7/1/22: Just in time for the Fourth of July, I've got a new story (featuring a drunken father shooting off fireworks, no less!), "O'er the Ramparts," in Cutleaf. Many thanks to the editors!
10/16/21: My good friend and colleague, Rosalie Moffett, and I gave the Keynote Address at the 86th Annual Indiana College English Association Conference. Due to Covid, the ICEA conference was held virtually, but it was an honor nonetheless.
3/25/21: Yesterday, I gave a talk, with my MFA mentor, Darren DeFrain, called "Creative Writing Matters," for a stellar group of students and faculty at Arabian Gulf University in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It was a webinar, and though we had to give the talk at 6:00 am CST to make it work, it was a fantastic experience totally worth it.
9/1/20: My story story, "And Sometimes Come to Regret," is forthcoming in next spring's All Missouri issue of The Laurel Review. I'm honored to have my work featured again in such a great journal!
8/10/20: My essay, "Trespassing," is forthcoming in Sport Literate. I'm so happy this one found a home where it did.
5/1/20: Some good news during this trying time...my essay, "Cahokia, Summer 2017," is forthcoming in South Dakota Review, Volume 55 Nos. 1 & 2. I'm thrilled to have work in a journal with such a storied history.
12/6/19: A couple weeks ago, I gave a lecture called "Winning in Writing: Approaches to Drafting a Novel," for USI's College of Liberal Arts Faculty Colloquium. I talked about the research I've done for my novel-in-progress, a project that was made possible in part by the Indiana Arts Commission, which receives support from the State of Indiana and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The lecture was recorded, so if you are interested, you can watch it below (from the angle of the camera, it looks like only one person was in attendance...I promise there were a few more people there).
The lecture was recorded, so if you are interested, you can watch it below (from the angle of the camera, it looks like only one person was in attendance...I promise there were a few more people there).
9/9/19: Some end of summer news...I had two essays published this summer: "Fear Fact(or), Fear Fiction" in Eckleburg Review and "About My Dog, Though" in The Laurel Review 52.1. I also had a short story, "Remittance," accepted for publication by Exit 7. That one will be in their next issue.
Finally, I received an Indiana Arts Commission Individual Advancement Program Grant to work on a novel-in-progress. I'm incredibly grateful for the support.
Finally, I received an Indiana Arts Commission Individual Advancement Program Grant to work on a novel-in-progress. I'm incredibly grateful for the support.
12/19/18: Check out my essay, "On Being Red Assed," in BULL: Men's Fiction. It's about baseball, potential, failure, and how I once started a double play with my face! Enjoy...
8/1/18: I appeared on TV (again!?), this time for Evansville's Channel 44 Book Club. The link to the video is here.
7/30/18: I found out The Spoils was named a finalist in the Short Story category for the 2018 American Fiction Awards. Congrats to the winner, Lee Conell for her collection, Subcortical. All the finalists and winners can be found here.
5/29/18: This morning I appeared on our WEHT's "Local Lifestyle" program to promote The Spoils and my upcoming reading at the 2018 Arts in Harmony Festival (June 2-3, New Harmony, Indiana). I'd never done anything on TV before, so it was a cool experience. The link to the video is here.
4/8/18: The Spoils was a finalist for the Midwest Independent Publishing Association's 28th Annual Midwest Book Awards - Fiction/Short Story Category. Though it didn't win, it was honor to be among such great writers.
12/11/17: The Spoils appeared on this year's 35 Over 35 list!
6/19/17: Michele Hoover wrote a really thoughtful review of The Spoils in Necessary Fiction.
6/19/17: Michele Hoover wrote a really thoughtful review of The Spoils in Necessary Fiction.
5/9/17: The Lincoln Journal Star published a great review of The Spoils this past Sunday (May 7th).
A couple excerpts:
"The stories in "The Spoils" primarily concern Midwestern men, navigating imperfect relationships as husbands or fathers, searching for self-worth in their various careers, and struggling with grief, loneliness and masculinity....We glimpse these characters making decisions — both good and bad — and dealing with the consequences — mostly bad. Pycior reminds us with insight and empathy that while we are all broken in different ways, we are all broken."
"The characters in one story question the value of communal mourning, while the men in other stories struggle with the weight of loneliness and isolated grief. Different fathers deal with different failures, but the spoils are the same in all their wars."
"The stories contain passing references to both the Drive-By Truckers and Tom Waits, which is certainly fitting for Pycior’s tone and gritty lyricism. With the right melody and catchy guitar riff, The Spoils could easily work as an excellent album by either artist."
The full review is here.
A couple excerpts:
"The stories in "The Spoils" primarily concern Midwestern men, navigating imperfect relationships as husbands or fathers, searching for self-worth in their various careers, and struggling with grief, loneliness and masculinity....We glimpse these characters making decisions — both good and bad — and dealing with the consequences — mostly bad. Pycior reminds us with insight and empathy that while we are all broken in different ways, we are all broken."
"The characters in one story question the value of communal mourning, while the men in other stories struggle with the weight of loneliness and isolated grief. Different fathers deal with different failures, but the spoils are the same in all their wars."
"The stories contain passing references to both the Drive-By Truckers and Tom Waits, which is certainly fitting for Pycior’s tone and gritty lyricism. With the right melody and catchy guitar riff, The Spoils could easily work as an excellent album by either artist."
The full review is here.
3/29/17: I want to thank Kate Rattenborg and Kate Scott at Dragonfly Books in Decorah, Iowa, for hosting my reading last week. It was a lot of fun, and I met some very nice people. Dragonfly Books is a great store, so if you are ever in Northeastern Iowa, do yourself a favor and stop in.
Here a couple pictures from the reading (thanks to Kate Scott for sharing):
Here a couple pictures from the reading (thanks to Kate Scott for sharing):
3/24/17: I had a great time reading at the University of Dubuque's Lit Live! event last night. A big thanks goes to Matt Muilenburg for inviting me and setting everything up, and it was great fun talking with the wonderful students in his Fiction Writing class. Here are a few pics from the event:
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3/21/17: Keith Lesmeister recently interviewed me for his blog, Life as a Shorty. He asked some great questions about my writing process and about how fatherhood, sports, and living in the Midwest has influenced my writing. Check it out!
3/15/17: The Spoils has officially been released into the wild...
Thanks to everyone at Switchgrass Books for all their hard work and dedication. Thanks, too, to everyone who has already bought copies of my book. I hope you enjoy it!
I've got several readings in the next few weeks--check my Events page for specifics--and along the way I'll provide updates.
Thanks to everyone at Switchgrass Books for all their hard work and dedication. Thanks, too, to everyone who has already bought copies of my book. I hope you enjoy it!
I've got several readings in the next few weeks--check my Events page for specifics--and along the way I'll provide updates.
12/3/16: The cover art of my debut collection, The Spoils, is finished and it looks amazing. A big thank you to Yuni Dorr and the rest of the folks at Switchgrass for designing such an great cover.
The release date for the book has also been set: March 15, 2017. I'll post more information as the date gets closer. Stay tuned...
The release date for the book has also been set: March 15, 2017. I'll post more information as the date gets closer. Stay tuned...
