Critically acclaimed writer Amy Bloom ’75 has been appointed as the Kim-Frank Family University Writer in Residence. The appointment, effective July 1, will last four years, during which she will teach two courses each year and advise several theses in creative writing, according to Krishna Winston, Dean of the Arts and Humanities. Both courses for the 2010-2011 academic year will be offered in the spring.
“Bloom’s appointment is a wonderful opportunity for students at Wesleyan, and it’s part of President [Michael] Roth and the University’s broad commitment to supporting students across the University who are interested in writing,” said Professor Anne Greene, Director of Writing Programs.
Bloom is known for her fiction and nonfiction writing, as well as her projects for television. Her most recent novel “Away” and her new collection of short stories, “Where the God of Love Hangs Out,” have both been best sellers. She has been a nominee for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and was the recipient of the National Magazine Award.
Bloom was selected on the basis of her literary reputation, Roth’s own admiration of her work, and, according to Winston, the “lucky coincidence that she lives in Connecticut, in fact, just one town over from Middletown.” The position of Kim-Frank Family University Writer in Residence is being supported by John Frank ’78 P’12 and his wife, Diann Kim.
As a member of the faculty appointed in the Writing Programs, Bloom’s courses will be cross-listed in several departments and programs. She will be teaching fiction writing and a course on writing for television in the spring, according to Greene.
“I hope to be Sherpa and a guide, and an assistant to people who are interested in what they’re writing,” Bloom said in an interview with The Argus. “I hope to be the Lucy cartoon in Charlie Brown, you know, ‘the doctor is in.’”
Bloom’s office will be in the Shapiro Creative Writing Center located in the Allbritton building.
“I am excited about having her housed [in Allbritton] because the other offices have been occupied by visiting writers who typically come to campus only a few days a week,” Winston said. “Having a writer who is really in residence will help us realize the potential of the Writing Center to be a gathering place for people interested in writing as a way of life and thought.”
Bloom currently teaches Advanced Fiction Writing and Writing for Children at Yale University, where she is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English. She taught at Wesleyan once before, nearly two decades ago, and is looking forward to returning to her old stomping grounds.
“I take the position of University Writer in Residence very seriously,” Bloom said. “Anyone who has a question about prose, I hope they’ll come to me.”