John Michael Cummings, writer and editor

I'm the author of three novels, two novellas, and more than one hundred short stories. My debut novel, The Night I Freed John Brown (Penguin Group, 2008), won The Paterson Prize for Books for Young People and was selected for Black History Month by USA Today. Ugly To Start With (West Virginia University Press, 2011) was a finalist in the Foreword INDIES Book of Year Award. Don't Forget Me, Bro (Stephen F. Austin University Press, 2016) was widely excerpted in the Chicago Tribune. My nonfiction has been published by New York Daily News, The Providence Journal, The Charleston Gazette-Mail, The Orlando Sentinel, and The Newark Star-Ledger. My short stories have appeared in Kenyon Review, North American Review, and The Iowa Review. I was a finalist in the Miami University Novella Contest, a semi-finalist in the Winnow Press 2004 First Book Award for Fiction, was twice-nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and received an Honorable Mention in The Best American Short Stories series. I taught English at Seminole State College of Florida and wrote business news for the Fairfax Times and alternative news for the Utne Reader. I hold a BA in studio arts and graphic design from George Mason University and an MFA in creative writing from University of Central Florida.

My short story collection The Spirit In My Shoes was recently published by Cornerstone Press/University of Wisconsin.

Recent articles and interviews about The Spirit In My Shoes:

Frederick News-Post: https://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/a...

Talk Radio WRNR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1gNt3yGDbY

Orlando Sentinel: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2024/02/...

Charleston Gazette-Mail: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/op...

The Panhandle News Network | WEPM & WCST : https://open.spotify.com/show/6tn2ALoX1O...

The Journal: https://www.journal-news.net/journal-new...

The Spirit of Jefferson: https://www.journal-news.net/journal-new...  

The Shepherdstown Cronicle: Coming apart where two rivers join

Excerpt of "We Never Liked Them Anyway":

The first time I saw Mike, I loved him the way my mother loved his father. From my window, I had been watching him run the Stone Steps near the church. There were 68 steps from bottom to top. He ran them half a dozen times without stopping. Then he came into our backyard, gulped from our water hose for the longest while, and let out a belch that came clear through the three-foot stone walls of our house.

My mother looked around and said, “What was that?”

Later, he came to our door and said he needed me as weight on his back. He was going to carry a 110-pound barbell—the whole Montgomery Ward weight set—up and down the Stone Steps, and he needed extra weight to make it a challenge. All the way up and down, as I clung to his sweaty back and he stumbled over the steps and tourists gawked and pointed, he burst out laughing at how crazy we must have looked. I thought that was the coolest, how he could work so hard at something but take it lightly, too. Even while he was wheezing like a horse, nearly dying, it was funny to him how he appeared to others. I had never seen that in a person ~ 

WRITING SAMPLES

  novel excerpt with audio Don't Forget Me, Bro (Chicago Tribune)                https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertain...         

  short story "Marshmallow People" (The Kenyon Review)                                                              https://kenyonreview.org/writer/john-mic...                                         

  essay "Rebellious hearts, in black and white" (The Providence Journal)     https://www.providencejournal.com/story/...

  op-ed "We are mere mortals, masked" (Newark Star-Ledger)                                                https://www.nj.com/opinion/2020/07/we-ar...      

 news article (Utne Reader)                                                                                                               https://www.utne.com/arts/derriere-garde...      

INTERVIEWS & ARTICLES

  feature story (The Spirit of Jefferson)  https://www.spiritofjefferson.com/news/a...

  feature story (The Fairfax County Times)                                                                              https://www.fairfaxtimes.com/articles/ge...   83cb3e997ada.html

  author profile (The Literary Review)                                                                                                https://www.theliteraryreview.org/book-r...      

  author profile (The Washington Informer)                                                                           https://www.washingtoninformer.com/from-...

 radio interview, Author2Author                                                                                                  https://www.blogtalkradio.com/author-mag...

book review (The Philadelphia Inquirer)                https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertai...                                                                                                                                                             

BIBLIOGRAPHY                                             

  Short stories in print journals:

