Courses
CREATIVE WRITING 404: ADVANCED NARRATIVE WRITING
CREATIVE WRITING 204: INTERMEDIATE NARRATIVE WRITING
CREATIVE WRITING 504: GRADUATE FICTION WORKSHOP
RHETORIC 400: PROBLEMS IN FICTION WRITING
RHETORIC 204: INTERMEDIATE NARRATIVE WRITING
Areas of Interest
The novel, short stories, creative non-fiction, American and international contemporary fiction.
Publications
BOOKS
1978 The Vanishings (prose poems). Release Press, New York, New York.
1985 The Art of the Knock: Stories. William Morrow & Company. New York, New York.
1993 Parallel Worlds: An Anthropologist and a Writer Encounter Africa, co-authored with Alma Gottlieb. Crown Publishers/Random House. New York, New York.
1995 How to Read an Unwritten Language (novel). Scribner. New York, New York. Two hardcover printings.
1996 Interior Design: Stories. Scribner. New York, New York.
2008 Braided Worlds. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. Manuscript in preparation.
REPRINTS OF BOOKS
1994 Parallel Worlds: An Anthropologist and a Writer Encounter Africa, co-authored with Alma Gottlieb. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. Currently in third paperback printing.
1997 How to Read an Unwritten Language. Warner Books. New York, New York.
2001 Interior Design: Stories: Audiocassette version produced by Talking Books for the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. Read by Jack Zeiger. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
PROSE POEMS (A SELECTION)
1977a "Delivery" in Pequod #5. Forest Knolls, California.
1977b "Railroad Man," "Toe" and "Letter from the Magician" in The Paris Review #68. Flushing, New York.
1978a "Travelogue" in Poetry Now, v. IV, #4. Eureka, California.
1978b "Appelation Contrôlée" and "Handprints" in Virginia Quarterly Review, v. 54, #3. Charlottesville, Virginia.
1979a "The Road to China" in New Virginia Review #1. Norfolk, Virginia.
1979b "The Distance" in Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review, Winter 1979. Hampden- Sydney, Virginia.
1979c "Silence" in The Poets' Encyclopedia, Michael Andre, ed. Unmuzzled Ox Editions. New York, New York.
SHORT STORIES (A SELECTION)
1979d "Light Bulbs" in The New Yorker, September 17, 1979. New York, New York.
1980 "Shadows" in Some #10. New York, New York.
1981 "China" in Skyline, Fall 1981. Charlottesville, Virginia.
1984a "The Deserted House" in The Greensboro Review #35. Greensboro, North Carolina.
1984b "Through the Binoculars" in Mid-American Review, v. 4, #1. Bowling Green, Ohio.
1984c "Twins" in Fiction Network, Fall 1984. San Francisco, California.
1984d "I Dreamt about You Last Night" in Mid-American Review, v. 4, #2. Bowling Green, Ohio.
1985a "Ancient Music" in Carolina Quarterly, v. 37, #2. Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
1985b "Waiting for the Right Moment" in River Styx #17. St. Louis, Missouri.
1985c "The Art of the Knock: One" and "The Art of the Knock: Three" in Chicago Review, v. 35, #1. Chicago, Illinois.
1987 "Geology" in Arrival #2, Summer 1987. Berkeley, California.
1990 "The Reverse" in The Florida Review v. 17, #1. Orlando, Florida.
1991a "Another Planet" in Fiction, v. 10, # 1/2. New York, New York.
1991b "Interior Design" in Mid-American Review, v. XI, #2. Bowling Green, Ohio.
1992a "The Pose" in The Chariton Review, v. 18, #1. Kirksville, Missouri.
1992b "Angel" in The Missouri Review, v. XV, #3. Columbia, Missouri.
1994 "Lucky" in The North American Review, v. 279, #1. Cedar Falls, Iowa.
1997 "Beauty Marks" in Apalachee Quarterly, #46. Tallahassee, Florida.
