Mark Axelrod

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Mark Axelrod
Photo of author and professor of comparative literature, Mark Axelrod
Photo of author and professor of comparative literature, Mark Axelrod
OccupationNovelist Screenwriter Professor
Notable works


Cardboard Castles

Mark Axelrod is a professor of Comparative Literature in Chapman University’s Wilkinson College of Humanities and Social Sciences. For twenty-five years he has been the Director of the John Fowles Center for Creative Writing[1] which has received five National Endowment for the Arts Grants.[2]

Education and career[]

Axelrod received his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, and received both his B.A. and M.A. in Comparative Literature from Indiana University Bloomington. He also received fellowships to study/teach at Edinburgh University and Oxford University as well as receiving four Fulbrights to teach in Brazil, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. In addition, he has taught creative writing throughout Europe and Latin America.

He has received numerous awards for his creative work including two United Kingdom Leverhulme Fellowships for Creative Writing and two from the Camargo Foundation, Cassis, France. He has won no fewer than 20 screenwriting awards from the Irvine International Film Festival, the Chicago International Film Festival, the Illinois International Film Festival. Latest awards are from the Kiev International Screenwriters Festival, the Near Nazareth Film Festival, the Scario International Short Film Festival, and the Stockholm Film & Television Festival[3]He recently received awards from the Irvine International Film Festival, the Chicago International Film Festival and the Illinois International Film Festival for his screenplays.[3]

As a practicing screenwriter, he has published four books on screenwriting: Aspects of the Screenplay; Character & Conflict; I Read It At the Movies; and Constructing Dialogue: Screenwriting from Citizen Kane to Midnight in Paris. He has written over twenty-five screenplays and teleplays, the latest of which is titled Malarkey which garnered the interest of Malcolm McDowell. He has received awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; the Writers Guild of America, East; the Screenwriters Forum (University of Wisconsin); and the Sundance Institute.”[4] He has also won awards from the Scottish Association of Filmmakers Award in Screenwriting, Edinburgh, Scotland 1993, and the London International Film & Video Festival, Silver Seal Award for Screenwriting, London, England 1991. In 2018, he was inducted as a member of the European Arts and Sciences Association.

Mark Axelrod and Malcolm McDowell

Writing[]

He has written the novels Capital Castles (Pacific Writers Press, 2000), Cloud Castles (Pacific Writers Press, 1998), Cardboard Castles (Pacific Writers Press, 1996) and Bombay California (Pacific Writers Press, 1994), "The Posthumous Memoirs of Blase Kubash" and most recently, "The Mad Diary of Malcolm Malarkey" (Dalkey Archive Press, TBA). He is working on volume II of the Malarkey trilogy titled, "The Fall & Rise of Malcolm Malarkey" and volume III, titled, "Malarkey's Way; or, Life and Death in the Time of Covid." He has also written several collections of short stories, including "Dante's Foil & Other Sporting Tales," (Black Scat Press), and Secret Histories: Borges’ Travel, Hemingway’s Garage (Fiction Collective 2, 2005) which was published in fall, 2009 in Spanish by Thule Ediciones, Barcelona as Viajes Borges, Talleres Hemingway.[2][5] "Balzac's Coffee, DaVinci's Ristorante" (Verbivoracious Press, 2018) and "Beckett's Restaurant, Pushkin's Vodka" (2020).His translation of Balzac’s play, Mercadet, was reissued in 2016 as "Waiting For Godeau," by Black Scat Press and his collection of plays was published by Black Scat in 2017. Most recent play is titled, "The Real Housewives of Scandinavia: Reunion." (2021).

