Nicole Mazzarella grew up in Ohio and writes with sensitivity and precision about rural, Midwestern life. She lives with her husband and their three children in Illinois.
Nicole has taught creative writing at Old Dominion University and currently teaches creative writing at Wheaton College. Prior to teaching, Nicole worked in a variety of settings, including the 1996 Olympics, an Episcopal Cathedral, a bank, an insurance company, and a software company. She received her B.A. in journalism from Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky and her M.F.A. in creative writing with an emphasis in fiction from Old Dominion University.
Her novel This Heavy Silence was selected by Leif Enger, author of Peace Like a River, as a finalist for the Paraclete PreNicole Mazzarella grew up in Ohio and writes with sensitivity and precision about rural, Midwestern life. She lives with her husband and their three children in Illinois.
Nicole has taught creative writing at Old Dominion University and currently teaches creative writing at Wheaton College. Prior to teaching, Nicole worked in a variety of settings, including the 1996 Olympics, an Episcopal Cathedral, a bank, an insurance company, and a software company. She received her B.A. in journalism from Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky and her M.F.A. in creative writing with an emphasis in fiction from Old Dominion University.
Her novel This Heavy Silence was selected by Leif Enger, author of Peace Like a River, as a finalist for the Paraclete Press Fiction Award of 2004 and received the Christy Award for First Novel in 2006. Library Journal named it one of the best books of 2005, calling it "an understated literary gem" and Christianity Today named it the best fiction book of 2006, saying "Her characters are developed masterfully, & her prose style is both beautiful and precise.”...more