# Christopher Coe

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Christopher_Coe
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Christopher_Coe.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Coe
> Source revision: 1342049640
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

**Christopher Coe** (November 27, 1953 – September 6, 1994)[1] was an American novelist.

## Life

Coe was born in [Fountain Hill, Pennsylvania](/source/Fountain_Hill,_Pennsylvania), and raised in [Portland, Oregon](/source/Portland,_Oregon). As an adult he lived in both [New York City](/source/New_York_City) and [Paris](/source/Paris). Educated at [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University), he was a student of [Gordon Lish](/source/Gordon_Lish)[2] and a classmate of [Amy Hempel](/source/Amy_Hempel), [David Leavitt](/source/David_Leavitt) and [Anderson Ferrell](/source/Anderson_Ferrell).[3]

His first novel, *I Look Divine*, was published in 1987; his second, *Such Times*, was published in 1993.[4] His short stories were published in *Harper's* magazine and *Story*. As well as a writer, Coe also worked as a photographer and [cabaret](/source/Cabaret) singer.

In January 1983, while in Paris, he had a romantic relationship with the composer [Claude Vivier.](/source/Claude_Vivier) *Such Times* is partly an account of this, fictionalized as the protagonist Timothy's relationship with a composer named “Claude,” but with departures from the actual relationship.[5] In the fall of 2025, *Such Times* was edited by Will Meyer and reissued by [Archway Editions](/source/Archway_Editions) with previously unpublished photographs and a new introduction by [Anderson Ferrell](/source/Anderson_Ferrell).[6]

Coe died of [AIDS](/source/AIDS) on September 6, 1994, at his home in [Manhattan](/source/Manhattan).[4]

## External links

Christopher Coe at Family Search [https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/PMY7-2JC](https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/PMY7-2JC)

*I Look Divine* at the Internet Archive (read for free) [https://archive.org/details/ilookdivine00coec](https://archive.org/details/ilookdivine00coec)

*Such Times* at the Internet Archive (read for free) [https://archive.org/details/suchtimes00coec](https://archive.org/details/suchtimes00coec)

## References

1. Mack, S. Thomas (2023). ["Christopher Coe | Research Starters | EBSCO Research"](https://www.ebsco.com/). *EBSCO*. Retrieved 2025-09-12.

1. Lish, Gordon (2018). *Conversations with Gordon Lish*. Literary conversations series. Winters, David & Lucarelli, Jason (eds.). Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-4968-1626-9.

1. Clark, William Lane (1993). ["Christopher Coe"](https://archive.org/details/contemporarygaya00inli). *Contemporary Gay American Novelists: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook*. Nelson, Emmanuel S. (ed.). Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 71–76. ISBN 0-313-28019-3.

1. ["Christopher Coe, 41; Wrote Gay Novels"](https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/08/obituaries/christopher-coe-41-wrote-gay-novels.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. September 8, 1994. [Archived](https://archive.today/20120907075552/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/08/obituaries/christopher-coe-41-wrote-gay-novels.html) September 7, 2012 at the Wayback Machine.

1. Gilmore, Bob (2014-06-01). [*Claude Vivier: A Composer's Life*](https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781580468411/type/book). 1 ed. Boydell and Brewer Limited. pp. 215–216. [doi:10.1017/9781580468411](https://doi.org/10.1017/9781580468411). ISBN 978-1-58046-841-1.

1. Coe, Christopher (2025). *Such Times*. Brooklyn: Archway Editions. ISBN 978-1-64823-091-2.

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Christopher Coe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Coe) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Coe?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.