MORRIS, Bernard E. 1935-

(Bernard Ellis Morris)

PERSONAL: Born July 25, 1935, in San Antonio, TX; son of Leroy Edward (a career military serviceman) and Doris Josephine (Hyman) Morris Lanier; married Nevenka Hrovat, 1960 (divorced, 1977); married Silvana Maria Pozzi Paddock (a secretary), September, 1998; children: Georgiana (first marriage); stepchildren: Adriana, Daniel. Ethnicity: "German-Jewish-Scotch-Irish." Education: University of California, Berkeley, B.A., 1963, M.A., 1965, Ph.D., 1973. Politics: "Apolitical." Religion: "Agnostic." Hobbies and other interests: "Maintaining personal health and an active lifestyle in retirement.

ADDRESSES: Home—108 Chabot Ct., Modesto, CA 95354. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer. University of California, Berkeley, composition instructor, 1966–72; Modesto Junior College, CA, literature and composition instructor, 1972–2003.

WRITINGS:

Taking Measure: The Poetry and Prose of X.J. Kennedy, Susquehanna University Press (Selinsgrove, PA), 2003.

Contributor of poetry to literary journals, including Harvard Review; contributor of essays to reference books.

SIDELIGHTS: Bernard E. Morris told CA: "In the early 1980s, when I began to write seriously, I was guided by two principles: to be honest and to say nothing silly. In the more than 8,000 poems that I produced, which included 1,200 sonnets, and much prose, I achieved honesty (or candor, at least), but what I wrote was self-indulgent, self-centered, and inconsequential. I matured by turning my attention to the writings of others in prose assessments and critical appreciation.

"Although I wrote continuously from my early teens, I did not learn how to write publishable material until I learned how to focus on subjects of interest to others. After my university years, during which I struggled to write and was able to write only passably, I began to write both poetry and prose, spending twelve-hour days for many years. Since I was teaching composition at the time, I also studied the basics of English grammar; I even wrote my own grammar book. In the 1980s, to test my writing skills, I submitted several dozen essays anonymously in a variety of English courses at my old alma mater. None of the readers knew who I was or that I was a composition teacher. All the essays received top grades and many were praised for their style.

"Meanwhile, I began writing critical essays for literary magazines. The editor of Harvard Review saw one of my essays and invited me to write for his journal. I wrote many essays for him and continued getting my poetry published. Some of my critical comments were excerpted by publishers and writers for their own uses. W.D. Snodgrass actually wrote me a letter of thanks for what I had written about his poetry, and Denise Levertov also praised my comments about one of her poems. Such responses were evidence that I could finally write publishable work, and they gave me confidence to teach certain writing principles in my English classes. My writing career culminated in the publication of Taking Measure: The Poetry and Prose of X.J. Kennedy, a book-length study.

"To create something that will connect me with the right kind of person is to consummate almost fifty years of searching for the redeeming strength of writing well. The best part of writing is that it puts me in the best company I can imagine."