Faculty Directory
William J. Cobb
Professor of English
Contact:
30 Burrowes Building
University Park, PA 16802
Office Phone: 814-865-6420
wjc7@psu.edu
Office Hours:
Tuesday/ Thursday 10-12 and Wednesday 2-3
Educational History:
Ph.D. University of Houston
M.A. University of Texas
B.A. Texas State University at San Marcos
Research Interests:
Fiction writing, contemporary fiction, international literature, particularly
Latin American
Awards:
The Jesse Jones Award of the Dobie-Paisano Fellowship, sponsored by the
University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Institute of Letters, which
includes a $12,000 stipend and a six-month residency on the former ranch home
of J. Frank Dobie. Spring 2004.
The Frank OConnor Award, for the short story What Happens to Rain?, judged
the best work of fiction in descant in 2001-2002, July 2002.
Winner of Ohio State University Presss Sandstone Prize 2002, for the book of
short stories The White Tattoo, an award which includes publication of The
White Tattoo by the press in both hardcover and paperback.
When We Were Cool chosen as part of the Texas Bound project, a series of
readings by actors of fiction by Texas writers, sponsored by the Dallas Museum
of Fine Arts. The story was read in February 2000.
The Fire Eaters chosen as one of the Best Books of 1994 by Texas Monthly.
Texas Institute of Letters Brazos Bookstore Award for the Best Short Story of
1994, 1995.
Texas Institute of Letters Brazos Bookstore Award, 1993 for the Best Short Story
of 1992.
National Endowment for the Arts grant, fiction, 1992.
Associated Writing Programs Award for the novel, 1992.
Major Publications:
Goodnight, Texas. Novel. Denver, Co: Unbridled Books. Forthcoming 2006.
The Fire Eaters . Novel. New York: W.W. Norton. 1994. 316 pages.
The White Tattoo . Short stories. Columbus, Oh: Ohio State UP. 2002. 228 pages.
Books in Progress:
The Birdist. Novel.
What Happened to Rain? Short stories.
Other Publications:
On the Decline of Sparrows. The Antioch Review. Yellow Springs, OH. Summer
2005. Vol. 63, No. 3. 414-428.
The Ice Road. New Letters. Kansas City, MO. Vol. 70, Nos. 3-4. Fall 2004.
206-211.
Because the Sea Horse. Descant. Ft. Worth, TX. Vol. 43. Spring/Summer 2004.
101-109.
The Taste of Salt. Clackamas Literary Review. Corvallis, OR. Spring/Summer
2003. Vol. VII. Issue I. 162-169.
The Next Worst Thing. Cutbank. Great Falls, MT. Vol. 59: Spring 2003. 51-66.
The Queen of Fruit Cocktail. The Antioch Review. Yellow Springs, OH. Vol. 61,
No. 1. Winter 2003. 27-43.
We Miss You Already. The Oklahoma Review. Cameron, OK. Winter 2002. Vol. 3,
No. 2. 1-10.
What Happens to Rain? Descant. Ft. Worth, TX. Vol. 41. Fall 2002. 1-10.
Dark Matter. Natural Bridge. St. Louis, MO. No. 6, Fall 2001. 94-113.
The Decline of King Fabulous. Clackamas Literary Review. Corvallis, OR.
Fall/Winter 2001. Vol. V/II. 116-130.
When We Were Cool. Texas Bound. Vol. 4. Dallas: SMU Press. Spring 2001.
This Whatever We Have. Gulf Coast. Houston, TX. Vol. 12, No. 1. Spring/Summer
2000. 224-238.
Theres Nothing the Matter With Gwen. The Antioch Review. Yellow Springs, OH.
Vol. 58, No. 1. Winter 2000. 99-114.
