Mike Conklin

Mike Conklin is a story teller. He’s been writing them professionally for audiences since before he drove a car---legally.

Mike’s gathered stories in a media career that started on a small-town weekly, graduated to local dailies, and, following a cup of coffee in TV & Radio broadcasting, made a long stop at The Chicago Tribune. There, he was a beat reporter, daily columnist, and feature writer with his work nationally syndicated.

He’s also written for the New York Times, a variety of magazines, reviewed books, and, after leaving The Tribune, taught communications and writing full-time at DePaul University, where he took leaves to teach at universities and colleges in China and the U.S.

Now, drawing on a kitbag full of experiences and characters, an eye for an entertaining narrative, and equal dabs of imagination and irreverence, he’s writing novels. The first was “Goal Fever!,” a fictional, fun David vs. Goliath sports romp in the Caribbean, and now “Transfer U.,” a look at academia like you’ve never seen.