Vita
Jeffrey Gene Gundy
Department of English phone: (419) 358-3283 (office)
Bluffton OH 45817-1196 e-mail: gundyj@bluffton.edu
Birth and Personal:
Born 7 August 1952,
Married Marlyce Martens 27 October 1973; three adult children
Education:
Ph.
D., American Literature,
Minor in American Studies.
M. A., Creative
Writing/Poetry,
Thesis: “The Candidate for Lint” (poems).
B. A., English,
Teaching Experience:
2004
Visiting Professor of English,
1989
Tenured, promoted to Professor of English,
1984-1989
Associate Professor of English,
1985-1993
Peace Studies Coordinator,
1989
Visiting Assistant Professor of English, Ohio State Univ. at
1987
Visiting Lecturer in English,
1980-84
Instructor of English,
1980
Assistant Professor of English,
1977-1980
Associate Instructor,
Selected Honors and Awards:
Fulbright Lecturer,
Nominated for National Magazine Award (Reviews and Criticism) by The Georgia Review, 2007
Silver Award for Best Series (On Poetry: with Judith Kitchen, Robert Schnall, and Paul Zimmer), Gamma Awards (Magazine Society of the Southeast) 2007
Dale Brown Award from the
Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies,
Nancy
Dasher Award (College English Association of
Editions Poetry Prize for Deerflies, 2003
General Editor, Associated Writers and Writing Programs Intro Journals Program, 2003-
2007
Poetry
Juror,
Residency, Ragdale Foundation, March 29-April 11, 2001
C. Henry Smith Peace Lectureship, 1999
Pushcart Prize Nominations: 2005, 2003, 2001, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1991, 1989
Contemporary Authors 154 (1997-)
Who’s
Who in
Fellow,
Full scholarship, RopeWalk Writers Retreat, June 1993
Featured
Poet,
C. Henry Smith Peace Lectureship, 1989
Dissertation
nominated for Esther L. Kinsley Prize,
Poets and Writers, 1982-present
National Merit Scholar 1970-71
Menno Simons Scholar, Goshen College, 1970-75
Book Publications:
Essays/Creative Nonfiction:
Scattering
Point: The World in a Mennonite Eye.
A
Community of Memory: My Days with George and Clara.
Press, 1996.
Poetry Collections:
Spoken among the Trees.
Deerflies.
Rhapsody with Dark Matter. Huron, OH: Bottom Dog Press, 2000.
Flatlands.
Inquiries. Huron, OH: Bottom Dog Press, 1992.
Poetry Chapbooks:
Greatest
Hits 1986-2003.
Surrendering
to the Real Things.
Johnny
America Takes on Mother Nature.
Back
Home in
Translations:
Do
Outro Lado Da Linha. Tr.
Teresinka Pereira.
Poems in anthologies:
"How to Write the New
Mennonite Poem," "Inquiry into Gifts, or the Indigo Bunting,"
"Where I Grew Up," "The Cookie Poem," "Old
Water," and "Ancient Themes: The Night." A Capella: Mennonite
Voices in Poetry, ed. Ann Hostetler. (
“The Cookie Poem” and “Breakfast at the County Seat Café.” O Taste and See: Food Poems, ed. David Garrison and Terry Hermsen (Huron, OH: Bottom Dog, 2003).
“The Cookie Poem.” What Mennonites are Thinking 2002, ed. Merle Good and Phyllis Pellman Good (Intercourse, PA: Good Books, 2003).
“How the Boy Jesus
Resisted Taking Out the Trash.” Sweet Jesus: Poems About the Ultimate
Icon. Ed. Nick Carbó and Denise Duhamel.
“Black Cat in
Byhalia.” I Have My Own Song for It: Modern Poems about
"Rhapsody with Dark Matter" and "Rain." What Mennonites are Thinking 2001, ed. Merle Good and Phyllis Pellman Good (Intercourse, PA: Good Books, 2002): 98-99, 210-211.
“For the
“‘The Universe Is a
“Cruise.” What Mennonites Are Thinking 2000. Ed. Merle Good and Phyllis Pellman Good. Intercourse, PA: Good Books, 2000: 114-15.
“Grass.” Greeting the Dawn: An Anthology of
New Mennonite Writin, ed. Steven Yutzy.
