Lane, John 1954–

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Lane, John 1954–

(John Edward Lane)

PERSONAL: Born John Edward Lane, October 29, 1954, in Southern Pines, NC; son of John and Mary Brown (a housewife) Lane; married Margaret Groos (divorced); married Betsy Wakefield Teter. Education: Wofford College, B.A., 1977; Bennington College, M.F.A., 1995. Politics: "Liberal Democrat." Hobbies and other interests: Whitewater kayaking, hiking, contemporary architecture.

ADDRESSES: Office—Wofford College, 326-A Main Building, 429 North Church St., Spartanburg, SC 29303. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Poet, writer, editor, and educator. Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC, associate professor of English and writing, 1988–; Hub City Writers Project, Spartanburg, project director; Holocene Publications, editor.

Served on the boards of directors of Upstate Forever and Hub City Writers Project and on the advisory board of the South Carolina Writers Workshop.

MEMBER: Association for Study of Literature and the Environment (ASLE), Associated Writing Programs (AWP).

AWARDS, HONORS: Hoyns Fellowship in poetry, University of Virginia, 1980; South Carolina Fellowship in poetry, South Carolina Arts Commission, 1984; Louisville Review Prize in Poetry, Louisville Review, 1991; Phillip K. Reed Memorial Award for outstanding writing on the Southern environment, Southern Environmental Law Center, 2001.

WRITINGS:

Quarries, Briarpatch Press (Davidson, NC), 1984.

As the World around Us Sleeps (poetry), Briarpatch Press (Charlotte, NC), 1992.

Weed Time: Essays from the Edge of a Country Yard, Briarpatch Press (Charlotte, NC), 1993.

Against Information and Other Poems, New Native Press (Cullowhee, NC), 1995.

The Pheasant Cage (one-act play; performed at Presbyterian College and Ohio University, 1995), Palmetto Play Services Acting Editions (Seneca, SC), 1997.

The Empty Pot (CD-ROM; adaptation of Chinese folk tale), Little Planet Publishing (Nashville, TN), 1996.

The Dead Father Poems, Horse & Buggy Press (Raleigh, NC), 2000.

Waist Deep in Black Water (essays), University of Georgia Press (Athens, GA), 2002.

Chattooga: Descending into the Myth of Deliverance River (personal narrative), University of Georgia Press (Athens, GA), 2004.

EDITOR AND CONTRIBUTOR

Usumacinta Journey—a Collaborative Journal from Mexico, Holocene (Spartanburg, SC), 1992.

(With Betsy Wakefield Teter) Hub City Anthology: Spartanburg Writers & Artists (essays), Hub City Writers Project/Holocene (Spartanburg, SC), 1996.

(With Betsy Wakefield Teter) Hub City Christmas: 32 Spartanburg Writers Trim the Literary Tree (essays), Hub City Writers Project/Holocene (Spartanburg, SC), 1998.

(With Gerald Thurmond) The Woods Stretched for Miles: New Nature Writing from the South (essays), University of Georgia Press (Athens, GA), 1999.

(With Jeremy Jones) The Once-Again Wilderness: Following Wendell Berry into Kentucky's Red River Gorge, Holocene (Spartanburg, SC), 2000.

Also author of Thin Creek, Copper Canyon Press (Port Townsend, WA), 1978; Quartz Mountain Daybook, OSAI (Oklahoma city, OK), 1987; Body Poems, New Native Press (Cullowhee, NC), 1991; and Something Rare As a Dwarf-Flowered Heartleaf (Save the Mary Elizabeth Woods), 1999.

Contributor of poetry, fiction, and articles to magazines and periodicals, including Voice Literary Supplement, Southern Review, State Paper, Upstate Advocate, Fourth Genre, Tar River Poetry, Poetry Motel, New Review, Quarter after Eight, Isle, Chattahoochee Review, W.P. Journal, Alkali Flats, Interim, Poetry Northwest, Tar River Poetry, Wofford Journal, Virginia Quarterly Review, Point, Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review, Higgensville Reader, Patagonia Winds, Asheville Poetry Review, New Review, Nexus, Mount Olive Review, Charleston News & Courier, South Florida Poetry Review, St. Andrews Review, Loblolly, and Ploughshares.

