Micah Nathan

Photograph by Massimo Contini

Micah Nathan is a novelist and essayist whose books have sold more than 200,000 copies worldwide. He is the author of Gods of Aberdeen (Simon & Schuster, 2005), Losing Graceland (Crown / Random House, 2011), and the collection Jack the Bastard and Other Stories.

His fiction and essays have appeared in The Guardian, Vanity Fair, The Paris Review, Glimmer Train, Little White Lies, Kinfolk, and elsewhere. His fiction has been anthologized in The Best American Mystery Stories, and his work has received the Boston University Saul Bellow Prize in Fiction and the Associated Press Short Essay Award. He teaches fiction and nonfiction writing at MIT.

Selected honors

FictionBoston University - Saul Bellow Prize in Fiction
AnthologyBest American Mystery Stories
EssayAssociated Press Short Essay Award
FinalistsTobias Wolff Award for Short Fiction · DIAGRAM Innovative Fiction Award

Inquiries

For readings, classroom visits, or conversations, inquire through MIT’s directory.

Additional work

Co-founder and Chief Narrative Officer of Consortium9; helped raise more than $10 million in seed funding.
Fiction editor of LEMON, whose King of Pop issue received a 2013 D&AD Wood Pencil in Magazine & Newspaper Design.
Piermont & Thorne — an ongoing fictional archive and narrative-world project.

Novels

Cover of Gods of Aberdeen by Micah Nathan

Simon & Schuster, 2005

A haunting novel about a brilliant young man who enrolls at a small New England college and becomes entangled in a mysterious death—and the ultimate scientific quest. Published internationally and translated into five languages.

“Soaked with gothic mood and spiked with sharp dialogue, it’s Dead Poets Society via Stephen King.” — The Hollywood Reporter

“A malevolently thrilling coming-of-ager wrapped in a philosophical detective tale.” — Kirkus Reviews

“A perfectly proportioned gothic mystery, with all the necessary ingredients in its dark depths…” — Elle

Buy the book

Cover of Losing Graceland by Micah Nathan

Crown / Random House, 2011

A recent college graduate, an old man who may be Elvis, and a dangerous road trip toward one final comeback.

“A wild road trip, a yarn spiced with plenty of humor and romance.” — The Washington Post

“Antic originality [and] the near-magic realism of Elvis as a geriatric Ulysses.” — The Boston Globe

“Fast-paced, adrenaline-filled… fantastic dialogue that brings Elvis back to life.” — Booklist

Buy the book

Collections and anthologies

2012Jack the Bastard and Other Stories
2013Best American Mystery Stories
Mariner Books · Edited by Lisa Scottoline · Includes “Quarry”Purchase ↗
2019From Sea to Stormy Sea
Pegasus Crime · Edited by Lawrence Block · Includes “Get Him”Purchase ↗

I knew my writing students were using AI. Their confessions led to a powerful teaching moment