Jim Hohenbary

Jim Hohenbary was born and raised in central Illinois. He earned his BA and MA in English Literature from Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State) and Kansas State University, respectively. While Jim stayed in Kansas after graduation, he allowed his imagination to drift further west in the creation of his novel, Before the Ruins, and spent a number of years educating himself about the cliff dwellers of the "Four Corners" region during the writing process.

As a student, Jim originally thought of himself as an aspiring poet. However, his poetry often pulled strongly in narrative directions, and the transition to writing fiction evolved naturally from that. He particularly enjoys exploring the possibilities that exist at the intersection of myth, history, and the supernatural.

He has published other work in multiple genres. He won the Phi Kappa Phi Forum poetry contest in Fall 2010 for his poem, The Witch. His essay, "Pardon My French: Excavating the Roots of the English Language" appeared in the Winter 2019 issue of the Phi Kappa Phi Forum. And he has published flash/short fiction in the Molotov Cocktail and Carcosa magazine (forthcoming).

In addition to writing, Jim currently works as Director of the Office of Nationally Competitive Scholarships and Associate Director of the University Honors Program at K-State, and has spent two decades working with talented students as they compete for national scholarships and fellowships. He lives in Manhattan, KS with his wife, Laura, and two children.