URI_Research_Magazine_Momentum_Spring_2018_Melissa-McCarthy

Nikitas reinvented the classic story through enriched language, complexity, and the influence of academic research he explored in Lovecraft’s home state of Rhode Island. a writer,” says Nikitas. “I was also eager to mentor creative writers at the highest level in our field – those who are attaining a doctoral degree in English with a ‘creative dissertation,’ meaning their dissertation is a combined creative and scholarly project. URI is one of the few institutions offering such an option for the English Ph.D.” Nikitas’s early short stories and first two novels – Pyres and The Long Division – center on themes of class. The background of The Long Division mirrors his footsteps through New York State and Georgia. Nikitas’s second source of ideas is from a fascination of examining the impact of social issues on individuals. Academic research influences his writing but does not dominate it. Instead, he develops rich characters who are connected to, and are in concert with, their backgrounds but unburdened by preconceptions. Nikitas challenges himself with regular self- reflection to ensure that the characters are authentic. Nikitas’s extensive development of characters, plot and language have garnered merit in literary circles. His infusion of poetic tradition and mastery of prose resulted in accolades. His novel The Long Division was a 2009 “Book of the Year” pick by the Washington Post , and Pyres received an Edgar Award nomination for Best First Novel. His work is characterized as ‘literary thrillers.’ He crafts his writing through the influence of genre standard-bearers such as Anne Rice and Stephen King; literary heroes like Joyce Carol Oates, Toni Morrison and Denis Johnson; as well as poets Philip Larkin, Gerard Hopkins, and John Berryman.

Derek Nikitas Assistant Professor English

Spring | 2018 Page 17