# Randall Silvis > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Randall_Silvis > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Randall_Silvis.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Silvis > Source revision: 1354709170 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|American novelist}} {{no footnotes|date=November 2018}} {{infobox writer |name=Randall Silvis |birth_place=[Madison Township, Clarion County, Pennsylvania](/source/Madison_Township%2C_Clarion_County%2C_Pennsylvania), U.S. |occupation={{flatlist| *Novelist *playwright *screenwriter *educator }} |nationality=American |alma_mater=[Clarion University](/source/Clarion_University)
[Indiana University of Pennsylvania](/source/Indiana_University_of_Pennsylvania) |awards=[Drue Heinz Literature Prize](/source/Drue_Heinz_Literature_Prize) (1984) }} '''Randall Silvis''' is an American [novelist](/source/novelist), [writer](/source/writer), [poet](/source/poet) and teacher of [creative writing](/source/creative_writing). ==Life== Born in [Madison Township](/source/Madison_Township%2C_Clarion_County%2C_Pennsylvania), [Clarion County](/source/Clarion_County), [Pennsylvania](/source/Pennsylvania), Silvis was educated at [Clarion University](/source/Clarion_University) and [Indiana University of Pennsylvania](/source/Indiana_University_of_Pennsylvania). In 2008, Silvis was awarded an honorary [Doctor of Letters](/source/Doctor_of_Letters) from Indiana University of Pennsylvania for "a sustained career of distinguished literary achievement."{{cite web |author= |title=BIO |url=https://www.randallsilvis.com/about-randall-silvis |website=randallsilvis |access-date=2026-02-13}} ==Awards== Silvis won the [Drue Heinz Literature Prize](/source/Drue_Heinz_Literature_Prize) in 1984 for his first book, ''The Luckiest Man in the World'', as selected by [Joyce Carol Oates](/source/Joyce_Carol_Oates). He is the recipient of two fellowships from the [National Endowment for the Arts](/source/National_Endowment_for_the_Arts) and a [Fulbright](/source/Fulbright) Senior Scholar Research Award, plus six fellowship awards from the [Pennsylvania Council on the Arts](/source/Pennsylvania_Council_on_the_Arts) for his fiction, drama, and screenwriting. His novels ''[An Occasional Hell](/source/An_Occasional_Hell)'' and ''Two Days Gone'' were finalists for the [Hammett Prize](/source/Hammett_Prize) for literary excellence in crime writing from the [International Association of Crime Writers](/source/International_Association_of_Crime_Writers), and two of his short stories were nominated for a [Pushcart Prize](/source/Pushcart_Prize). Other literary awards include: * “On Bluebird Lane”, First Place, The 2024 [Tennessee Williams Short Story Prize](/source/Tennessee_Williams_Short_Story_Prize) from the [Key West Art & Historical Society](/source/Key_West_Art_%26_Historical_Society) * Pabst Endowed Chair for Master Artists, [Atlantic Center for the Arts](/source/Atlantic_Center_for_the_Arts){{cite web |author= |title=Randall Silvis - Atlantic Center for the Arts |url=https://atlanticcenterforthearts.org/mentoring-artist/randall-silvis/ |website=Atlantic Center for the Arts |access-date=2026-02-13}} * [James Thurber](/source/James_Thurber) Writer-in-Residence, The Thurber House/[The Ohio State University](/source/The_Ohio_State_University){{cite web |author= |title=Thurber House - Past Thurber House Authors |url=https://www.thurberhouse.org/past-thurber-house-authors |website=Thurber House |access-date=2026-02-13}} * [Pittsburgh New Works Festival](/source/Pittsburgh_New_Works_Festival){{cite web |author= |title=1994 Pittsburgh New Works Festival |url=https://pittsburghnewworks.org/1994-pittsburgh-new-works-festival |website=Pittsburgh New Works Festival |access-date=2026-02-13}} * [Mercyhurst