Co-Chair
Writing Program
Vermont College of Fine Arts
Mentoring the next generation of writers through one of the nation's leading MFA programs in creative writing.
Biography
Adam McOmber writes horror fiction that embraces spectacle and atmosphere while exploring concepts of desire and the emotional realities of being gay in contemporary society. His work returns again and again to mazes and strange houses, the architecture of our belief systems and unstable realities—a feeling that the world itself becomes a labyrinth.
He is the author of nine books: the novels The White Forest, Jesus and John, The Ghost Finders, Hound of the Baskervilles, Snow and Wax and Mercury, and With Blood Upon His Teeth, and the short fiction collections My House Gathers Desires, This New & Poisonous Air, and Fantasy Kit.
In addition to his work as a novelist, McOmber teaches creative writing at Vermont College of Fine Arts, where he serves as co-chair of the Writing Program. He is editor-in-chief of Hunger Mountain and director of the VCFA Writers' Conference at California Institute of the Arts. He works closely with writers who are serious about craft and committed to building ambitious, fully realized worlds.
He lives in Los Angeles, where he enjoys exploring the city's strange histories and watching horror films in its many lovely theaters.
Writing & Teaching
Shaping voices and building literary community
Editor-in-Chief
Hunger Mountain Review
Leading a celebrated literary magazine publishing fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and art.
Director
VCFA Writers' Conference
California Institute of the Arts
Bringing together emerging and established writers to explore experimental and traditional forms.
Critical Praise
"A sexy, twisty, and creatively imagined revision… a gothic triumph."
Kirkus Reviews GET IT
"A sinuous, antiquated style proves marvelously effective in these dark and imaginative tales."
Publishers Weekly — Starred Review
"A moody, gothic tale full of hypnotizing twists and turns that transports readers to a world that is part real, part fantasy and definitely plays with the mind."
Chicago Sun-Times
"Terror and religion collide in McOmber's atmospheric, thought-provoking, and unapologetically queer exploration of devotion."
Becky Spratford, Booklist
"With larger-than-life characters and expertly conjured gritty, gas-lamp ambience, this is a treat for fans of dark historical fantasy and weird fiction alike."
Publishers Weekly
"In the mode of Shirley Jackson, A. S. Byatt, Kathryn Davis, and Kelly Link… richly informed and imagined, sorrowful, malevolently erotic, and archly funny campfire tales for grownups."
Booklist
At a Glance
8
Books Published
5 novels, 3 collections
85+
Journal Publications
Stories & essays in leading literary magazines
4
Major Publishers
Simon & Schuster, BOA Editions, Lethe Press, Black Lawrence Press
In the Press
Interviews, features, and reviews
Interviews & Features
- The White Forest: a Q&A with Adam McOmber Comet Party
- No Escape: An Interview with Adam McOmber BOA Editions
- The White Forest: A Chat with Adam McOmber The Book Smugglers
- Adam McOmber on Horror, Simulation and the Modern Myth in "This New and Poisonous Air" NewCity Lit
- This New and Poisonous Air by Adam McOmber HTML Giant
Selected Journal Publications
Stories and essays in leading literary magazines
Conjunctions
Kenyon Review
Columbia
Black Warrior Review
Ninth Letter
Quarterly West
Fairy Tale Review
The Collagist
The Rupture
Lit Hub
Guernica
Juked