Micah Hicks

Assistant Professor

CONTACT

Office: CPR 335
Email

Bio

Micah Dean Hicks is an author of fabulism, speculative fiction, and horror. He received his PhD in creative writing from Florida State University with concentrations in the novel and fairy tale studies. He also holds an MA in creative writing from the University of Southern Mississippi and a BA in English from Southern Arkansas University.

Hicks's first book, Electricity and Other Dreams, is a collection of Southern fables and fairy tales. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly described the book as "a compact, impressive array of the strange and the eerie, the alien and the endearing," declaring that "With striking skill in form and vision, Hicks woos readers into his wrangled worlds." Author Jeff Vandermeer wrote, "In this unsettling, impressive collection, Micah Dean Hicks effortlessly mixes realism, the fantastical, and the darkly gritty to great effect. These unique stories feel layered, lived-in, timeless. I felt in reading them as if I was receiving an early glimpse of a unique voice, and an important one. I loved it."

In his debut novel, Break the Bodies, Haunt the Bones, Hicks imagines a collapsing rural town drowning in the (literal) ghosts of its past. Every character, house, and object is haunted, the swarm of unhappy spirits dwelling on everything they've lost and weighing down the living with supernatural curses and gifts. Publishers Weekly called the novel "wildly atmospheric and unsettling." Author Julianna Baggott described it as "a stunning and profound debut." And author Maurice Broaddus wrote, "It’s a haunting story that burrows under your skin like an insect laying eggs that hatch within you in the middle of the night. Hicks’s mesmerizing imagery kept me turning the pages and asking myself 'How is this book happening? What sort of literary witchcraft am I witnessing?'"

Hicks is the recipient of a 2020 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship, winner of the Calvino Prize, and received the bronze medal in the Florida Book Awards. His writing has appeared in The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, The New York Times, Gulf Coast, Lightspeed, Nightmare, and elsewhere.

At USF, Hicks 's recent teaching includes Writing the Novel and Form and Technique of Fiction. Outside of USF, he enjoys tabletop role-playing games, deep, dark forests, and all things magical or spooky. You can visit him online at micahdeanhicks.com.

EDUCATION

PhD, Florida State University

AREAS OF SPECIALTY

Creative writing, contemporary fiction, speculative fiction, nonfiction, magical realism, fabulism, fairy tales, and editing and publishing.