Adam Ross
Photo: Annette Hornischer

Writer; Editor, The Sewanee Review, Tennessee

Mary Ellen von der Heyden Fellow in Fiction - Class of Fall 2014

Born and raised in New York City, Adam Ross relocated in 1995 with his family to Nashville. He holds a MFA from Washington University (1994), an MA in creative writing from Hollins University (1992), and BA in English from Vassar College (1989). His debut novel, Mr. Peanut (Knopf, 2010), a New York Times Notable Book and published in 16 countries, was named one of the best books of the year by the New Yorker, Philadelphia Inquirer, New Republic, and the Economist. Ross’s story collection Ladies and Gentlemen (Knopf, 2011) was one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2011 and included “In the Basement,” a finalist for the BBC’s International Story Award. His fiction has also appeared in the Carolina Quarterly, Sunday Times of London, and FiveChapters. Ross was a Hodder Fellow at Princeton University for the academic year 2013-2014. In February 2016, Ross became the editor of the Sewanee Review, the longest running literary magazine in the United States.

 

As writer for the Nashville Scene from 1999 to 2003, Ross covered the city’s local oddballs and off-kilter luminaries, as well as books and film. His nonfiction has also been featured in the New York Times Book Review, Daily Beast, Tin House, and the Wall Street Journal. Ross has worked as writer and producer for the short comedy-film Trickle, which won the 1999 American Independent Film Festival, Blue Sky, and South Beach film festivals.

Project Description

Playworld – A Novel

At the Academy, Adam Ross was writing his next novel, “Playworld,” which draws on his experiences as a child actor. Ross calls this work a Bildungsroman, set in Manhattan from the beginning in fall of 1980, just before Jimmy Carter loses his re-election bid to Ronald Reagan, to November 1999, immediately before the dot-com bubble burst. Ross writes, ‘“Playworld’ tells the story of Griffin Hurt, a child actor who finds himself surrounded by adult children—by adult actors who are wittingly or unwittingly borrowing against his emotional future, who are so indulgently at play that they function as terrible role models. ‘Playworld’ describes Griffin’s formative years in show business and their aftermath. Growing up in the age of an actor president, Griffin spends most of his adult life after quitting professional acting trying to find a role to play.”

Academy Activities

25 Sep 14

Playworld

Adam Ross, Mary Ellen von der Heyden Fellow in the fall 2014, gives a captivating reading of his novel in progress, “Playworld”, which draws on his experiences as a child actor. Ross calls this work a Bildungsroman, set in Manhattan from the beginning in fall of 1980, just before Jimmy C ...

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