Patrick Crerand Patrick Crerand is originally from Columbus, Ohio, but spent the first ten years of his life in Xenia, Ohio, a small city near Dayton, known for its outdoor dramatization of Blue Jacket, the Shawnee Indian, and the odd catastrophic tornado. He attended The Ohio State University and studied literature there with the specific intention of entering law school. Then, after working for a year in the sterile fluorescence of an office, he rethought his life’s plan, foregoing a lucrative career as an administrative assistant to write stories. He then enrolled in Bowling Green State University’s MFA Program, where he wrote more stories and watched the occasional tractor pull. Currently, he is in the Ph.D. Program for Creative Writing, where he is at work on a novel. He lives in a quiet apartment with his new wife, Anna, and enjoys a good q-tip whenever possible.

Education

PhD (Candidate) UL Lafayette: 2003-present

Master in Fine Arts, Bowling Green State University: 2000-2002

Bachelor of Arts, The Ohio State University: 1995-1999

Teaching Experience

2003-present Teaching Assistant, UL Lafayette:

· English 101, 102: Freshman Composition

· English 204: The Short Story and the Novel

2002-03 Adjunct Instructor, Columbus State Community College:

· English 100: Language Development and Composition

· English 101: Freshman Composition

· ESL 100: Advanced Composition for Non-Native Speakers of English

2000-02 Teaching Assistant, Bowling Green State University:

· English 111, 112: Introduction to Composition and Research Writing

· English 208: Imaginative Writing

Publications

Short Stories

2006 “The Paper Life They Lead,” Ninth Letter, forthcoming.

2006 “Semi Love,” Cimarron Review, forthcoming.

2002 “Kidnapping the Amish” Cimarron Review, No. 139, Spring,.

Essays

2006 “The Boss of the Midwest,” under review.

Book Reviews

2006 My Life in Heavy Metal by Steve Almond, Mid-American Review, 23.1.

2006 The Devil’s Larder by Jim Crace, Mid-American Review, 22.2.

Awards

Timothy W. Adams Award for Creative Writing, UL Lafayette, April 2004

Teaching Assistantship, UL Lafayette, 2003-present

Teaching Assistantship, Bowling Green State University, 2000-2002

Readings and Performances

2006 Co-Host, Graduate Reading Series, UL Lafayette.

2004-06 Graduate Reading Series, UL Lafayette.

2005 Deep South Festival of Writers, Night of Collaboration, UL Lafayette.

2004 Graduate Reading Series, UL Lafayette, Fall.

2004 Graduate Creative Writing Seminar, UL Lafayettem, Spring.

2001-02 Graduate Reading Series, Bowling Green State University.

2001 Graduate Reading Series, Bowling Green State University, Fall.

2001 Summer Honors Institute, Bowling Green State University, Summer.

2001 Graduate Reading Series, Bowling Green State University, Spring.

Editorial Experience

2006 Co-Editor, The Southwestern Review, University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

2006 Co-Editor, Maximum Sentence, Chapbook, University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

2000-02 Assistant Editor, Mid-American Review, Bowling Green State University,

Conference Presentations

2006 “The Hollow Adjunct,” Writing Matters Annual Conference, Baton Rouge Community College, Baton Rouge, LA.

2005 “The Boss of the Midwest,” Glory Days: A Bruce Springsteen Symposium, Penn State University and Monmouth University, Monmouth, NJ.

2005 “Re-perceiving the Perceived: Identity in Several of Eavan Boland’s Ekphrastic Poems,” University of Louisiana at Lafayette Graduate Conference. Lafayette, LA.

2001 “At the Literary Water Cooler: The Advantages of Using Humor in Your Fiction and

Poetry,” Winter Wheat Literary Festival, Bowling Green State University, Bowling

Green, OH.

Honors

2005 AWP Intro Journal Awards, Honorable Mention, “Extra Innings with the Jockeys.”

2004 Timothy W. Adams Award for Creative Writing, Winner, UL Lafayette.

2003-pres. Teaching Assistantship, UL Lafayette.

2001 Devine Fellowship, Honorable Mention, Bowling Green State University.

2000-02 Teaching Assistantship, Bowling Green State University.

Study Abroad Experience

2002 Certificate for completion of Troisieme Degre, L’institut Touraine, Tours, France.

1998 Completion of Study Abroad program, Rijksuniversiteit Leiden, Leiden, Netherlands.

Patrick Crerand on Lafayette

On my first visit to Lafayette, I remember seeing a black gentleman on a street corner holding a white ventriloquist doll that shouted excerpts from the Book of Revelation. I felt like I had stepped into a Flannery O’Connor short story. While not every day is as bizarre as that first one, I can honestly say I have never stopped being mesmerized by the scope of this place: its huge sugar cane fields that run endlessly into the horizon, the murky bayous and swamps dotted with alligators, and the withering cypress trees that guard them all. More than anything though, the people of Lafayette are a constant source of inspiration for me. They embody a rich history and culture I never imagined to find in the U.S., but am happily intrigued by nevertheless. When I think about all the years I spent in a gumbo-less environment, I shudder.

Scholastically speaking, my professors at UL Lafayette have been extremely supportive of my writing. I have found a strong community of peers here who bring a variety of different aesthetics to the workshop as well as to my other literature classes. The courses are challenging, but living here has made literature richer to read. I am rarely short on inspiration.

Read a Sample of Patrick’s Writing

Go to UL Lafayette Creative Writing Anthology

Creative Writing home Page

English Department Home Page

© 2003, 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: October 1, 2003.