“Driving West on Easter.” What Mennonites Are Thinking 1998. Ed. Merle Good and Phyllis Pellman Good. Intercourse, PA: Good Books, 1998: 76-78.
“Chainsaw Inquiries.” O Listen: Pocket Poems Series #1, ed. Terry Hermsen. Huron, OH: Bottom Dog Press, 1998.
“Ask the Rabbit,
“Fur in the Throat,” and “Driving Route 80.” Confluence: Contemporary
Magazine and Journal
Publications:
Two hundred fifty-plus poems in more than seventy magazines and journals, including:
Adirondack Review, Aloe,
Antioch Review, Artful Dodge, Beloit Poetry Journal, Brevity, Broadside (Goshen
College), Cat’s Ear, Christian Century, Cincinnati Poetry Review,
Cincinnati Review, Colorado Review, The Common Review, Confluence: Contemporary
Kansas Poetry, Conrad Grebel Review, Cornfield Review, Cottonwood Review,
Crazyhorse, Exquisite Corpse, Farmer’s Market, Flights, Flying Island,
forum, Gaia, The Gamut, Gospel Herald, Grand Lake Review, Hayden’s Ferry
Review, Hiram Poetry Review, Hawaii
Review, The Heartlands Today, Indiana Review, The Journal, Kairos, Kansas
Quarterly, Lake Effect, The Language of Nature, Laurel Review, The Mennonite,
Mennonite Life, Mennonite Mirror, Mennonot, Mennonite Weekly Review,
Mid-American Review, Mississippi Valley Review, Montana Review, Muse Apprentice
Guild (online), Negative Capability, The New Pantagruel (online), The New
Quarterly (Canada), Nimrod, North American Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Ohio
Review, Oxford Magazine, Paintbrush, Peregrine, Phoebe, Pikestaff Forum,
Pleiades, Poetry Daily (online), Poetry Northwest, Poet Lore, Quarterly
West, Rampike, River Styx, The Rolling Coulter, Rhubarb, Shenandoah, SnowApple,
Spoon River Quarterly, The Sun, Tampa Review, Touchstone, Verse Daily (online),
Whetstone, Whiskey Island, Wind Literary Digest, Witmarsum, Witness, Wooster
Review.
Recent poems
published:
“February Report on
Conditions in the Interior.” Pebble
"Damselfly."
“Astonishing Details of the Universe.” Rampike. 14.2 (2006): 56-7.
"Interior Colloquy in Glen
Helen.” The
"Furnace Run, Sunday.” Poet Lore 101.1/2 (Spring/Summer 2006): 16.
“Fulks Run to
"Where Water Finds an Edge" and "Soul
Travel at the Electric Brew,
"The Recovery of Imaginary Friends.” The Adirondack Review 6, 2 (Spring 2006), online.
“An Hour.” Artful Dodge 46/47 (2005):50.
“Deerfly.” The Mennonite, Dec. 4, 2005: 14.
"The Vice President for Obscure Relations Rises to
Offer Something Like an Explanation.”
"Firefly.” The Christian Century, Aug. 9, 2005, 10.
The Poet on the Beaver Marsh," "Structural
Adjustments to Maintain Growth Will Be Necessary," and "Futurism in
the
"Small Night Song from Oneonta.” The Mennonite (December 21, 2004): 11.
"Meditation in Glen Helen." Verse Daily (online), Dec. 16, 2004.
"Morning Song from Oneonta."
"Scenario.” The Sun 341 (May 2004): 13.
"The Extra Angel.” Lake Effect 8 (Spring 2004): 132-33.
“Impersonations of an Ordinary Woman.”
"Praise is a Language.” The Christian Century June 15, 2004, 10.
“’The Heart is Such a Big, Awkward Girl'.” The Common Review 2, 4 (Winter 2004): 19.
"Meditation in Glen Helen." Poetry Daily online, Jan. 31, 2004.
"Ancient Themes: Thunder and Wine.”
Meditation in Glen Helen.” Shenandoah 53.4 (Winter 2003): 119-120.
"Everyday Ode.” The Mennonite (Sept. 16, 2003): 17.
"On the Green Trail" and "Letter from Ragdale to J.” Muse Apprentice Guild (online) (Summer 2003).
"Warning and Explanation" and "All I Ever Wanted Was.” Laurel Review 37, 3 (Summer 2003): 17-19.
