Michael Parker was born in
Siler City, North Carolina and grew up in
Clinton, North Carolina. He attended
Appalachian State University and graduated from
UNC-Chapel Hill with honors in Creative Writing. Parker received his MFA from the
University of Virginia in 1988. Parker's short fiction has appeared in "
New England Review," "
The Oxford American,"
Five Points,
Shenandoah,
Carolina Quarterly,
Epoch and
The Georgia Review and has been anthologized in the
Pushcart Prize Stories and
New Stories from the South. His stories have received three
O. Henry Awards (2005, 2014, 2018). Parker's nonfiction has appeared in
The New York Times Magazine, ''
Runner's World, Trail Runner
, Men's Journal, Gulf Coast
, Our State
, The Oxford American'' and other magazines. Parker taught for nearly 30 years at the MFA Creative Writing Program at
UNC Greensboro, and now lives in Durham, North Carolina. He is on the faculty of the MFA program for writers at
Warren Wilson College. ==Awards==