Midwest: Region Four
Curtis, Christopher Paul
1954—
Place of Birth: Flint, MI
Place of Principal Residence: Windsor, Ontario Canada
Biography
After graduating from high school, Curtis enrolled at the University of Michigan, Flint with the intention to study political science. Yet, in 1972, Curtis gave in to the temptation of following in his father’s footsteps. The author took up relatively good wages and ten hour days at the nearby Fisher Body automobile plant where his father worked. When the boredom of working long days on an assembly line finally set in, Curtis began to write. While still working at Fisher Body, Curtis composed some of his earliest works. Many of his writings were letters to Kaysandra, a registered nurse whom he met in 1977 and married 11 years later. In 1985, after more than a decade on the assembly line, Curtis quit his job at Fisher and worked a variety of jobs. In 1988, he managed democratic Senator Donald Reigle, Jr.‘s election campaigns in Flint and Saginaw.
In 1993, Kaysandra Curtis encouraged her husband to go back to school to earn his BA from the University of Michigan. While attending classes at the at the University in Flint, Curtis won Hopwood Awards for his essays and for the manuscript of what would eventually become his first published children’s book, The Watsons Go to Birmingham(1963). Even though Curtis did not intend to write a children’s story, the tale he wanted to tell came to him in the voice of a young boy. Curtis submitted his manuscript to Delacorte’s annual writing contest as a young adult novel. An editor pulled The Watsons Go to Birmingham out of the pile of over 400 manuscripts because of its eye-catching title and eventually decided to publish it. When the novel appeared in 1995, critics lavished praise upon it and actress Whoopi Goldberg bought film rights to the story. His 1999 novel Bud, Not Buddy won the Newbery Medal. The success of these books enabled Curtis to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a writer.
Along with Kaysandra’s influence, Curtis’s writing has been greatly influenced by members of his extended family. With grandfathers like Earl “Lefty” Lewis, a Negro Baseball League pitcher, and 1930s bandleader Herman E. Curtis, Sr., of Herman Curtis and the Dusky Devastators of the Depression, it is easy to see why Christopher Paul Curtis was destined to become an entertainer.
Selected Works
- The Watsons Go to Birmingham(1995)
- Bud, Not Buddy (2000)
Awards
- John Newbery Award and Coretta Scott King Award for Bud, Not Buddy (Curtis became the first African American to win the Newbery Medal since 1976, when Mildred Taylor won for Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.)
- Best Books, Publishers Weekly and New York Times Book Review, 1996
- Coretta Scott King Text Honor, Best Books for Young Adults, and Newbery Honor Book for The Watsons Go to Birmingham
- Hopwood Awards for essays, University of Michigan, Flint
Critical Reception:
For The Watsons Go to Birmingham:
“Marvelous…both comic and deeply moving.” The New York Times Book Review
“An exceptional first novel.” Publisher’s Weekly
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work
Much of Curtis’ work is set in the influential place of his childhood in Flint, Michigan. In fact, Curtis’ most critically acclaimed work, The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 tells the story of 10-year-old Kenny and his family, the “Weird Watsons” of Flint, Michigan, and their unforgettable journey that leads them not only to Alabama, but to one of the darkest moments in American history. In Bud, Not Buddy, Curtis sets his scene in 1936 Flint, Michigan.
Dawson, Luke (Ron A. Haeske)
June 22, 1953—
Place of Birth: Saginaw, Michigan.
Author’s Place of Principal Residence: Saginaw, Michigan.
Biography
Ron A. Haeske was born to LD H. and Emily Haeske.
Education: At the age of twenty-one, Haeske graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts in Teaching. After this time he went on to Berean Bible College where he got a ministry degree in 1980. For a while he worked as a business analyst for Consumers Power Company, but ultimately decided he would go into ministry. Haeske is a prolific songwriter, having written over 1,000 songs that put the entire New Testament and Psalms to music. At present he leads worship at First Assembly of God. In 2005, under the pseudonym Luke Dawson, Ron A. Haeske released his first novel, Devine Appointment, a story about Seth Devine, a young college student who God arranges to assist various people in need. The plot functions in the physical and spiritual realms with the emergence of angels and demons as principal characters. Many of the novel’s main events surround a music tour of northern Michigan, where Seth Devine’s life comes into jeopardy when he is called upon to save a fellow musician involved in satanic practices. The novel is to be the first of a series, Devine Intervention, the second installment of which is nearly ready to be released.
When asked about the goal of his writing, Haeske said, “(It is) to inspire people to stop thinking impossible and start living in-possible.”
Critical Reception
While Mr. Haeske’s work has yet to receive much critical attention, it has developed a devoted local following. Besides their praise for the story’s general merit, many fans speak particularly about how place influences the work as a whole.
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work
One reader said, “I thought it a nice touch that many real Michigan locations are used, like the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.” And yet another, “As a Michigan resident, I could visualize the places used as a backdrop for the book—the beautiful northern Michigan.”
Gildner, Gary
August 22, 1938 –
Place of Birth: West Branch, MI
Place of Principle Residence: Grangeville, ID
Biography:
Gary Gildner was born to Jean and Theodore in 1938 in West Branch, MI. He attended Michigan State University, receiving his B.A. in 1960 and his M.A. in 1961. Gildner worked as an instructor at Northern Michigan University, a Professor of English at Drake University and a McGee Professor of Writing at Davidson College. In addition he has been a Fulbright Lecturer both at the University of Warsaw and in Poland and Czechoslovakia, as well as a writer in residence at Michigan State University and a distinguished visiting writer at Seattle University. He is best known for his eight books of poetry, with The Bunker in Parsley Fields winning the Iowa Poetry Prize. Gildner has lectured at the Library of Congress, the Academy of American Poets, and the Manhattan Theatre club, as well as approximately three hundred colleges and schools in the U.S. and abroad. His awards include Pushcart Prizes in fiction and nonfiction, a Robert Frost Fellowship, and the William Carlos Williams and Theodore Roethke poetry prizes. Gildner lives with his family in Grangeville, Idaho.
