Verlyn Klinkenborg
Encyclopedia
Verlyn Klinkenborg is an American
non-fiction author
. Since 1997, he has been a member of the editorial board of The New York Times
. His books include The Rural Life, Making Hay, The Last Fine Time
, and Timothy; or, Notes of an Abject Reptile. He has published articles in The New Yorker
, Harper's Magazine
, Esquire
, National Geographic
, Mother Jones
, and other periodicals.
Klinkenborg was raised on an Iowa farm belonging to his family. He attended elementary school in Clarion, Iowa
until the 6th grade at which time the family moved to Osage. He graduated from Pomona College
, and holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University
.
Klinkenborg taught literature and creative writing at Fordham University
while living in the Bronx in the early to mid-1980s, and later at St. Olaf College
, Bennington College
and Harvard University
. In 1991 he received the Lila Wallace–Reader's Digest
Writer's Award and a National Endowment for the Arts
fellowship.http://www.bard.edu/academics/faculty/faculty.php?action=details&id=1183 He lives on a small farm in upstate New York.
His most notable current writings are his editorial opinions which appear regularly in the New York Times; these are generally literary meditations on rural farm life. He was the 2006-2007 visiting writer-in-residence at Pomona College
, where he taught nonfiction writing. In 2007, he received a Guggenheim fellowship
, which will fund his upcoming book The Mermaids of Lapland, about William Cobbett
.
in Selborne in 1784, and his own complementary daily entries.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
non-fiction author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. Since 1997, he has been a member of the editorial board of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. His books include The Rural Life, Making Hay, The Last Fine Time
The Last Fine Time
The Last Fine Time is a 1991 book by American author Verlyn Klinkenborg about a blue collar Polish-American bar in Buffalo, New York, inherited by his father-in-law in 1947...
, and Timothy; or, Notes of an Abject Reptile. He has published articles in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
, Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
, National Geographic
National Geographic Magazine
National Geographic, formerly the National Geographic Magazine, is the official journal of the National Geographic Society. It published its first issue in 1888, just nine months after the Society itself was founded...
, Mother Jones
Mother Jones (magazine)
Mother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
, and other periodicals.
Klinkenborg was raised on an Iowa farm belonging to his family. He attended elementary school in Clarion, Iowa
Clarion, Iowa
Clarion is a city in and the county seat of Wright County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,968 at the 2000 census.Clarion is the birthplace of the four-leaf clover emblem used by the 4-H Clubs of America, conceived of in 1907 by the local school superintendent, O.H...
until the 6th grade at which time the family moved to Osage. He graduated from Pomona College
Pomona College
Pomona College is a private, residential, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. Founded in 1887 in Pomona, California by a group of Congregationalists, the college moved to Claremont in 1889 to the site of a hotel, retaining its name. The school enrolls 1,548 students.The founding member...
, and holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
.
Klinkenborg taught literature and creative writing at Fordham University
Fordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
while living in the Bronx in the early to mid-1980s, and later at St. Olaf College
St. Olaf College
St. Olaf College is a coeducational, residential, four-year, private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1874 by a group of Norwegian-American immigrant pastors and farmers, led by Pastor Bernt Julius Muus. The college is named after Olaf II of Norway,...
, Bennington College
Bennington College
Bennington College is a liberal arts college located in Bennington, Vermont, USA. The college was founded in 1932 as a women's college and became co-educational in 1969.-History:-Early years:...
and Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. In 1991 he received the Lila Wallace–Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...
Writer's Award and a 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...
fellowship.http://www.bard.edu/academics/faculty/faculty.php?action=details&id=1183 He lives on a small farm in upstate New York.
His most notable current writings are his editorial opinions which appear regularly in the New York Times; these are generally literary meditations on rural farm life. He was the 2006-2007 visiting writer-in-residence at Pomona College
Pomona College
Pomona College is a private, residential, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. Founded in 1887 in Pomona, California by a group of Congregationalists, the college moved to Claremont in 1889 to the site of a hotel, retaining its name. The school enrolls 1,548 students.The founding member...
, where he taught nonfiction writing. In 2007, he received a Guggenheim fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
, which will fund his upcoming book The Mermaids of Lapland, about William Cobbett
William Cobbett
William Cobbett was an English pamphleteer, farmer and journalist, who was born in Farnham, Surrey. He believed that reforming Parliament and abolishing the rotten boroughs would help to end the poverty of farm labourers, and he attacked the borough-mongers, sinecurists and "tax-eaters" relentlessly...
.
2006 blog
In the first half of 2006, he posted a farm and garden blog http://klinkenborg.blogs.nytimes.com/ about The Rural Life, consisting of entries from the daily journal kept by Gilbert WhiteGilbert White
Gilbert White FRS was a pioneering English naturalist and ornithologist.-Life:White was born in his grandfather's vicarage at Selborne in Hampshire. He was educated at the Holy Ghost School and by a private tutor in Basingstoke before going to Oriel College, Oxford...
in Selborne in 1784, and his own complementary daily entries.
External links
- Biography from The New York Times
- "Once a progressive state, Minnesota is now a fief of the NRA" from The New York Times, September 5, 2006
- Who is Verlyn Klinkenborg and why should we care? (2006)