Return of the Cyberpunk!

A former MA student of mine, Mike Wilson, was back in Provo after defending his doctoral dissertation at Cornell. For the last few years, Mike has been living in Chile with his family, where he has not only been teaching literature in the university system but has begun to develop a writing career of his own. His first novel, El púgil, has been warmly received and widely reviewed by a number of important newspapers and media outlets. In fact, Mike is very much at the vanguard of contemporary Chilean sci-fi and we were able to persuade him to give a talk at BYU on Southern Cone science fiction, which was absolutely fascinating. Kudos to Mike not only on his successful dissertation defense, but for having secured a tenure-track position at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

Of course it's not like I've had a hand in Mike's success in any significant way, but it's been fantastic to see a former student go on to great things.