Emeritus Professor, Arnold Nelson, dies at age 92

Arnold G. Nelson

Arnold G. Nelson, age 92, of Verona, WI, died peacefully at the Hospice Center in Fitchburg, WI on November 13, 2010.

He was born July 10, 1918 to Frank and Anna Nelson in Stillwater, MN, where he spent his childhood. He graduated from Hamline University in St. Paul, MN, and after serving in the Army Air Corps in World War II (where he was stationed at Truax Field in Madison, WI), he returned to school at the University of Minnesota to earn a Master’s degree, and a PhD in American Studies.

He enjoyed a long career as a college professor teaching English and Communication. He spent a year at Stout Institute (now the University of Wisconsin-Stout) in Menomonie, WI, and then settled down for twenty-six years in the English Department of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI. During this time he and a colleague produced a radio program on communication called “We Mean to Say” for the University radio station, and he received a Fulbright Grant to teach American Literature in Turku, Finland for the 1964-65 academic year. He approached teaching with a creative flair, always seeking new American writers and other artists to engage his students. He retired as a Professor Emeritus in 1980.

Upon retirement, he and his wife Helen moved to Ludington, MI and took up many projects and adventures. Their travels included rafting on the Colorado River, camping on Isle Royale in Lake Superior, and trips to England, Sweden and Iceland. He received a grant to journey to Alaska where Helen’s grandfather, Edwin M. Randall had traveled and taken many photographs of the mining operations and living conditions during the height of the Gold Rush. He and Helen spent the summer taking photos and doing research, which led to publication of an article in the Alaska Journal.

Since moving to the Madison, WI area in 2003, he spent his time exploring the internet, e-mailing friends and keeping current on politics and the newest generation of writers. At the age of 90 he completed a memoir and critique of writing titled How to Write a Good Sentence: A Manual for Writers Who Know How to Write Correct Sentences, which was published in the Spring & Summer volume (Volume 27, Number 1 & 2) of the Alaska Quarterly Review.

His family and friends will remember him for his sense of humor, his great wealth of obscure knowledge about books, art and architecture, and his passionate interest in the panorama of American culture and liberal thought.

He is survived by his wife Helen, and his daughters Kristine Seaman (Barney) of Chattanooga, TN, Ingrid N. Kelley of Madison, WI, and Linnea Nelson (John Martin) of Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. He is also survived by grandchildren Zack Czengoldi and Robin Seaman of Chattanooga, TN, Carmen Nave (John Verne) of Waterloo, Ontario, and Lenore Brooks (Ryan) of Toronto, Ontario; and great-grandchildren Maia and Logan Disbrow of Chattanooga, TN and Ada Verne of Waterloo, Ontario.

Memorials may be made to the Heifer Project through their web site. Please go to the Nelson Family page at http://www.heifer.org/myregistry/anelson.

In Memoriam William Rosegrant

A memorial service for William Rosegrant, a 29-year member of the faculty and emeritus in English, will be held Saturday, Oct. 2, at 1:30 p.m. at People's Church.

Announcement of the Winner of the 2010 Maurice Prize for Fiction

Melinda Moustakis


2010 Maurice Prize for Fiction

Prize Winner



The UC Davis English Department and novelist John Lescroart are pleased to announce Melinda Moustakis the winner of the 6th annual Maurice Prize in Fiction contest. Melinda will receive the $5,000 prize for her winning entry, Bear Down, Bear North, selected from 11 novels submitted this year. She is a 2006 graduate of the M.A. English program for creative writers. The $5,000 prize is a gift from John Lescroart in honor of his father, Maurice, for whom the contest is named.


Bear Down, Bear North was selected the best novel submitted by alumni of the creative writing program at UC Davis who haven't published a book-length manuscript. It is John Lescroart's hope to inspire the department's graduates to publish their literary work. Three previous winners have gone on to achieve that goal.


