Aaron Gwyn
Contributor
Associate Professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he teaches fiction writing and American literature. Gwyn's published work includes the story collection Dog on the Cross (finalist for the New York Public Library's Young Lions Fiction Award) and novels The World Beneath and Wynne's War, which have appeared in Esquire, McSweeney's, Virginia Quarterly Review, and major anthologies. His story "Mate" was selected by Stephen King as a Distinguished Story in Best American Stories 2007. His fiction excels at capturing the friction between personal conscience and institutional demand, revealing how ordinary people navigate moral choice under pressure.
His first contribution for Panoptica, "Last of the Cowboys," brings a writer's eye to American character and culture—exploring the gap between what we're told to do and what we know to be right. The story examines loyalty tested, consequence, and the unspoken tensions in American life.
Twitter/X: @AmericanGwyn