Of his fiction, Luisa Valenzuela said, “A different voice in North American Writing…a very special, poignant sense of humor.”[4] The itinerant scholar’s voracious appetite to find meaning in life led him to travel the world early on, and this theme of the eternal wanderer is seen in his novel Bombay California. In his review of Bombay California; or, Hollywood Somewhere West of Vine, Giose Rimanelli wrote, “…in the grand tradition of such Latin American fabulists as Machado de Assis, Borges, Cortázar, and García Márquez, Axelrod manipulates the novel form to present not just a fin-de-siècle statement on the political and social fabric of the United States, but a satire on Hollywood films, American television, American folklore, American advertising, American education, the United States presidency, Ronald Reagan, publishing prejudices, "literary" agent incompetence, plus a panoply of gibes, jabs, and gestures at American culture in general. Chapter 33, for example, titled "An Agent's Tools," is nothing other than an order slip one might get at any fast-food restaurant. Chapter 49, titled "Wanted Dead or Alive," is a "wanted" poster of someone who looks a lot like Ronald Reagan for, among other things, stealing a script that Katz had written about the presidency.”[6][7] From 2009 he has contributed a blog on Huffington Post.com.

Books and Anthologies[]

  • "Madness in Fiction: Literary Essays from Poe to Fowles." New York: Palgrave Macmillan (2018)
  • "Balzac's Coffee, DaVinci's Ristorante." Verbivoracious Press (2017)
  • Poetics of Prose: Literary Essays from Lermontov to Calvino. New York: Palgrave Macmillan (2016)
  • Dante’s Foil & Other Sporting Tales, San Francisco: Black Scat Books, (April, 2015) [2]
  • Mark Axelrod at Chapman University
    Milan Panic: Big Thoughts Are Free, Authorized Biography. New York: Peter Lang Press.  (June, 2015)
  • Notions of the Feminine: Literary Essays from Lawrence to Lacan, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, (January, 2015)
  • No Symbols Where None Intended: Literary Essays from Laclos to Beckett (Literary essays), Palgrave Macmillan (2014).[8]
  • "Kissing Sonia Braga" Golden Hancuffs Review, Fall 2014; Vol. 1, No. 19 [9]
  • Waiting for Godeau, (Translation of the Balzac play, Mercadet, The Good Businessman) San Francisco: Black Scat Books (October, 2013) [10]
  • Next Thing: Art in the 21st Century—Ed. Pablo Baler, Farleigh Dickinson University, Contributor (2013) [11]
  • Constructing Dialogue: From Citizen Kane to Midnight in Paris. Bloomsbury Continuum Press, New York (Nov, 2013) [12]
  • “Angelina’s Lips” by Giuseppe Conte, Edited w/ Introduction. Toronto, Canada: Guernica Publishing, (April, 2011)
  • Viajes Borges, Talleres Hemingway (short stories), Barcelona, Spain: Editorial Thule, (October, 2009).[2]
  • "Forms at War: FC2 1999-2009".  Tuscaloosa, AL: Fiction Collective 2, 2009.
  • I Read It At The Movies (screenwriting/adaptation) Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Publishing (November, 2006).[13]
  • Borges’ Travel, Hemingway’s Garage (short stories), Normal, Illinois: Fiction Collective 2 (April, 2004).
  • Character & Conflict: Cornerstones of Screenwriting (screenwriting) Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Publishing (September, 2004).
  • Aspects of the Screenplay   (screenwriting).  Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Publishing (2001).
  • Capital Castles (novel). Tustin, CA:  Pacific Writers Press (2000).
  • The Poetics of Novels: Fiction & Its Execution (literary criticism).  Basingstoke, UK: Macmillan Press, November, 1999.
  • Cloud Castles (novel). Tustin, CA:  Pacific Writers Press, (1999).
  • Cardboard Castles (novel). Tustin, CA:  Pacific Writers Press, (1996).
  • Bombay California; or, Hollywood Somewhere West of Vine (novel). Tustin, CA:  Pacific Writers Press, 1994.
  • The Politics of Style In the Fiction of Balzac, Beckett & Cortázar (criticism). New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992.
  • Neville Chamberlain's Chimera or Nine Metaphors of Vision (visual prose).  Milwaukee, WI: Membrane Press, 1978.

