An Intelligent Conversation Chance M. Glenn, Ph.D.
One of the coolest experiences of my career was an hour-long chat with "Renaissance Man," Chance Glenn, on the Intelligent Conversations podcast. We talked about 10 Stories Down, my latest book, my early life, and long career as a writer and educator. To listen, and for more on this ambitious project by Chance, who is an electrical engineer, computer scientist, musician, college administrator, world traveler, and scholar, click on the photo or the above link.
You'll be convinced that Chance is one of the nation's treasures. I do not sound too horribly myself. |
Save the date.... |
Here's the story ...
More years ago than I want to remember, I decided that no matter what I chose to do in life, writing would be a part of that story. The first creative piece I recall was a poem about a rickety bus I rode to school in the eighth grade in Youngstown, Ohio. I don't remember the words to the yarn, but it made me and my classmates laugh. The teacher was not too happy, because the uproar over that poem made us a little rowdy after recess. That was the first time I witnessed the beauty and power of a good story. I have pursued the art and craft of telling them ever since. Storytelling has always been a part of my teaching.
I have taught everything from second grade to graduate students at more than a dozen schools,throughout the past four decades. I came to Rochester Institute of Technology as an adjunct professor sixteen years ago. Today, I am an assistant professor in the Department of English. Published in poetry, fiction and nonfiction in a variety of publications and media, I continue to pursue a wide range of activities in the creation of literature and research, in the classroom and beyond.
From that very simple beginning in Youngstown, I continued to write throughout high school and college, but never with a thought of publication until after graduate school. In the same fashion as in my youth, I held the vague dream of someday writing a book. My interests were broad, so the plan that arose from them in my dreams was truly vague, but bold. I hoped to have at least one solid book in poetry, fiction and nonfiction before I die.
Somewhere after teaching for a few years, I decided that the surest path to that goal was through journalism. After all, Ernest Hemingway, did it, too.
That career began as a Washington, D.C. correspondent for The National Catholic Reporter, an international newsweekly in 1980. For nearly twenty years, I worked for several daily newspapers and wire services as reporter and editor. My last full-time job was with the Syracuse Newspapers. While working in the media and learning the writing craft, that career broadened when I became a columnist nationally syndicated on the Newhouse News Service. From 1987 to 1995, the weekly commentary on religion in public life appeared in more than 150 newspapers from Juneau, Alaska to Miami, Florida. Meanwhile, my articles were also occasionally published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Washington Living magazine, and Christianity Today.
Even now I continue as the managing editor of about...time Magazine, a national chronicle on the African American experience based in Rochester, New York.Journalism offered a unique opportunity to learn to tell the stories of everyday people. I loved it, because from those tales of individuals often overlooked comes what we often do not realize as history. My interest and continued pursuit of a greater meaning in or behind of each narrative that I recorded brought me back to my childhood fascination with the human story. When I write articles or books, fiction, nonfiction or poetry, I always look for a greater truth.
My poems have been featured in "Take Two, They're Small," an anthology on food, and literary journals such as Bridges, Drylongso, Fyah, Ishmael Reed’s Konch Magazine, Mental Satin, the Southern Poetry Review and the Pinnacle Hill ReviewBeyond that my time is devoted to writing, research and the classroom. My latest book of poetry is 10 Stories Down, published in September 2011 by Foothills Press. The collection is inspired by two, six-month stays in Beijing, China's capital. In March 2006, the publisher also released , Like a Dry Land: A Soul’s Journey through the Middle East, drawn from a trip throughout the country of Jordan.
In May 2007, I edited and published Tales from a Summer, an anthology of nonfiction by Rochester area high school students. Also, When Pluto Was A Planet: The Golphin Chronicles, an anthology of short stories by RIT students. My other books include Life and Other Things I Know: Poems, Essays and Short Stories, African American Children's Stories: A Treasury of Tradition and Pride,and two primers in Publication International’s My First Treasury series, Grandma Loves You and African American Stories.
Well, the journey is far from over. The dream continues. This website exists to display some of the fruits of my continuous pursuit of the art and craft of storytelling have made into a reality along the way. I hope you will check out the works that are available, and come back every now and then to watch the collection grow.
vincent f. a. golphin
.
I have taught everything from second grade to graduate students at more than a dozen schools,throughout the past four decades. I came to Rochester Institute of Technology as an adjunct professor sixteen years ago. Today, I am an assistant professor in the Department of English. Published in poetry, fiction and nonfiction in a variety of publications and media, I continue to pursue a wide range of activities in the creation of literature and research, in the classroom and beyond.
From that very simple beginning in Youngstown, I continued to write throughout high school and college, but never with a thought of publication until after graduate school. In the same fashion as in my youth, I held the vague dream of someday writing a book. My interests were broad, so the plan that arose from them in my dreams was truly vague, but bold. I hoped to have at least one solid book in poetry, fiction and nonfiction before I die.
Somewhere after teaching for a few years, I decided that the surest path to that goal was through journalism. After all, Ernest Hemingway, did it, too.
That career began as a Washington, D.C. correspondent for The National Catholic Reporter, an international newsweekly in 1980. For nearly twenty years, I worked for several daily newspapers and wire services as reporter and editor. My last full-time job was with the Syracuse Newspapers. While working in the media and learning the writing craft, that career broadened when I became a columnist nationally syndicated on the Newhouse News Service. From 1987 to 1995, the weekly commentary on religion in public life appeared in more than 150 newspapers from Juneau, Alaska to Miami, Florida. Meanwhile, my articles were also occasionally published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Washington Living magazine, and Christianity Today.
Even now I continue as the managing editor of about...time Magazine, a national chronicle on the African American experience based in Rochester, New York.Journalism offered a unique opportunity to learn to tell the stories of everyday people. I loved it, because from those tales of individuals often overlooked comes what we often do not realize as history. My interest and continued pursuit of a greater meaning in or behind of each narrative that I recorded brought me back to my childhood fascination with the human story. When I write articles or books, fiction, nonfiction or poetry, I always look for a greater truth.
My poems have been featured in "Take Two, They're Small," an anthology on food, and literary journals such as Bridges, Drylongso, Fyah, Ishmael Reed’s Konch Magazine, Mental Satin, the Southern Poetry Review and the Pinnacle Hill ReviewBeyond that my time is devoted to writing, research and the classroom. My latest book of poetry is 10 Stories Down, published in September 2011 by Foothills Press. The collection is inspired by two, six-month stays in Beijing, China's capital. In March 2006, the publisher also released , Like a Dry Land: A Soul’s Journey through the Middle East, drawn from a trip throughout the country of Jordan.
In May 2007, I edited and published Tales from a Summer, an anthology of nonfiction by Rochester area high school students. Also, When Pluto Was A Planet: The Golphin Chronicles, an anthology of short stories by RIT students. My other books include Life and Other Things I Know: Poems, Essays and Short Stories, African American Children's Stories: A Treasury of Tradition and Pride,and two primers in Publication International’s My First Treasury series, Grandma Loves You and African American Stories.
Well, the journey is far from over. The dream continues. This website exists to display some of the fruits of my continuous pursuit of the art and craft of storytelling have made into a reality along the way. I hope you will check out the works that are available, and come back every now and then to watch the collection grow.
vincent f. a. golphin
.