"Spring Comes to the Buckeye Quarry" and "Peepers.” Witness 17, 1 (2003): 36-37.
"Instructions for the Night Walk.” Mid-American Review 23, 2 (2003): 225-26.
"Deerfly.” The Sun (April 2003): 31.
"Letter to John from R..” The
"Trailing Clouds of Glory Do We Come." The Journal 26.2 (2002): 78.
Ancient Themes: The First Teacher.” North American Review 287, 3-4 (May-August 2002), 68.
"What the Boy Knows." Christian Living 49, 2 (March 2002): 28.
"Small Night Song from Oneonta." The Sun (March 2002): 31.
"Ancient Themes: The Night." Quarterly West 53 (Fall/Winter 2001-02): 22.
White Chicken" and "Looking at My Hands.” The Heartlands Today: The Real Work 11 (2001): 99-100.
“Second Morning Song from Oneonta.” The Mennonite 4, 20 (May 22, 2001): 5.
"Sunday with Feathers, Horses, Crap" is in Artful Dodge 38/39 (2001): 175.
"Old Water" and "Things of No Use in the Morning.” Rhubarb 7 (2001): 30-31.
"Autumnal."
"Second Morning Song from Oneonta.” Mid-American Review 31, 2 (2001): 60-61 ("Editor's Choice" finalist for the James Wright Poetry Award.)
"The Trees" and "Ancient Themes #5: Water,
Water.”
“Rings.” The
Mennonite, Feb. 13, 2001, 5.
"Then in a Wailful Choir the Small Gnats Mourn" and "Braid.” Poet Lore 95, 3 (Fall 2000): 5-6.
“Bridge Closed 1/4 Mile Ahead Local Traffic Only.” The Mennonite (Nov. 7, 2000), 5.
"What the Boy Knows," "What the Old Guy
Says," and "The Sadness of Women and Water.”
"Pinfeather" and "Ancient Themes #7: Interiors" are in Spoon River Poetry Review 25.1 (Winter/Spring 2000): 18-20.
"Things of No Use in the
Morning.” Whetstone 16 (1999): 21.
Critical and Scholarly Essays:
"Flesh Becomes Word: The
Incarnational Poetry of Scott
“The Notebook in My Back
Pocket.” Minding the Church: Scholarship in the Anabaptist Tradition.
Ed. David L. Weaver-Zercher.
”(In)visible Cities,
(F)acts of Power, (Hmm)ility, Fathers and (M)Others: Anabaptism, Postmodernity,
and Mennonite Writing.” Anabaptists
and Postmodernity. Ed. Susan
Biesecker-Mast and Gerald Biesecker-Mast.
“Scatter Plots: Depression, Silence, and Mennonite Margins.” Conrad Grebel Review 18.1 (Winter 2000): 5-27.
“Black Coats, Pig-Headed Fathers, and Growing Souls: Some Reflections on the Figure of Harold Bender.” Mennonite Life 54.4 (Dec. 1999): 9-15.
“In Praise of the Lurkers (Who Come Out to Speak). Mennonite Quarterly Review 72, 4 (Oct. 1998): 503-510.
“U.S. Mennonite Poetry and Poets: Beyond Dr. Johnson’s Dog.” Mennonite Quarterly Review 71, 1 (1997): 5-41.
“Without Heroes, Without
Villains: Identity and Community in Down in My Heart.” In On William Stafford: The Worth of
Local Things, ed. Tom Andrews.
“Hayden
Carruth.” Critical Survey
of Poetry: English Language Series,
Revised Edition.
“Arrogant Humility and
Aristocratic Torpor: Where Have We
Been, Where Are We Going?” in World, Self, Poem: Essays on Contemporary
Poetry from the “Jubilation of Poets.” Ed. Leonard Trawick.
“Beyond Conformity and Rebellion: Opposition, Community, and Mennonite Education.” Conrad Grebel Review 8,1 (Winter 1990): 35-52.
“On Mark Strand, History,
and Happiness.”
“Voice and History in
Patrick Friesen.” The New Quarterly (
“Humility and Midwestern Literature: Is There a Plains Style?” Mid-America XV (1988): 19-26.
“Humility in Mennonite Literature.” Mennonite Quarterly Review, 63,1 (1989): 5-21.
