Mark Mustian
Mark Mustian | |
|---|---|
| Born | Panama City, Florida, U.S. |
| Occupation | Novelist, attorney, elected official, festival president |
| Education | University of Florida |
| Genres | Literary fiction, historical fiction, magical realism |
| Website | |
| https://markmustian.com | |
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Mark Mustian is an American novelist, attorney, and former elected official[1][2] based in Florida and Michigan. His novel The Gendarme (2010) received critical attention from The New York Times[3] and won the Florida Book Award for Fiction.[4]
Early life and education
Mark Mustian was born and grew up in Tallahassee, Florida.[4] He is the son of M. T. Mustian, a hospital administrator for whom the TMH Surgery Center and intensive care unit at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare are named.[2]
He attended public schools in Tallahassee, where he was student body president of Leon High School,[5] before earning a Bachelor of Science in finance and a Juris Doctor from the University of Florida.[2][6][7]
Career
Attorney
Mustian has served as an attorney practicing in public finance[3][2][4][8] since 1983. He has worked since 1986 for the firm Nabors, Giblin & Nickerson in Tallahassee[2][7] and currently serves as its president. He taught constitutional law at Tallahassee Community College for two years.[2]
Novelist
Mustian’s first novel, The Return (Pineapple Press, 2000), follows a woman who claims to be the returned Christ and a reporter investigating her authenticity.[2]
His second novel, The Gendarme (Amy Einhorn/G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2010), is set in the Southern United States and Turkey at the beginning of World War I and follows a man who, near death, recalls an earlier life as a gendarme leading Armenians out of Turkey during the Armenian genocide.[2] The novel has been published in multiple languages.[4]
Boy With Wings (Koehler Books, 2025) features Johnny Cruel, born with unusual appendages on his back, who becomes part of a traveling freak show in the American South during the 1930s.[9][2] The novel won the Grand Prize for Fiction from the Next Generation Indie Book Awards.[10]
Public service
Mustian served as president of the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce[2] and later as a city commissioner[1] for Tallahassee from 2003 to 2012.[2][4][11] He has also served on the board of directors of the Florida League of Cities and on the National Policy Council for AARP.[12]
Word of South
Mustian is the founder and president of the Word of South Festival of Literature and Music,[4] held annually in Tallahassee. The festival, which premiered in 2015, is presented each April and features authors and musicians over a three-day weekend. Past participants have included Ann Patchett, George Clinton, Sheila E, Jason Isbell, James McBride, and the Tedeschi Trucks Band.[13]
Personal life
Mustian lives in Michigan and Florida with his wife.[1][4][12]
Works
Novels
- The Return. Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press. 2000. ISBN 9781561641901 Search this book on
.[2] - The Gendarme. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons. 2010. ISBN 9780399156342 Search this book on .[2]
- Boy With Wings. Virginia Beach, Virginia: Koehler Books. 2025. ISBN 9798888244296 Search this book on .[2]
Awards
The Gendarme
- Florida Book Awards — Gold Medal, Fiction (2010)[4]
- Dayton Literary Peace Prize — finalist (2011)[4]
- William Saroyan International Award for Writing— shortlisted (2012)[2][4]
Boy With Wings
- Next Generation Indie Book Awards — Grand Prize, Fiction (2025)[14]
- Independent Publisher Book Awards — Bronze Medal, Historical Fiction (2025)[15]
External links
Category:Living people Category:21st-century American novelists Category:University of Florida alumni Category:Writers from Florida Category:Novelists from Florida Category:Writers from Tallahassee, Florida Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:21st-century American lawyers Category:Writers from Michigan
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "The Gendarme". BookBrowse. Retrieved 2025-12-19.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 Brown, Marina (2025-03-21). "Word of South founder Mark Mustian launches third novel, 'Boy With Wings'". Tallahassee Democrat. Retrieved December 28, 2025.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Peed, Mike (2010-10-10). "Death March". The New York Times Book Review. Retrieved 2025-12-19.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 "Mark Mustian". Writer’s Digest. Retrieved December 28, 2025.
- ↑ "Mustian, Durham Elected". High Life (Leon High School newspaper). Tallahassee, Florida. 1976-12-23.
- ↑ "Newberry College welcomes Lutheran author Mark Mustian". Newberry College. Retrieved December 28, 2025.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Mark Mustian". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved December 28, 2025.
- ↑ "Mark T. Mustian". Nabors, Giblin & Nickerson, P.A. Retrieved December 28, 2025.
- ↑ "7 Novels About Freakshows and the Price of Being Different". Electric Literature. 2025-03-21. Retrieved December 28, 2025.
- ↑ "2025 Judge Reviews". Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Retrieved December 28, 2025.
- ↑ "Mark Mustian". Word of South Festival. Retrieved December 28, 2025.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 "About Mark Mustian". Mark Mustian. Retrieved December 28, 2025.
- ↑ "Word of South Festival of Literature and Music". Word of South Festival. Retrieved December 28, 2025.
- ↑ "2025 Winners". Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Retrieved December 28, 2025.
- ↑ "2025 IPPY Medalists". Independent Publisher Book Awards. Retrieved December 28, 2025.
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