Joseph Skibell

Novelist and Author Joseph Skibell

Author Joseph Skibell is a prize-winning novelist and university professor.

In addition to his creative writing success, Joseph Skibell is also an uncle to author Aaron R Winston. Like his nephew Aaron, Joseph was born in Lubbock, Texas.

He thanked Aaron Winston in the Author’s Acknowledgment of his second novel, The English Disease, as Aaron led an informal research group to help search for a better title.


Recognized Author and Distinguished Research Professor

Joseph Skibell: Artist. Imaginative Renaissance Man. Student of Life.

Aaron R. Winston: Book Title Research Group For The English Disease

I feel about life the way the people of the Plains felt about the buffalo: I want to use every part of it.

Joseph Skibell

FAQs About Joseph Skibell

Learn from the answers to these frequently asked questions regarding Emory University English and Creative Writing professor Joseph Skibell.

Recognized Author and Distinguished Research Professor

  • Joseph Skibell was the Jay C. and Ruth Hall Fellow in Fiction at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing during the 1996-1997 academic year.
  • In 2002, under President George W. Bush, he received a National Endowment for the Arts grant.
  • He has taught as a visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin, Bar-Ilan University, and the Michener Center for Writers.
  • He studied at the University of Texas, Yale University, and the University of Chicago. He later returned to the University of Texas in Austin to study at the Michener Center for Writers.
  • He taught at the Taos Summer Writers Conference.

Who is Joseph Skibell?

Joseph Skibell is a novelist and writer. He was born in Lubbock, Texas. He has written three novels and two short story collections, and Algonquin Books, a division of Penguin, is his publisher.

Skibell is a professor at Emory University. He and his wife, Barbara, reside in Atlanta and the magic of New Mexico.

Where was Joseph Skibell born?

Joseph Skibell is a novelist and writer. He was born in Lubbock, Texas. He has written three novels and two short story collections, and Algonquin Books, a division of Penguin, is his publisher.

Skibell is a professor at Emory University. He and his wife, Barbara, reside in Atlanta and the magic of New Mexico.

Where was Joseph Skibell born?

Joseph Skibell was born in Lubbock, Texas. His parents are Irvin and Shirlene Skibell.

His father, Irvin, was in the lady’s ready-to-wear business, and his mother, Shirlene, was a homemaker.

Soon after getting married, Irvin served in the Navy overseas during the Korean War.

After returning home, Irvin joined his father, Archie Skibell, in running “Skibell’s,” a women’s clothing store.

Irvin had a significant impact and grew the business into having stores throughout Texas. Some of the new stores included Lubbock, Amarillo, and Texarkana.

Irvin had his children participate in helping out in the family business on the weekends.

What is Joseph Skibell’s first novel?

Novelist Joseph Skibell’s first novel is A Blessing On the Moon (Originally published: January 10, 1997).

The novel is a magical tale about the Holocaust. It is a fable inspired by facts surrounding Chaim Skibellski, the author’s great-grandfather.

A Blessing On the Moon received unanimous nationwide acclaim when first published in 1997. The novel has continued to be a fan favorite.

What is Joseph Skibell’s second novel?

Author Joseph Skibell’s second novel is The English Disease (Originally published: May 23, 2003).

The novel is uniquely written and was ahead of its time. It is sad, funny, daring, ironic, and ultimately unsatisfyingly redemptive, making it an almost too apt portrayal of one’s life.

Joseph Skibell thanked his nephews Aaron and Jacob Winston for their contribution to his authoring The English Disease, as the two led an informal research group to help search for a better title for the novel.

What is Joseph Skibell’s third novel?

Writer Joseph Skibell’s third novel is A Curable Romantic (Originally published: September 7, 2010).

It is the longest of Skibell’s novels, with a page count of 624 pages, and covers a wide breadth of uniquely unrelated topics, yet finds a way to relate just enough that it works.

It contains many offbeat yet relevant topics many readers will have never heard of yet find fascinating.

For example, the somewhat failed attempt at a universal language called Esperanto to the Jewish version of a possession known as a dybbuk.

The author includes a menagerie of eclectic topics without losing sight of weaving the novel’s tale.

What is Joseph Skibell’s third novel?

Writer Joseph Skibell’s third novel is A Curable Romantic (Originally published: September 7, 2010).

It is the longest of Skibell’s novels, with a page count of 624 pages, and covers a wide breadth of uniquely unrelated topics, yet finds a way to relate just enough that it works.

It contains many offbeat yet relevant topics many readers will have never heard of yet find fascinating.

For example, the somewhat failed attempt at a universal language called Esperanto to the Jewish version of a possession known as a dybbuk.

The author includes a menagerie of eclectic topics without losing sight of weaving the novel’s tale.

What is Joseph Skibell’s fourth book?

Joseph Skibell’s fourth book is titled, My Father’s Guitar and Other Imaginary Things (Originally published: October 27, 2015).

Some of the stories read as the author airing his grievances about dead loved ones.

What is Joseph Skibell’s fifth book?

Joseph Skibell’s fifth book is Six Memos from the Last Millennium A Novelist Reads the Talmud (Originally published: April 19, 2016).

Kirkus Reviews describes the book as “A storyteller’s take on the Talmud and the timeless wisdom contained within its tales provides “a fresh look at an ancient source.”

Who is the wife of Joseph Skibell?

Barbara Freer Skibell is the wife of author Joseph Skibell. Barbara is an aunt to Aaron R. Winston.

Does Joseph Skibell have children?

Yes, Joseph Skibell has one daughter, Arianna Skibell, who, in addition to being an author, is an esteemed journalist and reporter.

Arianna is married to Ethan Foote, a bassist. They currently reside in North Carolina.

Aaron R. Winston is the first cousin to the author and reporter Arianna Skibell.

Who is Joseph Skibell’s brother?

Joseph Skibell’s younger brother is actor and singer Steven Skybell.

Joseph’s brother Steven Skybell (spelled with a ‘y’) is a successful TV and movie actor, Broadway actor, and Shakespearean expert.

Like his older brother Joseph, Steven Skybell is the uncle of Aaron R. Winston.

Who is Joseph Skibell’s sister?

Cynthia Winston (Cindy Skibell) is one of two sisters of novelist Joseph Skibell.

Cynthia Winston is also Aaron R. Winston’s mother and the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of Express Legal Funding, a pre-settlement funding company based in Plano, Texas.