Jeff Bender’s work has appeared in Guernica, First Person Arts, and the compilation 101 Things Every Man Should Know How to Do. Glimmer Train selected two of his stories, “Roommates” and “Diet,” as finalists for its annual short story awards. In the past year The L magazine in Brooklyn named “Two-a-Days,” an excerpt from The Weight, a semifinalist for its Literary Upstart competition, and both the Page International Screenwriting Awards and the Austin Film Festival advanced his screenplay Archery into finalist rounds.

He studied at Columbia’s School of the Arts under Sam Lipsyte, Binnie Kirshenbaum, Amy Hempel, Mark O’Donnell, and Peter Parnell. Residencies include the Edward F. Albee Foundation on Long Island, the Jentel Artist Residency Program in Wyoming, and the Montana Artists Refuge. Recent workshops include the Norman Mailer Writers Colony, the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop, and the Rittenhouse Writers Group. He also founded the Steak Fiction Workshop in Philadelphia.  

Bender lives in Seattle with his fiancée Catharine and teaches at Richard Hugo House; The Bush School; and TOPS, as a Writers-in-the-Schools resident.

PROJECTS:

The Weight (novel)

Bender’s first novel, about NCAA wrestling.

To read an excerpt from Guernica magazine or Sam Lipsyte’s essay in Guernica, click the links above-right. 

In 2008 Bender workshopped The Weight at the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop in Portland, OR, under novelist Walter Kirn.

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

Archery (screenplay)

When a twentysomething learns that his ex-girlfriend is getting married, he enlists the help of his slacker best friend to get her back. Co-written with David Englander.

In 2011 Archery advanced to the quarterfinals at the Page International Awards in Hollywood and the top-10% second round at the Austin Film Festival.

Safety (play)

College football safety Ed Eager gets trapped in the library overnight where he happens upon a secret society. By morning he doesn’t want to leave.

Bender workshoped Safety in August at the Norman Mailer Writers Colony in Provincetown, MA, under playwright Bonnie Culver.

La Reforma (memoir)

Told in vignettes, La Reforma documents the life of a gritty fishing town in Sinaloa on Mexico’s Pacific coast.

In 2009 Bender presented vignettes and photos from La Reforma for the First Person Salon in Philadelphia. Click here to watch the YouTube video

Thanks to First Person Arts in Philadelphia. www.firstpersonarts.org