Contributor to numerous anthologies, including 45/96: An Anthology of South Carolina Poets, edited by William Aarns, Ninety-Six Press (Greenville, SC), 1995; You Year: New Poems by Point Poets, edited by Thomas Johnson, Harbinger (Columbia, SC), 1996; Coffee House Poetry Anthology, edited by June King and Larry Smith, Bottom Dog Press (Huron, OH), 1996; In Short: An Anthology of Short Creative Nonfiction, edited by Judith Kitchen and Mary Paumier Jones, Norton (New York, NY), 1996; The Heart of America: Celebrating the American Landscape, National Geographic Books, 2000; A Year in Place, edited by Bret Lott, The University of Utah Press, 2000; Heart of a Nation: Writers and Photographers Inspired by the American Landscape, National Geographic Press (Washington, DC), 2000; Adventure America, National Geographic Press (Washington, DC), 2000 and 2002; Elemental South, edited by Dorinda Dalmeyer, University of Georgia Press (Athens, GA), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: John Lane writes poetry, essays, fiction, and screenplays, much of which features place and wilderness as critical themes. His focus on these themes comes from his love of the outdoors and his outdoor experiences, which include living off of the coast of Georgia on a wilderness island and travels to such exotic places as Central America, the remote rain forest of Surinam, and even wilderness gems located in the United States. For example, in his collection of eighteen essays titled Waist Deep in Black Water, Lane writes about a variety of places throughout America, from his home turf of South Carolina to a gorge in Kentucky to the wild's of South America. His essays touch upon topics such as a medicine wheel in Wyoming, the Mayan sense of time, and saving a Girl Scout camp called the Mary Elizabeth Woods that harbors the endangered dwarf-flowered heartleaf. A Kirkus Reviews contributor noted that the author "tries to get into a place intuitively" and also commented, "Lane has a fluid eye … and it's energizing to see through that eye, open as it is to both light and darkness." Eric Chaney, writing in Southern Living, commented that the collection "features exquisite descriptions."

Chattooga: Descending into the Myth of Deliverance River is the author's personal narrative of his journey on the Chattooga River, made somewhat infamous as the setting for the novel Deliverance by James Dickey, which was also made into a movie. Lane describes both his experiences on the trip and also looks at the river in relation to Dickey's book. The author describes many of the people who live by the river and recounts how they feel about Dickey's portrayal of some of them as dangerous backwoods inhabitants. A Publishers Weekly contributor noted that the author "artfully applies his poetic sensibility to the river."

Lane has also edited or coedited numerous books, including the collection of essays The Woods Stretched for Miles: New Nature Writing from the South, which he edited with Gerald Thurmond. The volume features eighteen essays and such noted nature writers as Wendell Berry and Barry Lopez, as well as lesser-known authors, including six women writers. Writing in the Mississippi Quarterly, F. Waage noted, "These personal narratives … are mainly in the storytelling, feature-journalistic mode, journey-based, and often laced with dialogue between the tellers and other picturesque Southerners." A Publishers Weekly contributor wrote that the collection "is full of indelible forays deep into nature." The reviewer went on to note, "These vibrant essays … scour nature … for keys to earth's renewal and untapped potential." Commenting on the individual essays in a review in the Library Journal, Sue Samson wrote, "All are well crafted."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2002, review of Waist Deep in Black Water p. 1283.

Library Journal, April 15, 1999, Sue Samson, review of The Woods Stretched for Miles: New Nature Writing from the South, p. 141.

Mississippi Quarterly, winter, 1999, F. Waage, review of review of The Woods Stretched for Miles, p. 143.

Publishers Weekly, March 29, 1999, review of The Woods Stretched for Miles, p. 85; February 16, 2004, review of Chattooga: Descending into the Myth of Deliverance River, p. 162.

Southern Living, April, 2003, Eric Chaney, review of Waist Deep in Black Water, p. 54.