in 2018. This book is about film noir and detective stories. I am trying to turn that genre inside out in some ways.
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