Stephen Dobyns
Encyclopedia
Stephen J. Dobyns is an American
poet
and novelist born in Orange, New Jersey
, and residing in Westerly, RI.
Dobyns. Dobyns was raised in New Jersey, Michigan, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. He was educated at Shimer College
, graduated from Wayne State University
, and received an MFA
from the Iowa Writers' Workshop
at the University of Iowa
in 1967. He has worked as a reporter for the Detroit News.
He has taught at various academic institutions, including Sarah Lawrence College
, the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers
, the University of Iowa
, Syracuse University
, and Boston University
.
As a professor of English at Syracuse University, he was involved in a sexual discrimination scandal. Francine Prose
defended him by portraying his accuser and the school as having reacted to outdated neo-Victorian
victim-feminism policies.
For example, in the poem "Missed Chances" in Cemetery Nights, the nameless speaker wanders through a metaphorical city in which those who missed their big opportunities futilely rehearse for opportunity's next arrival.
His poetic works count among them the 1971 Lamont Poetry Selection (Concurring Beasts), a National Poetry Series
award winner (Black Dog, Red Dog), and a Melville Cane Award winner (Cemetery Nights).
Dobyns has written many detective stories about a private detective named Charlie Bradshaw who works out of Saratoga Springs in upstate New York. Bradshaw is unusual as a private eye protagonist, an ordinary man who was once a police officer. All the books have the word "Saratoga" in the title.
In the comic novel The Wrestler's Cruel Study, the protagonist roams through a modern cityscape governed by fairy-tale rituals, searching for his missing fiancée. He is alternately aided or hindered by a Friedrich Nietzsche -quoting manager and his Hegelian nemesis, to find that his wrestling matches are choreographed by a shadowy organization that enacts their various Gnostic theological debates through the pageantry and panoply of the ring. He eventually learns to resolve his own dualistic nature and determine who he is despite the role he plays.
Cold Dog Soup has been made into two films, the American Cold Dog Soup and the French Doggy Bag. Two Deaths of Señora Puccini has been made into the film Two Deaths. The movie Wild Turkey is based on one of his short stories.
The Church of Dead Girls is a novel about a small town's hysterical response to the mysterious disappearance of three of its teenaged girls.
Boy in the Water is a novel about events in a secluded private school in the United States
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and novelist born in Orange, New Jersey
Orange, New Jersey
The City of Orange is a city and township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 30,134...
, and residing in Westerly, RI.
Life
Was born on February 19, 1941 in Orange, New Jersey to Lester L., a minister, and Barbara JohnstonDobyns. Dobyns was raised in New Jersey, Michigan, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. He was educated at Shimer College
Shimer College
Shimer College is a very small, private, undergraduate liberal arts college in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Founded by Frances Wood Shimer in 1853 in the frontier town of Mt. Carroll, Illinois, it was a women's school for most of its first century. It joined with the University of...
, graduated from Wayne State University
Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
, and received an MFA
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
from the Iowa Writers' Workshop
Iowa Writers' Workshop
The Program in Creative Writing, more commonly known as the Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, is a highly regarded graduate-level creative writing program in the United States...
at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
in 1967. He has worked as a reporter for the Detroit News.
He has taught at various academic institutions, including Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the United States, and a leader in progressive education since its founding in 1926. Located just 30 minutes north of Midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County, New York, in the city of Yonkers, this coeducational college offers...
, the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers
Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers
The Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers is the oldest low-residency creative writing Master of Fine Arts program in the United States. Prior to the founding of this program, an MFA in creative writing was earned via standard residential graduate programs that required students to be in residence...
, the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
, Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
, and Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
.
As a professor of English at Syracuse University, he was involved in a sexual discrimination scandal. Francine Prose
Francine Prose
Francine Prose is an American writer. Since March 2007 she has been the president of PEN American Center. She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1968 and received a Guggenheim fellowship in 1991....
defended him by portraying his accuser and the school as having reacted to outdated neo-Victorian
Victorian morality
Victorian morality is a distillation of the moral views of people living at the time of Queen Victoria's reign and of the moral climate of the United Kingdom throughout the 19th century in general, which contrasted greatly with the morality of the previous Georgian period...
victim-feminism policies.
