All Faculty Profiles
Tom Cooper
by Talia Skaistis
Gotham teacher Tom Cooper is a collector.
Tom’s novels “don’t start from page one.” He doodles, creates soundscapes, and collects materials, likening his process to that of a Bowerbird.
“It is like I am building a nest,” Tom says, “made of old yarn spools and cigarette butts and all this detritus they find in the park.”
Immersion is essential for Tom, both within his written worlds and beyond them. His novels are the result of visits to graveyards and townsquares, hours spent reading books on flora and fauna, and listening to stories that emerge from students in his classroom.
All of this gathering helps build the richly described places and people at the center of Tom’s work. Originally from Florida, Tom has lived in New Orleans for the past fifteen years, now considering himself a permanent resident. He has loved writing for as long as he can remember. He originally “cut his teeth on the hokey horror paperbacks of the 80s.”
“I started writing my first novels in middle school and high school,” Tom says. “Yes, they were all terrible. But I had a lot of fun doing it. There was never a point in my life when I didn’t want to do it.”
The Bayou is the backdrop for his debut novel, Marauders, which takes place following the BP oilspill in 2010. Not only is the delicately-balanced marsh ecosystem a source of income for shrimpers, it is also a source of community and culture. The oilspill disrupts the physical, economical, and emotional states of the Barataria, illustrating Tom's ability to intertwine characters with their environments.
“I need the landscape as a character for the characters to play upon,” Tom replied to a question about the importance of setting. “The landscape is a reflection of what is happening in the characters' heads psychologically and emotionally. Names and details are what give a story life.”
Tom’s characters are certainly alive and memorable. He has crafted a one-armed treasure hunter, a cat-faced mobster, and a pair of twins protecting a secret island.
“I like writing outsiders, I like weirdos,” Tom says. “These characters are like Frankenstein's monster in a way, bits and pieces collected here and there.”
Tom’s teaching style is all about tapping into what people are naturally curious about and drawn to in their everyday lives. He wants his students to “find the local flavor of that place, and get out of your comfort zone, and get out of the house! Have your characters get out of the house!”
He would describe his workshops as conversations focused on creativity and the writing process. “It’s like happy hour, without the drinks,” Tom says. “We talk about what we like, what we don’t like, what we have read recently, what we have watched.”
When Tom is not writing novels or teaching, you can find him fiddling around with his guitar and his synthesizers, reading a Stephen King book, or spending time with his girlfriend Katherine Cooper, who is also a writer (check out her book The Hanged Man). Tom also writes ghost tours for various cities around the US, diving into their historical and supernatural lore.
All Tom’s interests and activities help him get ideas flowing for his writing. Writing is a process: a slow road requiring patience, immersion, and commitment. This is why Tom believes in the importance of stimulating his writer’s mind by filling his life with other creative outlets, like music and art.
“It’s my way of getting into the sandbox and finding the youthful playfulness that a lot of adults and writers lose sight of as they grow older.”
