Academic History

Ph.D., English, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1990: Specialization: Creative Writing.

Dissertation: Crimes in Bluesville (multi-genre novel with critical introduction).

M.A., English, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1987: Specialization: Poetry Writing.

B.A., Black Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1983: Concentration: Literature and Culture. 

Employment History

New College of Florida, Writer-in-Residence (visiting), Spring 2017.

University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Department of English, Professor, 2001-15.

Wheaton College (IL), Department of English, Assistant Professor, 1997-01.

Hamilton College, Department of English, Visiting Fiction Writer, 1996- 97.

Randolph Macon Woman’s College, Jesse Ball DuPont Visiting Poet, Fall 1995.

Louisiana State University, Department of English, Assistant Professor, 1992-96.

Villanova University, Department of English, Assistant Professor, 1990-92.

Publications

Books:

Yardbirds Squawking at the Moon: poetry collection.

Chapbooks:

The Daze of Bluesville Boyz (poetry).

When Katrina Smiles (fiction).

In Progress:

Searching: a novella

Running In/Between the Races: collection of short memoirs/personal essays.

 Edited Books:

This Louisiana Thing That Drives Me: The Legacy of Ernest J. Gaines (compiled and edited with Marcia Gaudet and Wiley Cash), UL Press, 2009.

Mozart and Leadbelly: Stories and Essays by Ernest J. Gaines (compiled, edited, and introduction with Marcia Gaudet), Knopf, 2005.

Journal and Magazine Editorships:

Guest Editor. Special Double Issue on Jeffery Renard Allen. Obsidian Literary Journal 39.2 - 40.2 (2015): 1-303.

“Ernest J. Gaines: A Portfolio” (editor of special section). Callaloo 30 (2007): 696-713.

Bluesville: A Literary Journal of Chicago’s West Side (editor), 1984-87.

Creative Publications and Activities:

Selected Nonfiction Publications:

“Prodigal Blues.” Another Chicago Magazine. Online.

“In Mockingbird Time (A Meditation on Race in a Post-racial Age).” Taint Taint Taint Magazine.

Online.

“Overcomed.” Chicago Review,

“A Bluesville Tribute for Gwendolyn Brooks.” In Revise the Psalm: Works Inspired by the Writings of

Gwendolyn Brooks.

“Leaving Louisiana.” The Oxford American.

“Writing Place: Writing Bluesville.” The Christian Imagination: Essays on Literature and Writing.

“On Writing My World into Being.” Multicultural Literature and Literacies: Making Space for

Difference.

Selected Short Fiction Publications:

“The Mojo Bone,” riverSedge 31:1 (2018): 123-38.

“But Still I Ran.” Louisiana Literature 32:2 (2014): 80-112.

“faith flight.” African American Review. 34 (2000): 105-117.

“Concrete Rituals.” African American Review 26 (1992): 486-494.

Selected Poetry Publications:

”Crime in Bluesville. Wherever We’re At: An Anthology of Chicago Poetry.

“Lady Antebellum.” Viva Macondo special section. San Antonio Report (online).

Three Poems: “Recollections,” “Saviors,” and “Tribal Differences.” In Revise the Psalm: Works Inspired by the Writings of Gwendolyn Brooks.

“Waking Hours Blues,” Lincoln’s Beard,” and “I Should’ve Married a Mexican.” Sacred Trespasses. Online. Print and audio. 

“Back/strokes.” Fifth Wednesday Journal.

“Lincoln’s Beard: (or, On Being Invited to Read at the Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration in

Baton Rouge, LA, February 8, 2009).” Louisiana Literature.

“Saviors.” The Poetry Connection: Dial-A-Poem, Chicago! Tenth Anniversary Anthology.

“Praise in Bluesville.” Black American Literature Forum.

“Saviors.” The Christian Century.

 Selected Readings (Fiction, Poetry, and Nonfiction):

Carver Community Library. (Featured reader.) San Antonio, TX. November 19, 2022.

Verso Fontera Literary Festival. Our Lady of the Lake University. San Antonio, TX. 2022.

“¡Ya Basta! Futures Without Walls / Enough! Futuros Sin Muros,” online, Poets Against Walls, 2020.

“The Gift of the Grind” (reading panel), AWP, Tampa, FL, 2018.

