B.A. 1989 University of California, Davis
M.A. 1993 College of William and Mary
On the PSU faculty since 2006

FIELDS: Creative nonfiction and magazine writing

SPECIAL INTERESTS: Paul Collins is an author specializing in science writing, magazine writing, history and memoir; his six books have appeared in ten languages. In addition to appearing regularly on NPR's Weekend Edition as their “literary detective” on odd and forgotten old books, he edits the Collins Library imprint of McSweeney's Books, and is the 2009 recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. His recent freelance work includes articles for The New York Times, Slate, and New Scientist.

INTERVIEWS WITH PAUL COLLINS
California Literary Review interview, July 2009
Identity Theory interview, by Robert Birnbaum, September 2005
Tin House interview, by Paul Durica, Winter 2004
To The Best of Our Knowledge, PRI radio interview with Jim Fleming, March 2003
The Onion interview, by Andy Battaglia, September 2001

BOOKS
The Murder of The Century: The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City and Sparked the Tabloid Wars (Crown, 2011)
The Book of William: How Shakespeare's First Folio Conquered the World (Bloomsbury, 2009)
The Trouble With Tom: The Strange Afterlife and Times of Thomas Paine (Bloomsbury, 2005)
Not Even Wrong: A Father's Journey Into the Lost History of Autism (Bloomsbury, 2004)
Sixpence House: Lost in a Town of Books (Bloomsbury, 2003)
Banvard's Folly: Thirteen Tales of People Who Didn't Change the World (Picador, 2001)
Community Writing: Researching Social Issues Through Composition (Erlbaum, 2001)

ANTHOLOGY APPEARANCES
The Autobiographer's Handbook: The 826 National Guide to Writing Your Memoir (2008)
The Better of McSweeney's, ed. by Dave Eggers (2005)
Bookmark Now, ed. by Kevin Smokler (2004)
The Norton Reader, 11th edition (2003)
The All-Music Guide to Rock, 2nd ed. by Stephen Erlwhine et al. (2002)
The Rough Guide to Rock, 2nd ed. (1999)

IN PROGRESS
Duel With the Devil (Crown Books)

BOOKS EDITED
The Rector and Rogue, by W.A. Swanberg. McSweeney's Books, 2011
Curious Men, by Frank Buckland. McSweeney's Books, 2008
The Lunatic at Large, by J. Storer Clouston. Intro. by Jonathan Ames. McSweeney's Books, 2007
The Riddle of the Traveling Skull, by Harry Stephen Keeler. McSweeney's Books, 2005
Lady Into Fox, by David Garnett. McSweeney's Books, 2004
To Ruhleben and Back, by Geoffrey Pyke. McSweeney's Books, 2003
English as She is Spoke, by Jose Da Fonseca and Pedro Carolino. McSweeney's Books, 2002

SELECTED RECENT ARTICLES
“The Fickle Needle of Fate.” The Believer, July/August 2011
“Murder off Miami.” Tin House, Spring 2011
“The Case of the First Mystery Novelist.” New York Times, 9 January 2011
“Vanishing Act.” Lapham's Quarterly, Winter 2011.
“You Must Forward This Story to Five Friends.” Slate, 1 October 2010
“A History of Walking on Water.” New Scientist, 3 January 2010

SELECTED RECENT RADIO APPEARANCES
“Autism and Humanity.” On Being, 14 July 2011 rebroadcast
“How a New York Murder Sparked the Tabloid Wars.” NPR Weekend Edition, 25 June 2011
“Who Wrote the First Detective Novel?” NPR Weekend Edition, 8 January 2011
“Barbara Newhall Follett, Disappearing Child Genius.” NPR Weekend Edition, 18 December 2010
“Fingering Shakespeare's First Drafts.” NPR Weekend Edition, Nov. 28, 2009.