Life and Work
Joseph Coulson was born April 26, 1957 in Detroit, Michigan. As a youth, he attended both Catholic and public schools and worked as a caddie, grass cutter, janitor, and hospital orderly. He eventually found work as a singer, flautist, and bass player with bands in and around Detroit.
Coulson received a B.S. in Education from Wayne State University, an M.A. in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and a Ph.D. in American Literature and Poetics from the State University of New York at Buffalo. For many years, he worked as an instructor and professor, teaching literature, philosophy, and composition to high school and college students. From 1999-2003, he served as Editorial Director and Senior Editor for the Great Books Foundation in Chicago. Dr. Coulson currently works at Gann Academy in Waltham.
Coulson’s first novel, The Vanishing Moon (Archipelago Books, 2004), was a Barnes & Noble Great New Writers selection, and it won the Book of the Year Award, Gold Medal in Literary Fiction, from ForeWord Magazine. Chronicling the lives of working-class people, The Vanishing Moon was a critical success, and Coulson’s prose, themes, and historical range drew comparisons with John Steinbeck, William Maxwell, and Russell Banks. Before turning to fiction, Coulson published three books of poetry, The Letting Go (1984), A Measured Silence (1986), and Graph (1990). His first play, A Saloon at the Edge of the World (1996), a noir drama showcased by Theater Artists of Marin, enjoyed both popular and critical acclaim in the San Francisco Bay area. Coulson has also edited several volumes for the Great Books Foundation, including Modern American Poetry, Citizens of the World: Readings in Human Rights, and Reader’s Guide to The Great Gatsby.
Coulson is currently living in Cambridge, Massachusetts with his wife, Harvard Psychology Professor Christine Hooker. He works at Gann Academy in Waltham, MA as a High School English Teacher.
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