Jedediah Berry | |
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Born | 1977 (age 47–48) Randolph, Vermont, U.S. |
Occupation | Writer |
Alma mater | Bard College University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Humanities and Fine Arts |
Notable awards | Hammett Prize (2009) Crawford Award (2010) |
Website | |
thirdarchive |
Jedediah Berry (born 1977) is an American writer. He is the author of two novels, The Manual of Detection (2009) and The Naming Song (2024). [1]
Berry was born in Randolph, Vermont, and spent his childhood in Catskill, New York. He attended Bard College, and earned a graduate degree from the MFA Program for Poets & Writers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has worked as an editor at Small Beer Press. [2]
Berry's first novel, The Manual of Detection, was published by The Penguin Press in 2009. It won the 2009 Hammett Prize [3] and the 2010 Crawford Award. [4] Set in an unnamed city, the novel follows file clerk Charles Unwin as he attempts to solve a mystery involving a missing detective and a criminal mastermind operating through people's dreams. He was a 2011 James Merrill House Fellow in Stonington, CT. Critics have noted that The Manual of Detection combines elements from several genres of fiction, including mystery and fantasy. [5] Writing for The Guardian , Michael Moorcock situated the book within the tradition of steampunk fiction. [6] The New Yorker called it “the kind of mannered fantasy that might result if Wes Anderson were to adapt Kafka.” [7] A reviewer for The Observer compared it to The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien, and described it as “imaginative, fantastical, sometimes inexplicable, labyrinthine and ingenious.” [8] An abridged version of the novel, read by Toby Jones, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in January 2013. [9]
Berry's short stories have appeared in Conjunctions , Chicago Review , Ninth Letter , and other magazines. He has taught at the MFA Program for Poets & Writers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and he currently teaches at Bard College. [10]
Berry published The Family Arcana, a “story in cards” in 2015. It was nominated for the World Fantasy Award. [11]
Berry’s second novel, The Naming Song , was published by Tor Books in 2024. [12]