Jack Greer

Jack Greer has been writing for all his adult life. His first short story collection is Abraham’s Bay & Other Stories (Dryad Press, 2009). The Montserrat Review said of the collection that “[Greer] is a wonderful storyteller and a poetic, powerful writer.” Sailing magazine said, “[The stories are] haunting as we sail into cold fronts, storms, and hearts of darkness. Greer... attempts to convey what that veteran sea captain and writer Joseph Conrad says, ‘Above all I want to make you see.’” The magazine Cruising World wrote: “A good book.... Grab a hot toddy and prepare for the ride.”

Much of Greer’s nonfiction writing has focused on the water, and especially on the Chesapeake Bay. For more than thirty years he wrote about, and got engaged in, marine affairs for the University of Maryland Sea Grant College. He has written hundreds of articles about marine science and policy and the Chesapeake. He co-founded and co-edited the magazine Chesapeake Quarterly. He was co-editor and co-author of Chesapeake Futures, a glimpse at the possible futures that await the Chesapeake, depending on what actions we take and when.

Greer has won acclaim for his fiction, including two cash awards from the Maryland State Arts Council for his short stories, and a Baltimore Artscape Award. His story “Sunday at Walmart” was one of the winners of an NPR short-short story competition judged by radio host Scott Simon (November 2010). He has also received citations from the governor of Maryland and from the University of Maryland for his environmental work.

Greer’s poetry has appeared in small magazines, including the online Beltway Journal, where he most recently contributed a poem to a collection honoring Langston Hughes, and the journal Artemis, which published his poem, "Flowers for Heather Heyer."

Greer and his wife, Bobbie, currently reside in a cabin in Virginia’s Blue Ridge mountains.