Steven Harvey

Biography

Steven Harvey is the author of three books of personal essays. A Geometry of Lilies, his first book about family life, was twice honored as a finalist in the Associated Writing Program’s nonfiction contest before being published by the University of South Carolina Press. Since then he has published two books from The University of Georgia Press: Lost in Translation, about his experiences as a father and teacher, and Bound for Shady Grove which describes his attempt to deepen his understanding of his adopted culture in north Georgia by learning to play the mountain banjo. He has edited an anthology of essays written by men on middle age called In a Dark Wood, also from Georgia. He received his Ph.D. in American literature from the University of Virginia and is a professor of English at Young Harris College as well as a member of the faculty in the Ashland University MFA program in Creative Writing.

A Sampling of Reviews

A Geometry of Lilies (1993)

“In A Geometry of Lilies Steven Harvey delivers a wonderful array of essays, fully exploring every aspect of family life. A delight to read.” —Jill McCorkle, author of Ferris Beach.

“These ten refined, luminous pieces are in the tradition of the familiar essay, informal and urbane, with an engaging narrator who speaks, as Montaigne did, out of everyday experiences. They are familiar in a deeper sense as well, for they dwell on life within a family.”–Scott Russell Sanders, author of Secrets of the Universe

“Harvey…spins a dreamy evocation of his own family. Each one of these eleven essays is rich in memory and description.”—Publisher's Weekly

Lost in Translation (1997)

“Steven Harvey established himself with his first collection, A Geometry of Lilies, as a master of the personal essay. Lost in translation surpasses his first achievement.” —James Kilgo, author of Deep Enough for Ivory Bills

Bound for Shady Grove (2000)

“Broadly lyrical and tight, in craft and thought. The descriptions of the music, building instruments, and playing instruments are wonderful.” —Samuel F. Pickering Jr., author of Still Life

"I liked this book a lot, or as we say in the mountains, 'a bushel and a peck and some in a gourd.'"–Zell Miller, author of The Mountains within Me