Howard McCord is an American writer. He is Professor Emeritus of English at Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green State University, often referred to as Bowling Green or BGSU, is a public, coeducational research university located in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The institution was granted a charter in 1910 by the State of Ohio as part of the Lowry Bill, which also established Kent State...

, where he was Director of the Creative Writing Program for most of the past quarter-century. His students have included Carolyn Forche

Carolyn Forché

Carolyn Forché is an American poet, editor, translator, and human rights advocate.-Life:Forché was born in Detroit, Michigan, on April 28, 1950, to Michael Joseph and Louise Nada Blackford Sidlosky. Forché earned a B.A...

, Dara Wier

Dara Wier

Dara Wier is an American poet and the author of eleven books of poetry, including most recently SELECTED POEMS from Wave Books. Awards include the Jerome J. Shestack Poetry Prize from the American Poetry Review, Pushcart Prize, San Francisco Poetry Center Prize. Her work is in Best American Poetry...

, John Bradley, Jim Daniels

Jim Daniels

James Raymond Daniels is an American poet and writer.Since 1981, Daniels has been on the faculty of the creative writing program at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he is the Thomas Stockham Baker Professor of English.He won the inaugural Brittingham Prize in Poetry in...

, Carl Thayler, Christof Scheele, Fred Zackel, Dan McLachlan, James Bertolino, Angie Estes

Angie Estes

Angie Estes is an American poet, and professor at Ashland University.She graduated from the University of Oregon with an M.A. and Ph.D. in English.She taught at California Polytechnic State University, and at Oberlin College, and at The Ohio State University...

, Floyce Alexander, Scott Cairns

Scott Cairns

Scott Cairns is an American poet, memoirist and essayist.-Life:He was educated at Western Washington University with a BA, Hollins College with an MA, Bowling Green State University with an MFA, and the University of Utah with a PhD.He taught at Kansas State University, Westminster College,...

, and Charles Fort

Charles Fort (poet)

-Life:Fort graduated from Bowling Green State University with an MFA in 1977.He taught at the University of Nebraska at Kearney as The Distinguished Paul W. Reynolds and Clarice Kingston Reynolds Endowed Chair in Poetry , and Xavier University of Louisiana...

.

Early life

McCord was born in El Paso, Texas

El Paso, Texas

El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...

, and raised there at the family's Joy Ranches in New Mexico. He received his BA from the University of Texas at El Paso

University of Texas at El Paso

The University of Texas at El Paso is a four-year state university, and is a component institution of the University of Texas System. Its campus is located on the bank of the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas. The school was founded in 1914 as The Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy,...

 in 1957 and his MA from the University of Utah

University of Utah

The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...

 in 1958.

Teaching career

He taught at Washington State University

Washington State University

Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university...

 from 1960 to 1971 and at Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green State University, often referred to as Bowling Green or BGSU, is a public, coeducational research university located in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The institution was granted a charter in 1910 by the State of Ohio as part of the Lowry Bill, which also established Kent State...

 from 1971 to 2000. He has been a Distinguished Visiting Professor at California State University

California State University

The California State University is a public university system in the state of California. It is one of three public higher education systems in the state, the other two being the University of California system and the California Community College system. It is incorporated as The Trustees of the...

, Northridge, the University of Alaska at Juneau

University of Alaska Southeast

The University of Alaska Southeast is a regional university in the University of Alaska System. Its main campus is located in Juneau and it has extended campuses in Sitka and Ketchikan....

, and Dine College in
Tsaile, Arizona.

Along with Allen Ginsberg

Allen Ginsberg

Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...

 and Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Lawrence Ferlinghetti is an American poet, painter, liberal activist, and the co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers...

 he introduced the Indian poets of the Hungry generation

Hungry generation

The Hungry Generation was a literary movement in the Bengali language launched by what is known today as the Hungryalist quartet i.e. Shakti Chattopadhyay, Malay Roy Choudhury, Samir Roychoudhury and Debi Roy alias Haradhon Dhara, during the 1960s in Kolkata, India...

 to the Western readers.

Honors and awards

Among his many honors and awards are two Fellowships from The National Endowment for the Arts

National Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...

, two Fellowships from The Ohio Arts Council

Ohio Arts Council

The Ohio Arts Council is an agency serving the U.S. state of Ohio.Established in 1965, its mission is to "foster and encourage the development of the arts and assist the preservation of Ohio's cultural heritage." Each year it awards grants to arts organizations and individuals throughout the state...

, the 1990 Ohioana Award for Poetry, the Nancy Dasher Award for his novel, The Man Who Walked to the Moon, The 1988 Golden Nugget Award from the University of Texas at El Paso

University of Texas at El Paso

The University of Texas at El Paso is a four-year state university, and is a component institution of the University of Texas System. Its campus is located on the bank of the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas. The school was founded in 1914 as The Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy,...

, the D.H. Lawrence Fellowship from the University of New Mexico

University of New Mexico

The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...

, a Scholarly Achievement Award from BGSU

Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green State University, often referred to as Bowling Green or BGSU, is a public, coeducational research university located in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The institution was granted a charter in 1910 by the State of Ohio as part of the Lowry Bill, which also established Kent State...

 and a Research Fellowship to Iceland and Lapland, a Fulbright Award

Fulbright Award

The Fulbright Award is a scholarship awarded as part of the Fulbright Program to foster international research and collaboration. The program also awards a fellowship to Ph.D.'s to lecture and teach in foreign universities...

 to India, and a National Woodrow Wilson Fellowship

Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation

The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation is a private non-profit foundation based in Princeton, New Jersey. It administers programs that support leadership development and build organizational capacity in education. Its current signature program is the...

. In 1996 he won the Loveless Award for the best article in Gun Digest.

Works

McCord is the author of over three dozen books and has given readings from his work at more than two hundred universities. His newest books are Walking to Extremes in Iceland and New Mexico, NY:McPherson, 2008; L'homme qui marchait sur la lune, Paris:Gallmeister, 2008, and another edition, Quebec: Alto, 2008. His Complete Poems were published by Bloody Twin Press in 2002 and Swamp Songs & Tales, Muncie:Mississinewa Press, 2007.

Personal life

He and his wife Jennifer live in Bowling Green, Ohio

Bowling Green, Ohio

Bowling Green is the county seat of Wood County in the U.S. state of Ohio. At the time of the 2010 census, the population of Bowling Green was 30,028. It is part of the Toledo, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bowling Green is the home of Bowling Green State University...

, and are the parents of six children.

Sources

• Contemporary Authors; Autobiography series, volume 9, Detroit: Gale Research, 1989. and author.