Brian Evenson

Since 2016 he has taught in the School of Critical Studies at the California Institute of the Arts, both in the Creative Writing MFA program and in the Aesthetics and Politics MA Program.

Brian Evenson studied at Brigham Young University. The recorded working language is English and French. Employment is recorded with Brown University, Brigham Young University and California Institute of the Arts. Works named in the authority record are Father of Lies, Immobility, Last Days and The Warren. Distinctions recorded are Guggenheim Fellowship and World Fantasy Award for Best Collection.

• Name — Brian Evenson • Born — 12 August 1966 • Birthplace — Ames, Iowa, U.S. • Pen Name — B. K. Evenson • Occupation — Novelist, professor • Education — Brigham Young University (BA) University of Washington (MA, PhD) • Genre — Literary fiction, popular fiction • Notable Works — Father of Lies Last Days Song for the Unraveling of the World • Awards — Guggenheim Fellowship, 2017 • Spouse — Kristen Tracy • Children — 3

Brian Evenson was born August 12, 1966, in Ames, Iowa. His father, William Evenson, was a longtime professor of physics at Brigham Young University (BYU) and later an administrator there. As a young man, Brian Evenson served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in France and Switzerland. He received degrees from BYU (BA) and the University of Washington (MA and PhD). After leaving a teaching position at BYU, he held positions at Oklahoma State University, Syracuse University, and the University of Denver before being hired at Brown University. He was Professor of Literary Arts at Brown from 2003 to 2015.

While teaching at BYU, Evenson was involved in a controversy surrounding his first book Altmann's Tongue (1994). While a newly hired professor of creative writing at Brigham Young University (BYU), Brian Evenson published the story collection Altmann's Tongue, which included scenes of violence such as characters who are forced to eat mutilated tongues and who attempt to cut off their own limbs. Evenson stated the publishing contract for this book was a "significant factor" in his being hired, and he included some stories from the collection in his application to BYU. A graduate student complained anonymously to church leaders, claiming the work promoted the "enjoyment" of violence; Evenson responded by saying his fiction accentuated violence in an attempt to show its horror and "thus allow it to be condemned." Evenson's ecclesiastical leaders became involved in what he felt was a university personnel matter, and a senior faculty member planned to tell church authorities Evenson understood similar publications would "bring repercussions," but Evenson denied making such a statement. Evenson resigned from BYU in 1995, and left the church formally in 2000. His case, along with others, was included in a report by the American Association of University Professors, which argued academic freedom was stifled at BYU.

• Altmann's Tongue (1994, Knopf; Bison Books reprint 2002) • Din of Celestial Birds (1997) • Prophets and Brothers (1997) • Father of Lies (1998; Coffee House Press reprint 2016) • Contagion (2000) • Dark Property (2002) • The Wavering Knife: Stories (2004) • The Open Curtain (2006; Coffee House Press reprint 2016) • Aliens: No Exit (2008) as B. K. Evenson • BABY LEG (2009) New York Tyrant Press • Last Days (2009, Underland Press' debut novel, expanded from The Brotherhood of Mutilation; Coffee House Books reprint 2016) • Fugue State: Stories (2009, Coffee House Press; with illustrations by Zak Sally) • Dead Space: Martyr as B. K. Evenson (2010, Tor Books) • Immobility (2012, Tor Books) • Windeye: Stories (2012) • Dead Space: Catalyst as B. K. Evenson (October 2012) • The Lords of Salem as B. K. Evenson, with Rob Zombie (March 2013) • A Collapse of Horses: Stories (2016, Coffee House Press) • The Warren (2016, Tor) • Feral, as B.K. Evenson, with James DeMonaco (2017, Anchor) • The Deaths of Henry King, with Jesse Ball and Lilli Carré (2017, Uncivilized Books) • "Gatekeeper" (short story), Whose Future is It?, chapter 2 (2018) • "Abomata" (short story), Whose Future is It?, chapter 6 (2018) • "Wanderers After The Light" (short story), Whose Future is It?, chapter 12 (2018) • Song for the Unraveling of the World: Stories (2019, Coffee House Press) • The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell: Stories (2021, Coffee House Press) • "The Fourth Scene" (short story), Howls From the Dark Ages (2022, HOWL Society Press) • None of You Shall Be Spared (2023) • Good Night, Sleep Tight (2024)

• Understanding Robert Coover (2003) • Ed Vs. Yummy Fur (or, What Happens When a Serial Comic Becomes a Graphic Novel) (2014) • Raymond Carver's What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (2018) • Reports (Chapbook, 2018)

• "Painting" by Jean Frémon (1999) • Introduction to The Passion of Martin Fissel Brandt by Christian Gailly [translated by Melanie Kemp] (2002) • Giacometti: Three Essays by Jacques Dupin (2003) • Mountain R by Jacques Jouet (2004) • Red Haze by Christian Gailly [co-translated with David Beus] (2005) • Electric Flesh by Christophe Claro (2006) • "The Paradoxes of Robert Ryman" by Jean Frémon (2008) • Donogoo-Tonka, or the Miracles of Science by Jules Romains (2009) • Bunker Anatomy by Christophe Claro (2010) • In the Time of the Blue Ball by Manuela Draeger [co-translated with Valerie Evenson] (2011) • The Last of the Egyptians by Gerard Macé (2011) • The Botanical Garden by Jean Frémon (2012) • Incidents in the Night by David B. [co-translated with Sarah Evenson] (2014) • Prisoner of the Vampires of Mars by Gustave Le Rouge [co-translated with David Beus] (2015)

• A Friend of the Family (2022; wrote two episodes: "The Bitter Cup" and "Revelation") • Cape Fear (2026; wrote one episode: "Possum")

• The Under Presents