Writing + Storytelling
Writing was an important part of my professional life for the decade plus I spent working at a large public research university. For many years, Laurel and I were regular participants at community storytelling events.
Writing about Open Education
Articles on digital publishing, open educational resources, and openly licensed textbooks published on Medium and my blog while working at UW-Madison
- Thoughts on Licensing: Why I Prefer CC-BY Licenses (October 2018)
- Publishing Open Textbooks at UW-Madison: what we've accomplished and what we're working on in 2018 (February 2018)
- Connecting Pressbooks with Canvas: A Practical Guide (November 2017)
- Getting Started with Pressbooks: A guide for users in Higher Education (November 2017)
- Adding Interactivity to Web Annotation: Putting H5P activities in the Hypothesis annotation layer (October 2017)
- A Guide to DIY Podcasting: How to self-record your own podcast using a Mac laptop and free software. (February 2017)
- So You Want to Make a Personal Website: A guide to building a low-cost personal website (for grad students and other academics) (February 2017)
- Open Educational Resources at UW-Madison: An update on 2016 Activity (January 2017)
- Open eText Authoring at UW-Madison (written in 2015, published March 2016)
Academic/Creative Writing
I was a graduate student for many years, aspiring to work as a literature professor or university-subsidized poet. Some of my writing from this stage of my life still exists.
- In February 2016, I wrote a short essay for CHE's Edge Effects blog about the history of radio broadcasting and the Wisconsin idea.
- In May 2015, I wrote a short essay for CHE's Edge Effects blog on Lorine Niedecker's ecopoetics.
- In 2012, published "Hollowing the Stalks," a story about my grandparents in a special issue of EOAGH devoted to writing about dementia edited by Susan Schultz.
- In 2012, I published two media projects dealing with silence, noise, poetics, formal constraints, chance, and the work of John Cage in the journal Enculturation: a graphic essay/magazine called {Sile / nce} which remediated an experimental seminar paper, and a short film adaptation (my first time using iMovie!).
- In 2011, Lynn Keller and I traveled to Chicago to talk about poetry with Ed Roberson. The resulting interview was published in Contemporary Literature.
- In 2010, I published an interview with the poet Mark Nowak in Contemporary Literature.
Storytelling
When we lived in Madison, friends hosted regular storytelling nights inspired by the Moth's events. Laurel and I often participated. A few stories were recorded (thank you Kevin Gibbons!).
Feast for the Beast
A story about a tiger attack at a zoo fundraiser and my first foray into 'beautifying' water towers with spray paint.
18 year old me, in front of the water tower in question
Grimethorpe
A story about being a Mormon missionary in the northeast of England and visiting an economically depressed mining village.
20 year old me, leaning against a burned out car on a council estate in the Northeast of England.
Touching Someone and Being Touched (with Laurel)
A two-part story that Laurel and I told about falling in love with one another. Each of us told our version of the same story while the other person was out of the room, so the audience heard back-to-back versions but we didn't hear each other's stories until listening to the recording afterward.
The Boise Public Library!
How the Boise Public Library became a LIBRARY!
There are No Coincidences
A short impromptu ghost story from my teen years in Boise.