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Scott Owens (born 1963) is an American poet, teacher, and editor living in Hickory, North Carolina. [1]
Owens was born in Greenwood, South Carolina, and raised in mill villages and on his grandparents' small farm. His father was in the military, and the family later moved to Fort Bragg, NC, and then to Darmstadt, Germany, and Augusta, Georgia, where he graduated from the Academy of Richmond County. Most of his early childhood was lived below the poverty line, necessitating frequent relocation in and around Greenwood. His childhood was also marked by periods of domestic abuse by his stepfathers. His mother was married 6 times during his childhood and his father 5 times. Three of their marriages were to each other. Owens graduated high school early so that he could work extended shifts in Greenwood's cotton mills to save money for college. In Hickory, Owens, with his wife, Julie, became owner of Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse, where he has hosted the monthly reading series, Poetry Hickory, since 2007. [2] [3]
Owens was the first member of his family to attend college. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a minor in Education at Ohio University, where he studied with novelist, Daniel Keyes, and poet, Paul Nelson. He continued on to the University of North Carolina, Charlotte for a master's degree in English, studying with Robin Hemley, Robert Waters Grey, and Christopher Davis, and working on the journal, "Southern Poetry Review". He also earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, studying under Fred Chappell and Stuart Dischell.
He is the founder of the reading series, Poetry Hickory (2007 - ), and the University Community Poetry Series (2016 - 2018), editor of "Wild Goose Poetry Review," and a writer of reviews of poetry collections and articles about writing. He has also been author of the poetry column, "Musings," published in Outlook, founding editor of 234, Associate Editor of Southern Poetry Review, Vice President of the Poetry Council of NC and the NC Poetry Society, and Founder of The Art of Poetry at the Hickory Museum of Art. He has taught creativity, writing, and poetry workshops at various schools, conferences, and conventions throughout the Southeast, most recently at Lenoir Rhyne University. He has also served as a judge for numerous poetry contests and been on the board of various reading series. Owens is recognized as a proponent of and community organizer for poetry. [4]
Owens has taught at the middle school, high school, and college levels, including a stint as Headmaster of The Patterson School.
Most of his creative and critical work has been completed while living in Hickory, North Carolina, and teaching at Lenoir Rhyne University [5] and Catawba Valley Community College [6] both of which have awarded him their "Excellence in Teaching Award."
Owens's books, Prepositional, and Sky Full of Stars and Dreaming were nominated for a National Book Critics' Circle Award. His poems have been nominated for eleven Pushcart Prizes and seven Best of the Net Awards, and received awards from the Academy of American Poets, the North Carolina Poetry Society, the Poetry Society of South Carolina, the Next Generation Indie Awards, and the North Carolina Writer's Network. His poem, "So Norman Died of Course," received a Special Mention from the Pushcart Prize Anthology for 2009. and "On the Days I Am Not My Father," "Cleaning House," "The Arrival of the Past," and "Rails" were featured on Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac . [7]
Owens' papers are housed in the South Carolina Poetry Archives in the James B Duke Library at Furman University. [2]
Owens' poems treat a wide range of themes often expressed as dialectics, including hope and despair, faith and agnosticism, [8] abuse and parenting, alienation and existentialism, loneliness and collaboration, entrapment and liberation, personal relationships and self-sufficiency, nightmares and reality, the disappearance of a rural American South characterized as both pastoral and violent, and the possibilities of redemption, often found through relationships and expressed through something as small as a preposition, as his characters attempt to make sense of an often seemingly senseless world. His settings and imagery are familiar but often quirky, utilizing extended metaphors and juxtaposing the mundane with the transcendent in sometimes disturbing ways. [9] His work is marked by diversity in tone, style and subject matter, at times nearly formal, at other times conversational and performance-based; at times political, at other times focused on nature; at times distraught about the state of humanity, but just as often optimistic and celebratory. He often re-envisions the lives of familiar historical and mythological characters and has created his own everyman figure named Norman. He cites deep imagism, confessionalism, and surrealism among his strongest influences. [10]
Hickory is a city in North Carolina primarily located in Catawba County and is the 25th most populous city in North Carolina. It is located approximately 60 miles (97 km) northwest of Charlotte. Hickory's population in the 2022 United States Census Bureau estimate was 44,084. Hickory is the main city of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of 368,347 in the 2022 census.