2001 "Rewind" in River Styx, #58/59 (25th Anniversary Issue). St. Louis, Missouri.
2003 "Grrrls Underground" in Gargoyle #47. Arlington, Virginia.
2003 "The Many Chambered Heart" in Hunger Mountain, Fall 2003 issue, #3. Montpelier, Vermont.
2003 "My Miracle," in Western Humanities Review, v. LVII, #2. Salt Lake City, Utah.
2005 "The Daily Willa," in Crab Orchard Review, v. 10, #1. Carbondale, Illinois.
2007 "8:46," to appear in The Los Angeles Review, #4, Spring 2007. Grenada Hills, California.
REPRINTS OF STORIES (A SELECTION)
1984a "Twins" in The Washington Post Magazine, Summer Fiction Issue, August 5, 1984.
1984b "Twins" in Bryan-College Station Eagle, December 8, 1984.
1985a "Mirror Image" (original title: "Twins") in Providence Journal Sunday Magazine, January 6, 1985.
1985b "Twins" in Span (published by the United States Information Service), v. XXVI, #6. New Delhi, India.
1985c "Wachten op het Juiste Moment" (Dutch translation of"Waiting for the Right Moment") in Viva #46 (November 8 - November 15, 1985). Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
1986 "Light Bulbs" in Contemporary American Short Stories, Hans-Heinrich Rudnick, ed. Philipp Reclam jun. Verlag. Stuttgart, Germany.
1988 "Twins" (translated into Murathi by Sushilabai Diwan) in Amarendra, February 1988. Aurangabad, India.
1990 "The Distance" in The Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review Anthology, 1975-1990. Tom O'Grady, ed. Hampden-Sydney, Virginia.
1994 "Ancient Music" in The Norton Book of Ghost Stories. Brad Leithauser, ed. W. W. Norton & Co., New York.
1997 "Angel" in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, Tenth Annual Collection, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, eds. St. Martin's Press, New York, New York
1999 "Confession of a Collector," excerpt from the novel How to Read an Unwritten Language, in things, #10 (Summer 1999). London, U.K.
2006 "Interior Design" in Turning Life into Fiction, 2nd Edition, by Robin Hemley. Graywolf Press, St. Paul, Minnesota.
NON-FICTION (A SELECTION)
1984 "The Man behind the Beard" in The Washington Post Magazine (cover article). December 23, 1984. Washington, D.C.
1987 "Permitting Magic: An Interview with Grace Paley" in River Styx #23. St. Louis, Missouri.
1987b "On Literary Politics" in Illinois Writers Review, v. 6, #1/2. Champaign, Illinois.
1989 "A Writer in a World of Spirits" in Poets & Writers Magazine, v. 17, #3. New York, New York.
1991 "Our Own House of Mbari" in Mid-American Review, v. XI, #2. Bowling Green, Ohio.
1993 "The Alien Snow," in The Cream City Review, v. 17, #1. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1998 "Infants, Ancestors, and the Afterlife: Fieldwork's Family Values in Rural West Africa," co-authored with Alma Gottlieb and Nathaniel Gottlieb-Graham, in Anthropology and Humanism, v. 23, # 2. December 1998.
1999 Review Essay, "The Power of Art: Novelist Ismail Kadare Shows Us the Connections Between Creation and Destruction," in Tribune Books, Chicago Tribune, October 17, 1999.
1999 "Revising the Text, Revisioning the Field: Reciprocity over the Long Term," co- authored with Alma Gottlieb, in Anthropology and Humanism, v. 24, #2. December 1999.
2001 "The Spirit in the Statues" in things #14. London, England.
2002 "Expedition: Volunteering at a New York Restaurant after 9/11, " in things #16.
2003 "The Mormons: Our Secret Weapon in the War on Terror," in The Morning News, New York-based web magazine (themorningnews.org). February 28, 2003.
