Christopher Tusa

Distinguished Instructor
M.F.A., University of Florida; M.A., Southeastern Louisiana University

Biography

Chris Tusa was born and raised in New Orleans. He holds a B.A. in English, an M.A in English, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Florida. Aside from teaching in the English Department at LSU, he also acts as Managing Editor for Fiction Southeast. With the help of a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, he was able to complete his first chapbook of poetry, Inventing an End. His debut collection of poems, Haunted Bones, was published by Louisiana Literature Press in 2006. His work has appeared in Prairie Schooner, Connecticut Review, Texas Review, New South, South Dakota Review, Southeast Review, Passages North, Spoon River, New York Quarterly, Louisiana Literature, Tar River, StorySouth, and others. He has studied under a number of notable writers, including Tim Gautreaux, Sidney Wade, and Debora Gregor. His debut novel, Dirty Little Angels, was published by The University of West Alabama in March of 2009. He is currently working on a novel: In the City of Falling Stars, a dark tragicomedy set in post-Katrina New Orleans featuring a middle-aged man who’s convinced his wife has been chosen by God to give birth to Jesus Christ; and a collection of stories entitled Mean Blood.

Tusa’s stories are, in effect, Southern-fried Greek tragedies. In his work, the Southern Grotesque characteristics of Faulkner and O’Connor intersect with a more contemporary, more urban depiction of the South. Typical themes include mental illness as well as the ways in which the contemporary, celebrity-driven American culture has managed to alter the landscape of the traditional Christ-haunted South.

Area(s) of Interest

Creative Writing, Contemporary American Literature, Business Writing