Selected Works:
- Clackamas (1991)
- Jabon (1981)
- The Runner (1978)
- Bredahl (1973)
- The Bunker in the Parsley Fields (1997)
Awards:
- 1970 Robert Frost Fellowship, Bread Loaf
- 1971, 1976 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships
- 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1978 Yaddo Fellow
- 1974 MacDowell Colony Fellow
- 1976 Theodore Roethke Poetry Prize, Poetry Northwest
- 1977 William Carlos Williams Poetry Prize, New Letters
- 1979 Helen Bullis Poetry Prize, Poetry Northwest
- 1986 National Magazine Award for Fiction
- 1986 Pushcart Prize for Fiction
- 1985, 1986, 1988 Stories cited in The Best American Short Stories
- 1996 Iowa Poetry Prize for Bunker in the Parsley Fields
Critical Reception:
“His characters are aware of being alive, and when we read Gary Gildner, we are, too.”
—Richard Goodman, The New York Times
“Gary Gildner makes everything seem so right, as if telling it just the way it happened.”
—National Public Radio
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Gildner achieved his B.A. and M.A. at Michigan State University, and there worked briefly as a visiting writer in residence.
Hellus, Al
September 11, 1953—
Place of Birth: Saginaw, Michigan.
Place of Principal Residence: Saginaw, Michigan.
Biography
Mr. Hellus was born to Donald and Beverly Hellus in Saginaw, Michigan on September 11, 1953. At the age of twenty-two, Hellus graduated from Delta College with an Associates degree. He then went back to school, attending Eastern Michigan University, and in 1984 graduated with a Bachelor’s degree. In the years to come, Hellus would devote much of his time to poetry and music. He started the Al Hellus & the Plastic Haiku Band—a six-piece outfit that performs poetry, jazz and blues, and which soon became an integral part of the local music scene.
His earliest and most influential work was a collection of poetry entitled a vision of corrected history with breakfast.
Following this first release, Hellus wrote three more collections of poetry. His band released a record called Raw Haiku that incorporated poems read above an eclectic musical accompaniment. He has been published widely in various literary magazines, and was asked to contribute to the work September 11, 2001: American Writers Respond. Organizations that he participates in are Drainage Basin Artists’ Alliance; Friends of Theodore Roethke, and Organized Rock & Read & Feed for Emmaus House.
Awards
- 2001 nomination for the Pushcart Prize
Critical Reception
A vision of corrected history with breakfast generated mixed reviews. One critic said succinctly, “The book overflows with imagination but severely lacks creativity.” Others strongly stand by the work, emphasizing its natural flow of imagery.
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work
Through his writing and music, Hellus has gained a reputation as an arts activist and liberal radical. One reader described the role Hellus has played in the local community, saying that he “single-handedly brought poetry to Saginaw.” When questioned on the purpose of his work, he said, “Basically, I’ve always believed that poets and writers need to be plugged in and actively engaged in the community around them…. This is where their art comes from and this is where they need to participate in society. We aren’t cut off from the world unless we want to be.”
Hovey, Kate A.
February 27, 1950 –
Place of Birth: Flint, MI
Biography:
Kate A. Hovey was born to William Gifford and Eddie Hovey in Flint, MI on February 27, 1950. She first became inspired to write from her many visits to the collection of marble statues of J. Paul Getty Museum’s Greco-Roman antiquities collection in Malibu. She wrote poems dedicated to ancient Greek mythology, but remained too shy to show anyone until seventh grade, when an English teacher encouraged her in her writing. Hovey dismissed any dreams of being an author in college, instead getting a B.A. in journalism. Her first job was working as a features writer for The Sanford Herald in North Carolina, and then worked for The Fayetteville Observer as a court reporter, columnist, and features writer. Hovey married Grand O. Gullickson and moved to California with her family before taking up poetry again. She attended UCLA and studied under Myra Cohn Livingston, a noted poet and anthologist. Her poem Arachne Speaks was made into a picture book in 2001 and her children’s collection was published in 2004. Currently Kate works as a writer, designer, and metalsmith, and has made masks for university theater productions.
Selected Works:
- Arachne Speaks (2001)
- Voices of the Trojan War (2004)
- Ancient Voices (2004)
Awards:
- 2002 Marion Vannett Ridgway Honor Book Award for Arachne Speaks
- 2002 Mellen Press Poetry Prize Honorable Mention for The Book of Sarai
Critical Reception:
Arachne Speaks was praised by authors Lee Bennett Hopkins and Geraldine McCaughrean, and in addition achieved a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly. The book also was given a Marion Vannett Ridgeway Memorial Honor Book Award in 2002. Her book, Ancient Voices, was described by Pulitzer prize-winning poet as “an excellent storytelling medium – clear, pictorial, and full of action.” Voices of the Trojan War was named a Notable Book by the National Council of Teachers of English in 2005. Kirkus Reviews commented “Hovey offers a fresh and elegant take on the old stories for young readers.” Publishers Weekly stated that Hovey’s style “is cohesive, powerful, and striking.”
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Kate attended Michigan State University where she worked for the school’s student-run daily newspaper. She continued her work in journalism before returning to studying poetry at UCLA.