College](/source/Mercyhurst_College) Writer-in-Residence * [Ruby Lloyd Apsey](/source/Ruby_Lloyd_Apsey) Playwriting Award from the [University of Alabama at Birmingham](/source/University_of_Alabama_at_Birmingham) * [MacDowell Artists Colony](/source/MacDowell_(artists'_residency_and_workshop)) Fellowship{{cite web |author= |title=Randall Silvis - Artist - MacDowell |url=https://www.macdowell.org/artists/randall-silvis |website=MacDowell |access-date=2026-02-13}} == Books == * ''The Luckiest Man in the World'', short stories (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1984) * ''Excelsior'', novel (New York: Henry Holt, 1988) * ''Under the Rainbow'', novel (Sag Harbor: Permanent Press, 1993) * ''An Occasional Hell'', novel (Sag Harbor: Permanent Press, 1993) * ''[Dead Man Falling](/source/Dead_Man_Falling)'', novel (New York: Carroll & Graf, 1996) 2nd edition (Two Suns Books 2025) * ''Mysticus'', novel (Los Angeles: Wolfhawk Books, 1999) * ''On Night's Shore'', novel (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2000) * ''[Disquiet Heart](/source/Disquiet_Heart)'', novel (New York: St. Martin's Minotaur, 2002). Also published as ''Doubly Dead'', novel (2004) * ''North of Unknown: [Mina Hubbard](/source/Mina_Hubbard)'s Extraordinary Expedition into the Labrador Wilderness'', nonfiction (New York: The Lyons Press, 2005). Originally published as ''Heart So Hungry'' (Knopf Canada, 2004) * ''In a Town Called Mundomuerto'', novel (Omnidawn Books, 2007) * ''Hangtime, A Confession'', novel (Kitsune Books, 2009) * ''The Boy Who Shoots Crows'', novel (Penguin/Berkley, 2011) * ''Flying Fish'', novel (PS Publishing UK, 2012) * ''Blood & Ink'', e-book novel (Kindle Scout, 2015) paperback edition (Two Suns Books, 2025) * ''Two Days Gone'', novel (Sourcebooks, 2017) * ''Only the Rain'', novel (Thomas & Mercer, 2017) * ''Walking the Bones'', novel (Sourcebooks, 2018) * ''First the Thunder'', novel (Thomas & Mercer, 2018) * ''A Long Way Down'', novel (Sourcebooks, 2019) * ''Incident on Ten-Right Road'', short story collection (Riverdale Avenue Books, 2019) * ''No Woods So Dark as These'', novel (Sourcebooks, 2020) * ''My Secret Life'', short story collection (Two Suns Books, 2021) * ''From the Mirror, Reflections on Living, Writing, and Dying Well'', memoir (Two Suns Books, 2021) * ''Marguerite & the Moon Man'', novel (Amazon Vella, 2021) * ''When All Light Fails'', novel (Sourcebooks, 2021) * ''The Deepest Black'', novel (Sourcebooks, 2022) * ''Ten Easy Steps to Becoming a Writer'', nonfiction (Two Suns Books, 2024) * ''Finding Happiness in an Unhappy World'', nonfiction (Two Suns Books, 2025) * ''A Sunday Kind of Love, Vol. I The Poems'', (Two Suns Books, 2025) * ''A Sunday Kind of Love, Vol. II The Ballads'', (Two Suns Books, 2025) * ''Marguerite & the Moon Man'', novel (Two Suns Books, 2025) * ''The Ruin of Us All'', novel (Two Suns Books, 2025) * ''There Was a Crooked Man'', short stories (Two Suns Books, 2025) * ''Write My Name in Dust'', novel (Two Suns Books, 2025) * ''Hurt People'', short novel (Two Suns Books, 2025) == References == {{reflist}} * {{Official website|randallsilvis.com}} * {{YouTube|handle=authorrandallsilvis8613}} * ''Contemporary Authors Online''. The Gale Group, 2006. PEN (Permanent Entry Number): 0000091276. {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Silvis, Randall}} Category:1950 births Category:Living people Category:Writers from Pittsburgh Category:American male novelists Category:Novelists from Pennsylvania Category:People from Clarion County, Pennsylvania Category:PennWest Clarion alumni --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Randall Silvis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Silvis) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Silvis?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.