The University of St. Thomas

College of Arts & Sciences | Department of English

Lon Otto

Lon Otto

Lon Otto

Professor of English

L9otto@stthomas.edu
Phone: (651) 962-5609

Office Location: JRC 354
Office Hours: (Spring 2012): MW 10:30-11:30am & 1:30-2:30pm; T 10:30-11:30am; R 1:30-2:30pm; also by appointment

Courses taught in Spring 2012
ENGL 255-01
22159		 Intro to Imaginative Writing 1455-1635 M W JRC 201

4 Credit Hours

This course introduces students to skills necessary for imaginative writing. It includes close readings of literary texts that model basic techniques, weekly writing exercises that encourage exploration and development of craft, and workshop discussions to develop students' critical skills. This course will include instruction in setting, character, voice, point of view, literal and figurative imagery, rhythm and sound patterns, and literary structures. Prerequisites: ENGL 111 and 112 or 190
ENGL 255-02
22160		 Intro to Imaginative Writing 1525-1700 T R JRC 201

4 Credit Hours

This course introduces students to skills necessary for imaginative writing. It includes close readings of literary texts that model basic techniques, weekly writing exercises that encourage exploration and development of craft, and workshop discussions to develop students' critical skills. This course will include instruction in setting, character, voice, point of view, literal and figurative imagery, rhythm and sound patterns, and literary structures. Prerequisites: ENGL 111 and 112 or 190
ENGL 405-01
21983		 Advanced Creative Writing 1800-2115 T JRC 481

4 Credit Hours

This advanced course focuses on the student's development of a substantial body of work in a chosen genre: poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction. Students will review their previous writing, do further exploration of a chosen genre, and produce significant new work in that genre. Readings will include theoretical and creative texts. Prerequisite: ENGL 321 or 322 or 323 or permission of instructor based on examination of a portfolio
IDSC 480-06
21819		 Foreign Experience 1715-1845 R MHC 160A

2 Credit Hours

These interdisciplinary seminars are intended to develop integrating insights through an analysis of topics chosen from different disciplines. Often they are taught by two faculty members or by a visiting lecturer who holds one of the endowed chairs at the university. (IDSC 479 is used if the seminar has been approved to partially fulfill a requirement in the core curriculum.)
Courses taught in Fall 2012
ENGL 110-P2
40153		 Intensive Writing 0955-1135 T R JRC 301

4 Credit Hours

The course provides students with intensive practice in writing, enabling them to adapt to the demands of differing rhetorical contexts. Emphasis on understanding writing processes and learning to respond thoughtfully to writing at various stages. Critical reading will be practiced as an integral part of the writing process. Prerequisite: participation in the Academic Development Program
ENGL 322-01
40159		 Writing Fiction 1525-1700 M W TBD

4 Credit Hours

This intermediate course explores traditional and innovative patterns of fiction writing. Emphasis on experimentation with a variety of techniques and development of individual voice. This course will include critique sessions, readings to broaden possibilities of form and subject, and individual instruction. Prerequisite: ENGL 253 or permission of instructor.
ENGL 405-01
41766		 Advanced Creative Writing 1800-2115 W TBD

4 Credit Hours

This advanced course focuses on the student's development of a substantial body of work in a chosen genre: poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction. Students will review their previous writing, do further exploration of a chosen genre, and produce significant new work in that genre. Readings will include theoretical and creative texts. Prerequisite: ENGL 321 or 322 or 323 or permission of instructor based on examination of a portfolio

Academic History

Ph.D., Indiana University 
Dissertation: Medieval Prosody and Four Modern Poets: a study of the strong-stress tradition in modern prosody through poems and writings of Gerard Manley Hopkins, Thomas Hardy, Ezra Pound, and W.H. Auden.   
B.A., Pomona College
A.A., Concordia College  
At St. Thomas since 1974.

Teaching Expertise/Specialties/Interests

Fiction Writing, introductory to post graduate
Poetry and Literary Nonfiction Writing
Literary Magazine History, Editing, and Design, including Desktop Publishing
Literary Travel Writing
Novel since World War II
William Faulkner
Latin American Fiction
Ancient Maya Culture of the Northern Yucatan

Selected Publications

Books: 

Cover Me, collection of short stories, Coffee House Press, 1988.

Water Bodies, limited edition chapbook, Coffee House Press, 1986.

A Nest of Hooks, collection of short stories, University of Iowa Press, 1978.

Short fiction in literary magazines including Prairie Schooner, Great River Review, Colorado Review, Water-Stone, Atlantic Review, Gallimaufry, Luna Tack, Odd Fodder, Vinyl, Indiana Review, and the anthologies Flash Fiction Forward (Norton), Flash Fictions (Norton), American Fiction, Best Words, Best Order (St. Martins), The North Country Reader, Stiller's Pond, As Far As Eye Can See, The Iowa Award: The Best Stories from Twenty Years, The Runner's Literary Companion (Penguin), and Blink. Stories broadcast on Selected Shorts, National Public Radio.

Poetry in Bitterroot, Poetry Claremont, Stoney Lonesome, Mundus Artium, Michigan Quarterly Review, Vanilla Press, North Country.

Essay in Townships, an anthology, University of Iowa Press.

Links to stories:

"What is Son?"

"The Urban Forest"

Selected Presentations

Panel presentations at Associated Writing Programs Conference in 1996, 1997, and 1998. Craft talks at the University of Iowa, 1998-2006.

Awards & Honors

Glenna Luschei Fiction Award, Prairie Schooner, 2006.

Professor of the Year Award, University of St. Thomas, 2003.

American Fiction award, 1995 (Tim O'Brien, judge).

Loft-McKnight Award of Distinction for Fiction, 1991 (Peter Meinke, final judge).

Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses, 1980.

Iowa School of Letters Award for Short Fiction, 1978 (Stanley Elkin, final judge).

Phi Beta Kappa; B.A. summa cum laude, Pomona College, 1970

Other Professional Activities

1997-2006 taught in the University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival: courses in novel techniques, revising fiction, and literary travel writing. Conducted fiction and poetry writing workshops for a number of other organizations, including Gustavus Adolphus College, Macalester College, Southwest State University, The College of St. Catherine, The Loft, University of Minnesota, Walker Art Center, St. Cloud State University, University of Wisconsin, Wartburg College, University of North Dakota, and University of Nebraska; writer's residencies at University of Michigan, Northwest Missouri State University, and Creighton University.