Billy Fontenot Billy Fontenot was born and raised in South Louisiana. In 2000 he won first place in the LACC Journal short story and poetry competition. He is currently working on a novel that he might call The Authentic Death of Rio Ruehl. At UL, Billy has helped organize the Deep South Writers Festival, hosted the Graduate Reading Series, and edited the 1998 Deep South Chapbook.

Billy Fontenot So Far

EDUCATION

B.A. English, Louisiana State University 1994

M.Ed. Secondary Education, Louisiana State University 1996

M.A. English, University of Louisiana at Lafayette 1999

Ph.D. English, University of Louisiana at Lafayette (forthcoming 2002)

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

English 101 Composition and Rhetoric, English 102 Literature and Composition, English 204 Novel and Short Fiction, English 205 American Literature I, English 206 American Literature II, and English 223 Introduction to Creative Writing

PUBLICATIONS

2001 "Birches" (story). ArtWorks.

2000 "The Priest's Song" and "Song #5" (stories). Louisiana Review.

2000 "Birches" (story), and "The First Time I Ate a Donut" (poem). LACC Journal (1st place awards in fiction and poetry contests).

1999 "Early Fall" (story). Writers’ Forum.

1998-2001 "Many a Storm," "Early Fall," and "Moving Day" (stories). Southwestern Review.

OTHER PROFESSIONAL WORK

2002 Preliminary Judge of the Voorhies Award Fiction Contest, UL Lafayette.

ORGANIZATIONS

Phi Kappa Phi

Sigma Tau Delta

Golden Key Honor Society

Billy Fontenot on UL-Lafayette

I applied to UL-Lafayette because it is one of only a handful of universities that offers a Ph.D. in English with a focus on Creative Writing. Earning my Doctorate at UL allows me ample time to work on my fiction while I gain the experience and education necessary to teach on the college level. While I do hope to become a professor one day, I also want to continue writing for publication. Workshopping with writers like Ernest Gaines, George Makana Clark, and Luis Urrea – all talented, well-respected authors – directly contributed to my recent fiction publications. In addition, UL’s poets (such as Jerry McGuire, Skip Fox, and Darrell Bourque), playwrights, folklorists, creative non-fiction authors, and rhetoricians are always available for informal consultations or to simply offer conscientious advice on my current projects. These professors/instructors’ interest in my work has proved invaluable to me as a beginning writer.

See a Sample of Billy Fontenot's Fiction
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© 2001, University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
This site designed and maintained by The Creative Writing Concentration of the English Department of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
To contact us by mail: Director of Creative Writing, English Department, Box 44691, UL-Lafayette, Lafayette LA 70504-4691; by telephone, 337-482-5478;
by email, jlm8047@louisiana.edu.
Last updated: May 1, 2001.