Film Work & Screenwriting Awards[]

  • “Malarkey” Original Screenplay optioned, Bridge Media Partners, Los Angeles.
  • “Stayin Alive” Original Screenplay, Cuckoo Clock Productions, Hamburg, Germany [14]
  • “Fool’s Sanctuary” Adaptation of the novel by Jennifer Johnston, Kettledrum Productions, Los Angeles [2]
  • 2015    Milan International Film Festival, Milan, Italy, Finalist, Best Unproduced Feature Film Screenplay, “Of Gold and Ashes.”
  • 2015    Amsterdam International Film Festival, Holland, Finalist, Best Feature Film Screenplay, “Of Gold and Ashes.”
  • 2015    Barcelona International Film Festival, Spain, Finalist, Best Feature Film Screenplay, "Peru.”
  • 2015    River Bend Film Festival, South Bend, IN, Finalist, Best Feature Film Screenplay, “Moonlight on the Wabash.”
  • 2014    Firereel Film Festival, Redding, CA, Finalist, Best Short Screenplay, “The Villiers Chalice.”
  • 2014    Oregon International Film Festival, Portland, 3rd Place Best Feature Film Screenplay, “Of Gold & Ashes.”
  • 2014    Williamsburg International Film Festival, Chicago, Honorable Mention, Screenplay, “Of Gold & Ashes.”[15]
  • 2014    Illinois International Film Festival, Chicago, Best Feature Screenplay, “Chicago Bares.” [16]
  • 2014    Chicago International Film Festival, Chicago, Finalist, Best Feature Screenplay, “Chicago Bares.”
  • 2014    Irvine International Film Festival, Shortlisted for Best Feature Screenplay, “Stayin’ Alive.”
  • 1993    Scottish Association of Filmmakers, Award in Screenwriting, Edinburgh, Scotland
  • 1992    Writers Guild of America-East, Fellowship in Screenwriting, New York, NY
  • 1990    University of Wisconsin Screenwriters Forum, National Teleplay Award, Madison, WI
  • 1991    London International Film & Video Festival, Silver Seal Award for Screenwriting, London, England
  • 1990    Festival Internacional de Video do Algarve, Nova 90, Bronze Award for Screenwriting, Algarve, Portugal
  • 1989    Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, Finalist, Los Angeles, CA
  • 1988    Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, Finalist, Los Angeles, CA
  • 1987    Writers Guild of America-East, Fellowship in Screenwriting, Finalist, New York, NY
  • 1986    Sundance Institute Fellowship for Screenwriting, Finalist, Burbank, CA
  • 1984    Sundance Institute Fellowship for Screenwriting, Finalist, Burbank, CA

Fellowships, Grants and Awards[]

  • 2014 & 2013 Fulbright Fellowship, University of Stockholm, Sweden [17]
  • 2010-2011 Fulbright Fellowship, University of São Paulo, Brazil [18]
  • 2007 Fulbright Commission, Finalist, Fulbright Fellowship to Berlin [17]

References[]

  1. ^ "John Fowles Center for Creative Writing".
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Chapman University".
  3. ^ "Wilkinson College of Humanities and Social Sciences".
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "FC2".
  5. ^ "Thule Ediciones".
  6. ^ "EBSCOhost". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ "The Free Library".
  8. ^ "Palgrave Press".
  9. ^ "Golden Handcuffs Review". Archived from the original on 2014-11-22.
  10. ^ "Black Scat Books".
  11. ^ "The Center for Fine Art Research".
  12. ^ "Bloomsbury Publishing".
  13. ^ "Heinemann".
  14. ^ "Orange County Register".
  15. ^ "WILLiFEST".
  16. ^ "Illinois International Film Festival". Archived from the original on 2015-04-26.
  17. ^ Jump up to: a b "Mark Axelrod".
  18. ^ "Chapman Alumni Association".

External links[]

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