Hans Ostrom
Encyclopedia
Hans Ansgar Ostrom is an American
professor, writer, editor, and scholar.
. He grew up in the High Sierra town of Sierra City, population 225. His father was a carpenter and stonemason, and his mother was a home-maker and a substitute teacher. Ostrom graduated from Roseville High School (California) in 1971, attended Sierra College
in Rocklin (California), and earned a B.A. with honors in English at the University of California, Davis
. At Davis, he went on to earn an M.A. and a Ph.D. in English, completing a dissertation on British Romantic Verse Satire in 1982 [DAI 44, no. 01A (1982): 0177.] While at Davis he took creative writing classes from Karl Shapiro
(1913–2000), a Pulitzer-Prize-winning poet. In 1980-81 Ostrom was a Visiting Lecturer in American Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz
, Germany.
He joined the English Department at the University of Puget Sound
in Tacoma, Washington, in 1983. He is Professor of English at Puget Sound, and he has served as co-director of African American Studies and Chair of the English Department.
Ostrom is author of A Langston Hughes Encyclopedia (Greenwood Publishers, 2002) and editor, with J. David Macey, of The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Literature, 5 volumes (Greenwood Publishers, 2005; he also contributed 37 entries to that encyclopeida. With Wendy Bishop (1953–2003), with whom he was a student at U.C. Davis, and Katharine Haake, he wrote the textbook Metro: Journeys in Writing Creatively (Longman, 2001).
Ostrom has been publishing poetry and short fiction in British and American magazines since the late 1970s. He is also author of the poetry chapbook, Subjects Apprehended (Pudding House Press, 2000), and The Coast Starlight: Collected Poems 1976-2006 appeared in 2006 (Indianapolis: Dog Ear Publishers). In 1992 he published a book of criticism about the short fiction of Harlem Renaissance
writer Langston Hughes (1902–1967): Langston Hughes: A Study of the Short Fiction (Twayne, 1992). In 1990, Ostrom's detective novel, Three To Get Ready, was published by Cliffhanger Press in Oakland, California.
Ostrom was a Fulbright Senior Lecturer at Uppsala University
in Sweden in 1994. Ostrom has published articles on British writers William Blake
and George Meredith
, and he contributed entries to the New Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. At the University of Puget Sound
, he has taught courses in creative writing, literature, and rhetoric. He has also taught courses on detective fiction
, the Harlem Renaissance
, and contemporary American poetry. A recent novel by Ostrom is Honoring Juanita (2010).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
professor, writer, editor, and scholar.
Life
Ostrom was born in 1954 in Grass Valley, CaliforniaGrass Valley, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Grass Valley had a population of 12,860. The population density was 2,711.3 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Grass Valley was 11,493 White, 46 African American, 208 Native American, 188 Asian, 9 Pacific Islander, 419 from other...
. He grew up in the High Sierra town of Sierra City, population 225. His father was a carpenter and stonemason, and his mother was a home-maker and a substitute teacher. Ostrom graduated from Roseville High School (California) in 1971, attended Sierra College
Sierra College
Sierra College, a California community college, has its main campus located in Rocklin, California. Rocklin is located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, approximately twenty minutes from the state capital of Sacramento and east of San Francisco. The campus lies within the watershed...
in Rocklin (California), and earned a B.A. with honors in English at the University of California, Davis
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
. At Davis, he went on to earn an M.A. and a Ph.D. in English, completing a dissertation on British Romantic Verse Satire in 1982 [DAI 44, no. 01A (1982): 0177.] While at Davis he took creative writing classes from Karl Shapiro
Karl Shapiro
Karl Jay Shapiro was an American poet. He was appointed the fifth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1946.-Biography:...
(1913–2000), a Pulitzer-Prize-winning poet. In 1980-81 Ostrom was a Visiting Lecturer in American Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz
Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz
The Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz is a university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg. With approximately 36,000 students in about 150 schools and clinics, it is among the ten largest universities in Germany...
, Germany.
He joined the English Department at the University of Puget Sound
University of Puget Sound
The University of Puget Sound is a private liberal arts college located in the North End of Tacoma, Washington, in the United States...
in Tacoma, Washington, in 1983. He is Professor of English at Puget Sound, and he has served as co-director of African American Studies and Chair of the English Department.
Ostrom is author of A Langston Hughes Encyclopedia (Greenwood Publishers, 2002) and editor, with J. David Macey, of The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Literature, 5 volumes (Greenwood Publishers, 2005; he also contributed 37 entries to that encyclopeida. With Wendy Bishop (1953–2003), with whom he was a student at U.C. Davis, and Katharine Haake, he wrote the textbook Metro: Journeys in Writing Creatively (Longman, 2001).