Benjamin Percy, judged this year’s contest. He is the author of The Wilding, Refresh,Refresh, and The Language of Elk among many other publications. He is the recipient of the Whiting Award, Plimpton Prize and anthologized in Best American Short Stories. He is assistant professor in the MFA program at Iowa State University as well as a member of the faculty at the Low Res MFA Pacific University program.


This year's 2010 finalists are Kate Swoboda, (Class of 2004), Palimpsest, and Halina Duraj, (Class of 2003), Fatherland: A Novel.



Previous recipients of this award include:

* Angie Chau, 2009 winner (Class of 2005), A Map Back to You
* Melanie Thorne, 2008 winner (Class of 2006), Hand Me Down

* Elizabeth Chamberlin, 2007 winner (Class of 2006), these people, they crawl all over the place

* Shawna Ryan, 2006 winner, Locke 1928. (Class of 2001). Locke 1928 was published in 2007 by El Leon Literary Arts.

* Spring Warren, 2005 winner, The Breaks.(Class of 2002). Her first book Turpentinewas published in September 2007 by Grove Atlantic.

Adam Schuitema's new book

Come celebrate the release of Freshwater Boys by Adam Schuitema

Published by Delphinium Books

This Saturday at 6:00 p.m.
Kendall College of Art and Design
17 Fountain St. NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503

For details, click the link below:
http://adamschuitema.wordpress.com/book-release-party/

Freshwater Boys goes on sale today.
To purchase the book, follow the link below:
http://adamschuitema.wordpress.com/pre-orders/

In Memoriam Rodger Swan (1986-2010)

On January 26, WMU alumnus Rodger Swan (1986-2010) passed away from a sudden illness.  In 2009, he had completed an English major and Japanese minor, and at the time of his death, he was teaching English in Iwate, located in northern, rural Japan.  Rodger was an outstanding student in the English and Japanese programs, and during his time at WMU, he was an active part of the Writing Center, where he helped many people throughout the university with their work.  He was also a member of the Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honor Society.  Because he was such a fine student, he was the recipient of an all expenses-paid scholarship to study abroad at one of WMU’s study abroad partners, Keio University in Tokyo, for the 2007-2008 academic year. 

Rodger had a passionate love for Japanese culture, literature, and film.  In fact, his Honor's Thesis was a translation of a piece of Japanese fiction from the 1920s, which he completed with the assistance of his advisor, Dr. Jeffrey Angles from the Department of Foreign Languages.  The translation will be published later this year in a collection of Japanese ghost stories forthcoming from the publisher Kurodahan Press.  While in Japan, first as a student and then as an English teacher, Rodger created a series of extremely popular YouTube videos in which he introduced various aspects of Japanese culture and talked about his daily life in Japan.  (http://www.youtube.com/user/rodgerswan ) Currently, his YouTube channel shows almost 8000 subscribers.  There were Facebook fan pages dedicated to his films and, after his death, there was a great outpouring of grief on Facebook and his YouTube channel from fans who stated that his films had encouraged their love for Japan. 

Because Rodger was such a fine ambassador for Japanese culture, Rodger’s family and Dr. Angles of the Department of Foreign Languages have cooperated to create the Rodger Swan Memorial Fund for Japanese Studies.  Donations to the fund will help support the study of students who, like Rodger, are working on Japanese language or planning to travel to Japan.  Through the fund, they hope to keep alive his eagerness to foster a love for Japan in others, as well as keep his name a part of the activities of the department for years to come. 

Donations are being accepted via credit card through the following link.

Rodger Swan Memorial Fund for Japanese Studies https://shopwmu.wmich.edu/ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=718&SINGLESTORE=true

Bonnie Jo Campbell, MFA

Bonnie Jo Campbell is a fiction finalist again--this time by the National Book Critics Circle Award, announced Saturday at the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in New York. The Awards are given annually by the critics' group and will be handed out March 11. It was for her novel American Salvage.