“Style
and Self: Student
“Separation and Transformation: Tradition and Audience for Three Mennonite Poets,” Journal of Mennonite Studies 4 (1986): 53-69.
“Fishing in a Small Pond:
Notes on Great Ideas in Small Colleges,” Teaching in the
Personal and Creative
Essays:
“It’s
Simple, Really: Just Sit Down at the Desk . . .” Ordering the Storm:
Essays on Creating a Poetry Manuscript.
"If the Earth
Is the Lord's, Do We Have to Hate the World? Musings on Mennonite People,
Places, and Complexes." The Measure of My Days: Engaging the Life and
Thought of John L. Ruth, ed. Reuben Z. Miller and Joseph S. Miller.
“Embedded in the Bosom of the Empire.” Image: A Journal of the Arts and Religion 38 (Spring 2003): 67-69.
"An Answer, a Song, a Pile of Stones" "Literature of Spirituality" issue of Many Mountains Moving 5, 1 (2002): xiv-xv.
“Cathedrals, Churches, Caves: Notes on Architecture, History, and Worship.” The Georgia Review 54 (Winter 2000): 673-699.
“Lauber
Hill.” The Heartlands Today:
“The Trials of Joseph Joder.” Anthology of Mennonite short fiction, ed. Hildi Froese Tiessen, forthcoming.
“
“Breakfast at the County Seat Café.” Brevity 2 (1998, online).
“Scattering Point.” Creative Nonfiction 9 (1998): 62-73.
“Fantasia on Raspberries, Baby Chicks, Wine, and Roses.” Conrad Grebel Review 15,3 (1997): 195-205.
“Many
“In Search of George and Clara.” Image: A Journal of the Arts and Religion 8 (1995): 106-123.
“At the Vision Conference.” Mennonot 4 (Spring 1995): 17-19.
“Some Words on Poetry, Band Camps, Guitars, Gifts, Transgression, Community, Mennonite Art, Etc.” Mennonite Life 48, 4 (Dec. 1993): 15-16.
“Comets and Calls: From the Life of Valentine Strubhar.” Mennonite Life, 48, 2 (June 1993): 13-17.
“’The Love of God Makes All Things Well’: Dabs and Bits from the Life of Joseph Joder (1797-1887), Amishman, Schoolteacher, Farmer, Poet, and Heretic.” The Heartlands Today 2 (1992): 43-47.
“The Fact of Community: My Days with George and Clara.” Georgia Review 45, 4 (Winter 1991): 675-692.
“A Spectator’s Journal, “Competition and Fatigue, or Basketball,” “I Come Back to Griffy Reservoir After Seven Years,” “Running on the Running Track.” Ambergris 8 (1992): 110-121.
“Inquiry
into the ‘Nearest of the Energies of the Universe and the Greatest within the
“Farming and Professing,” Festival Quarterly, Fall 1988: 16-18.
“Going to See My Absent Congressman About the Contra Aid Vote,” The Mennonite, Feb. 9, 1988.
“Chickens.” Mennonite Life, Dec. 1987.
“On Wildflowers, Social Utility, and Poetry as a Vocation.” Festival Quarterly, Fall 1987.
“Being Mennonite and Writing Mennonite” and four short essays, Mennonite Life, Dec. 1986.
“Children and Poems: About Their Father’s Business,” Gospel Herald, Oct. 1986.
Column
“Shots in the Dark,”
Selected Book Reviews and
Essay-Reviews:
"Form and Range." reprinted on Poetry Daily, August 15, 2006. http://www.poems.com/news.htm,
"Form
and Range." Essay-review of Fourteen on Form: Conversations with Poets by
William Baer and Range of the Possible: Conversations with Contemporary
Poets by Tod Marshall. The Georgia Review 60.1 (Spring 2006):
243-47.
"Among the Erratics" Essay-review of Delights and Shadows by Ted Kooser, The Morning of the Red Admirals by Robert Dana, From the Meadow: Selected and New Poems by Peter Everwine, Tristimania by Mary Ruefle, The Orchard by Brigit Pegeen Kelly, Desire Lines: New and Selected Poems by Lola Haskins, Invisible Bride by Tony Tost, and Goldbeater’s Skin by G. C. Waldrep. The Georgia Review 58.4 (Winter 2004): 936-53.