Ostrom has been publishing poetry and short fiction in British and American magazines since the late 1970s. He is also author of the poetry chapbook, Subjects Apprehended (Pudding House Press, 2000), and The Coast Starlight: Collected Poems 1976-2006 appeared in 2006 (Indianapolis: Dog Ear Publishers). In 1992 he published a book of criticism about the short fiction of Harlem Renaissance
Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s and 1930s. At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after the 1925 anthology by Alain Locke...
writer Langston Hughes (1902–1967): Langston Hughes: A Study of the Short Fiction (Twayne, 1992). In 1990, Ostrom's detective novel, Three To Get Ready, was published by Cliffhanger Press in Oakland, California.
Ostrom was a Fulbright Senior Lecturer at Uppsala University
Uppsala University
Uppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden, and is the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477. It consistently ranks among the best universities in Northern Europe in international rankings and is generally considered one of the most prestigious institutions of...
in Sweden in 1994. Ostrom has published articles on British writers William Blake
William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
and George Meredith
George Meredith
George Meredith, OM was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era.- Life :Meredith was born in Portsmouth, England, a son and grandson of naval outfitters. His mother died when he was five. At the age of 14 he was sent to a Moravian School in Neuwied, Germany, where he remained for two...
, and he contributed entries to the New Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. At the University of Puget Sound
University of Puget Sound
The University of Puget Sound is a private liberal arts college located in the North End of Tacoma, Washington, in the United States...
, he has taught courses in creative writing, literature, and rhetoric. He has also taught courses on detective fiction
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
, the Harlem Renaissance
Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s and 1930s. At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after the 1925 anthology by Alain Locke...
, and contemporary American poetry. A recent novel by Ostrom is Honoring Juanita (2010).
Works
- Hans Ostrom, The Coast Starlight: Collected Poems 1976-2006 (Indianapolis: Dog Ear Publishing, 2006) ISBN 9781598581027
- Hans Ostrom, Honoring Juanita (Congruent Angle Press, 2010). http://www.amazon.com/Honoring-Juanita-Hans-Ostrom/dp/0984417508/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273801334&sr=1-2
- Hans Ostrom and J. David Macey, editors, The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Literature (Westport: Greenwood Press, 2005): 5 volumes.
- Hans Ostrom, A Langston Hughes Encyclopedia (Westport: Greenwood Press, 2002);
- Hans Ostrom, Langston Hughes: A Study of the Short Fiction (New York: Twayne, 1993);
- Hans Ostrom, Wendy Bishop, Katharine Haake, Metro: Journeys in Writing Creatively (New York: Longman, 2001);
- Hans Ostrom, Subjects Apprehended (Johnstown, Ohio: Pudding House Press, 2000);
- Hans Ostrom, Three to Get Ready (Oakland: Cliffhanger, 1991).
- Wendy Bishop and Hans Ostrom, editors, The Subject Is Story: Essays for Writers and Readers (Boyton-Cook/Heineman, 2003).
- Hans Ostrom, "To War Again" (poem), Perspectives: A Journal of Reformed Thought http://www.perspectivesjournal.org/2004/01/poetry.html
- Hans Ostrom, "The Green Bird" (short story), Ploughshares (Winter 1986): https://www.pshares.org/issues/article.cfm?prmArticleID=2256
- "Guest Post: Hans Ostrom on the Next Decade in Book Culture", Critical Mass, Jan-08-2010
Sources
- "Hans Ostrom," Contemporary Authors, New Series, Vol. 43 (Detroit: Gale Research, 1998)
- Choice, December, 1993, review of Langston Hughes: A Study of the Short Fiction, p. 605
- S. A. Vega Garcia, Choice,October, 2002, review of A Langston Hughes Encyclopedia, p. 257
- Review of The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Literature, Library Journal 2005
- Review of The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Literature, School Library Journal, March 2005
- "Hans Ostrom," in Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers (New York: Poets and Writers, 1998–present)
- Wendy Bishop, Thirteen Ways of Looking for a Poem (New York: Longman, 1999); includes several poems by Ostrom
- Will Hochman, "The Ongoing Legacy of Wendy Bishop Is In Our Stories: Review of The Subject is Story: Essays for Writers and Readers," edited by Wendy Bishop and Hans Ostrom," Across the Disciplines: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Language, Literature, and Writing (2004): http://wac.colostate.edu/atd/reviews/bishop_ostrom2004.cfm
- David Herbert Donald, "Good Race Men: Review of Short Stories of Langston Hughes," New York Times, September 1, 1996: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE3D71E39F932A3575AC0A960958260
- Greenwood Press: Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Literature (2005), edited by Hans Ostrom and J David Macey: excerpts from multiple reviews: http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/GR2972.aspx
- ERIC abstract of Colors of a Different Horse: Rethinking Creative Writing Theory and Pedagogy, edited by Wendy Bishop and Hans Ostrom: http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED366967&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=eric_accno&accno=ED366967>
- Law and Society in the 21st Century: conference held at Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany, July 2007.
- Rita DoveRita DoveRita Frances Dove is an American poet and author. From 1993-1995 she served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, a position now popularly known as "U.S. Poet Laureate"...
, "Poet's Choice," Washington Post (Column by Rita Dove), May 20, 2001, includes "Emily Dickinson and Elvis Presley in Heaven," a poem by Hans Ostrom.