Joseph Nigg

Joseph (Joe) Nigg was born in Davenport, Iowa, and grew up throughout the Midwest. He holds a BA from Kent State University, an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and a Ph.D. from the University of Denver's Writing Program. He taught literature and writing at the high school and college levels prior to serving as an editor for a worldwide network. He now writes full-time, a lifelong dream.

Following his first book, The Book of Gryphons (Apple-wood Books, 1982), Nigg has explored the entire world of mythical creatures:

• A Guide to Imaginary Birds of the World (Apple-wood Books, 1984) features woodcuts by David Frampton and a foreword by Roger Tory Peterson.

• Wonder Beasts: Tales and Lore of the Phoenix, the Griffin, the Unicorn and the Dragon (Libraries Unlimited Press, 1995) introduces the four major imaginary animals to middle-school students.

• The Book of Fabulous Beasts: A Treasury of Writings from Ancient Times to the Present (Oxford University Press, 1999) traces the literary evolution of mythical creatures across millennia.

• Commissioned four-color art enhances the fabulous bestiary, The Book of Dragons & Other Mythical Beasts (Barron's Educational Series, 2002; Portuguese and Dutch translations, Australian edition, 2003; German translation from Random House, 2007.)

• The full-color How to Raise and Keep a Dragon is a whimsical blend of dragon lore and animal-raising guide. It has been - or will be – published in English and the following languages: Czech, Danish, Estonian, Dutch, German, Greek, French, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovenian, Spanish, and Turkish (2006-2008).

• Nigg's work in progress, Bird of Wonder: The Lives, Deaths, and Rebirths of the Phoenix, presents the cultural transformations of the mythical figure of rebirth from the ancient Egyptians to Harry Potter.

• Excerpts of his books have been reprinted in Cricket magazine.

In addition to his animal books, Nigg wrote the text for a coffee-table photograph book, The Great Balloon Festival: A Season of Hot Air Ballooning Across the United States and Canada (Free Flight Press, 1989). A personal recollection of his years as a student writer is printed in The Workshop: Seven Decades of the Iowa Writers' Workshop (Hyperion, 1999). His fiction has appeared in many publications, including The Bloomsbury Review, Epoch, Leviathan, Short Story International, and in his short story collection, Winegold (Wayland Press, 1985).

He lives in Denver, Colorado, where he writes his books under the gaze of his study lamp's winged lion with the fish tail.


Copyright © 2008 Joseph Nigg