Wintering (Geye) - Author Bio

Author Bio
• Birth—1969-70 ca.
• Where—Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
• Education—B.A., University of Minnesota; M.F.A., University of New Orleans; Ph.D., Western
   Michigan University
• Currently—lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota


Peter Geye is an American author with (so far) three novels under his belt: Safe from the Sea (2010), The Lighthouse Road (2012), and Wintering (2016). He was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, attending the city's South High. He enrolled in the school's magnet program, which encouraged learning by having students pursue their areas of interest. Geye pursued ski jumping, flirting, and being a wiseacre.

His love of literature came after cracking a joke during English class. When his teacher retorted that "it's easier to be a smart ass if you've actually read the book." Geye took up the challenge and plunged into the book that night. It turned out to be Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, and Geye was hooked. As he explained to his hometown paper, the Minneapolis Star Tribune: it was a near "religious experience. I was smitten. I wanted to create for others the feeling that I was having."

Still, after high school he pursued his passion for ski jumping, moving to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where he skied every day and dreamed of Olympic championships. But one day, he told the Star Tribune, he realized "it was time to grow up."

Geye went on to receive his BA from the University of Minnesota, his MFA from the University of New Orleans, and his PhD from Western Michigan University, where he taught creative writing and was editor of Third Coast. Nevertheless, it took him 10 years to find his identity as a writer. Along the way, he has been a bartender, bookseller, banker, copywriter, and cook. (From the author's website and Minneapolis Star Tribune.)