A native of Clinton, Mississippi, Joel Parkman has published short stories, a novel, and poetry.  His novel Earthing Man, is forthcoming from Broken Umbrella Press.  His short fiction and poetry have appeared in periodicals and are available in a self-published collection.

Raised on his father's and grandfather's farm outside of Clinton, he often visited his maternal grandfather's farm in south Mississippi.  In those settings he and his brothers learned the common sports of the day and how to catch fish.  Later he was educated at Mississippi College.  As almost everyone from Mississippi eventually does, he went to do time in Texas where he eventually took a Ph.D. in New Testament Studies from Baylor University.  He has studied in Germany twice, in Freiberg and at Eberhart-Karls University in Tuebingen.  He has also studied creative writing at the University of Houston. He has taught in Hong Kong and for Wayland Baptist University in Texas. Twice he has worked in Moscow, once managing an exchange program and once working in the energy sector. He now lives in Houston working for the boutique energy investment banking firm Parkman Whaling, and he spends time when he can in Santa Fe, NM.