John Counts

Investigations editor for @MLive. Punk rock crooner. Author of "Bear County, Michigan." Book riffage at

[Northwestern University Press @northwesternup]

BEAR COUNTY, MICHIGAN is a 2026 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize Finalist!

In colorful, darkly comic stories, journalist John Counts takes readers to a fictional northern Michigan town filled with backwoods misfits, ruined lumber families, beauty & bleakness.

https://t.co/hwbly9TDnh

[Northwestern University Press @northwesternup]

Congratulations Bear County, Michigan by John Counts!

The book has been longlisted for the PEN America Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection! 🐻

https://t.co/IZ42hac7H0

[John Counts @John_Counts]

All songs are little stories. And short stories share a musicality of language. I talk here a little about the album I wrote based on the book Bear County, Michigan. https://t.co/8QnLjMdC8U

[John Counts @John_Counts]

So cool getting to talk to @slagterm about the collision of rock and roll and word: https://t.co/WMFhrTRyhf

[Pulp @a2pulp]

Portals of Escape:   
John Counts' short stories chronicle how “Bear County, Michigan” residents try to evade their realities. We spoke to the MLive journalist about his new fiction collection. Counts will appear at @LiteratiBkstore on Fri. Feb. 28.
https://t.co/TESRy3RN0O

[Literati Bookstore @LiteratiBkstore]

On Friday, we welcome MLive editor @John_Counts for the release of his short story collection, Bear County, Michigan, which the Chicago Review of Books says is “a prime example of Michigan’s modern literary renaissance.”

https://t.co/pxUV6Gsg8K

[John Counts @John_Counts]

Come see me at one of the coolest bookstores in Michigan this Friday!

[Literati Bookstore @LiteratiBkstore]

Great events this week @ 6:30pm!
Wed: Poetry w/ Lauren Watel & Linda Gregerson
Thurs: Adam Plunkett talks Robert Frost w/ Mark Randolph
Fri: @John_Counts presents Bear County, Michigan.

https://t.co/jRyqlbxpXm

[John Counts @John_Counts]

Had a great time talking to @ConcentrateA2. "Blending elements of crime, folklore, and personal experience, Counts draws inspiration from his time as a police reporter in Manistee, weaving real-life events into fictional landscapes."

[Meredith Counts @MeredithCounts]

It’s an exciting day to see @John_Counts on 9&10 News out of Cadillac promoting his short story collection, BEAR COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

https://t.co/V33qA2zFpb

[John Counts @John_Counts]

BEAR COUNTY, MICHIGAN is out now. Here's an interview I did with Ann Arbor's cool little alt weekly, Current: https://t.co/TXZ8U3eezt

[John Counts @John_Counts]

Today we officially release “Bear County, Michigan” into the world. I am celebrating quietly at home alone with five dogs —James, Ivy, Pepper, Charley and Cookie.

[Lucas Smolcic Larson @Lucasgsl6]

This week @rosekellywhite published a deep investigation into the death of a migrant farmworker who fell ill picking asparagus in a Michigan field, looking into allegations pesticides or heat were to blame.
https://t.co/2R7JGIbQGk

[John Counts @John_Counts]

My book "Bear County, Michigan" comes out in one week! I did a Q/A with @detroitnews to kick things off. We talked about covering crime in Michigan, punk rock, tourist towns and the outdoors. Check it out! https://t.co/hMSWGR6K4O

[John Counts @John_Counts]

Big thanks to @ChicagoRevBooks for including Bear County, Michigan on it's most anticipated list! Book is out Feb. 15! https://t.co/TaAi3UbRr9

[Meredith Counts @MeredithCounts]

Short stories by the spouse @John_Counts, set in the fictional BEAR COUNTY, MICHIGAN from Northwestern University Press. Lots of small town Midwestern characters, looking for happiness in unexpected ways. Out this Feb.

[Meredith Counts @MeredithCounts]

Twelve years ago, our first year back downstate, the year @John_Counts and I rented a place in Chelsea and I was pregnant with the second kiddo, we had this incredible local candidate. She was honest and determined. It felt like she never slept. Everybody loved her.

[Northwestern University Press @northwesternup]

Every year #FatBearWeek stuns with its wildness, its ferocity, its rotundness.

This year we asked some massive units what they think of Bear County, Michigan by @John_Counts. Their answers did not disappoint.

Out Feb. 2025. Preorder today. 🐻

https://t.co/OVHhCTmPqy

[John Counts @John_Counts]

Sometimes it feels like I’m a wolf ripping off its shirt when I vote … and when I write too.

[Kristen Twardowski @KristenTwardow]

If the new "I Voted" stickers at all speak to your soul, you need to preorder Bear County, Michigan by @john_counts IMMEDIATELY.

Sometimes a state really is a wolf ripping off its shirt, a long-suffering fish, and a small "yay".

@northwesternup

https://t.co/D939lGsOBN

[John Counts @John_Counts]

I'm grateful Don De Grazia helped link me up with the @Greatlakesrev many years ago. He was a true Chicago character with the rare combo of having both the right words and street sense.

[Great Lakes Review @Greatlakesrev]

In Memoriam: Don De Grazia
By @John_Counts

And I think of Don that way, too – that he was tough, funny, even a hardass sometimes, but beneath all that there was sensitivity and vulnerability.

https://t.co/66A2NBUUra

#GreatLakesReview