Colm O’Shea has been writing since he was a child. At first it was a place for fantasy—a playground. Later in school, it became a place for more rigorous analysis and reflection. Now he’s coming around to see it as a form of play again, but deep play. More than anything else, he’s driven to see how many different forms his writing mind can make.

He didn’t set out to write in a particularly broad set of styles or genres—it just happened organically. Reading James Joyce resulted in a book about sacred geometry. Wondering about the confluence of plague and advanced VR produced a sci-fi novel. And every day yields new questions that might lead to an essay, poem, or short story. This presents its own problem: Being a 21st century writer, the conventional wisdom goes, involves creating a clear, marketable brand. But sticking to one box isn't for everyone, even in the modern era. Where curiosity points, it’s best to follow.  

Colm teaches essay writing at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. It’s not a contradiction to say that the discipline of writing (essays or fiction) can be rigorous and playful all at once. Discovering what new forms the mind can create is here again the challenge he encourages his students to embrace.

On this website you'll find Colm’s poetry, short fiction, essays, academic monographs, and debut novel. He’s hoping his profile becomes stranger and harder to predict as he goes, and that this is engaging for you as much as it's fun for him.

For more on the value of play, check out The Rescape Project that Colm hosts with his friend, the physical educator Robbie O’Driscoll.