Résumé
Lisa Dale Norton
369 Montezuma Avenue Box 271
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
E-mail: lisa@lisadalenorton.com
Website: www.lisadalenorton.com
I am a specialist in Nonfiction writing. My book Shimmering Images: A Handy Little Guide to Writing Memoir, has become, for many, the memoir writing ‘textbook’ to use above all others. In my life as an educator, I have held numerous academic positions. Right now I teach creative nonfiction and memoir for the University of California Los Angeles in the Extension Writers’ Program. As a teacher, I strive to lead each student to his or her next level of skill, comprehension, and personal development. To achieve this, I use the conference style of teaching and frequent individual meetings, in addition to the standard reading and writing assignments. Discussion—the considered exchange of ideas—is key. In my life as a public speaker, I talk with groups all over the country about the art and craft of creative writing and the power of personal narrative to change lives. In my life as a writer I am passionate about narrative—the study of it, the power of it, the manipulation of it. I blog for The Huffington Post about the influence of narrative in contemporary culture, and I am working on a new book of literary nonfiction about narrative and inheritance. My book Hawk Flies Above: Journey to the Heart of the Sandhills—part memoir, part environmental writing—was compared to the writing of Annie Dillard (Kirkus Reviews).
Author
Shimmering Images: A Handy Little Guide to Writing Memoir, Griffin/St. Martin’s Press, Tradepaper, 2008. A perennial favorite on Amazon.com with regular ratings in the top 20 of Nonfiction/Writing/Reference books.
Hawk Flies Above: Journey to the Heart of the Sandhills, Picador USA/St. Martin’s Press, Hardcover and Tradepaper, 1996/1997. Fall lead title. Well reviewed nationally. Book tour.
Blogger
The Huffington Post, Author & Story Expert. Blog about connections between the nature and influence of narrative and contemporary culture. 2008-present
Columnist
Authorlink.com, Write monthly column about the art and craft of narrative nonfiction. Column titled—Your Life As Story: Writing Narrative Nonfiction. Over 50,000 unique visitors/month. 2006-present
Editor
Nonfiction specialist. Secondary genre: literary fiction. Work internationally with writers preparing book manuscripts for publication. Have worked with hundreds of clients. Gifted in developmental writing coaching. 1993-present
Teacher
Creative Writing faculty, UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, University of California, Los Angeles, CA. Teach creative nonfiction and memoir classes. 2003-present
Adjunct Creative Writing faculty, English Department, Pima Community College, Tucson, AZ. Teach creative writing classes. 2003-present
Assistant Professor, English Department, Pacific Lutheran University, Seattle, WA. Taught fiction and narrative nonfiction writing classes. 2004-2006
Lecturer, Department of English, Portland State University, Portland, OR. Taught graduate and undergraduate writing. 1997
Professor, Department of English, Pacific University, Forest Grove, OR. Taught fiction writing, literature, and Humanities. 1994
Instructor, Department of English & Director, Program in Journalism, Augustana College, Rock Island, IL. Taught composition classes in the English Department and in the Journalism Program developed and taught News Reporting and Writing, Literary Journalism, History of Press, and several journalism seminars including Arts Criticism; The Profile; and Media and Gender in America. (Latter cross-listed with Women’s Studies Program). Guided direction of program. Built curriculum and library holdings. Designed and managed new student desktop publishing lab and darkroom. Created new publication—The Big Picture—which served as forum for nonfiction writing classes. Responsible for strong increase in student enrollment in Department of English and Program in Journalism. 1988-1993
Founder and Director
Neahkahnie Institute, Manzanita, OR. Founded and directed institute that sponsored creative writing workshops and The Onion Peak Reading Series. Taught creative nonfiction and fiction writing. Led manuscript critique workshops. Responsible for hiring writers, planning/staging events, marketing/public relations, fund-raising, budgeting, and business planning. Booked nationally-recognized authors as well as local emerging writers. Calendars included workshops and readings by Diana Abu-Jaber, Lois Baker, Kim Barnes, Sheila Bender, James Bertolino, Robin Cody, John Daniel, Tracy Daugherty, Gary Ferguson, J.A. Jance, George Keithley, Edna Kovacs, Craig Lesley, Judith Massee, Jann Mitchell, Robert Michael Pyle, Carlos Reyes, Joanna Rose, Clem Starck, Susan Tweit, Donna K. Wright, M.K. Wren, and others. 1994-2001
Public Speaker
Extensive listings under Speaking Schedule (available under separate button on website).
Education
Post-graduate: Fiction Writing, UCLA. 2003-present
Post-graduate: Fiction Writing, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA. 1988-90.
Have studied with: David Borofka, Liz Carpenter, Jim Crumley, Dan Jaffe, Galway Kinnell, Bill Kittredge, Craig Lesley, Caroline Leavitt, Gary Miranda, Kim Stafford, Terry Tempest Williams. 1987-present
M.A., Journalism. Terminal degree: Master’s Professional Program, Creative nonfiction master’s thesis: One Horse Town, creative nonfiction story exploring waning Western town and Hungry Horse Saloon in Sandhills region of Nebraska as hub of community life, University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Iowa City, IA. 1986. Project became genesis of book with St. Martin’s Press: Hawk Flies Above.
B.A., Music. Thesis: Critics, Criticism and Criteria, investigated traditions of music criticism in 19th and 20th centuries. Fascinated with criteria used to govern artistic evaluation. Emphasized musical originality, personal taste, restrictions of journalism, Reed College, Portland, OR. 1980. Work led to many years of working as Arts Critic for newspapers in Iowa and Oregon.
Organization Memberships
International Women’s Writing Guild, New Mexico Book Association (Board of Directors), PEN USA, PEO, Southwest Writers, Story Circle Network
Interests
Lap swimming, literary novels, elegant narrative nonfiction, German culture, WPA photography, birds, Renaissance art, Gregorian chant, wide-open prairie, the Great Beach on Cape Cod, jazz saxophone, abstract expressionism, classical ballet, New York City, the study of Deutsch, abandoned rivers, Shakespearean tragedy, cello music, long horizon lines, 1960s movies, the study of narrative, figurative art, non-ordinary reality, Rome, Florence, Siena, Munich, Venice, Paris, and food with personality
