Faculty Biography
Vitals:
Name: Jonathan Tropper
Title: Lecturer
Department: English
Building: Reid
Room: TBA
Phone: TBA
Email: tropperj@mville.edu
Degrees:
Professor Jonathan Tropper’s latest book, How To Talk To A Widower, was published July 17, 2007. It quickly became a best seller both in the United States and in the United Kingdom. The book has also become the official summer selection of the Richard and Judy Show in the U.K., which is the equivalent of a nomination for Oprah’s book club in the United States.
Professor Tropper wrote his first book, Plan B, in 2000 while he was running his own business. Upon publication of this book he decided that writing was his true calling, and quit his former line of work to become a full time writer. He published two other books in 2004 and 2005, The Book of Joe and Everything Changes.
In 2006 he decided to branch out into teaching, and started working with students in a writers workshop at Manhattanville. When asked what his main goal is when teaching these classes he said, “The most important thing for me is to encourage these young writers, and to impress upon them that it is not impossible to get published. The sheer volume of submissions that publishing houses receive every year alone is the chief difficulty, so I tell my students that perseverance is key. After 49 rejections, they still have to be willing to send out that 50th query letter.”
Professor Tropper has also been busy writing screenplays and is currently pitching a television show. “I believe it is important to creatively diversify,” he said. “I enjoy screenwriting because it involves a lot of collaboration with other people in the industry, so it is a nice break from writing novels which can be lonely work.” He also spoke about his writing style. “I try to write accessible and entertaining fiction,” he said. “So although I believe it is important to write about serious issues, I don’t like to make it a glum experience for my readers.”
Three of Professor Tropper’s books are currently in development to become feature films, including The Book of Joe for which he wrote the screenplay. The summer of 2007 you can catch him on his book tour for How To Talk To A Widower. View his website for tour dates and locations in the U.S.