SALEM -- Dr. Craig Paulenich is a associate professor of English at va
rious KSU campuses and a poet who has published two works, Beneath A Single Moon: Buddhism in Contemporary American Poetry edited by Ken Johnson, and Drift for the Hunt, and a third, Blood Will Tell, that has just been accepted for publication after a period of review.Blood Will Tell is a novel about Eastern European immigrants’ labor experiences in Pennsylavania at the turn of the last century. Already accepted for publication, the book will be on sale soon.
Drift of the Hunt, published by Nobodaddies Press in 2006 featuring Doug Rice as editor, is a story about a hideous, Frankenstein-like persona, Goatman. Goatman is an ugly but complex figure that has shaman, Shinto, Appalachian, Western Pennsylvanian, Eastern European folk tale qualities. Relating the past to the present, this culmination of character took Paulenich over 20 years of personal experiences to mold. Goatman, with a combination that is mysteriously in line with Paulenich’s own intere
sts,Japanese and Eastern European folklore and Pennsylvania living reflects the inner poet through differing angles. The Goatman tale Drift of the Hunt is a novel displaying Paulenich's own belief that "there is a fine line between horror and humor." Goatman has a little of everybody and everyday life in his story, even if it’s horrifying to fathom.
The first, printed by Shambala Press in Boston in 1991, is Beneath A Single Moon: Buddhism in Contemporary American Poetry. It is a collection of poems and stories from 45 centenary Buddhist-American poets. Works by Allen Ginsberg, John Cage, Jane Hirschfield, Olega Broumas and one of Paulenich’s influences, Gerry Snyder appear in the anthology. It is a look at American Buddhism related to poetry today. Instructors use the text as a college teaching aid in the U.S. and in Japan.
Paulenich did his doctorate thesis on shamanism and Anglo-Saxon poetry. He has a great interest in Japanese culture, particularly shamanism and is also a visiting professor of English at Shimane University in Matsue, Japan and lived in the country for more than a year. His favorite influences are Gerry Snyder, Charles Simic and Ann Sexton.
Students find him entertaining and informative and percieve a sense of caring and sincerity. His animated swagger and Western Pennsylvanian dialect accent his demeanor. Part of his appeal comes from his “common joe” personality that is packed with complex knowledge and creative ideas that make the subject matter easy to relate to. A local success story and a great poet in his own right, is part of the fabric that creates the thin veil of American poetry today with its broad diversity.
Paulenich has been studying Czech golem folklore recently and has built up an admiration for Prague. He likes local Czech writers such as Nezval, T. Siefert and Jiri Orten. In light of that, he has chosen recently for personal reading bo
oks about this Jewish golem who is a supernatural mud man with Goatman like qualities. Like Goatman, Prague is "both dark and beautiful" Paulenich decided while visiting Prague with his wife Karla recently.The Northeast Ohio Masters of Fine Art of Creative Writing program, (NEOMFA) is the first consortium fine arts degree offered, ever. Teachers from four schools, KSU, Cleveland University, Akron University, and Youngstown State University, including Paulenich, form the basis of instruction. Maggie Anderson, referred to as "a terrific poet" by Paulenich, is the NEOMFA director.
The degree requires 48 credit hours, and usually takes students three years but the education can span over as long as six years. This degree can be viable by itself or in conjunction with others such as another master’s or a doctorate.
"We encourage students to do both"Paulenich said. "Dean Nolte is doing everything he can do for us," Paulenich said of the KSU cooperation with NEOMFA. He believes highly in the NEOMFA degree. "The worse the state of the economy, the more the KSU and NEOFMA enrollment rises."
For those interested in more details, they should visit NEOMFA's web site, talk to Paulenich, or contact any of the other three campus NEOMFA representatives whose contact information is listed on the web site. http://www.ysu.edu/neomfa/. or call about credit costs at 330 672 1775.
Paulenich will teach a 3000-level Poetry Writing course at KSU-EL and a special topics course, Buddhism and Contemporary American Poetry at KSU-Salem in the Fall 2009 term. If interested, contact him directly at cpauleni@kent.edu.
Paulenich reading an excerpt of Drift of the Hunt in Sacramento in 2006 is shown at http://www.viddler.com/explore/dief/videos/1/ Another, more personal reading from his office in Salem is attached to this feature.
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Craig Paulenich was born in 1953 and raised in Western Pennsylvania. He has been employed as a night watchman, foundry worker, tax assessor, high school English teacher in Boardman, Ohio, as a road crew, worker and he even surfa
ced tennis courts. He received his MFA in poetry from the University of Pittsburgh in 1982, and a PhD in English from Bowling Green State University in 1989. Paulenich has taught in the University of Pittsburgh, Bowling Green State University, Clemson University, and is presently an associate professor at KSU and the standing Kent State coordinator for North East Ohio Master of Fine Art (NEOMFA). He teaches creative writing courses at KSU-Salem as well as NEOMFA ones. His poetry has been published in the 5 AM, Tar River Poetry, The Hiram Review, South Carolina Review, Kansas Quarterly, Georgia Review, Cottonwood, and Artful Dodger just to name a few.
