Aaron Hamburger
Office Location
Phone
Academic Degrees
- MFA, Columbia University 2001
- BA, University of Michigan 1995
Profile
Aaron Hamburger is the author of a story collection titled THE VIEW FROM STALIN’S HEAD which was awarded the Rome Prize by the American Academy of Arts and Letters and nominated for a Violet Quill Award. He has also written three novels: FAITH FOR BEGINNERS, nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, NIRVANA IS HERE, winner of a Bronze Medal from the 2019 Foreword Reviews Indies Book Awards, and HOTEL CUBA, due out from Harper Perennial in 2023.
His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Village Voice, Tin House, Michigan Quarterly Review, Subtropics, Crazyhorse, Boulevard, Poets & Writers, Tablet, O, the Oprah Magazine, Out, The Bennington Review, Nerve, Time Out, Details, and The Forward. He has also won fellowships from Yaddo, Djerassi, the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and the Edward F. Albee Foundation as well as first prize in the Dornstein Contest for Young Jewish Writers, and his short fiction and creative non-fiction have received special mentions in the Pushcart Prizes.
He has taught creative writing at Columbia University, the George Washington University, New York University, Brooklyn College, and the Stonecoast MFA Program.
Areas of Scholarship
Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction, Travel Writing, Food Writing, LGBTQ Issues
Recent Publications
“Day School Bullies,” creative non-fiction piece in Tablet Magazine.
“Beauty Mark,” an ode to the beauty of the comma in O, the Oprah Magazine.
“Lessons I Learned in Writing My #Metoo Story,” essay about writing a #metoo story as both fiction and creative non-fiction, in Submittable.
“Refugees,” short story, Bennington Review
“Yes, Kurt Cobain was a Grunge Icon. He was also a Gay Rights Hero" essay, The Washington Post
“Sweetness Mattered,” personal essay, Tin House
“My Grandmother, the Undocumented Immigrant,” personal essay, Tablet Magazine
“Guiltless Pleasures,” short story, Crazyhorse
"Dynasty II: The Colbys," essay, Soap Opera Confidential
“On Jacob Dinezon’s Memories and Scenes,” literary essay, Tin House
Review of Garth Greenwell’s What Belongs to You, The New York Times Book Review
Presentations
Outwrite Literary Festival, Washington, DC
Saints & Sinners Literary Festival, New Orleans
AWP, Boston
New York University
Columbia University
National Arts Club, New York
Politics & Prose Bookstore, Washington, DC
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Creative Activity
Currently researching and working on a novel about the Jewish immigrant community in Havana, Cuba in the early 1920s.
Awards and Recognition
Bronze Medal in 2019 Foreword Indies Awards Fellowship, DC Arts Commission on the Arts and Humanities
Pushcart Prize Nominee
Djerassi Resident Artists Program: Residency
The Corporation of Yaddo: Residency Civitella Ranieri Foundation: Civitella Ranieri Fellowship, Umbria, Italy
Rome Prize Fellowship in Literature, American Academy of Arts and Letters, American Academy in Rome,
Violet Quill Nominee for Best New Fiction
Lambda Literary Award Nominee
Edward F. Albee Foundation: Fellowship
Professional Activity
PEN American Center, New York City, NY
Served on membership committee (2008-2012), volunteer blogger for PEN World Voices Festival.
Lambda Literary Foundation, New York City, NY
Volunteered as a judge of Best New Fiction Awards (2010)
Saint and Sinners Literary Festival, New Orleans, LA
Taught seminars for a literary festival fundraiser to combat HIV/AIDS. Served on Advisory Board. (2004-2011)
MEMBER
PEN American Center, The Association of Writers & Writing Programs, Lambda Literary Foundation