"What Do Poets Know?" essay-review of Planet on the Table: Poets on the Reading Life, ed. Sharon Bryan and William Olsen; Open House: Writers Define Home, ed. Mark Doty; The Vehement Passions by Philip Fisher; The Madness of Art: Interviews with Poets and Writers, ed. Robert Phillips; and The Healing Art: A Doctor's Black Bag of Poetry, by Rafael Campo. The Georgia Review 58, 2 (Summer 2004): 471-483.
“New Maps of the Territories: On Mennonite Writing.” Essay-review of Rudy Wiebe's Sweeter Than All the World, Patrick Friesen's The Breath You Take from the Lord, Di Brandt's Now You Care, Stephen Raleigh Byler's Searching for Intruders, and Julia Kasdorf's The Body and the Book: Writing from a Mennonite Life. The Georgia Review 57.4 (Winter 2003): 870-887.
"Taste and the Open Door." Essay-review of Joseph Parisi and
Stephen Young, eds., The Poetry Anthology, Joseph Parisi and
Stephen Yound, eds., Dear Editor: A History of Poetry in Letters, and
Roger Weingarten and Richard W. Higgerson, eds., Poets of the New Century.
The Georgia Review 57.1 (Spring
2003): 159-175.
”This Point in Space and Time.” Essay-review of Keith Fleming, The Boy with the Thorn in His Side: A Memoir; Dalton Conley, Honky; Michael Pearson, Dreaming of Columbus: A Boyhood in the Bronx; Carter Revard, Winning the Dust Bowl; Harvey Frauenglass, Cidermaster of Rio Oscura. The Georgia Review, 56.2 (Summer 2002): 609-622.
”Handling
the Truth.” Essay-review of Nicholas Delbanco, The Lost Suitcase:
Reflections on the Literary Life; David Brendan Hopes, A Childhood in
the Milky Way: Becoming a Poet in
”Position, Connection, Conviction.” Essay-review of Hayden Carruth, Reluctantly: Autobiographical Essays; Derek Walcott, What the Twilight Says; J. D. McClatchy, Twenty Questions; Mollie McQuade, Stealing Glimpses: Of Poetry, Poets, and Things in Between; W. D. Snodgrass, After-Images: Autobiographical Sketches. The Georgia Review 54.1 (Spring 2000): 142-156.
“’Just What Did We Do Wrong?’: Ingrid Rimland and Selective Memory.” Review of Ingrid Rimland, Lebensraum! Vol. 1: A Passion for Land and Peace. Vol 2: The Theft of Land and Peace. Vol. 3: The Dream of Land and Peace. Mennonite Life 54, 3 (Sept. 1999): 35-37.
“Lives
Worth
“Lullabies in Reverse.” Essay-review of Invisible Horses by Patricia Goedicke, Green Ash, Red Maple, Black Gum by Michael Waters, Trespasser by R.T. Smith, Stalking Joy by Margaret Benbow, and Heavy Grace by Robert Cording. The Georgia Review 51,3 (1997): 562-575.
“Does Style Make the Woman?” Essay-review of The Beacon Book of Essays by Contemporary American Women edited by Wendy Martin, Wild Ride: Earthquakes, Sneezes and Other Thrills by Bia Lowe, Writing the World by Kelly Cherry, Field of Vision by Lisa Knopp, and Never in a Hurry: Essays on People and Places by Naomi Shihab Nye. The Georgia Review 50 (1996): 819-30.
The Glass Hammer: A Southern Childhood by Andrew Hudgins. Georgia Review 50 (1996): 201-03.
“Can White Guys Write?” Essay-review of Paper Trails: Essays by Michael Dorris, A Geometry of Lilies: Life and Death in an American Family by Steven Harvey, Trespassing by Sam Pickering, A Place That’s Known by Michael Pearson, and Inheritance of Horses by James Kilgo. The Georgia Review 49 (1995): 523-536.
“How Others Have Lived Here.” Essay-review of When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmerelda Santiago, Devotion: A Memoir by Miriam Levine, Edge Effects: Notes from an Oregon Forest, by Chris Anderson, and Staying Put: Making a Home in a Restless World, by Scott Russell Sanders. The Georgia Review 48 (Summer 1994): 391-400.
After the Rain by Jared Carter. The Georgia Review 48 (Summer 1994): 410-11.
