FOR RELEASE: MONDAY, MAY 14, 2001
CONTACT: Robert Brinkmeyer, chair of English department(501)575-4301, [email protected]
Donald Hays, director of creative writing program(501)575-4301, [email protected]
Allison Hogge, science and research communications officer(501)575-5555, [email protected]
PHOTO of Ellen Gilchrist available for download at http://pigtrail.uark.edu/news/.
RENOWNED AUTHOR JOINS UA CREATIVE WRITING FACULTY
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Ellen Gilchrist's stories have inspired millions of readers across the globe. Now, 20 years after the publication of her first collection, Gilchrist plans to take a more active role in inspiring young writers: the renowned author has agreed to join the University of Arkansas faculty as an associate professor of creative writing.
"Ellen Gilchrist is a tremendous addition to the creative writing program and the English department. An internationally known writer, she immediately becomes one of the University's star faculty members," said Robert Brinkmeyer, chair of the English department. "Her fiction is polished, controlled and rich -- and she will be all that too as a colleague and teacher."
As part of the creative writing program, Gilchrist joins an impressive company of authors and teachers, including 1996 inaugural poet Miller Williams; Donald Hays, author of "The Hangman's Children" and "The Dixie Association"; and Molly Giles, winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for short fiction and author of "Iron Shoes." Gilchrist's decision to join the faculty followed a semester teaching courses as a visiting professor in fall of 2000.
"I had always intended to teach sooner or later. The University of Arkansas was my first choice because I know the other faculty, and I trust them to help me learn to teach," Gilchrist said. "Teaching last fall, I was surprised by the brightness and generosity, the intelligence and the goodness of my students. They also helped me make this decision."
According to Donald Hays, director of the creative writing program, Gilchrist will teach one semester each year, allowing her time to devote to her own work. Gilchrist's classes will include both graduate and undergraduate-level workshops in fiction and essay writing -- classes her own writing has prepared her well to teach.
As the author of more than 20 books, including short fiction, novels, and essay collections, Gilchrist qualifies as a master of the creative process. What she's learned from that process she intends to pass along, teaching her students the two most important elements of writing: reading and revision.
"A writer needs to be continually inspired," she said. "I don't just want to teach my students how to write. I want to teach them how to read because the inspiration to write comes sometimes from life, but most often it comes from other great writing."
At times, Gilchrist herself has provided that inspiration. Her first collection of stories "In the Land of Dreamy Dreams" appeared in 1981. Three years later, her second collection "Victory Over Japan" won the National Book Award. Since that time, she's published nearly a book a year, culminating with this year's publication of "Collected Stories" -- a compendium of her best writing, containing 34 short stories hand-picked from her previous works.
In excess of 550 pages, "Collected Stories" may seem overwhelming from the outside, but within, Gilchrist has filled the volume with levity and wit and populated it with vivacious and eccentric characters. Her heroines embody the unique perspective of southern women: that femininity and self-reliance are not in contradiction. They are not afraid to be clever or headstrong, to be mothers or lovers or to break their own hearts.
"It's amazing prose, often surprising from one sentence to the next," said Hays of her writing. "Ellen offers blazing insights into character, and her stories often take turns and make revelations that are unexpected but well-engineered -- perfectly supported within the story. It's electric prose."
The release of such a collection often represents the capstone of a writer's career, but Gilchrist has no plans to retire. She continues to rise at dawn and write until noon, every day of the week. Even the added responsibilities of teaching have failed to slow her down. In fact, they've fired her up, she says, challenging her to pass her passion along to her students.
"I'm pretty frenzied. Anything I get into, I obsess about it because I want to be the best," Gilchrist said. "My goal is not to dabble but to work as hard as I can at everything I do and be my best. That's true with my writing, and it's true with the teaching as well."
Noting that students and colleagues alike had been impressed with Gilchrist's performance last fall, Hays believes the world-renowned writer will achieve her goals.
"She brings a remarkable energy to the classroom, and she encourages our students with her own enthusiasm and example as a writer," he said. "She's a generous teacher, and we feel privileged to include her in our program."# # #
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