1. "The Reaction," Providence Magazine, Spring 1991
2. "Electric Church," Portland Monthly Magazine, Summerguide 1991
3. "The Local," Wisconsin Review, Vol. 26, No. 1, 1991
4. "The Commercial," Colorado North Review, Vol. XXXIV, No. 1, 1992
5. "Missing," Alaska Quarterly Review, Volume 10, Spring & Summer 1992
6. "Foldaway Bed," Portland Monthly Magazine, September 1992
7. "Postcard from Newport," Providence Magazine, Fall 1992
8. "Like Apes," Berkeley Fiction Review, No. 11, 1992
9. "Detour," The Maryland Review, Vol. 5, Winter/Spring 1992-1993, No. 1
10. "Their Beloved Brimful Bubble Baths," Catalyst, Issue No. 13, 1993
11. "Pictures," Outerbridge, No. 24, 1993
12. "Memory of Distant Friends," Sun Dog: The Southeast Review, Vol. 13, No. 2 1993
13. "Our Favorite Postal Clerk," Half Tones To Jubilee, No. 8, Fall 1993
14. "Shadowbox," Painted Bride Quarterly, No. 52, 1993
15. "Androgyny," Flipside, Winter 1993
16. "Short Lives," Hudson Valley Echoes, A National Journal of Prose, No. 31, 1993/94
17. "Marriage," Berkeley Fiction Review, No. 14, 1993-1994
18. "Tribe," Buffalo Spree Magazine, Summer 1994
19. "Boys and Men," Pearl, A Literary Magazine, No. 21, 1994
20. "Tummies," Oregon East, Vol. 25, 1994
21. "Lady in the Park," RE: Arts and Letters, Vol. XX, No. 2 1995
22. "Quirks," Kansas Quarterly/Arkansas Review, Vol. 26, Numbers 1-4 1996
23. "The Houseplant Generation," Kansas Quarterly/Arkansas Review, Vol. 26 (reprint)
24. "Strangers," The Distillery: Artistic Spirits of the South, Spring 1998
25. *Nominated for The Pushcart Prize
26. "The Boyfriend," Skylark, No. 17 1999
27. “Everyday Exile," Oregon English Journal, Spring 2000
28. “Quiet Ambulances,” Blue Mesa Review, Summer 2000
29. “The Last Sailor,” The MacGuffin, Summer 2000, Vol. 17.2
30. "Every Living Thing," Westview, A Journal of Western Oklahoma, Summer 2000
31. "The Trouble with Impressions," Westview, A Journal of Western Oklahoma, 2001
32. “Fourteen Seconds,” The North American Review, 2001
33. “Mountains and Seas,” Sou’wester, 2001
34. “Salon,” The Baltimore Review, Summer 2001
35. “Hurricane,” Oregon English Journal, 2001
36. "Genetic Drift," Eureka Literary Magazine, Vol. 10, No. 2, Spring 2002
37. "mindedness under a daytime moon," Many Mountains Moving, 12th Issue 2002
38. “Second Impressions,” Spindrift, 2002
39. “Little Funeral,” Schuylkil, Fall 2002, Vol. 5, No. 2l
40. “Deedee,” North Atlantic Review, 2002/2003, No. 14
41. “Ugly To Start With,” The Bitter Oleander Press, 2003, Vol. 9, No. 1
42. “Overnight,” The New Laurel Review, 2003, Vol. 22
43. “Harpers Ferry,” novel excerpt, Puckerbrush Review, Winter/Spring 2003, double issue
44. “Carter,” Passager, 2003, Issue 37
45. “The Fence,” novel excerpt, Confrontation, No. 82/83 Spring/Summer 2003
46. “Stainless Steel,” Pangolin Papers, Summer 2003, Vol. 10, No. 1
47. “Neighbors,” Louisiana Literature, fall/winter 2003, Vol. 20, No. 2
48. “Taking Shortcuts,” The Hurricane Review, Fall 2003
49. “Vineyards in a Far-off Land,” Phantasmagoria, 2003, Vol. 3, No.1
50. “Clemency and Other Achievements,” Green’s Magazine, Winter 2003, Vol. 31, No. 2
51. “The World Around Us,” Northwords, Fall 2003, Issue 32
52. “Two Tunes,” novel excerpt, Rosebud, 2003, Issue 28
53. “Harpers Ferry,” AIM, fall 2003, Vol. 30, No. 3
54. “Crows and Sparrows,” GW Review, Fall 2003, Vol. XXV, No. 1
55. “Brothers,” Northwoods Journal, Fall 2003
56. “Family Sculpture,” Tears in the Fence, Issue 37
57. “The Gun Wall,” North Dakota Quarterly, 2003
58. “Creating Impressions,” Talking River Review, No. 19
59. “Rising to the Occasion,” South Dakota Review, Winter 2004
60. “Barfy the Dog,” Old Red Kimono, Spring 2004
61. “We Never Liked Them Anyway,” Concho River Review, Vol. 18, No. 2
62. “Getting the Facts Straight,” Illuminations, Issue 20
63. “The Scratchboard Project,” The Iowa Review, Vol. 36, No. 1, 2006
64. *Nominated for The Pushcart Prize
65. *Received honorable mention in The Best American Short Stories 2007
66. “Marshmallow People,” The Kenyon Review, Winter 2008, Vol. XXX, No.1
67. “Treasure Hunt,” The Chattahoochee Review, Winter 2007, Vol. XXVII, No.2
68. “Murdering,” Snake Nation Review, Issue 22
69. “Self-Portrait,” Oyez Review, Spring 2008
70. “Hearts and Gravestones,” Superstition Review, Issue 1
71. “Bill the Lottery God,” Natural Bridge, Spring 2008

