With seven years and a Pulitzer Prize under his belt, author Jeffrey Eugenides has returned to Princeton to join other lauded writers like Joyce Carol Oates and Chang-rae Lee in teaching in the University's creative writing program.
Paul Muldoon, chair of the Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, described Eugenides as "that rare creature — a great writer who is also widely admired, including by a generation only recently come to reading."
Eugenides taught at the University in 1999-2000, around the time that his 1993 debut novel "The Virgin Suicides" was made into feature film starring James Woods, Kathleen Turner and Kirsten Dunst.
In 2003, he won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for "Middlesex," the coming-of-age story of an intersex person growing up in Michigan. The book is the current selection of Oprah's Book Club.
Though his credentials might seem intimidating, few of the students scheduled to be in Eugenides' Advanced Fiction class beginning later this week expressed anxiety about his reputation.
"I've actually taken several CWR classes before, with Edmund White and Joyce Carol Oates, so I suppose I would say I'm a little used to having some star power for my creative writing professors," said Blair Hurley '09, who is enrolled in Eugenides' course this fall.
She said the Creative Writing Department could benefit from having "another big name" on its faculty.
"It may generate a lot more interest in creative writing, at least at the intro level."
Brandon White '09, another student in Eugenides' class, said the 47-year-old professor's "youthful perspective" will be "invigorating."
White added that one of Eugenides' other assets as a professor may be his example of valuing quality over quantity in writing. The author has written just two novels, far fewer than Oates, who writes prolifically under both her name and a pseudonym.
"For students pursuing certificates in creative writing," White said, "and who are potentially considering futures as authors, Professor Eugenides provides a near incomparable model for success."
Hurley added that in her experience, "younger professors devote more time to critiquing students' manuscripts."
Eugenides' first class is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
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