If you’ve listened to WHQR for any length of time, you probably know Philip Gerard as one of the regular commentators. But those three-and-a-half minute pieces are comparable to an amuse-bouche. The other courses Philip Gerard serves up include his work as a Professor of Creative Writing and Creative Non-Fiction at the University of North Carolina Wilmington in both the BFA and MFA programs. He is co-editor, with his wife, Jill Gerard, of the literary journal Chautauqua, and he is the author of 12 books – five of which are fiction. He is also a musician – but of course he doesn’t confine himself to one instrument. Across a landscape of bluegrass, Americana, folk, and original songs, he plays guitar, keyboards, banjo, harmonica -- among others -- and he sings. He’s produced a solo album entitled American Anthem and he plays with a band called Whiskey Creek.
Today, we’ll explore, in part, his new collection of short stories, Things We Do When No One Is Watching, which is as good an excuse as any to explore the landscape of Philip Gerard’s life and imagination.
