James Engelhardt

Writing poetry and playing games in the Great Plains.

I've finished a PhD in English with a creative dissertation. Over the last year of course work, throughout the comps process, and into the dissertation, I explored ecocriticism which, for me, asks useful questions about literature. Most ecocrit--both writing and criticism--tends to be about creative nonfiction, but I also discovered the tiny, burgeoning field of ecopoetics. I'm now one of a small group of people working on that field. Academic rigor and aesthetic delight are the twin goals here, at least for me.

I have long, deep roots in Appalachia and look forward to heading back. Or, in an Appalachian tradition, heading out to the Pacific Northwest where, legend tells, the taiji, coffee and beer are much better.

For the moment, I'm the managing editor of Prairie Schooner, the literary journal. I'm starting to look for a publisher for the dissertation, a book of poems about the history and non-human nature of Lincoln. The book's title: Boomtown. And I'm starting a nonfiction project centered on board games.