John Pipkin

writer

John Pipkin was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, and he holds degrees from Washington and Lee University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Rice University. He has taught writing and literature at Saint Louis University, Boston University, and Southwestern University. He currently lives in Austin, Texas, where he has served as the Executive Director of the Writers' League of Texas, a non-profit, literary arts organization. His debut novel, *Woodsburner* (Doubleday), springs from a little known event in the life of one of America's most iconic figures, Henry David Thoreau. On April 30, 1844, a year before he built his cabin on Walden Pond, Thoreau accidentally started a forest fire that destroyed three hundred acres of the Concord woods. It was an event that altered the landscape of American thought in a single day. Photo courtesy KennethGall.com