- Associate Professor, Undergraduate Advisor
- Phone: 401.874.5692
- Email: nikitas@uri.edu
- Office Location: 114C Swan Hall
Biography
Derek Nikitas is the author of two literary thriller novels, Pyres and The Long Division, and the Young Adult novel Extra Life. He has also published two thriller novellas co-written with America’s bestselling author James Patterson: Diary of a Succubus and You’ve Been Warned – Again. Pyres (St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2007) was nominated for an Edgar Award for Best First Novel by an American Author. The Long Division (St. Martin’s Minotaur) was a Washington Post Book World Best Book of 2009, and the French translations of both novels were nominated for the Elle Magazine Reader’s Choice Award.
Derek received his Master of Fine Arts in Fiction Writing from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and his PhD in English (Creative Writing Concentration) from Georgia State University. He has also been a Walter E. Dakin Fellow at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and a visiting faculty member for the Dzanc Books Disquiet International literary program in Lisbon, Portugal.
Research
Fiction writing, screen and television writing, Film Studies, popular and genre fiction
Education
- Ph.D., Georgia State University
- M.F.A., University of North Carolina, Wilmington
- B.A., State University of New York, Brockport
Selected Publications
Co-written Novellas
Patterson, James and Derek Nikitas. You’ve Been Warned—Again. James Patterson’s Bookshots (Little, Brown); October, 2017. 123 pages.
Patterson, James and Derek Nikitas. Diary of a Succubus. James Patterson’s Bookshots (Little, Brown); April, 2017. 144 pages.
Novels
Nikitas, Derek. Extra Life. Polis Books. October 13, 2015. 292 pages.
Nikitas, Derek. The Long Division. Minotaur Books (St. Martin’s Press), 2009. 306 pages.
Nikitas, Derek. Pyres. Minotaur Books (St. Martin’s Press), 2007. 308 pages.
Short Stories
“The Call.” Cover Stories, ed. Stephan Kiesbye, Volt Books, August, 2017. Pages 11-51. (a reimagining of Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu”)
“The Plowman’s Tale,” Great Jones Street (short story application), posted March 2017. 5700 words (revised reprint).
“We’re in the market for a fixer-upper.” Five Points, Vol 17, No. 2, Nov 2016. 250 words.
“Runaway,” Amazon Story Front, posted Sept 2014. approx. 25 pages (revised reprint).
“Voicemail.” Washington Square, Winter/Spring 2012. Pages 58-59.
“My Dolly.” The New Dead, ed. Chris Golden. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2010. pp 213-228.
“All Nite Video.” Show and Tell: Writers on Writing (6th ed.). The Publishing Laboratory: University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2009. 70-80. (reprint)
“Bronze Horsemen.” Plots With Guns, Issue 4, November 2008. approx. 4 pages.
“Razor.” Thuglit, Issue 2p, October 2008. 3 pages. (online resource, no longer available)
“My Flick.” New South, Vol. 1, Issue 2, 2008. pp. 147-148.
“Runaway.” Killer Year: Stories to Die For, ed. Lee Child, St. Martin’s Press, 2008. 192-211.
“All Nite Video.” The Pedestal Magazine, Issue 33, April/June 2006.
“Waiting.” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, March/April 2005. 123-133.
“Wonder.” Ontario Review, No. 61, Winter 2004. 22-37.
“Skippy.” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September/October 2004. 80-88.
“Hungry.” Chelsea, Issue 76, 2004. 18-29.
“Damage.” Ontario Review, No. 54, 2001. pp. 116-127.
“Do You Know Thom Hoover?” Ontario Review, No. 51, 1999. pp. 105-116.
Courses Taught
Undergraduate
ENG 105 Introduction to Creative Writing (General Education Course)
ENG 160 Literatures of the World (General Education Course)
ENG 205B Creative Writing (Fiction)
ENG 205D Creative Writing (Screenwriting)
ENG 304 Film Genres (General Education Course)
ENG 305B Advanced Creative Writing: Fiction
Graduate
ENG 601 Seminar in Creative Writing: Innovations in Narrative Craft
ENG 601 Seminar in Creative Writing (Genre Fiction)
Media
Twitter: @dereknikitas