Spirit and Nature: Why the Environment is a Religious Issue--An Interfaith Dialogue. Edited by Steven C. Rockefeller and John C. Elder. The Georgia Review 47 (Spring 1993): 180-83.
True Body by Miriam Sagan. Mid-American Review, 13,2 (1992): 223-26.
Further Sightings & Conversations by Jerome Rothenberg and The Fields by Richard Silberg. Mid-American Review, 11, 2 (1991): 154-56.
“The Persistence of Romanticisms.” Essay-review of five books of poems. Pikestaff Forum 10 (1991): 16, 21-22.
Other reviews of current poetry, fiction, and nonfiction in Foreword (1998-), Journal of American History (1998, 2000), The Mennonite (1992), Festival Quarterly (1991, 1988), Mennonite Quarterly Review (1993, 1990), Gospel Herald (1987, 1986), Tellus (1984), Cottonwood Review (1982).
Interviews:
“If Struck I Should Give Off a Clear Note: A Conversation with William Stafford.” Paintbrush 17, 33/34 (Spring & Autumn, 1990): 39-51.
“A Certain Courtesy of the Heart: A Conversation with William Stafford.” Artful Dodge 18/19 (1990): 5-10.
Professional Presentations:
Academic Presentations:
“Speaking
for the Dead and the Living.” Panel discussion with Lee Martin, Sonja
Huber, and Mary Winstead, “Nonfiction Now” conference,
"Scattering
Points and Plots: A Farm Boy Comes Home," Illinois Mennonite Historical and
Genealogical Society fall meeting, Mennonite Heritage Center, Metamora, Ill.,
Oct. 29, 2005.
“Walking Around in the
World,” feature address, Mennonite Historical Society,
"A Cappella: Mennonite Poets
Crossing Borders," Association of Writers and Writing Programs,
"Adding Real Beings to the
World: Teaching Peace, Writing, and Human Exchange." "Teaching
Peace" conference at
“Suzanne Comes to
Flanagan: Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and a Mennonite Boy.” "Sound in
the Land" conference at
"'What
Is It I Know?': Notes Toward an Embodied Gnosis" the Ritual in Anabaptist
Communities conference,
"A Capella: Mennonite Voices" panel.
Associated Writing Programs conference,
”Heresy
and the Individual Talent.” Mennonite/s Writing: An International
Conference,
Author’s panel and poetry reading.
"Pacifists are not Passive" at
Panel
discussion on faith and the arts. "With Words, Notes and Brushes:
Conversations on Faith and the Arts,”
“Scatter Plots: Depression, Silence, and Mennonite Margins.” 1999 C. Henry Smith Peace Lecture. Presented at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries, Elkhart IN; Mennonite Health Assembly convention, Colorado Springs CO, Bluffton College, Bluffton OH; Goshen College, Goshen IN; Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA.
“Black Coats, Pig-Headed Fathers, and Growing Souls: Some Reflections on the Figure of Harold Bender.” Mennonite Historical Society Annual Meeting, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries, May 24, 1999.
(In)visible Cities, (F)acts of Power, (Hmm)ility,
Fathers and (M)Others: Anabaptism, Postmodernity, and Mennonite
Writing.” Anabaptists and
Postmodernity conference.
“In Praise of the Lurkers (Who Come Out to
Speak).” Plenary session,
Mennonite/s Writing in the
“Fiction, Truth, Reality, and Our Messy Little Selves.” Keynote lecture, Bluffton College English/Communication Festival, April 1996.
“The Trials of Joseph Joder.” Keynote presentation, “Tradition
and Transition: An Amish Mennonite Heritage of Obedience.”
“Teaching Literature, Teaching Me: Writing,
Gender, and Mentoring.” M/MLA
Convention,
“William Stafford and Janet Kauffman: Marginality,
Gender, and Opposition.” M/MLA
Convention,
“Beyond Conformity and Rebellion: Opposition,
Community and Mennonite Education.”
C. Henry Smith Peace Lecture, 1989-90; presented at
“Heroes, Enemies, and Nuclear Survival.”
M/MLA Convention,
“Humility and Midwestern Literature: Is There a Plains Style?” Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature, Michigan State Univ., May 1988.