Works
In much of his poetry and some works of non-genre fiction, Dobyns employs extended tropes, using the ridiculous and the absurd as vehicles to introduce more profound meditations on life, love, and art. He shies neither from the low nor from the sublime, and all in a straightforward narrative voice of reason. His journalistic training has strongly informed this voice.For example, in the poem "Missed Chances" in Cemetery Nights, the nameless speaker wanders through a metaphorical city in which those who missed their big opportunities futilely rehearse for opportunity's next arrival.
His poetic works count among them the 1971 Lamont Poetry Selection (Concurring Beasts), a National Poetry Series
National Poetry Series
The National Poetry Series is an American literary awards program.Every year since 1979 it has sponsored the publication of five books of poetry...
award winner (Black Dog, Red Dog), and a Melville Cane Award winner (Cemetery Nights).
Dobyns has written many detective stories about a private detective named Charlie Bradshaw who works out of Saratoga Springs in upstate New York. Bradshaw is unusual as a private eye protagonist, an ordinary man who was once a police officer. All the books have the word "Saratoga" in the title.
In the comic novel The Wrestler's Cruel Study, the protagonist roams through a modern cityscape governed by fairy-tale rituals, searching for his missing fiancée. He is alternately aided or hindered by a Friedrich Nietzsche -quoting manager and his Hegelian nemesis, to find that his wrestling matches are choreographed by a shadowy organization that enacts their various Gnostic theological debates through the pageantry and panoply of the ring. He eventually learns to resolve his own dualistic nature and determine who he is despite the role he plays.
Cold Dog Soup has been made into two films, the American Cold Dog Soup and the French Doggy Bag. Two Deaths of Señora Puccini has been made into the film Two Deaths. The movie Wild Turkey is based on one of his short stories.
The Church of Dead Girls is a novel about a small town's hysterical response to the mysterious disappearance of three of its teenaged girls.
Boy in the Water is a novel about events in a secluded private school in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Poetry
- Concurring Beasts (1972)
- The Reason Why (1973)
- Griffon: Poems (1976)
- Heat Death (1980)
- The Balthus Poems (1982)
- Black Dog, Red Dog (1984) ISBN 0-03-071077-4
- Cemetery Nights (1987) ISBN 0-14-058584-2
- Body Traffic (1990)
- Velocities: New and Selected Poems, 1966-1992 (1994) ISBN 0-14-058651-2
- Common Carnage (1996)
- Pallbearers Envying the One Who Rides (1999) ISBN 0-14-058916-3
- Do They Have a Reason? (2000)
- The Porcupine's Kisses (2002)
- Mystery, So Long (2005)
- Winter's Journey (Copper Canyon PressCopper Canyon PressCopper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, specializing in the publication of poetry and located in the picturesque town of Port Townsend, Washington. Since 1972, the Press has published poetry exclusively and has established an international reputation for its commitment to...
, 2010)
Fiction
- A Man of Little Evils (1973) ISBN 0-689-10567-3
- Dancer With One Leg (1983)
- Cold Dog Soup (1985)
- A Boat Off the Coast (1987)
- The Two Deaths of Senora Puccini (1988) ISBN 0-14-023579-5
- The House on Alexandrine (1990) ISBN 0-8143-2183-6
- After Shocks/Near Escapes (1991)
- The Wrestler's Cruel Study (1993) ISBN 0-393-03511-5
- The Church of Dead Girls (1997) ISBN 0-8050-5103-1
- Boy in the Water (1999) ISBN 0-312-97522-8
- Eating Naked [SS] (2000) ISBN 0-312-27829-2
Charlie Bradshaw series
- Saratoga Longshot (1976) ISBN 0-14-025196-0
- Saratoga Swimmer (1981)
- Saratoga Headhunter (1985) ISBN 0-14-015606-2
- Saratoga Snapper (1986) ISBN 0-670-81059-2
- Saratoga Bestiary (1988) ISBN 0-670-82024-5
- Saratoga Hexameter (1990)
- Saratoga Haunting (1993)
- Saratoga Backtalk (1994) ISBN 0-393-03659-6
- Saratoga Fleshpot (1995) ISBN 0-393-03805-X
- Saratoga Strongbox (1998) ISBN 0-670-87692-5