2003 "Tom Ridge, You Could be the New Oprah!" in The Morning News, New York-based web magazine (themorningnews.org). March 11, 2003.
2003 "Unloading on The Matrix Reloaded," in The Morning News, New York-based web magazine (themorningnews.org). May 20, 2003.
2003 "Freddy and Jason and Reese and Julia," in The Morning News, New York-based web magazine (themorningnews.org). August 20, 2003.
2003 "The Baby Shower," in In the Middle of the Middle West: Literary Non-Fiction from the Heartland, edited by Becky Bradway. Indiana University Press.
2003 "Welcome Back from Baghdad, Mr. President," in The Morning News, New York-based web magazine (the morningnews.org). December 1, 2003.
2004 "An Interview with Yann Martel," in Ninth Letter Vol. 1, Spring/Summer issue. Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.
2004 "A Course Guide to Literary Readings," in The Morning News, New York-based web magazine (themorningnews.org). May 13, 2004.
2006 "A Message from the Executive Officer of Artistic License," in The Morning News, New York based web magazine (themorningnews.org). January 10, 2006.
2006 "Shape Shifting" to be included in the anthology Rules of Thumb, edited by Michael Martone. F+W Publications, Cincinnati, Ohio.
2006 "Our Village Needs Chairs," co-authored with Alma Gottlieb, to appear in Bridges to Humanity, edited by Bruce Grindal and Frank Salamon. 2nd revised edition, Waveland Press. Prospect Heights, Illinois.
REPRINTS OF NON-FICTION (A SELECTION)
1989 "A Writer in a World of Spirits" in Writer's Digest, December 1989. Cincinnati, Ohio.
1990 "A Writer in a World of Spirits" in Annual Editions: Anthropology 90/91, Elvio Angeloni, ed. The Dushkin Publishing Group, Guilford, Connecticut.
1991 "Our Own House of Mbari" in Passages, A Chronicle of the Humanities #2. Evanston, Illinois.
1996 "Choosing a Host," Chapter 2 of Parallel Worlds (co-authored with Alma Gottlieb), reprinted in Journeys Through Ethnography: Realistic Accounts of Fieldwork, edited by Annette Lareau and Jeffrey Shultz. Westview Press/HarperCollins, Boulder, Colorado/New York, New York.
2003 "A Memo to the Wachowskis From a Disappointed Fan," expanded version of "Unloading on The Matrix Reloaded" (originally published in The Morning News), reprinted in the Sunday Arts & Leisure section of The New York Times, June 1, 2003.
BOOK REVIEWS (A SELECTION)
1991 "Love in the Kalahari," front page review of Mating, by Norman Rush, in Tribune Books, Chicago Tribune, September 1, 1991.
1992 "The Far Side of Disrepair," review of Small Game, by John Blades, in Tribune Books, Chicago Tribune, October 25, 1992
1993 "Stanley Elkin's Displaced Persons," front page review of Van Gogh's Room at Arles: Three Novellas, by Stanley Elkin, in Tribune Books, Chicago Tribune, February 21, 1993.
1993 "At the Heart of the Whirlwind," front page review of The Life and Times of Captain N., by Douglas Glover, in Tribune Books, Chicago Tribune, February 28, 1993.
1993 "The Nature of the Beast," front page review of Sweet William: A Memoir of Old Horse, by John Hawkes, in Tribune Books, Chicago Tribune, August 1, 1993.
1993 "Among the Professions," review of Working Men, by Michael Dorris, in Tribune Books, Chicago Tribune, October 24, 1993.
1993 "What Are Enemies For?" front page review of The Robber Bride, by Margaret Atwood, Tribune Books, Chicago Tribune, November 21, 1993.
1994 "A Creator Meets His Nemesis," front page review of The Tale Maker and Diamond, by Mark Harris, in Tribune Books, Chicago Tribune, June 19, 1994.
