Clay Zuba

Clay Zuba writes fiction and essays that awaken readers to the sinister beauty of early American literature, and examine how modern American culture rests on the works of our earliest writers and artists (no matter how hard we try to ignore it).

His most recent project, “Murder in the House of the Seven Gables,” serves as a prequel to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s iconic novel House of the Seven Gables (1851). This gothic mystery explores the death of Colonel Pyncheon, whose death Hawthorne leaves unexplained at his novel’s conclusion. “Love in the House of the Seven Gables” is kind of like Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca (1938), but set during the Salem Witch Trials, and with hints of Hannibal (2015).

Clay holds a Ph.D. from the University of Delaware with a specialization in American literature. His academic accomplishments include presentations to the Modern Language Association and the University of Macerata (Italy), a twelve-month fellowship at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and published research in Early American Literature and Studies in American Fiction.

He has written on teaching in Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture and is a contributor to the website Teaching PALS: Pedagogy and American Literary Studies.

He teaches English at Xavier College Preparatory High School, in Phoenix, Arizona.