Featured Poet and Writer, University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley, 2017.

Featured Poet and Writer, State College of Florida at Venice, 2017.

“Border Readings” (reading panel), AWP, Washington, D.C., February 10, 2017.

TNRS, Featured Reader (nonfiction), Lafayette, LA, March 12, 2015.

Ernest J. Gaines Center, Featured Poet, Lafayette, LA, February 14, 2014.

South Central MLA, Featured Poet, New Orleans, LA, October 2, 2013.

Writers and Readers Authors Celebration (nonfiction), Friends of the St. Francisville Public Library, 2009.

Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration (poetry), State Library, Baton Rouge, February 8, 2009.

Writing and Literature Conference (fiction), Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL, September 25, 2008.

Deep South Festival of Writers, University of Louisiana at Lafayette (fiction), November 2, 2007.

Significant Voices Cultural Arts Festival (poetry and fiction), Lafayette, LA, March 3, 2002.

“Writing Bluesville,” Featured Poet, Azusa Pacific University, October 4, 2001.

Others at various schools, cultural institutions, and other sites.

Artist Fellowships, Grants, Residencies, Awards and Honors:

Honorable Mention. WATW Alcove Chapbook Series. WATW Press. 2023.

Individual Artists Grant. City of San Antonio Department of Arts and Culture. 2022-23.

Words of Witness Fellow, Under the Volcano, Tepoztlán, Mexico (online), April 9-30, 2021.

Finalist, 2016 Faulkner/Wisdom Award for Poetry (“The River Bluesville”).

Honorable Mention, 2013 Faulkner/Wisdom Award for Poetry (“Back\strokes”).

Residencies: Writer’s Colony at Dairy Hollow, Eureka Springs, AR (nine different years, 2005-2015).

Residency: Macondo House/Casa Azul, December 14-21, 2009.

Residency: A Studio in the Woods, New Orleans, LA, June 15-30, 2005.

Artist Mini-Grants, Louisiana Division of the Arts, 2004 and 2005.

PEN Discovery Award for Fiction, Chicago, IL, 1988.

Illinois Poet Laureate Award for Significant Illinois Poets, Chicago, IL, June 7, 1987.

Photography:

Seven photos in “In Mockingbird Time” essay. Taint Taint Taint Magazine (online).

Chicago Review. Farragut High School Students Marching to View Site of 1969 Fred Hampton shooting. (Original photograph), 2019.

This Louisiana Thing That Drives Me: The Legacy of Ernest J. Gaines. UL Press, 2009. Original

photographs, pp. 32, 47, 50, 63, 64, 70, 74,76, 77.

Callaloo, original photographs, pp. 704-07, 09, 2007.

 Special Exhibit:

Original poem, “Redemption’s Brew,” displayed as special National Poetry Month window installation at Local Coffee in the Pearl, San Antonio, 2021.

 Sample of Curated Literary Readings, Conference Panels, and Events:

“As We Breathe”: Reading In Support for Social Justice. Zoom reading featuring Cyrus Cassells, Aracelis Girmay, Michelle Whittaker, and Michael Warr. In collaboration with Poets Against Walls. Live Zoom event. 2020.

Organized lectures and readings by Ruth Behar, Sandra Cisneros, Jeffery Renard Allen, Trudier Harris, Ernest J. Gaines, Craig Hansen Warner and others. University of Louisiana at Lafayette. 2002-15.

Faculty Advisor/Consultant, Louisiana Conference on Literature, Language, and Culture. University of Louisiana at Lafayette. 2010-13.

Festival of Words: South Louisiana Literary Festival. Board Treasurer and Organizer. Readings by

Darrell Bourque, Cornelius Eady, Kendra Hamilton, Olivia Vernon, others. Grand Coteau, LA.

2009-13.

Organized Deep South Festival of Writers. Readings by Ernest J. Gaines, Tim Gautreaux, James

Wilcox, and others. Nov. 2003.

Organized reading by Gwendolyn Brooks and Sterling A. Plumpp. Wheaton College. 2000.

Readings by Leslie Marmon Silko, Oscar Hijuelos. Hamilton College. 1996.

Gathering of Poets. Co‑chair. Readings by Stephen Dunn, Patricia Smith, Michael Weaver, and Patricia Goedicke. Louisiana State University, 1992.