Midwest: Region Four
Upton, Lee
June 2, 1953 –
Place of Birth: St. John, MI
Place of Principle Residence: Easton, PA
Biography:
Lee Upton was born to Rose and Charles Upton in St. John, PA. As a child she enjoyed reading poems, plays, and novels – even though some of it (for example, Shakespeare) was beyond her comprehension level. She also enjoyed writing, and even created her own small newspaper called the Grand Prix. Upton went to Michigan State University where she studied journalism and worked as a free-lance reporter for a newspaper. During this time Upton also determinedly sent out her poems to a number of magazines, and eventually got accepted by the Denver Quarterly. She graduated with her B.A. in 1978 and received her M.F.A. in English at the University of Massachusetts in 1981. After receiving her Ph.D. in English at the State University of New York – Binghamton in 1986, Upton worked for a year as an assistant professor of English at Grand Valley State University and then moved to Lafayette College also as a professor of English, where she remains today. In addition to teaching, Upton publishes her work including poetry, literary criticism, and fiction. Her latest book Undid in the Land of Undon was awarded the silver medal for poetry in Foreword Magazine’s Independent Book of the Year Award. Upton has published ten books on poetry, and has received many awards including the Pushcart Prize and the Lyric Poetry Award. Upton is also a contributing editor to the Denver Quarterly. She lives in Easton, PA, is married to Eric Ziolkowski, and has two daughters Theodora and Cecilia.
Selected Works:
- Civilian Histories (2000)
- The Muse of Abandonment (1998)
- Approximate Darling (1996)
- Jean Garrigue: A Poetics of Plenitude (1991)
- The Invention of Kindness (1984)
Awards:
- National Poetry Series Award for No Mercy
- Pushcart Prize
- Georgia Contemporary Series Award for Civilian Histories and Approximate Darling
- Lyric Poetry Award
- The Writer Magazine/Emily Dickenson Award
- Foreword Magazine’s Independent Book of the Year Award
Critical Reception:
“In Upton’s fifth book of poetry, she returns to tableaus in history, both mythical and actual. She pictures Emily Dickinson with blossoms in her hands, Dido standing before the burning pyre at Carthage; even lines from Shakespeare become fodder for a rich imagining of scene. The poems move between ancient settings and modern metaphorical language, high seriousness and humor. The list of creative euphemisms continues with dizzying fecundity, each more biting than the last.”
- ForeWord reviewer Camille-Yvette Welsch
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“[Upton’s] poems about dreams transform the often mundane quality of life in an overly materialistic America into something imaginative and spiritual.”
- Andy Brumer of The New York Times Book Review
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Upton worked as a journalist during her years at Michigan State University. Later, she attributed this experience to preparing her to concentrate on her writing in all sorts of situations.
Weesner, Theodore
July 31, 1935—
Place of Birth: Flint, MI
Place of Principal Residence: Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Biography
Theodore Weesner was born to William and Margaret Weesner in Flint, MI on July 31, 1935. Weesner spent his childhood as a son of a GM worker in Flint. He graduated from Michigan State University with a B.A. in 1959 and received his M.F.A. from the University of Iowa in 1965. After high school, Weesner spent three years in the army before doing a variety of jobs including assembly line worker, technical writer, and architectural draftsman. His first book, The Car Thief, was pubished in 1972 to rave reviews. Weesner is particularly interested in revolving his work around realism, although he claims he does not to simply state facts. Today he teaches at Emerson College in Boston, MA while continuing to write.
Selected Works
- The Car Thief
- The True Detective
- A German Affair
- Harbor Lights
- Winning the City Hearts
Awards
- Great Lakes Writer’s Prize for The Car Thief
- 1987 An American Library Association notable book of the year for The Car Thief
- Guggenheim and National Endowment for Humanities awards
Critical Reception
Weesner’s book, The Car Thief, is critically acclaimed and has been reprinted. The Boston Globe described it as “so poignant and beautifully written, so true and painful, that one can’t read it without feeling the knife’s cruel blade in the heart.” Mott Community College in the Flint area uses it in some of their classes.
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work
Weesner said that creative nonfiction requires “digging deeply for essential truths and realities from one’s own experiences.” For Weesner, this includes some of his city background in the book Hoop Sex. He based some of the book on experiences in city park summertime basketball.