1995 "This Way to the Abyss," review of The Tunnel, by William H. Gass, Tribune Books, Chicago Tribune, March 5, 1995.
1995 "Through Clouded Eyes," review of The Dead School, by Patrick McCabe, in Tribune Books, Chicago Tribune, April 23, 1995.
1995 "On 'The Concealed Side,'" review of Writing and Being, by Nadine Gordimer, in Tribune Books, Chicago Tribune, November 5, 1995.
1996 "Visions of Love and Desperate Lives from Joyce Carol Oates," review of Will You Always Love Me? and Other Stories, by Joyce Carol Oates, in Tribune Books, Chicago Tribune, March 10, 1996.
1996 "In the Country of David Guterson," review of The Country Ahead of Us, the Country Behind, by David Guterson, in Tribune Books, Chicago Tribune, June 30, 1996.
1996 "A Getaway Fling on an Island of Foreboding," review of A Fling with a Demon Lover, by Kelvin Christopher James, in Tribune Books, Chicago Tribune, August 4, 1996.
1996 "Rocky's Road," review of The Gangster of Love, by Jessica Hagedorn, in Tribune Books, Chicago Tribune, August 18, 1996.
1996 "Passage to Disaster," review of Psalm at Journey's End, by Erik Fosnes Hansen, in Tribune Books, Chicago Tribune, September 29, 1996.
1998 "Exploring Inner Landscapes," front page review of The Voyage of the Narwhal, by Andrea Barett, in Tribune Books, Chicago Tribune, September 13, 1998.
1998 "A Panoramic View of a Writer's Mind Grappling with Life," review of My Year in the No-Man's Bay, by Peter Handke, in Chicago Tribune, November 30, 1998.
1999 "Writer at Risk" review of Timbuktu, by Paul Auster, in Tribune Books, Chicago Tribune, June 6, 1999.
1999 "Interior Journey," review of Perlman's Ordeal, by Brooks Hansen, in Tribune Books, Chicago Tribune, August 29, 1999.
2000 "Past Burdens, Future Promise: Chinua Achebe and African Literature," front page review of Chinua Achebe's Home and Exile, in Tribune books, Chicago Tribune, July 23, 2000.
2001 "A Less Magical Realism," review of Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende, in The New Leader, Winter Books Issue, November/December 2001. New York, NY.
2003 "A Prankster's Peril," review of My Life As A Fake, by Peter Carey, in The New Leader, Winter Books Issue, November/December 2003. New York, N.Y.
2004 "All in the Asides," a review of José Saramago's The Double, in The New Leader, September/October 2004. New York, N.Y.
2005 Review of Amitav Ghosh's novel The Hungry Tide, in The New Leader. Summer Books issue, May/June, 2005. New York, N.Y.
Grants, Fellowships, Honors (a selection)
1982 Fellow, The MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire (July).
1983 Fellow, The MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire (June-July).
1984 Fellow, Yaddo Artists' Colony, Saratoga Springs, New York (June-July).
1984 Artist's Grant, Illinois Arts Council.
1985 The Art of the Knock listed as one of the best new works of fiction of 1985 by The San Francisco Chronicle, December 22, 1985.
1986 William Raney Fellow in Prose, Bread Loaf Writer's Conference, Middlebury, Vermont (August 12 - 24).
1988 Fellow, Center for Advanced Study, University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign (spring 1988).
1989 Artist's Grant, Illinois Arts Council.
1990 Fellow, Yaddo Artists' Colony, Saratoga Springs, New York (August).
1991 Fellow, Program for the Study of Cultural Values and Ethics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (spring 1991).
1991 William and Flora Hewlett Summer International Research Grant, awarded by International Programs and Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
1991 National Endowment for the Humanities, Summer Stipend Grant.
1992 National Endowment for the Arts, Creative Writing Fellowship.
1992 "Light Bulbs," short story, performed by actress Mary Ann Thebus (directed by Steve Scott) for Stories on Stage, Organic Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, December 14, 1992.
