David Galef jokes that he is a “ shamelessly eclectic ” writer , which is kind of like saying that Thomas Edison was ashamelessly eclectic inventor . Galef is prolific . By the time he graduated from college , he ’ dpublished adozen short stories , and he has since produced , among other works , three novels and as many story collections , two children ’ s books , three works of translations from Japanese , and a short-fiction textbook . Hehas reviewed books for The New York Times , written ahumor column for Inside Higher Education , and authored more than 100 essays in newspapers and magazines . And this is on top of his day job . Galef is an English literature professor , for the last 15 years at Montclair State University , where healso heads up the Creative Writing Program . “ I have had bright students who are often secondgeneration immigrants , the first in their family to go to college and who are working ajob or two ,” says Galef , who lives in Montclair with his wife , author and editor Beth Weinhouse . Ahalfdozen of his former students , he says , have published books themselves .
Here are 9things you should know about David Galef .
HIS FIRST CHOICE WAS TO BE A MATH MAJOR . Galef excelled in math at high school in Scarsdale , New York , and for his first couple years atPrinceton , thought he might get adegree in math . “ But beyond acertain point , there ’ s complex analysis and heavy abstract thinking ,” he says .“ Ihad areckoning early .” He says he loved literature , too , and decided to study itinstead .
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ALOT TO SAY At 17 , David Galef sold his first short story to apersonal computing magazine .
HIS FIRST TEACHING JOB WAS AT THE WORLD ’ S LARGEST SUPPLIER OF VITAMINC . In 1981 , before Galef was set to start law school , hegot atwomonth fellowship to participate in the Princeton inAsia program and teach at acorporate headquarters inOsaka , Japan . The experience changed his life , he says , and he sold his return ticket to stay abroad for ayear .“ On amountaintop in Rokko , Iapplied to grad school in English ,” hesays . His first book was a translated collection of Japanese proverbs .( Anovel based on his experiences , Turning Japanese , would come later .)
HE IS DRAWN TO WRITERSWITH ‘ STYLE TO BURN .’ Galef pursued a doctorate degree in Modern British
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Literature atColumbia University . Writers such as Virginia Woolf , James Joyce and T . S . Elliot “ could make even atrip to the supermarket an amazing read ,” hesays . His dissertation focused on minor yet indelible characters — think Fagin in Oliver Twist — and why readers can ’ t forget them .
WHEN GALEF GOTHIS FIRST PROFESSORSHIP , FRIENDSSAID ‘ YOU ’ RE GOING WHERE ?’ Tenuretrack jobs were scarce in 1989 , says Galef , and he was happy to land ajob as an English professor and MFA program coordinator at the University of Mississippi in Oxford . The town had been home tofabled authors William Faulkner , Willie Morris and Barry Hannah , and aprominent bookstore , Square Books , has a10,000-square-foot presence on the historic town square . But alot of his East Coast contemporaries , hesays , thought of Ole Miss ’ setting as the hinterlands , like the famous New Yorker cartoon by Steinberg , “ View of the World from 9th Avenue ,” which reduces the rest of the world to the size of three New York City blocks .
HE SAYS MSU IS ‘ ONE OF THE BEST- KEPT SECRETS AROUND HERE .’ Galef describes Montclair State , where hewas hired in 2008 to revitalize the creative writing program , as being “ a large state institution in acool artistic community , with sensational performing arts , and a lot going on .”
Students can take classes infiction , poetry , creative nonfiction , playwriting , food writing , and writing for young adults . Inthe classroom , Galef says he engages his students ’ self-interest . “ If I ’ m teaching abasic literature course ,
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COURTESY OF BETH WEINHOUSE |
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8 BACK TOSCHOOL 2023 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE |