October 24, 2017
Martin Pousson had been teaching English literature and creative writing at CSU Northridge for a decade when he learned that he'd won one of the most prestigious awards in literature for his "novel in stories," "Black Sheep Boy" (Rare Bird Books).
Given by the PEN Center USA, Pousson will receive the award at a ceremony in Beverly Hills on October 27. "I am thrilled to receive the award from PEN," says Pousson. "I have long respected the foundation as the defenders they are of queers — not just queers who identify as such by sexual orientation, but in attitude: journalists who have dared, dissenters, protesters, outsiders who are jailed or persecuted in various ways."
We asked Pousson about his novel and its narrator, Boo, as well as his background growing up Acadiana, the Cajun bayou land of Louisiana, and what teaching at the CSU has brought to his writing. Article Continues