Pete Beatty

Pete Beatty turns regional speech, comic exaggeration, and folklore into distinctly American fiction. His debut novel Cuyahoga takes place in 1837, when Cleveland and Ohio City contest a bridge across their shared river. Medium Son, called Meed, tells the story of Big Son, his celebrated brother. Big can perform astonishing feats, yet admiration does not give him the income he needs to marry Cloe. The brothers enter the towns' rivalry while commerce and civic ambition reshape the landscape around them. Scribner issued Cuyahoga during 2020, and it reached the PEN/Hemingway Award longlist for debut fiction. Beatty has worked in university publishing and taught writing at Kent State University as well as Alabama. The novel's deliberately antique voice turns a local hero into an invented legend while questioning the price of progress. Beneath its tall-tale energy lies a close study of brotherly devotion, conquest, public myth, and environmental change.