“Humility in Mennonite Literature.” Mennonite Experience in
“Arrogant Humility and Aristocratic Torpor: Where Have We Been, Where Are We
Going?” Jubilation of Poets Conference,
“Style and Self: Student
“’Does It Matter Whether You Hate Your
Self?’: Robinson Jeffers and Uncentering,” M/MLA Convention,
“Robert Bly’s Search for a Scientific and
Mystical Poetry,” Kansas Humanities Commission Conference,
Poetry workshops and
presentations on creative writing:
Elizabethtown College, September 22, 2006; Oregon Institute, Lincoln, Oregon, Dec. 2-4, 2004; Antioch Writer’s Workshop, June 9-16, 2005; Manchester College, April 18, 2005; Bethel College, April 14-15, 2005; "A Cappella: Mennonite Poets Crossing Borders," Association of Writers and Writing Programs, Vancouver, BC, April 1, 2005; Conrad Grebel University College, March 9-10, 2005; University of Windsor, March 14, 2005; Penn State Altoona, March 17-18, 2005; Firelands College, Feb. 28, 2005; Oregon Institute, Lincoln, OR, Dec. 2-4, 2004; Intensive poetry workshop, Goshen College, April 26-30, 2004; Language of Nature Institute, Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center, June 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005; "Winter Wheat: the Mid-American Review Festival of Writing" Bowling Green State University, Nov. 14-17, 2002; Antioch Writers Workshop, July 6-13, 2002; “With Words, Notes & Brushes: Conversations on Faith & the Arts,” Messiah College, Oct. 26-27, 2001; Antioch Writers Workshop, July 7-14, 2001; Island Writers’ Retreat, Marblehead, Ohio, Aug. 11-12, 2000; Manchester College Writers Conference, April 27, 2000; Eastern Mennonite University, “Writers Read,” Jan. 27, 2000; “Mennonites and the Family” conference, Goshen College, Oct. 16, 1999; Eastern Mennonite University, Nov. 20-21, 1997; Ohio Poetry Day, Mount Union College, Alliance OH, Oct. 11, 1997; Featured poet, “Mennonite/s Writing in the U.S.,” Oct. 23-26, 1997; Lorain County Community College Literary Festival, May 2-3, 1997; Resource person, “A Place for Poetry,” poetry retreat at Laurelville Mennonite Church Center, May 9-11, 1997; Visiting poet, Cincinnati Writers’ Fellowship, June 1996; Granville Book Fair, Granville, OH, June 1996; Resource person, “Invoking the Voice,” poetry retreat at Laurelville Mennonite Church Center, May 9-12, 1996; Author-in-Residence, Bluffton College English/Communication Festival, April 1996; Featured Speaker, fall meeting of the Illiinois Mennonite Historical and Genealogical Society, Metamora, Illinois, Oct 1995; Writers’ Festival, Otterbein College, May 1995; “Poetry and Performance,” Fresno Pacific College, Feb. 1, 1994; Northwest Ohio Writers’ Conference, Wright State Univ. Lake Campus, May 14, 1993; “The Prose Poem Today” (with Jessica Grim and Brooke Horvath) University Circle Arabica, Cleveland, Dec. 13, 1992; Goshen College, May 1992; Mennonite Arts Weekend, Cincinnati, Feb. 1991; People’s Place Writers’ Conference, Mar. 1990; Mennonite Writers’ Conference, Laurelville, PA, Sept. 1988; Elida High School, 1988, 1986; Gomer Elementary School, 1991, 1986; Fort Jennings Elementary School, 1986, 1985.
