When Les Standiford received the offer to direct the Creative Writing program at Florida International University, he didn’t hesitate to accept and pack his bags. It was the 1980s, and although Miami was going through a period marked by violence and social crisis, it was emerging as an attractive literary destination for writers. The Miami Book Fair had just launched its first edition downtown, local noir was gaining international recognition, and authors such as Russell Banks, Charles Willeford, and Elmore Leonard were publishing works that are now considered classics of Miami literature.
Born in Ohio in 1945, the son of a truck driver and a factory worker, Standiford discovered—thanks to his community’s librarian—that books could open doors to worlds far more complex and diverse than those of his everyday life. His education, like that of so many who live several lives before fully committing to writing, was erratic. He enlisted in and was discharged from the Army, passed through law school—where he became disillusioned—and then psychology, where he earned both a bachelor’s degree and a doctorate. Creative writing seminars and workshops followed, along with pieces in magazines and journals, and that first manuscript that took twenty years to find a publisher.
The publication of Spill in 1990 not only marked his literary debut; it paved the way for someone who would become one of the essential figures in Miami literature. His career goes far beyond the fiction that fills the shelves of Barnes & Noble and Books & Books. In addition to founding—and continuing to direct—the Master’s program in Creative Writing at FIU, Standiford has documented the city in nonfiction books such as Center of Dreams: Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, and the Rise of America’s Xanadu and Last Train to Paradise, required reading for anyone interested in Miami. The latter recounts how Henry Flagler arrived in swampy Florida, built his hotel empire, founded the city of Miami, and connected the state from Jacksonville to Key West with the monumental East Coast Railway.
At the same time, Standiford has established himself as one of the most authoritative voices in Miami noir—not only through his crime series starring John Deal, but also through his deep knowledge of the genre. Proof of this is his work as editor of the anthology Miami Noir, where writers such as John Dufresne, Tom Corcoran, Paul Levine, and Lynne Barrett tell stories of crime and violence set in different corners of the 305. And Miami Noir: The Classics, an anthology that recovers texts by the most emblematic figures of Miami noir since its beginnings, including Elmore Leonard, Edna Buchanan, Charles Willeford, among others.
Liked it? Take a second to support The Jitney on Patreon! The Jitney needs gas. Please donate or become a Patron here
