Occupation mystery writer Nationality American | Name John Straley Role Poet | |
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Nominations Shamus Award for Best P. I. Hardcover Novel Books Cold Storage - Alaska, The Woman Who Marr, The big both ways, The curious eat themselves, Death and the language | ||
Poetry out loud every single day by john straley
John Straley is a poet and author of detective fiction. He currently resides in Sitka, Alaska.
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John straley fibular fracture
Biography
John Straley was born in Redwood City, California. He grew up in the Seattle area and attended high school in New York City. Straley trained, with encouragement from his parents, to be a horseshoer. He attended Grinnell College before transferring to the University of Washington for a degree in writing. After college and a stint in Eastern Washington, he followed his wife to Sitka, Alaska in 1977. After moving through a number of jobs he became a private investigator. In 1985, he became a staff investigator for the Alaska Public Defender's office in Sitka, a position he held until 2015. As an investigator, he continued to write. After being turned down by publishers numerous times, in 1991 he received a tip from friend and anthropologist Richard Nelson that New York City-based Soho Press was interested in detective fiction novels. Upon submitting his manuscript for The Woman Who Married a Bear, Soho Press expressed interest in his work. After a successful run of mysteries that has garnered critical acclaim, he is now looking outside of his trademark Cecil Younger series for future books.
During his presidency, Bill Clinton visited a bookstore and bought The Woman Who Married a Bear.
In 2006, he was named writer laureate for the State of Alaska; he served in that position until 2008.
In 2008, Alaska Northwest Books published Straley's The Big Both Ways, a historical fiction work based in the Pacific Northwest. Since then his work has been primarily in creating poetry.
In 2014, SOHO Press published Straley's latest book, Cold Storage, Alaska.