“G” is for Greer, Bernard Eugene (b. 1948)

“G” is for Greer, Bernard Eugene (b. 1948). Writer. A native of Spartanburg, Ben Greer attended the University of South Carolina where he was a student in the school’s new creative writing program. In 1973 he moved to Maine. In 1975 Greer published his first novel, Slammer, based on his experiences as a prison guard at Columbia’s notorious Central Correctional Institution. The novel, hailed for its gritty authenticity, was a critical and popular success. His second novel, Halloween, merged the southern gothic family novel with a thriller—and was a commercial success. From 1979-2012, Greer was a faculty member in USC’s creative writing program. In the 1990s he became involved with journalistic and political writing. After retiring, moved to Maine and turned to poetry. In 2020 Bernard Eugene Greer published The Naked Prince and Selected Poems.