Splash Biography

JAMES KENNEDY, Author of "The Order of Odd-Fish"

Major: Physics

College/Employer: I'm a novelist.

Year of Graduation: 95

Brief Biographical Sketch:

James Kennedy is the author of THE ORDER OF ODD-FISH (Random House Delacorte 2008), a middle grade / YA fantasy that was one of the Smithsonian's Notable Books for Children 2008. Booklist praised ODD-FISH as "hilarious" and Time Out Chicago described it as "a work of mischievous imagination and outrageous invention."

In April 2010 James put on a gallery show in Chicago of over 100 pieces of ODD-FISH fan art he had received. His "Dome of Doom" writing workshop, in which teens dress up as gods, fling whimsical insults, and battle-dance, has become legendary in Chicago-area schools and libraries.

At the American Library Association conference in 2008, James tackled Neil Gaiman and, through a series of mental and physical trials, won the Newbery award from him fair and square. James graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1995 with a degree in physics and philosophy. He lives in Chicago with his wife and daughter. His second novel, the sci-fi comedy THE MAGNIFICENT MOOTS, will be published by Delacorte in 2012.

You can visit him at http://www.jameskennedy.com.

Past Classes

(Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

L703: ENTER THE DOME OF DOOM WITH JAMES KENNEDY in Splash! Fall 2010 (Oct. 02, 2010)

James Kennedy, the author of the young-adult fantasy "The Order of Odd-Fish," will recreate with you the book's climactic "Dome of Doom" scene! The book is set in Eldritch City, a kind of urban Narnia with many strange traditions and rituals. In this scene, the hero and her rival must, as part of a dueling ritual, dress up as some of the 144,444 gods of Eldritch City and exchange threats and insults in the old classical Eldritch City style before fighting. Students will invent their own gods from the Eldritch City pantheon (with names like "Aznath, the Silver Kitten of Deceit" or "Ichthala, the All-Devouring Mother"). They will then rummage through chests of costumes and put together costumes to look their their god. Next, they'll write their own baroque, ludicrous Eldritch City-style insults. Then we'll put on our own "Dome of Doom" style tournament in which the students pair off, announce the name of the god they've invented, exchange the ritualized threats that they've written in front of everyone, and then dance-fight each other (no touching) to insane fighting music. There will be prizes! ALSO: EVERY REGISTERED PARTICIPANT WILL RECEIVE A FREE PAPERBACK OF "THE ORDER OF ODD-FISH"!