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Jesse Donaldson
Visiting Assistant Professor

T.J. Day Hall, 311

jdonaldson@linfield.edu

Jesse Donaldson is the author of the novel, “The More They Disappear” (2016, St. Martin's Press), which was called 'soulful' by The New York Times and 'brilliant and perverse' by the Toronto Star, as well as the lyric essay “On Homesickness” (WVU Press, 2018), winner of 2018 Appalachian Heritage Award. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including The Oxford American, Gulf Coast and Little Star.

Jesse received his MFA in fiction and playwriting from The University of Texas, where he was a James A. Michener Fellow, and an MFA in nonfiction from Oregon State University, where he was a provost's fellow. He has also received fellowships from The Tin House and Bread Loaf Writers' Conferences.

Jesse's teaching philosophy, in his own words: “I strive to cultivate a creative and collaborative culture in my classrooms, a place where risk-taking is rewarded, where students are encouraged to explore the full range of their imaginations, and where we do much more perceiving than judging.”

Education

• BA, Kenyon College
• MFA, Michener Center for Writers, University of Texas
• MFA, Oregon State University

Academic interests

I'm interested in fiction that marries genre conventions (noir, mystery, western, fantasy) with literary aims (beautiful sentences, complex characters, non-didactic themes), as well as hybrid and experimental nonfiction, including the intersection of memoir and auto-fiction. Other interests include addiction narratives, linked short story collections and prose forms.

Publications

On Homesickness: A Plea. West Virginia University Press, 2018.

The More They Disappear: A Novel. St. Martin's Press, 2016.