  Short stories in online journals:

1. “The Best Mark of a Man,” Kennesaw Review, Spring 2003
2. “The Shack,” In Posse Review, Issue 15
3. “Always Time,” Dotlit, vol. 4, Issue 2, Nov. 2003
4. “My Pretend Monster,” Xconnect, Issue 21
5. “An Unlikely Alliance,” Archipelago, Vol. 8, No. 1 Spring 2004
6. “Chimney Rock,” Epiphany,” Fall 2004
7. “The Wallet,” Salt River Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, Fall 2004
8. “Generations,” Stirring: A Literary Collection, Vol. 9, Edition 2, 2007
9. “Sergeant Perry and the Roaring Woodworker,” The Pedestal Magazine, Issue 38
10. “Eminent Domain,” Guernica: A Magazine of Art and Politics, March 2007
11. “Mother’s Milk,” 3:AM Magazine, posted 3/10/2007
12. “Mountain Wake,” The Foliate Oak, April 2007, Vol. 2, Issue 4
13. “Alone,” The Scruffy Dog Review, Spring 2007
14. "Paradise Lost,” LitBits, May 2007
15. “Gestures of an Unhappy Generation,” The Angler, July 2007
16. “Renting,” Terrain.org, No. 20, Summer/Fall 2007
17. “The Cannon,” Avatar Review, Issue 9, Summer 2007
18. “Indians and Teddy Bears Were Here First,” The Cortland Review, August 2007
19. “Unsealing the Tomb,” The Stickman Review, Vol.6, No. 2
20. “Ninth Grade,” Hobart: Another Literary Journal, Spring 2008

  Essays and nonfiction: 

1. “2.5 Children Are Better Than None,” Palo Alto Review, Spring 1998
2. “The Derriere Garde,” Utne Reader, Feb. 1998
3. “The Truth About Video Games and, for that matter, Vision,” Pacific Review, No. 8
4. “Why Men Would Become Pregnant,” Garnet, Fall 1998
5. “The Spirit in My Shoes,” ACM (Another Chicago Magazine), No. 38
6. “Shrinking the World,” Rockford Review, Winter 2001
7. “Bulletin for the Buried,” Tirra Lirra, Vol.13, No. 3, Fall 2003
8. “Silver Balloons,” Identity Theory, Feb. 2003
9. “Meteorology of the Mind,” Eleventh Transmission, April 2007, Issue 11
10. "Visiting My Dead Friend,” The Barcelona Review, Issue 31, July – August 2002