1992 The William Peden Prize in Fiction, awarded by The Missouri Review for the short story, "Angel."
1993 The Victor Turner Prize, awarded to Parallel Worlds: An Anthropologist and a Writer Encounter Africa (co-authored with Alma Gottlieb) by the American Anthropological Association's Society for Humanistic Anthropology.
1996 How to Read an Unwritten Language included in Magill's Literary Annual 1996, which features "essay-reviews of 200 outstanding books published in the United States during 1995."
1997 Associate Fellow, Center for Advanced Study, University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign (fall 1997).
1997 How to Read an Unwritten Language paperback edition (Warner Books) featured in "New & Noteworthy Paperbacks," The New York Times Book Review, January 12, 1997.
1997 How to Read an Unwritten Language paperback edition one of three featured recommendations for January 1997 by the Association of American Publishers/ National Association of College Bookstores.
1997 How to Read an Unwritten Language nominated for the 1997 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
2003 Fellowship, Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities. Fall semester, 2003. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
2004 In the Middle of the Middle West: Literary Non-Fiction from the Heartland, edited by Becky Bradway (in which my essay "The Baby Shower" appears), one of five finalists for the Great Lakes Book Award (General Book category).
2005 Co-founder and fiction editor of Ninth Letter, a literary/arts journal named "Best New Literary Journal" by the MLA's Council of Editors of Learned Journals.
Teaching Honors and Awards
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign:
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Fall 1985, for Rhetoric 144 (Beginning Narrative Writing).
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Fall 1986, for Rhetoric 204 (Intermediate Narrative Writing).
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Fall 1987, for Rhetoric 144.
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Fall 1988, for Rhetoric 304 (Advanced Narrative Writing).
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Spring 1989, for Rhetoric 204.
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Fall 1989, for Rhetoric 144.
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Spring 1990, for Rhetoric 144.
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Fall 1990, for Rhetoric 204 (two sections).
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Fall 1991, for Rhetoric 204.
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Fall 1994, for Rhetoric 144.
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Spring 1995, for Rhetoric 144.
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Fall 1995, for Rhetoric 304.
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Spring 1996, for Rhetoric 144 and 204.
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Fall 1996, for Rhetoric 144
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Spring 1997, for Rhetoric 144 and 204.
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Spring 1998, for Rhetoric 144 and 304.
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Fall 1998, for Rhetoric 144 and 204.
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Spring 1999, for Rhetoric 144 and 204.
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Spring 2000, for Rhetoric 204 and 304.
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, 1999-2000.
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences' Humanities Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1999-2000.
Harriet and Charles Luckmann Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, 1999-2000.
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Spring 2001, for Rhetoric 144 and 304.
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Fall 2001, for Rhetoric 144 and 204.
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Spring 2002, for Rhetoric 144.
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Fall, 2002, for Rhetoric 204, and Rhetoric 400 (Problems in Fiction: Structure, Character, Voice).
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Spring 2003, for Rhetoric 304.
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Spring 2004, for Rhetoric 404 (Graduate Fiction Workshop)
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Fall 2004, for English 461 ("Violence in 20th Century Literature").
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Spring 2005, for Rhetoric 304 (Intermediate Narrative Writing) and Rhetoric 404 (Advanced Narrative Writing).
"Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers," Fall 2005, for CW 504 (Graduate Fiction Workshop).
Readings. 1978-2004 (a selection)
Hollins College, Virginia, 1978.
Old Dominion University; Virginia, 1978.
University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa; 1979.
Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, 1985.
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor; 1985.
Books & Co., New York City, 1985.
Sarah Lawrence College, New York, 1985.
River Styx Reading Series, St. Louis, Missouri, 1985.
Williams College, Massachussets, 1985.
Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C., 1985.
Florida State University Literary Festival, 1985.
Village Voice Bookstore, Paris, France, 1985.
