# Tony Earley > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tony_Earley > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tony_Earley.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Earley > Source revision: 1342532114 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Tony Earley** (born 1961) is an American novelist and short story writer. He was born in [San Antonio](/source/San_Antonio), [Texas](/source/Texas), but grew up in [North Carolina](/source/North_Carolina). His stories are often set in North Carolina.[1][2] Earley studied English at [Warren Wilson College](/source/Warren_Wilson_College) and after graduation in 1983, he spent four years as a reporter in North Carolina, first as a general assignment reporter for *The Thermal Belt News Journal* in [Columbus, North Carolina](/source/Columbus,_North_Carolina), and then as sports editor and feature writer at *[The Daily Courier](/source/The_Daily_Courier_(North_Carolina))* in [Forest City, North Carolina](/source/Forest_City,_North_Carolina). Later he attended the [University of Alabama](/source/University_of_Alabama) in [Tuscaloosa](/source/Tuscaloosa,_Alabama), where he received an MFA in creative writing.[3] He quickly found success writing short stories, first with smaller literary magazines, then with *[Harper's Magazine](/source/Harper's_Magazine)*, which published two of his stories: "Charlotte" in 1992 and "The Prophet From Jupiter" in 1993. The latter story earned *Harper's* a [National Magazine Award](/source/National_Magazine_Awards) for Fiction in 1994.[4] In 1996, Earley's short stories earned him a place on *[Granta](/source/Granta)'*s list of the "[Best of Young American Novelists](/source/Granta#Granta_Best_of_Young_American_Novelists)", and shortly after that announcement, *[The New Yorker](/source/The_New_Yorker)* featured him in an issue that focused on the best new novelists in America.[5] He has twice been included in the annual *[The Best American Short Stories](/source/The_Best_American_Short_Stories)* anthology. His writing style has been compared by critics to writers as distant as a young [Ernest Hemingway](/source/Ernest_Hemingway) and [E. B. White](/source/E._B._White). One of his favorite writers is [Willa Cather](/source/Willa_Cather).[6] On May 15, 2010 Earley gave a humorous [commencement speech](/source/Commencement_speech) at [Warren Wilson College](/source/Warren_Wilson_College).[7] He was inducted into the [Fellowship of Southern Writers](/source/Fellowship_of_Southern_Writers) in 2010.[8] He lives with his wife and two daughters in [Nashville](/source/Nashville,_Tennessee), Tennessee, where he is the Samuel Milton Fleming Professor of English at [Vanderbilt University](/source/Vanderbilt_University).[9] ## Prizes Year Work Award Category Result Ref Here We Are in Paradise International Dublin Literary Award — 1997 "The Paperhanger" O Henry Award — 2000 Jim the Boy Booklist Editor's Choice Adult Books for Young Adults 2001 Southern Book Prize — 2002 Alabama Author Award Juvenile ## Bibliography ### *Jim the Boy* series of novels - *[Jim the Boy](/source/Jim_the_Boy)* (2000, Little Brown) - *The Blue Star* (2008, Little Brown) ### Collections - *Here We Are in Paradise* (1994) - *Mr. Tall* (2014) ### Essays and reporting - *Somehow form a Family: Stories That Are Mostly True* (2001) - Earley, Tony (December 3, 2012). ["Nighthawk"](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/12/03/nighthawk). *[The New Yorker](/source/The_New_Yorker)*. Vol. 88, no. 38. pp. 82–83. Retrieved 2014-12-24. ### Short stories - "Backpack" in *[The New Yorker](/source/The_New_Yorker)* (2018)[\[1\]](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/11/05/backpack) - "The Prophet from Jupiter" in *[Harper's](/source/Harper's_Magazine)* [\[2\]](https://harpers.org/archive/1993/01/the-prophet-from-jupiter/) - "Place of Safety" in *Harper's* [\[3\]](https://harpers.org/archive/2021/08/place-of-safety-tony-earley/) ### Speeches and interviews - *Commencement at Warren Wilson College: A great class hears a great address* (2010) - Audio Interview with Bill Goldstein for *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)* (2000)[\[4\]](https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/00/06/11/specials/earley.html) - Interview with [Deborah Treisman](/source/Deborah_Treisman) for *The New Yorker* (2018)[\[5\]](https://www.newyorker.com/books/this-week-in-fiction/tony-earley-11-05-18) ## References 1. Goldstein, Bill (June 11, 2000). ["An Interview With Tony Earley"](https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/06/11/specials/earley.html). *[New York Times](/source/New_York_Times)*. Retrieved May 28, 2011. 1. Turow, Scott (March 9, 2008). ["WHEN HE WAS 17"](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/books/review/Turow-t.html). *The New York Times*. p. 1. Retrieved May 28, 2011. 1. England, Beverly Keel, photos by Eric (1999-09-30). ["Rising Earley"](https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/rising-earley/article_510cd417-6489-5c63-b304-c05514448666.html). *Nashville Scene*. Retrieved 2026-01-01. 1. ["Harper's and Health Lead National Magazine Awards"](http://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/21/garden/harper-s-and-health-lead-national-magazine-awards.html). [Archived](http://web.archive.org/web/20160914162811/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/21/garden/harper-s-and-health-lead-national-magazine-awards.html) 2016-09-14 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-01-01. 1. ["Granta 54: Best of Young American Novelists"](https://granta.com/products/granta-54-best-of-young-american-novelists/). *Granta*. Retrieved 2026-01-01. 1. ["Tony Earley Interview (Jim the Boy) - Identity Theory"](https://www.identitytheory.com/tony-earley/). *www.identitytheory.com*. 2001-12-06. Retrieved 2026-01-01. 1. Warren Wilson College (2010-06-14). [*Tony Earley - 2010 Warren Wilson College Commencement Speech (partial)*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoB72plJyPU). Retrieved 2026-01-01. – via YouTube. 1. Chapter 16 (2010-11-23). ["A Good Writer and a Good Fellow"](https://chapter16.org/a-good-writer-and-a-good-fellow/). Retrieved 2026-01-01. 1. ["Bio"](https://as.vanderbilt.edu/english/bio/). *Vanderbilt University*. Retrieved 2026-01-01. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tony Earley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Earley) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Earley?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.