Nelson, Eric 1952–

PERSONAL:

Born December 10, 1952, in San Angelo, TX; son of David (an educator) and Emma Nelson; married Stephanie Tames, October 17, 1980; children: Benjamin Tames, Claire Tames. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, B.A., 1975; Johns Hopkins University, M.A., 1977.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Statesboro, GA. Office—Department of Writing and Linguistics, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30460. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, instructor in English, 1984-89; Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, assistant professor, 1989-95, associate professor, 1995-2004, professor of creative writing, 2005—. Also taught at Rutgers University. Georgia Poetry Circuit, institutional representative, 1999—; judge of poetry contests.

MEMBER:

Associated Writing Programs.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Irene Leache Award in Poetry, Chrysler Museum (Norfolk, VA), 1977, 1978; Doris Kellog Neale Award in Poetry, Mickle Street Review, 1982; fellow, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, 1987 and 1988; Pushcart Prize nominations, 1990, 1994, 1996, and 1998-2000; Arkansas Poetry Award, 1990; winner of Georgia Poetry Circuit Competition, 1992; Readers' Choice Award, Blue Moon Review, 1997; fellow, Hambidge Center for the Arts, 1997, 1998, and 2007; X.J. Kennedy Poetry Prize, 2003; named Georgia author of the year, 2007.

WRITINGS:

On Call (poetry), Moonsquilt Press (Miami, FL), 1983.

The Light Bringers (poetry), Washington Writers Publishing House (Washington, DC), 1984.

The Interpretation of Waking Life (poetry), University of Arkansas Press (Fayetteville, AR), 1991.

Terrestrials (poetry), Texas Review Press (Huntsville, TX), 2004.

Work represented in anthologies, including The Unitarian-Universalist Poets: A Contemporary American Survey, Pudding House Publications (Johnstown, OH), 1996; I Feel a Little Jumpy around You, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1996; Georgia Voices: Poetry, University of Georgia Press (Athens, GA), 2000; and Strongly Spent: Fifty Years of Poetry from Shenandoah, Shenandoah (Lexington, VA), 2003. Contributor of more than seventy poems, articles, and reviews to journals, including Yankee, Poetry, Texas Review, Mid-American Review, Southern Review, and Laurel Review. Coeditor, Ogeechee Poetry Journal, 1990-98.