The Oregon State University Sesquicentennial Oral History Project

Sort Interviews by Affiliation or Theme

Theme: Creative Writing

Tracy Daugherty Oral History Interview - June 2, 2015

Tracy Daugherty Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Janice Dilg.
June 2, 2015
Tracy Daugherty (b. 1955) is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English and Creative Writing, having taught and written at OSU from 1986 to his retirement in 2013. The author of four novels, four short story collections, a book of essays, and three biographies, Daugherty also played a key role in the creation of a Masters of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing at Oregon State. Among many other accomplishments, Daugherty has received the Oregon Book Award four times, most recently in 2010 for his biography of the author Donald Barthelme, Daugherty's mentor. His interview focuses on his development and methods as a writer, the evolution of the Creative Writing program at OSU, and the important role to be played in academia by citizen-scholars.

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John Henley Oral History Interviews - December 22, 2014

John Henley Oral History Interviews

Two life history interviews conducted by Chris Petersen.
December 22, 2014
John Henley (b. 1951) is a Portland native and appraiser of rare books and manuscripts who was instrumental in building Powell's Books, serving as the store's first manager and remaining on staff for more than a decade. He is also the son of Elizabeth Henley (1912-1981), an accomplished poet and former member of the English faculty at Oregon State. In the 1930s, during her tenure as an English professor at the University of Washington, Elizabeth Henley was active in the American Communist Party. In 1956, fearful of the potential repercussions that might arise from her past political activities, Henley consented to being committed to the Oregon State Penitentiary for the Criminally Insane. She remained there for more than two years before securing her release and joining the staff at Oregon State College. She taught English at Oregon State from 1959 to her retirement in 1975. Over two interviews, John Henley tells his mother's remarkable story; details the history of Powell's Books; and shares numerous other tales of a life spent scouting rare books and working in the retail book trade.

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Clemens Starck Oral History Interview - July 30, 2015

Clemens Starck Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Janice Dilg.
July 30, 2015
Clemens Starck (b. 1937) is an accomplished poet whose first published collection, Journeyman's Wages, received the Oregon Book Award for Poetry in 1996. Starck published the book at the age of fifty-seven, after thirty-six years of writing in near anonymity. He was also working as a carpenter for the OSU Physical Plant at the time, a job that he held for eighteen years and from which he retired in 2005. Over the course of his life, Starck traveled broadly and was employed, variously, as a journalist, ranch hand, construction laborer, and merchant seaman. In addition to Journeyman's Wages, Starck has released three additional volumes of his verse and has recorded two CDs of his poetry set to music. His interview focuses on his broad experience in a variety of workplaces, his development as a writer, and his memories of OSU. At multiple points throughout the session, Starck also reads selections of his work, both published and unpublished.

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