Brian A. Dixon

Brian A. Dixon is a writer, cultural studies scholar, and media critic. His fiction has appeared in the pages of publications such as Connecticut Review, Zahir, A Thousand Faces, and The Beacon. His drama has been seen Off-Broadway. His academic writings include studies concerning multimedia in the classroom, nineteenth-century American literature, detectives in film and fiction, ethnic humor in British sitcoms, archetypes in comic books, the works of Ian Fleming, and the James Bond films. Dixon has served as the assistant editor of ATQ: The American Transcendental Quarterly and as the editor of Revelation: Apocalyptic Art and Literature. He has edited volumes including Figures of Freedom: Representations of Agency in a Time of Crisis (2024), the acclaimed television retrospective  Back to Frank Black: A Return to Chris Carter’s Millennium (2012), and Columbia & Britannia: An Alternate History (2009), nominated for the 2010 Sidewise Award for Alternate History.

Fiction

  • Cover of the Connecticut Review magazine featuring abstract colorful artwork in shades of green, blue, and yellow

    "The McMillen Golf Penalty"

    McMillen State Penitentiary is as harsh as any prison, but for one inmate the facility's weekly miniature golf games offer an opportunity for escape.

    Short Story. Connecticut Review (Vol. XXIV No. 3) Spring 2002: 191-196. Print. Winner: Shannon Searles Fiction Prize.

  • Cover of Westont magazine, Spring 2003 issue, featuring an abstract painting with orange, red, black, and gray shapes and patterns.

    "The McMillen Golf Penalty"

    McMillen State Penitentiary is as harsh as any prison, but for one inmate the facility's weekly miniature golf games offer an opportunity for escape.

    Reprint of the Shannon Searles Fiction Prize Winner. Short Story. Weston Spring 2003: 196-199. Print.

  • Cover of Zahir magazine, issue 7, priced at $5, featuring an artistic illustration of a woman with long flowing hair intertwined with mechanical and architectural elements, set against a cloudy sky background.

    "This Petty Pace"

    Scientific advances allow a brilliant physicist and his eager protégé to become the first men in human history to look into the future, where they glimpse unimaginable horror.

    Short Story. Zahir (No. 7) Summer 2005: 13-18. Print.

  • Cover of 'a thousand faces,' a quarterly journal of superhuman fiction, winter 2008, with a close-up image of a young boy with blue eyes and a hooded jacket.

    "Off the Record"

    When police and reporters converge on the scene of an industrial accident, the stage is set for an unexpected confrontation with Oklahoma City's most beloved costumed superhero, the Cyclone.

    Short Story. A Thousand Faces (Iss. 3) Winter 2008: 77-86. Print.

  • Lady Britannia holding a trident before the flag of British North America. The image is the cover of a book titled 'Columbia & Britannia: An Alternate History,' edited by Adam Chamberlain and Brian A. Dixon.

    "Intolerable Acts"

    In the colonies of British North America, a love triangle that entwines three powerful political infleunces threatens to disrupt the course of the empire’s history.

    Short Story. Columbia & Britannia: An Alternate History. Fourth Horseman Press, 2009. Print.

  • Book cover titled 'Columbia & Britannia: An Alternate History' edited by Adam Chamberlain and Brian A. Dixon, featuring a red and blue background with flags and a gold ampersand between the words.

    "The Last Day of the Old World"

    British North America is poised to land the first Englishman on the moon, but celebrations are threatened by the empire's history of cultural erasure.

    Short Story. Columbia & Britannia: An Alternate History. Fourth Horseman Press, 2009. Print.

  • Cover of a pulp fiction anthology titled 'Live Free or Sci-Fi,' featuring a giant purple and yellow striped alien and a city street scene with buildings, a clock tower, and people, highlighting a science fiction theme.

    "The Rejuvenated Lojeski"

    The Illuminating Lojeski is a washed-up stage magician with a secret so shameful that he is now hunted by a gang of desperate children through the streets of a lakeside town.

    Short Story. Live Free or Sci-Fi. Plaidswede, 2013. Print.

  • Title page for 'The Beacon' presented by Goodwin College, featuring a stormy ocean with dark clouds overhead.

    "Phantom Fury"

    The Second Battle of Fallujah has left its mark on Gunnery Sergeant Gutteridge, a truth he is forced to confront when he is delivered a terrifying diagnosis by an army surgeon.

    Short Story. The Beacon (Iss. 3) Summer 2014: 33-36. Print.

  • Split image of a rocky shoreline with ocean waves, showing two different lighting and weather conditions, titled 'The Beacon' with a subtitle about a creative writing collection from Goodwin College community.

    "Enemy Unseen"

    At Bromsgrove School for Boys, a troubled student's obsessive behavior leads a teacher to consider the role played by science in the battle against the real enemy of World War I’s trench warfare: infection.

    Short Story. The Beacon (Iss. 4) Fall 2015. 7-8. Print.

  • Cover of Honeyguide literary magazine, Issue 9 from November 2024, featuring a watercolor illustration of a bear's face blended with colorful splashes and ink blot patterns.

    "Cocktails with the Whales"

    Attending a lavish fundraiser held in an aquarium, oil company executive Sandra Bates comes to a fresh understanding of the corporate food chain.

    With Adam Chamberlain. Short Story. Honeyguide (Iss. 9) November 2024: 69-72. Print.

Books

  • Cover of a book titled 'Figures of Freedom: Representations of Agency in a Time of Crisis,' edited by Randy Laist and Brian A. Dixon, featuring the decaying shape of the Statue of Liberty before a background of digital glitches.

    Figures of Freedom

    Figures of Freedom: Representations of Agency in a Time of Crisis (2024), edited by Brian A. Dixon and Randy Laist, examines how recent narratives in literature, on television, and in film have reimagined themes of personal and political agency in the context of twenty-first-century aspirations and anxieties.

    Read On
  • Book cover titled 'Back to Frank Black: A Return to Chris Carter's Millennium,' featuring a painting of Lance Henriksen as Frank Black.

    Back to Frank Black

    Back to Frank Black: A Return to Chris Carter’s Millennium (2012), the acclaimed television retrospective co-edited with Adam Chamberlain, features a number of behind-the-scenes interviews with cast and crew written by Brian A. Dixon as well as an original essay from the author.

    Read On
  • Lady Britannia holding a trident before the flag of British North America. The image is the cover of a book titled 'Columbia & Britannia: An Alternate History,' edited by Adam Chamberlain and Brian A. Dixon.

    Columbia & Britannia

    Columbia & Britannia: An Alternate History (2009), edited by Brian A. Dixon and Adam Chamberlain, reimagines the course of world events through vivid speculative storytelling and imaginative artifacts. The anthology was nominated for the 2010 Sidewise Award for Alternate History.

    Read On