University of Illinois at Chicago, 1986.
Illinois State University, 1987.
Harold Washington Library Center, Chicago, Illinois, 1988.
Illinois State Library, Springfield, Illinois, 1991.
Sarah Lawrence College, New York, 1992.
McNeese State University; Lake Charles, Louisiana, 1993.
Columbia University, New York, 1993.
New York University, 1995.
Prairie Lights Bookstore, Iowa City, 1993, 1995 and 1997.
DePaul University, 1995.
Barnes & Noble Bookstores in Evanston, Illinois and New York City, 1995.
Border's Bookstores in Columbus, Ohio, Washington D.C., Evanston, Illinois, and Schaumberg, Illinois, 1995 and 1997.
Black Oak Books, Berkeley, California, 1995.
Dutton's Brentwood Bookstore, Los Angeles, 1995.
Tattered Cover Bookstore, Denver, Colorado, 1995.
Library Ltd Bookstore, St. Louis, Missouri, 1995.
Columbia University, New York, 1995.
University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, 1995.
Joseph Beth Booksellers, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1995.
DePaul University, 1996.
Virginia Festival of the Book, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1996.
McNeese State University; Lake Charles, Louisiana, 1996.
Florida State University Literary Festival (keynote reader), 1996.
Hungry Mind Bookstore, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1997.
Elliot Bay Bookstore, Seattle, Washington, 1997.
Powell's Bookstore, Portland, Oregon, 1997.
Shakespeare & Co., New York City, 1997.
Encore Books, Princeton, New Jersey, 1997.
Left Bank Books, St. Louis, Missouri, 1997.
Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, 1997.
Virginia Festival of the Book, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1998.
Sweet Briar College, Virginia, 1999.
River Styx Reading Series, St. Louis, Missouri, 2000.
Illinois State University, 2001.
Vermont College, Montpelier, Vermont, 2003.
Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium), 2003.
Lewis and Clark College, 2004.
Knox College, 2004
Residencies
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia: Young Writers Workshop. Gave fiction reading and four lectures on the art of revision in contemporary writing. July 17-21, 1988.
The Abidjan Writers Workshop, Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire: was the Guest of Honor for two weekend writers' retreats with Ivoirian writers, critics and editors at Grand Bassam and the American Cultural Center in Abidjan. Sponsored by Arts America, United States Information Agency, and United States Information Service. March 16-23, 1990.
Visiting Hurst Professor, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri. Three week residency in the graduate creative writing program. In addition to visiting classes and holding conferences, gave two presentations: a public reading of fiction, and non-fiction (with Alma Gottlieb). September 9-27, 1996.
Catholic University of Leuven; Leuven, Belgium. Co-taught (with Alma Gottlieb) an intensive course on Ethnographic Writing and Narrative, combining readings across the genres with intensive writing assignments. March 24-28, 2003.
Visiting Writer in Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction, Vermont College MFA in Writing. As faculty member of low-residency MFA, conduct writing workshops and present a craft lecture. Responsible for mentoring selected students over the course of the following semester. Summer, 2003 (June 28-July 8); Winter, 2003 (December 28, 2003-January 7, 2004); Summer, 2004 (June 27-July 7); Summer, 2005 (June 27-July 7). Elected to the Faculty Advisory Committee for 2005-2006.
Workshop Faculty, Writing Culture Summer Institute, Lewis & Clark College, Portland Oregon, June 21 - June 27, 2004. With Alma Gottlieb, lead the weeklong writing workshop "Fieldwork to Fiction and Back Again." Conduct individual conferences and give reading of fiction.
Invited participant (with Alma Gottlieb) in a three-day planning seminar on the development of new writing genres in anthropology, at the School of American Research, Santa Fe, New Mexico. October 28-30, 2004.
Additional Professional Activities
Judge, the American Association of University Women's Illinois State Fiction Contest, 1983.
