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Nickolas Butler

Nickolas Butler is the author of the novel "Shotgun Lovesongs" and a forthcoming collection of short stories entitled, "Beneath the Bonfire".

Born in Allentown, Pennsylvania and raised in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, he was educated at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop. His work has appeared in: Ploughshares, The Christian Science Monitor, The Kenyon Review Online, Narrative, The Progressive, and many other publications.

Along the way he has worked as: a meatpacker, a Burger King maintenance man, a liquor store clerk, a coffee roaster, an office manager, an author escort, an inn-keeper (twice), and several other odd vocations.

He presently lives on 16 acres of land in rural Wisconsin adjacent to a buffalo farm. He is married with two children.

Genres: Literary Fiction

New and upcoming books

February 2025

A Forty-Year Kiss

Novels

   Shotgun Lovesongs (2014)
   The Hearts of Men (2017)
   Little Faith (2019)
   Godspeed (2021)
   A Forty-Year Kiss (2025)

Collections

Beneath the Bonfire (2015)

Novellas and Short Stories

In Western Counties (2014)

Nickolas Butler recommends

The Trouble Up North (2025)
Travis Mulhauser
"Simply put, Travis Mulhauser is one of my favorite writers working today. The second you encounter his offbeat, slipstream, and lyrical prose you know that you're reading a disciple of Charles Portis, the kind of writer who always honors his characters with firebrand intelligence, knife-sharp wit, and reckless heart. I drank this novel like a series of shots - one evening of delirious page-turning. Write faster, Travis Mulhauser, the world needs more of your books."

A Winter's Rime (2023)
Carol Dunbar
"A big-hearted novel that succeeds on many levels: as a mystery, a thriller, and a sensitive, deeply-researched, character-study. It is difficult enough to write an emotionally authentic story, but Dunbar has also masterfully interwoven her passions for science, nature, violence, and redemption. A driving, compelling read."

Toby's Last Resort (2023)
Pamela Carter Joern
"This is a kindhearted, humorous, and graceful novel full of secrets, regrets, and redemptions. I immediately related to the drama of this beautifully drawn book about an eclectic cast of characters during a summer on the prairie and Sandhills of western Nebraska. Pamela Carter Joern writes about the Great Plains with the authority of a biologist and the passion of a poet."

We Are the Light (2022)
Matthew Quick
"We Are the Light is the book America needs right now. A novel that embraces our national heartbreak and division with love and compassion. Matthew Quick is the patron saint of the damaged and outcast and no one writes with more heart and empathy. You'll love this book."

Damnation Spring (2021)
Ash Davidson
"Damnation Spring is, like the redwood trees at the center of its story, a beautiful, timeless, and breathtaking novel. It is painstakingly researched and lovingly crafted. But most importantly, the author is incredibly sensitive and tender with her characters, who, for the reader, quickly become as close as neighbors or family. Ultimately, time is the best judge of artistic quality, but for me, this book has all the makings of a classic. It is, in my estimation, a Great American Novel. A novel that tips its cap at writers like Steinbeck and Kesey, but also confidently forges ahead, blazing new paths. Just - a stunning, wondrous book."

Shoulder Season (2021)
Christina Clancy
"Shoulder Season is a delight. Briskly plotted, the book moves like a river through time, sweeping the reader along for an unexpected, humorous, and surprising journey of friendship, exploration, and discovery."

Raft of Stars (2021)
Andrew J Graff
"In ruggedly beautiful prose, and with a deep affection for his damaged, but always loveable characters, Graff delivers a novel with real heart and soul. An authentic look into the heartland of America, into one-parent households, where mothers and grandparents are supporting the next generation while fathers are either absentee, or should be. Like a barrel going over a waterfalls, Raft of Stars sweeps its reader downstream, and fast. Hold on for the ride."

Cloudmaker (2021)
Malcolm Brooks
"Epic in scope, beautifully crafted in its prose, and always--always--adoring of its cast of unforgettable characters, Cloudmaker is a stunner of a novel. A book that absolutely soars."

American Gospel (2020)
Lin Enger
"A tightly constructed novel in which unexpected second chances lead to forgiveness, lost and found families, and enlightenment. American Gospel is tenderly written, expertly plotted, and culminates in an ending for the ages. A wonderful book."

Ruthie Fear (2020)
Maxim Loskutoff
"An original and shape-shifting western parable. A book full of earnest, proud, damaged, and endearing characters, each one chasing their own American Dream. Maxim Loskutoff’s writing is endowed with fearless audacity, stunning grace, and gutsy heart."

The End of the Day (2020)
Bill Clegg
"Delicate, deeply observed, and deftly crafted, THE END OF THE DAY is a beautiful mosaic of memory, regret, and loss. A triumphant and noble novel."

The Narcissism of Small Differences (2020)
Michael Zadoorian
"Against the backdrop of a crumbling Detroit, Zadoorian's prose sparkles and shimmers, infusing this love ballad of a novel with humor and light. Zadoorian is a writer who hears music everywhere and in everything, a writer who turns the act of reading into something as lush as a concert, as intimate as a mixtape."

The Boat Runner (2017)
Devin Murphy
"Devin Murphy’s fantastic debut novel The Boat Runner is a lot of things - thrilling, tragic, well-paced - but maybe most of all, timely."

The Graybar Hotel (2017)
Curtis Dawkins
"There is a current of electricity running through this book, a shocking voltage of truth. What an authentic and rare book The Graybar Hotel is."

Fateful Mornings (2017)
(Henry Farrell, book 2)
Tom Bouman
"Tom Bouman is my new favorite mystery writer."

The Antiques (2017)
Kris D'Agostino
"The Antiques is a literary hurricane of hilarity, heartbreak, and familial redemption."

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