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Department ofEnglish

David James Keaton

David James Keaton

Associate Teaching Professor

David J. Keaton received his BFA in Creative Writing from Bowling Green State University and his MFA from the University of Pittsburgh. He has placed over one hundred pieces of fiction and nonfiction in various publications, and he has published two novels and three collections of short stories. His first collection, Fish Bites Cop! Stories to Bash Authorities (Red Room Press), was named the 2013 Short Story Collection of the Year by This Is Horror and was a finalist for the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award. His second collection, Stealing Propeller Hats from the Dead (PMMP), received a Starred Review from Publishers Weekly. He's also the co-editor of Hard Sentences: Crime Fiction Inspired by Alcatraz, Tales from the Crust: An Anthology of Pizza Horror, and the editor of Dirty Boulevard: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Lou Reed. He is currently working on a third novel, which deals with current police abuses and the ongoing attempts to rectify this with new technology. He teaches courses in Composition and Creative Writing.

In The News

February 15, 2023

David James Keaton creates a playlist for his novel Head Cleaner in the "Book Notes" series from Largehearted Boy, where authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. 

December 9, 2022

With his latest book, Look Out For … Head Cleaner, Keaton skewers the VHS generation with a diabolical blend of science-fiction and horror only he could write.