Whether it was in the classroom or the Bison, John “Jack” Wheatcroft ’49 nurtured generations of budding writers, putting Bucknell on the national literary map in his 45 years of teaching. With the encouragement of President and Professor of Biology Emeritus Gary Sojka, two of Wheatcroft’s stellar students — Bruce Smith ’68 and Peter Balakian ’73 — have gathered contributions from 18 former students who have gone on to be writers, academics and teachers as well as colleagues and friends such as former presidents Sojka and Dennis O’Brien. The collection celebrates the professor emeritus of English, who published 25 books of fiction, poetry and plays before his death in 2017. Wheatcroft’s most notable work was Catherine: Her Book, a 1983 prequel to Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights.
Their Houses (West Virginia University Press, 2018)
Their Houses follows three adults — two sisters and a close childhood friend — as their adulthoods take them in vastly different directions. Reunited on an acreage once owned by a white supremacist group, the characters discover that it is impossible to escape the past, no matter how hard they try.
Matthew Stevenson ’76
Appalachia Spring (Odysseus Books, 2018)
Matthew Stevenson depicts his springtime travels through the Civil War battlefields and coal fields of Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky. Appalachia Spring also follows the contours of the declining American coal industry in these states, discussing the lives and effects of such figures as Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and his son Robert Jr., who made Appalachia a signature political issue.
Philip Brady ’77
Phantom Signs: The Muse in Universe City (The University of Tennessee Press, 2018)
Tracing literature from its genesis as rhythmic oral tradition, Philip Brady presents the journey from the original voices to today’s published texts. Featuring characters ranging from the Sea Nymph to the Three Stooges, Phantom Sights offers diverse perspectives on creative tensions throughout the history of storytelling.
Harry Bobonich M’58
Over Here, Over There: Schuylkill County in the Coal Region in WWI (Infinity Publishing, 2018)
Harry Bobonich provides an account of the Schuylkill County home front during the Great War, offering glimpses of everyday lives of residents, which often mirrored the thoughts and actions of many others across the nation during this time of uncertainty and violence.
Carceral Space, Prisoners and Animals (Routledge, 2018)
Karen Morin explores resonances across human and nonhuman geographies, including prison death rows and animal slaughterhouses. She draws attention to sites of structural, operational and legal industrialized violence in the United States and elsewhere.
Their Houses (West Virginia University Press, 2018)
Their Houses follows three adults — two sisters and a close childhood friend — as their adulthoods take them in vastly different directions. Reunited on an acreage once owned by a white supremacist group, the characters discover that it is impossible to escape the past, no matter how hard they try.
Matthew Stevenson ’76
Appalachia Spring (Odysseus Books, 2018)
Matthew Stevenson depicts his springtime travels through the Civil War battlefields and coal fields of Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky. Appalachia Spring also follows the contours of the declining American coal industry in these states, discussing the lives and effects of such figures as Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and his son Robert Jr., who made Appalachia a signature political issue.
Philip Brady ’77
Phantom Signs: The Muse in Universe City (The University of Tennessee Press, 2018)
Tracing literature from its genesis as rhythmic oral tradition, Philip Brady presents the journey from the original voices to today’s published texts. Featuring characters ranging from the Sea Nymph to the Three Stooges, Phantom Sights offers diverse perspectives on creative tensions throughout the history of storytelling.
Harry Bobonich M’58
Over Here, Over There: Schuylkill County in the Coal Region in WWI (Infinity Publishing, 2018)
Harry Bobonich provides an account of the Schuylkill County home front during the Great War, offering glimpses of everyday lives of residents, which often mirrored the thoughts and actions of many others across the nation during this time of uncertainty and violence.
Carceral Space, Prisoners and Animals (Routledge, 2018)
Karen Morin explores resonances across human and nonhuman geographies, including prison death rows and animal slaughterhouses. She draws attention to sites of structural, operational and legal industrialized violence in the United States and elsewhere.