Palencia, Elaine Fowler 1946–

(Laurel Blake)

PERSONAL:

Born March 19, 1946, in Lexington, KY; daughter of Nolan (a college professor) and Rubye (a high school teacher) Fowler; married Michael Palencia-Roth (a college professor), June 1, 1968; children: Rachel Glenith, Andrew Michael. Education: Vanderbilt University, B.A. (magna cum laude), 1968.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Champaign, IL. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Freelance writer and editor. Illinois Wesleyan University, creative writing teacher, 2000. Illinois Arts Council, member of literature advisory panel; Red Herring Fiction Workshop, director; Green River Writers, workshop instructor; gives readings from her works. Volunteer worker for community organizations, including Champaign County Advocacy and Mentoring Resources; aerobics instructor at local Young Men's Christian Association.

MEMBER:

Society of Midland Authors, Kentucky State Poetry Society, Green River Writers, Phi Beta Kappa.

AWARDS, HONORS:

First prize from Illinois chapter fiction contest, American Association of University Women, 1983; short fiction prizes, Appalachian Writers Association, 1985, for "One Way Out of Here," and 1990, for "The Smallest Show on Earth"; Illinois Arts Council, fellowships, 1985, 1987, 1999, literary award for poetry, 1995; first prize from fiction contest, Iowa Woman, 1987, for "Small Caucasian Woman"; John Ehle Award for Short Fiction, 1990; poetry award, Willow Review, 1997; Chaffin & Kash Award for contemporary poetry, Kentucky State Poetry Society, 1997, for "Trial."

WRITINGS:

Heart on Holiday (romance novel), Dell (New York, NY), 1980.

Small Caucasian Woman: Stories, University of Missouri Press (Columbia, MO), 1993.

Taking the Train: Poems, Grex Press (Louisville, KY), 1997.

Brier Country: Stories from Blue Valley, University of Missouri Press (Columbia, MO), 2000.

Work represented in anthologies, including Bloodroot: Essays by Appalachian Women Writers, University Press of Kentucky (Lexington, KY), 1998; and Hurricane Blues: Poems about Katrina and Rita, Southeast Missouri State University Press, 2006. Contributor of poetry and short stories to periodicals, including Chattahoochee Review, Pegasus, Byline, Illinois Review, Crescent Review, Sow's Ear Poetry Review, Spoon River Poetry Review, Distillery, Bluegrass, and Virginia Quarterly Review.

ROMANCE FICTION; UNDER PSEUDONYM LAUREL BLAKE

Stormy Passage, Jove (New York, NY), 1982.

Stranger in Paradise, Jove (New York, NY), 1983.

Into the Whirlwind, Jove (New York, NY), 1984.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Publishers Weekly, February 28, 2000, review of Brier Country: Stories from Blue Valley, p. 62.

Studies in Short Fiction, fall, 1994, Linda Hollandsworth, review of Small Caucasian Woman: Stories, p. 698.

ONLINE

Litline, http://www.litline.org/ (July 23, 2008), "Elaine Fowler Palencia."