Judge, the University of Alabama's 1989 Alumni/ae Fiction Contest.
Panel Member, Poets & Writers, Inc.'s Midwest Readings and Workshops Program, March 1992.
Chaired Panel on "Literary Marketing," Illinois Writers Roundtable, Newberry Library. December 1992.
Led workshop, with Alma Gottlieb, on "How to Write for a General Audience" at the American Anthropological Association's 92nd Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C. November 1993.
Presented a paper, with Alma Gottlieb, "Parallel Negotiations: The Writing of Parallel Worlds," at the American Anthropological Association's 92nd Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C. November 1993.
Co-organized and co-chaired session, with Alma Gottlieb, on "Beyond the Lonely Anthropologist: Collaboration in Research and Writing," at the American Anthropological Association's 92nd Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C. November 1993.
Led workshop with Alma Gottlieb, on "How to Write for a General Audience" at the American Anthropological Association's 93rd Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia. December 1994.
Led a "Study on the Creative Process" seminar. New York University, New York. November 25, 1995.
Gave lecture, with Alma Gottlieb, on "Politics and Spirits in West Africa: Stories from the Village and the City," at Millikin University, Decatur, Illinois. February 1995.
Gave lecture, with Alma Gottlieb, on "The Business of Communicating with Another Culture" (co-authored with Philip Graham), featured lecture presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Association of Business Communicators, Toronto. June 1995.
Presented a paper, with Alma Gottlieb and Nathaniel Gottlieb-Graham, "Infants, Ancestors and the Afterlife: Fieldwork's Family Values in Rural West Africa," at the American Anthropological Association's 94th Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C. November 1995.
Panelist, "First Novel: How to Start, How to Finish, How to Publish," Florida State University Spring Literary Festival. March 9, 1996.
Panel Moderator, "Writing across Time and Space," Charlottesville City Council Chambers, Virginia Festival for the Book. March 30, 1996.
Panel Member, Illinois Arts Council Literature Advisory Panel, 1997-1998, 1998-1999.
Panelist, "Writing and Publishing the First Novel," Charlottesville City Council Chambers, Virginia Festival for the Book. March 1998.
Judge, Sweet Briar College Undergraduate Fiction Prize, 1999.
Led workshop, with Alma Gottlieb, on "Creative Writing for Anthropologists," at the American Anthropological Association's 100th Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C. December 2001.
Gave a craft lecture on the writing of fiction, Vermont College low-residency MFA program, Montpelier, Vermont. January 6, 2003.
Presented a paper, "Breathing Metaphor," as part of the panel "Mind Your Metaphors: Defining What We Do," at Associated Writing Programs annual conference, Baltimore, Maryland. February 27, 2003.
Presented craft lecture, "What's in a Name? The Many of Lives of Fernando Pessoa," at Vermont College low-residency MFA program, Montpelier, Vermont. June 30, 2003.
Workshop leader (with Alma Gottlieb), "Creative Writing for Anthropologists," workshop organized by the Society for Humanistic Anthropology, presented at the 100th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association (November 2003). Chicago, Illinois.
Presented craft lecture, "Wake Up and Go to Sleep: Dreams and Writing fiction," at Vermont College, Montpelier, Vermont. December 31, 2003.
Organizer and moderator, panel on "Structuring Your Short Story Collection." Associated Writing Programs Annual Conference, March 25, 2004. Chicago, Illinois.
Panelist, "How and Why We Make the Grade," Associated Writing Programs Annual Conference, March 26, 2004. Chicago, Illinois.
Fiction Editor, Ninth Letter, literary/arts magazine of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.
Panelist, "Dreams and Writing," Columbia College, April 27, 2004. Chicago, Illinois.
Director, Creative Writing Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2004-2006.
Panelist, "Jazzing the Muse," Associated Writing Programs Annual Conference, March 31, 2005. Vancouver, Canada.
