Jeff Bender is an alum of Columbia University’s School of the Arts, the Edward F. Albee Foundation, and the Norman Mailer Writers Colony. His work has appeared in Guernica, First Person Arts, The Monarch Review, and Liars’ League New York, and has earned honors from Writer’s Digest, Glimmer Train, The L magazine, The Page International Screenwriting Awards, the Austin Film Festival, the Rhode Island International Film Festival, and Artist Trust. In 2012 his short story “The Guard” won Richard Hugo House’s New Works Competition.

He teaches at Richard Hugo House, Skagit Valley College, and Antioch University Seattle, and was recently included on the Roster of Teaching Artists for Washington State. This June he will present at the Chuckanut Writers Conference in Bellingham, Washington, where he lives with his fiancée Catharine.

CURRENT PROJECTS:

The Weight (novel)

Bender’s first novel, about NCAA wrestling.

In July 2012 “The Hinnencamp Match,” excerpted from The Weight, will be published in The Monarch Review.

In 2011 the excerpt “Two-a-Days” advanced to the semifinals at The L magazine’s Literary Upstart competition, held in Brooklyn.

In 2007 the excerpt “Coaches’ Night Out” appeared in Guernica.

Archery (screenplay)

When a reclusive twentysomething learns that his ex is getting married, he snaps into action. Co-written with David Englander.

In 2011–12 Archery advanced to the quarterfinals at the Page International Awards in Hollywood and made the top-10% at both the Austin Film Festival and the Rhode Island International Film Festival.