Carlin Romano: Philadelphia Noir

CARYHOLLADAY, a native of Virginia, lived in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, in the early 1990s and still misses the cobblestoned streets and the cheese shop. She is the author of five volumes of fiction, including The Quick-Change Artist: Stories. She teaches at the University of Memphis.

SOLOMONJONESis the best-selling author of six novels, including The Last Confession, The Bridge, and his critically acclaimed debut, Pipe Dream . Jones is an adjunct professor at Temple University’s College of Liberal Arts, an award-winning columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News , and an aide to U.S. Congressman Chaka Fattah. He is a member of The Liar’s Club, a Philadelphia-area writers group. For more information, visit solomonjones.com.

GERALDKOLPANlives in Philadelphia’s Queen Village neighborhood. He has been an illustrator, graphic designer, and rock musician, as well as a print and broadcast journalist. In the 1980s, Kolpan was a contributor to NPR’s All Things Considered, and for over twenty years he was the Emmy Award-winning features reporter for Philly’s WXTF-TV. Ballantine Books published his first novel, Etta , in 2009 (www.ettathenovel.com).

AIMEELABRIEreceived her MA in writing from DePaul University in 2000 and her MFA in fiction from Penn State in 2003. Her collection of short stories, Wonderful Girl , won the Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction in 2007. Her short stories have also been published in Minnesota Review, Pleiades, Quarter After Eight, Iron Horse Literary Review , and other literary journals. Currently, she is the director of marketing and communications for alumni relations at the University of Pennsylvania.

HALIMAHMARCUSwas born in Philadelphia and grew up in Narberth, a western suburb of the city. After receiving her BA in English at Vassar College, she returned to live and work in West Philadelphia. She currently attends Brooklyn College’s MFA Program in Creative Writing for fiction.

CARLINROMANO,Critic-at-Large of the Chronicle of Higher Education and Literary Critic of the Philadelphia Inquirer for twenty-five years (1984-2009), is now Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at Ursinus College. In 2006, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Criticism, cited by the Pulitzer Board for “bringing new vitality to the classic essay across a formidable array of topics.” He lives in University City.

ASALISOLOMONwas born and raised in West Philadelphia. She received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award and was selected as one of the National Book Foundation’s “5 Under 35” for her first book of short stories, Get Down . After nearly twenty years of wandering, she once again lives in West Philadelphia, with her husband and son.

LAURASPAGNOLIlived in various apartments in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square area for twelve years before moving to the Italian Market neighborhood. Her poetry has appeared in ONandOnScreen.net, New Millennium Writings , and Philadelphia Stories , among other places. She works as an associate professor of French instruction at Temple University, where she founded a magazine featuring students’ original writing translated into and out of English.

DUANESWIERCZYNSKIis the author of several best-selling Philadelphia-based crime thrillers, most recently Expiration Date and Severance Package. He also writes for Marvel Comics, and is especially proud that he once brought Frank Castle, a.k.a. the Punisher, to the mean streets of Philly. He’s the former editor-in-chief of the Philadelphia City Paper, and lives with his family in the so-called “Great Northeast.”

DENNISTAFOYAwas born in Philadelphia and lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. His first novel, Dope Thief, was published by St. Martin’s Minotaur in 2009. He is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, the International Thriller Writers, and the Liars Club, a Philadelphia-area writers group. His second novel, The Wolves of Fairmount Park , was published by St. Martin’s in June 2010.

JIMZERVANOSis the author of the novel LOVE Park, which was hailed as “a love letter to Philadelphia” and a “tribute to the power of brotherly love.” His fiction has appeared in numerous publications, including the story anthology PhillyFiction. He is a graduate of Bucknell University and the Warren Wilson MFA Program. An English and creative-writing teacher, he lives with his wife in the city’s art-museum area.