Presented Craft Lecture, "As in Your Life, So in You Writing," at Vermont College, Montpelier, Vermont. July 4, 2005.
Media Attention: Newspaper, Radio & Television (a selection)
Interviewed (with Alma Gottlieb) about Parallel Worlds on Voice of America radio, April 1993. Broadcast internationally.
Gave a reading (with Alma Gottlieb) from Parallel Worlds at Prairie Lights Bookstore, for the National Public Radio program "Live from Prairie Lights, April 1993. WSUI, Iowa City; broadcast nationally.
Interviewed (with Alma Gottlieb) about Parallel Worlds on Monitor Radio, May 1993. Broadcast internationally.
"Bungle in the Jungle," article by Wes Smith about Parallel Worlds, in Chicago Tribune, Tempo section (front page). June 18, 1993.
Interviewed (with Alma Gottlieb) about Parallel Worlds on National Public Radio program "To the Best of Our Knowledge," April 1995. Madison, Wisconsin. Broadcast nationally. Rebroadcast in January, 1996.
Interviewed by Michael Silverblatt about the novel How to Read an Unwritten Language on the National Public Radio program "Bookworm," November 1995. Broadcast nationally.
A reading from How to Read an Unwritten Language at Prairie Lights Bookstore broadcast live on the National Public Radio affiliate WSUI's program "Live from Prairie Lights," November 1995. Broadcast regionally (Iowa City, Iowa).
Interviewed about How to Read an Unwritten Language on National Public Radio affiliate WBEZ for the program "Artistic License," December 1995. Broadcast regionally (Chicago, Illinois).
"Interior Defined," article by Annabelle Villaneuva on Interior Design, in New City: Chicago's News and Arts Weekly, December 19, 1997. Chicago, Illinois.
Interviewed about the story collection Interior Design on the National Public Radio affiliate KPOD for the program "Golden Hours," January 1997. Broadcast regionally (Portland, Oregon).
"The Yard Sale Philosopher," article by Richard Shea about How to Read an Unwritten Language, in Time Off, an arts supplement published in the Princeton Packet and nine other New Jersey newspapers. January 10, 1997.
Interviewed about How to Read an Unwritten Language on the Bloomington, Minnesota Public Television affiliate for the program "Author, Author," January 1997. Broadcast regionally (Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota).
Interviewed by Leonard Lopate about How to Read an Unwritten Language and Interior Design on National Public Radio affiliate WNYC for the program "New York & Co.," January 1997. Broadcast regionally (New York metropolitan area). Rebroadcast May 1997.
A reading from Interior Design at Prairie Lights Bookstore broadcast live on the National Public Radio affiliate WSUI's program "Live From Prairie Lights," January 1997. Broadcast regionally (Iowa City, Iowa).
Interviewed about Interior Design on National Public Radio affiliate WBEZ for the program "Artistic License," January 1997. Broadcast regionally (Chicago, Illinois).
Regular guest (1996-) on NPR affiliate WILL-AM's interview programs "Focus 580" and "Afternoon Magazine." Discuss and review contemporary fiction, non-fiction and poetry, and occasionally guest host to interview authors. Broadcast regionally (Illinois and Indiana)
Interviewed on NPR affiliate WILL-AM's "Afternoon Magazine, as fiction editor of Ninth Letter, about the magazine's third issue. May 2005. Access pod cast.
Organizer of the panel "The Varieties of Collaboration," and panelist presenting the paper (with Alma Gottlieb) "Colliding Genres, Collaborating Spouses," at the Non-Fiction Now conference, University of Iowa, November 11, 2005.
Panelist, "Prose in Motion," Associated Writing Programs Annual Conference, Austin, Texas, March 10, 2006.
Invited writer, "Views from the Edge," the 9th Annual International Short Story in English conference. Presenting a reading from fiction and participating in a panel on literary editing, June 21-25, 2006, Lisbon, Portugal.
Resources for Writers
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