Selected poetry and
nonfiction readings:
Goshen College, March 27, 2006; Chapman University, March 6, 2006; Ashland University, Feb. 27, 2006; Manchester College, April 18, 2005; Bethel (Kansas) College, April 14-15, 2005; University of Findlay, Nov. 2004, Bluffton University, Nov. 2004, Goshen College, Jan. 13 and April 30, 2004; Eastern Mennonite University, Nov. 6, 2003; Midwestern Poetry Festival, Michigan State University, May 9, 2003, Ferris State University, Nov. 18, 2002; Bowling Green State Univ., Nov. 15, 2002; Ohio River Festival of Books, Nov. 9, 2002; Mennonite/s Writing: An International Conference, Goshen College, Oct. 25, 2002; Antioch Writers’ Workshop, July 2002; Washington State Community College in Marietta, Ohio on Thursday, April 18; Language of Nature Conference, Peninsula, OH, June 6, 2002; Messiah College, Oct. 25, 2001; Antioch Writers’ Workshop, July 10, 2001; Univ. of Georgia Art Museum, April 26, 2001; Bethel College, March 12, 2001; Penn State University, February 8, 2001; “Celebrate the Arts,” Sandusky Merry-Go-Round Museum, Ohio, Dec. 1, 2000; Island Writers’ Retreat, Aug. 11, 2000; Java Jake’s, North Manchester, IN, April 26, 2000; Eastern Mennonite University, “Writers Read,” Jan. 27, 2000; Ohio State University-Lima, Jan. 12, 1999; Wright State Lake Campus, Celina OH, Dec. 3, 1998; Wick Poetry Series, Kent State Univ., Nov. 1998; Central Christian High School, Kidron OH, Nov. 1998; Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg VA, Nov. 20, 1997; Mennonites/s Writing in the U.S. Conference, Goshen IN, Oct. 23, 1997; Lorain County Community College Literary Festival, May 2-3, 1997; Laurelville Mennonite Church Center, May 8, 1997; Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, April 10, 1996; Messiah College, Grantham, PA, April 11, 1996; White River Writers’ Workshop, Batesville, AR, June 19, 1995; Otterbein College, May, 1995; Goshen College, Oct. 1994; Illinois State Univ., April 27, 1994; James Wright Poetry Festival, Martins Ferry, OH, April 16, 1994; Bethel College (KS), Hesston College (KS), Central College (IA), April 4-7, 1994; Coffee Temptations, Sandusky, OH, Feb. 1994; Mennonite Arts Weekend, Cincinnati, Feb. 4-6, 1994; Fresno Pacific College, Feb. 1, 1994; Cafe Vienna Poetry Series, Cincinnati, June 1993; Ohio Northern University, April 1993; Cleveland Poet’s League Earwitness Series, December 1992; Firelands College, 1992; Bluffton College, 1992, 1989, 1987; Goshen College, 1992, 1987, 1975, 1974; Mennonite World Conference, Winnipeg, 1990; Ohio State University at Lima, 1989; Midwest Poetry Festival, Michigan State University, 1992, 1989, 1988; Mennonite Writers’ Conference, Laurelville, PA, 1988; Hesston College, 1982; Bethel College, (KS) 1981; Indiana University, 1979, 1977
Service (selected):
Co-chair and main organizer,
“Mennonite/s Writing: Beyond Borders,”
General Editor, Associated Writers and Writing Programs Intro Journals Program, 2003-present.
Poetry Juror,
Promotion and tenure evaluations:
Manuscript evaluations:
Bluffton University committees: Graduate Academic Programs Council (chair 2003-05), Faculty Development, Special Studies and Honors, Dean’s Council, Department Chairs Council, Academic Affairs Committee.
Department Chair, 1993-94,
1997-2003, 2005-06, spring 2007.
Discussion leader,
“Ohio Frontiers,” Ohio Humanities Council, 1997-present.
“Community
Reconsidered: Living Together,”
“The
American Family,” This House of Sky,
“Let’s
Talk About It, II,” “What
Professional Memberships:
Modern Language Association
National Council of Teachers of English
Poets and Writers, Inc.
Associated Writers and Writing Programs
Conference on College Composition and Communication
Secretary of Peace Literature and Pedagogy section, 1989-90; chair, 1990-91
Secretary of Creative Writing section, 1991-92; chair, 1992-93
Courses Taught:
Advanced Writing: Nonfiction
Writing Seminar
Creative Writing (poetry, nonfiction, and fiction)
Survey of American Literature
Studies in American Literature: Heroism and Humility
Studies in Modern Literature: Magic Realism and Surrealism
Studies in
Modern Literature: Writing,
Studies in Poetry
Critical Theory
Research Seminar
Themes in Literature: Violence; Survival; The Use of Force; Midwestern Writing
Expository Writing
Advanced College English
College English
Issues in
Modern
Humanities III
First Year Seminar (Interdisciplinary course for new students)
Writing and Society
Introduction to Literature
The Short Story
Foundation
Studies (Interdisciplinary humanities series,
Community and Church:
Member and
Deacon (2005-08) of
Youth soccer coach
Hobbies: jogging, guitar, soccer, songwriting