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Paul Watkins

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Paul Watkins

Pen Names: Sam Eastland（Pseudonym used for a detective series set in Stalinist Russia）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1964-01-01
Nationality
American
Languages
English
Residence History
Hightstown, New Jersey → Oxford (attended Dragon School) → Eton (Eton College)

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Teacher, Writer-in-residence
Active Years
1980-
Affiliations
The Peddie School (writer-in-residence, teacher), Lawrenceville School (formerly taught)

Education

Dragon School, Oxford
Country: United Kingdom
Preparatory school attended in childhood; subject of later memoir.
Eton College
Country: United Kingdom
Portions of his memoirs draw on experiences at Eton.
Yale University
Degree: B.A.
Country: United States
Received a B.A. (major not specified)
Syracuse University (University Fellow)
Country: United States
Served as a University Fellow

Awards

Encore Award
1990
Work: Calm at Sunset, Calm at Dawn
Organization: Encore Award organization
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Night Over Day Over Night

1988 Novel

Early novel written in his youth; detailed information not specified.

Calm at Sunset, Calm at Dawn

1989 Novel

Novel that won the Encore Award in 1990; explores themes of adulthood.

coming of agememory

In the Blue Light of African Dreams

1990 Novel

A novel set in Africa; limited detailed information available.

cultural encountertravel

The Promise of Light

1992 Novel

A novel from the early 1990s; specifics not detailed.

Stand Before Your God: An American Schoolboy in England

1993 Memoir (Non-fiction)

A memoir recounting his experiences at the Dragon School and Eton as a schoolboy.

educational experiencecultural identity

The Fellowship of Ghosts: Travels in the Land of Midnight Sun

2006 Non-fiction / Travel

A travelogue of journeys in the land of the midnight sun, describing culture and landscape.

traveltopography

The Forger

2000 Novel

A novel dealing with forgery and questions of authenticity.

authenticityart and deception

Thunder God

2004 Novel

A novel from the 2000s; detailed information is limited.

The Ice Soldier

2005 Novel

A novel that, by title, suggests themes of cold landscapes and isolation.

isolationpolar settings

Eye of the Red Tsar

2010 Historical mystery (as Sam Eastland)

First book in the Inspector Pekkala detective series set in Stalinist Russia, written as Sam Eastland.

Stalinist erapolitical repressioninvestigation

Shadow Pass (US title) / The Red Coffin (UK title)

2011 Historical mystery (as Sam Eastland)

Second book in the series, depicting crime amid the unsettled political climate of Stalinist times.

politicsinvestigation

Bibliography

  • Night Over Day Over Night (1988)
  • Calm at Sunset, Calm at Dawn (1989)
  • In the Blue Light of African Dreams (1990)
  • The Promise of Light (1992)
  • Stand Before Your God: An American Schoolboy in England (1993)
  • Archangel (1995)
  • The Story of my Disappearance (1997)
  • The Forger (2000)
  • Thunder God (2004)
  • The Ice Soldier (2005)
  • The Fellowship of Ghosts: Travels in the Land of Midnight Sun (2006)
  • Eye of the Red Tsar (2010) — as Sam Eastland
  • Shadow Pass / The Red Coffin (2011) — as Sam Eastland
  • Siberian Red / Archive 17 (2012) — as Sam Eastland
  • The Red Moth (2013) — as Sam Eastland
  • The Beast in the Red Forest (2014) — as Sam Eastland
  • Red Icon (2015) — as Sam Eastland
  • Berlin Red (2016) — as Sam Eastland

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Lyrical, descriptive proseNarrative that weaves historical background into fiction
Recurring Motifs
memory and the pastidentitytravel and estrangement

Legacy

Paul Watkins began writing at a young age and has published both fiction and non-fiction. In recent years he has written a historical mystery series set in the Stalinist era under the pen name Sam Eastland. He is noted for winning the Encore Award in 1990.

Trivia

  • Wrote his first book at age 16; it was published in 1988.
  • Writes a detective series set in Stalinist Russia under the pseudonym Sam Eastland.
  • Lives in Hightstown, New Jersey, with his wife Cathy and two children, Emma and Oliver (source: Wikipedia).
  • Serves as writer-in-residence and teacher at The Peddie School.
  • Won the 1990 Encore Award for Calm at Sunset, Calm at Dawn.