Edward McPherson

Edward McPherson

Associate Professor of English
Director of English Undergraduate Studies
Pronouns: he/him/his
MFA, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
research interests:
  • Nonfiction Writing
  • the Essay
  • Life Writing
  • Fiction Writing

contact info:

mailing address:

  • Washington University
    CB 1122
    One Brookings Dr.
    St. Louis, MO 63130-4899

Edward McPherson is the award-winning author of three nonfiction books and numerous essays and short stories. His work has appeared in such outlets as the New York Times Magazine, the Paris Review, and the American Scholar.

Edward McPherson is the author of three nonfiction books: Buster Keaton: Tempest in a Flat Hat (Faber & Faber), The Backwash Squeeze and Other Improbable Feats (HarperCollins), and The History of the Future: American Essays (Coffee House Press). His next book, Look Out: the Delight and Danger of Taking the Long View (Astra House), will be published in fall 2025. He has written for the New York Times Magazine, the Paris ReviewTin House, the American Scholar, the Gettysburg ReviewGulf CoastSalon, the Southern Review, the New York ObserverI.D.EsopusEpochEssay DailyCatapultTrue StoryLiterary HubGuernica, and Talk, among others. He has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Pushcart Prize, the PEN Southwest Book Award in Nonfiction, the Gulf Coast Prize in Fiction, an Artist Fellowship from the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis, a Minnesota State Arts Board grant, and the Gesell Award from the University of Minnesota, where he received his MFA. He is a contributing editor of The Common Reader. Before joining the faculty at Washington University in St. Louis, he was the Interim Education Director at the Loft Literary Center and taught creative writing at the University of Minnesota.

    Selected Publications and Interviews

    The History of the Future: American EssaysCoffee House Press, 2017

    The Backwash Squeeze and Other Improbable Feats: A Newcomer's Journey into the World of Bridge, Harper Collins, 2007 (hardcover), 2008 (paperback)

    Buster Keaton: Tempest in a Flat Hat, UK: Faber and Faber, 2004 (hardcover), 2005 (paperback); reprint, US: Newmarket Press, 2005 (hardcover), 2007 (paperback)

    Pushcart Prize XL: Best of the Small Presses 2016, Pushcart Press, November 2015. Short story, “Telref,” included in the anthology.

    Love Stories for Turbulent Times: Loving Through the Apocalypse, Pushcart Press, February 2018. Short story, “Telref,” included in the anthology.

    Guest prose editor, The Pushcart Prize XLI: Best of the Small Presses 2017, Pushcart Press, November 2016.

    Interview in Essay Daily: “It Starts With a Curiosity” (September 18, 2017)

    Audio essay from the radio show “To the Best of Our Knowledge” (airdate: June 11, 2017)

    Interview on “St. Louis on the Air” (airdate: June 6, 2016)

    Interview on “The Leonard Lopate Show” (airdate: August 9, 2007)

    Interview on NPR show “All Things Considered” (airdate: July 9, 2005)