C.E. O’Banion is an award winning writer and teacher based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Pieces of his fiction, non-fiction, and reviews can be found in The Southern Review Literary Journal, Whalebone Magazine, The Hyacinth Review, The Dead Mule, The Hooghly Review, and more in print and across the internet. He got his bachelor’s and J.D. from LSU and has an MFA from Antioch and USC in Los Angeles. His work, which focuses on East Texas, the great indoors, Mexican chain restaurants, his cat, and his friend Tapscott, can be found in his debut novel Chinese New Year, which was nominated for the Thurber Prize in American Humor in 2024, and in an upcoming collection of essays. O’Banion has one wife, two daughters, two sons, the aforementioned cat, and a dog and manages a hyper-successful fantasy baseball team. He’s been a finalist in multiple New Yorker cartoon caption contests and teaches writing at Louisiana State University.
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"O'Banion is one of those writers who burns down the house in order to save it. Expect trouble, mayhem, and hilarity, though not necessarily in that order." - Jim Krusoe, author of The Sleep Garden
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"Mix David Sedaris with John Jeremiah Sullivan and you have C.E. O'Banion. He writes about the South and its oddities with the delicious, heartfelt affection of an insider. The pleasure of reading his prose fulfills a craving I didn't know I'd been missing." Victoria Patterson, author of The Vacant Paradise
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"O'Banion's book is fun, fresh, and smart as a whip. This is a voice worth paying attention to, and this is a novel worth every moment of your time." - Matthew Blasi, author of Sweet Muffin Ranch
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"It’s not always clear where this novel is going, but readers will enjoy getting there." - Kirkus Magazine
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“C.E. O’Banion blends rollicking action, sharp satire, and tender humanity in unexpected ways. This is a novel like no other.” – Ana Maria Spagna, author of Pushed: Miners, A Merchant and (Maybe) a Murder
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"I can offer two final pieces of honest praise: I’m not sure which friend I most want to pass my heavily dogeared copy to, and I will read O’Banion’s next book." - Chris Turner-Neal, Country Roads Magazine
