CURRICULUM VITA
(brief)

W. Scott Olsen

Professor of English

Editor, Ascent

Concordia College

901 South 8^th Street

Moorhead, MN.  56562

(218) 299-3705  

olsen@cord.edu

Hard Air Photographs
More Photographs

EDUCATION:

M.F.A., English, University of Massachusetts—Amherst, 1985
M.A., English, University of Missouri—Columbia, 1981
B. A., English, University of Missouri—Columbia, 1979

TEACHING EXPERIENCE:

Professor, Concordia College
Visiting Faculty, Pacific University Low-Residency MFA Program
Visiting Faculty, Stonecoast Low-Residency MFA Program, University of Southern Maine
Associate Professor, Concordia College
Assistant Professor, Concordia College
Visiting Assistant Professor, Lander College
Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Massachusetts—Amherst
Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Missouri—Columbia

PUBLICATIONS:

Books Authored;

Never Land—Adventures and Wonder from a Very Small Plane, in process.
Hard Air, University of Nebraska Press, 2007.
At Speed: Notes from the Long Line Between Two Points, University of Nebraska Press, 2006.
Gravity—The Allure of Distance, University of Utah Press, 2003.
When We Say We’re Home, (co-authored with Dawn Marano, Doug Carlson and Wendy Bishop)
University of Utah Press, 1999.
Acts of Illumination, St. Mary’s University Press, 1996
Pointed Home: A Cross Country Essay, Pecan Grove Press, 1994
Meeting The Neighbors, North Star Press, 1993
Just This Side of Fargo, Ironwood Press, 1992

Books Edited;

A Year in Place (co-edited with Bret Lott), University of Utah Press, 2001.
The Sacred Place, University of Utah Press, 1996 (co-edited with Scott Cairns)
The Best of Writers At Work 1995, Pecan Grove Press, 1995.
The Best of Northlight 1990, Northlight Publishing Project, 1990
The Best of Northlight 1989, Northlight Publishing Project, 1989
The Best of Northlight 1988, Northlight Publishing Project, 1988

Journals Edited;

Ascent, editor-in-chief, vol. 21, no. 1, to present
The American Literary Review, Special Issue—Old Friends, New Neighbors: A Celebration of the American Essay, vol. 5.2

Individual essays, articles, and stories published in:

Air & Space, Albany Review, Ascent, Amarillo Bay, AWP Chronicle, Beacon Review, Del Sol Review, The Forum (newspaper), Kansas Quarterly, Kenyon Review, Mid-American Review, Midlands, Modern Short Stories, Minnesota English Journal, Minnesota Literature, North Dakota Quarterly, Outside, Pottersfield Portfolio (Canada), Red River Journal, River Teeth, South Dakota Review, Tampa Review, Third Coast, The Tyee (Canada), Weber Studies, Willow Springs , and many others.

HONORS:

Listed among the Notable Essays in Best American Essays 2007.
Listed among the Notable Essays in Best American Essays 2004.
Listed among the Notable Essays in Best American Essays 2003.
Listed among the Notable Essays in Best American Essays 1998.
Listed among the Notable Essays in Best American Essays 1997.
Honorable Mention, National Outdoor Book Awards 1997.

PAPERS/LECTURES/READINGS:

Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, Eastern Washington University, Montana Festival of the Book, Writers At Work Conference, Casper College Writers Conference, Associated Writing Programs (AWP) Conference, Upper Midwest Booksellers Association Conference, Texas Association of Creative Writing Teachers, Nobel Peace Prize Forum, Washington State University, University of Idaho, Lewis & Clark College, Jamestown College, Dickinson State University, University of Wisconsin—Whitewater, Concordia College, University of Massachusetts—Amherst, Computers and Writing Conference, Instructional Computing Conference Small College Computing Symposium, Charleston Writers Conference, Bread Loaf Writers Conference, Conference on College Composition and Communication, American Culture Conference, and others.

ACADEMIC SERVICE:

Past Chair, Environmental Studies Program, Concordia College
Judge, 2007 Minnesota Book Award.
Member of the Advisory Board: Superior Studies Program
Member of the Advisory Board: Minnesota Literature
Member of the Advisory Board: The American Literary Review
Founder and Director, Northlight Writers' Association
Founder and Director, Northlight Writers' Conference
Founder and Director, Northlight Fall Workshop
Founder and Editor, Northlight Publishing Project
Founder and Editor, New Voices, (Concordia's journal of across-the-curriculum
writing)
Co-Founder and Publisher, Fresh Tracks, (a journal of fine writing by high school
students in Minnesota and North Dakota)
Editorial Reviewer, "Concordia Dialogue" Eye of the Needle
Nonfiction judge for Looking Out The Window, (anthology), ed. Jack Langetieg,
The Writers Place, Inc. Madison, WI, 1995.
Judge, 1994 Valparaiso University Nonfiction Writing Contest
Judge, The Writers Place, 1994 Nonfiction Writing Contest
Judge, Essay Section, Miscellany, 1989
Final Judge, 1991 Southern Literary Festival Magazine Competition
Preliminary Judge, 1990 Southern Literary Festival Fiction Competition
Preliminary Judge, 1989 Southern Literary Festival Fiction Competition
Preliminary Judge, 1988 Southern Literary Festival Fiction Competition
Member of the Editorial Board, Massachusetts Studies in English
Member of the Graduate Senate, University of Massachusetts--Amherst
Faculty Adviser, The Cobber (Concordia Yearbook)
Faculty Adviser, The Concordian (Concordia newspaper)
Faculty Adviser, Afterwork (Concordia literary journal)