about john F. Duffy
When John F. Duffy became a film student at Columbia College Chicago, he had big dreams of writing and directing Hollywood films. By the time he graduated, he had fallen in love with literary fiction. For the next twenty years, Duffy found himself carving a very unusual life path that took him from Chicago to Phoenix, Ann Arbor to Austin, eventually landing him in Bloomington, Indiana.
Across that time Duffy worked on documentary films, made skate videos, spent a year couch surfing, got sober, engaged with environmental activism, waited more tables than he'd like to remember, published a non-fiction book, created podcasts, had a daughter, built a cabin in the woods, and fell in love with combat sports.
Currently, Duffy works as a writer and producer of podcasts and documentary films. He regularly writes works of short fiction, and in 2022 he completed his debut novel, "A Ballroom for Ghost Dancing," which was the recipient of numerous awards and honors. His follow up novel, “Where When It Rains, “ was published on December 3rd, 2024 by Picket Fire Press. It quickly made Independent Book Review’s “Best Reads of 2024” list.
When he isn't writing, Duffy can be found sipping coffee with his wife, hanging out with his daughter, or further deforming his ears at the nearest Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gym.
