I think my adolescent summers working on my grandfather's and uncles' farms gave me a lot of extended experience in a landscape, with machines and animals, with an agrarian pace of life that I increasingly value. I recall telling one of my uncles at that time that farming was a good way to live, but a poor way to make a living. That experience has contrasted strongly with a good number of years spent in cities and sharpened my perceptions of both urban and rural living. North Dakota particularly also makes one aware of the weather, the change of seasons, and living in a nature that has immense force and power. I have good memories of growing up here, of people who were important and meaningful in my life, and want to continue to explore and gain understanding about my experience. 
3. What is one way you believe teachers could promote
North Dakota authors and their writing in the classroom?

I think that the work of ND writers still has some immediate appeal to ND students and the biggest problem is access to the materials--most of my work has been in small, regional presses and not widely distributed--as is true of many ND writers. Others such as Larry Woiwode, Louise Erdrich, Larry Watson, Kathleen Norris and Kathleen Eagle have national distribution, but may not be known as ND writers by local teachers. A further complication is that most of these writers do little, if any work, that is specifically aimed at younger readers. Finding the work, knowing the ND connection, and selecting appropriate materials all contribute to the difficulties of teaching ND writers to ND students. Information and access should help persistent teachers to overcome these difficulties. 

Author's Biography

I was born in the Elgin, ND hospital and lived in New Leipzig, Valley City, Washburn, and Gackle before spending most of my childhood and adolescence through high school graduation in Bismarck. I spent most of most summers during that time at relatives' farms near Tuttle. Both my parents were teachers and Solheim School in Bismarck is named for my late father, Victor. I completed my undergraduate degree in English and history at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN and taught high school in Elko, Nevada for one year before I completed my two-year military obligation as a conscientious objector by working as a psychiatric orderly at General Hospital in Minneapolis (the subject of my first chapbook listed below). I then completed a Master's Degree in English and Creative Writing at Stanford University. The next year I taught on a temporary contract at NDSU in Fargo and the following year began 5 years of work as a poet-in-the-schools for the ND Council on the Arts. In the meantime, I moved from Fargo back to Bismarck and then to Denver, CO where I lived the next five years and earned my Ph. D. in American Literature and Creative Writing. In the fall of 1983 I began teaching at Dickinson State University and continue to do so. 
While in college I married Joan Senzek, who also grew up in Bismarck. We had two children by adoption: Benjamin Sung Ho who is developing a career as an independent film maker in Seattle, and Julia Joo Hyun, who is pursuing a dance career in New York City. Joan died unexpectedly in 1997 and in April of 2001 I married Dr. Barbara Laman, my colleague in English at DSU.  
I have published two chapbooks of poetry: On the Ward (1973) and Inheritance (1987) both by the Territorial Press in Moorhead, MN; and two books of poetry: West River : 100 Poems (1989) by the Northern Plains Ethnic Foundation and The Landscape Listens (1999) by the Buffalo Commons Press, Box 525, Dickinson, ND, 58601. The last two books are still in print and available from BCP. My poetry has been included in several anthologies, the most notable of which are: Dacotah Territory: a 10-year Anthology and Prairie Volcano: An Anthology of North Dakota Writers. In 1989 I was selected as the North Dakota Statehood Centennial Poet. I have published numerous book reviews and essays in periodicals, and my interview of Edward Abbey from the Bloomsbury Review was reprinted in Resist Much, Obey Little: Some Notes on Edward Abbey by the Dream Garden Press.