Dennis Lehane Short Story Becomes a Film and a Novel

FIU MFA alumnus Dennis Lehane's The Drop, now out as both a novel from William Morrow and a film from Fox Searchlight Pictures, began as the short story "Animal Rescue," first published in Akashic Books' Boston Noir and chosen for Best American Mystery Stories 2010. Lehane wrote the screenplay for the film, in which the action moves to New York City, but the novel stays in Boston's Dorchester.  Publisher's Weekly calls the novel a "gritty gem," and The Guardian says, "“He has reworked [the story] into a smart, grubby and thoroughly enjoyable novel to coincide with the film's release.”

Photo: Radio Boston

What is it like to write both the screenplay and the novel? Lehane discusses the differences in an interview with Boston Magazine. You can watch the trailer for the film which co-stars Tom Hardy and James Galdolfini, here.

Dennis Lehane Wins Edgar® Award for Best Novel

Dennis Lehane with his award.

Dennis Lehane received the Best Novel Edgar^® Award from for Live By Night at the 67th annual 2013 Edgar Awards banquet in New York City on May 2nd.  The prestigious awards are given by the Mystery Writers of America.

Shelf Awareness reported from that Lehane's acceptance speech, "paid tribute to the librarians who 'offered a light in the darkness for the kids from the wrong side of the tracks.'"

Live By Night, Lehane's tenth book, also received the Gold Medal for Fiction in the Florida Book Awards in March.  Lehane, who received his MFA from Florida International University, is co-director of the Eckerd College Writers In Paradise Conference.

Campbell McGrath & Dennis Lehane Win Gold Medals in the Florida Book Awards

Prof. Campbell McGrath and MFA program alumnus Dennis Lehane have each won gold medals in the Florida Book Awards for books published in 2012. The awards are coordinated by the Florida State Libraries and co-sponsored by a number of Florida literary and cultural institutions. The medals will be presented at the Florida Heritage Awards ceremonies in Tallahassee on March 20, 2013.

McGrath's In The Kingdom of the Sea Monkeys won the Gold Medal in Poetry. This is McGrath's third win in the Florida Book Awards.  Shannon won the 2009 Poetry Gold Medal, and Seven Notebooks the 2008 Silver in Poetry.  “It feels great, it’s an honor,” McGrath said. “I love the idea of the Florida Book Awards, they bring attention to Floridian literature, the arts and culture. This is an award unique to our home state, so it’s important.”

The Gold Medal for General Fiction went to Live By Night, Lehane's eleventh book, tenth novel and the second in his historical series that follows Joe Coughlin, the son of a Boston police captain turned mobster during the prohibition era of the 1920s.

Other FIU Creative Writing winners in past years are: Lynne Barrett, Gold Medal, General Fiction 2011, for Magpies; alumna Patricia Engel, Silver Medal, General Fiction 2010, for Vida; Denise Duhamel, Silver Medal, Poetry 2009, for Ka-Ching!; alumnus Jesse Millner, Bronze Medal, Poetry 2009, for Neighborhoods of My Past Sorrow;  John Dufresne, Gold Medal, General Fiction 2008, for Requiem, Mass; James W. Hall, Silver Medal, Genre Fiction 2007 for Magic City; and alumnus Leonard Nash, Silver Medal, General Fiction 2007, for You Can't Get There From Here. The Florida Book Awards were established in 2006 to recognize, honor, and celebrate the best Florida literature published each year.

Dennis Lehane's 10th Novel Published

FIU MFA program alumnus Dennis Lehane's tenth novel and eleventh book, Live By Night, has just been published.  A follow-up to Lehane's first historical novel The Given Day, Live By Night is set in the Prohibition era in locations ranging from Boston to Tampa.

In her New York Times review, Janet Maslin calls it "Crime Noir 101, as taught by the best of its current practitioners," and Tampa Times book critic Colette Bancroft says, "Live by Night takes on big subjects — race, class, money, religion, friendship, family, violence — by embedding them in irresistible storytelling about a compelling, conflicted and mordantly funny man."

More on the book and Lehane's book tour appearances can be found at his website.