Lenoir–Rhyne University is a private Lutheran university in Hickory, North Carolina. It was founded in 1891 and is affiliated with the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
Frank Barger was an American high school football coach at Hickory High School in Hickory, North Carolina. A graduate of Lenoir-Rhyne College, Barger compiled a 273–108–5 record in coaching the Hickory Tornadoes. This includes 3 western state titles and 10 district titles during his 31-year tenure (1953–1984). He was the National Coach of the Year for District 3 in 1971, and in 1993 was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, in Raleigh, North Carolina. During his time at Hickory High School, Barger also coached other sports such as baseball, golf, track, and girls' basketball.
Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS) is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and located in Columbia, South Carolina. It offers theological degrees. In 2012, it merged with Lenoir-Rhyne University, also affiliated with the ELCA. Although Lenoir-Rhyne is based in Hickory, North Carolina, LTSS operates as a satellite campus in Columbia.
Helen and Leonard Moretz Stadium is an 8,500-seat stadium located in Hickory, North Carolina. It serves as home to the Lenoir-Rhyne University Bears of the South Atlantic Conference. Moretz Stadium is the fourth oldest stadium in continuous use in NCAA Division II and one of the oldest in the country. It was built in 1924. Games played there are said to be played "between the bricks" as the walls separating the seating area from the field are built with brick which was part of the design of the stadium since it opened in 1924.
Fred Goldsmith is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania (1981), Rice University (1989–1993), Duke University (1994–1998), and Lenoir–Rhyne University (2007–2010), compiling a career record of 59–104–1.
Guy Owen was a professor of English who produced many different types of literary works.
Clarence Stasavich was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Lenoir–Rhyne College—now known as Lenoir–Rhyne University—in Hickory, North Carolina from 1946 to 1961 and at East Carolina College—renamed East Carolina University in 1967—from 1963 to 1969, compiling a career college football head coaching record of 171–64–7. He led Lenoir–Rhyne to the NAIA Football National Championship in 1960. Stasavich was also the athletic director at Lenoir–Rhyne from 1946 to 1961 and East Carolina from 1963 to 1975.
The South Carolina Poetry Archives at Furman University is a collection of published works, manuscripts, and ephemeral materials from over one hundred authors. It is housed in Greenville, South Carolina, at the Special Collections and Archives department of the James B. Duke Library.
Stuart Dischell is an American poet and Professor in English Creative Writing in the Master of Fine Arts Program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Elizabeth "Betty" Sharp Adcock is an American poet and a 2002–2003 Guggenheim Fellow. Author of six poetry collections, she has served as a faculty member in the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers in Asheville, North Carolina and in the Writer-in-Residence program at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina. She has also held residencies at Lenoir-Rhyne College, Kalamazoo College, and Duke University, and has twice served as Visiting Distinguished Professor at North Carolina State University.
North Carolina Highway 127 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It serves similar to a farm-to-market highway, connecting rural Catawba and Alexander counties to Hickory.
Tim Earley is an American poet. He is the author of four collections of poems, Boondoggle, The Spooking of Mavens, Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery, and Linthead Stomp.
Dede Wilson is an American poet and writer. She has published short stories, essays, seven books of poetry, and a family memoir. Her fourth book of poetry, Eliza: The New Orleans Years has also been produced as a one-woman show.
Alex Grant is a Scottish-born American poet and instructor.
Bennie Lee Sinclair was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She was named by Governor Richard Wilson Riley as the fifth South Carolina Poet Laureate from 1986 to 2000.
Richard Nestus Gurley was an American football, basketball and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at Lenoir–Rhyne University in Hickory, North Carolina from 1924 to 1931. He served as the school's head basketball and baseball coach.
The 1960 Lenoir Rhyne Bears football team was an American football team represented Lenoir Rhyne College as a member of the North State Conference (NSC) during the 1960 NAIA football season. In their 15th season under head coach Clarence Stasavich, the team compiled an 11–0–1 record and won the NSC championship. The Bears were ranked No. 2 in the final Associated Press small college poll and No. 3 in the final UPI small college coaches poll. The small college polls included both NCAA and NAIA programs. Both polls were issued before the team's post-season victories.
The 1956 Lenoir Rhyne Bears football team was an American football team that represented Lenoir Rhyne College as a member of the North State Conference (NSC) during the 1956 NAIA football season. In their 11th season under head coach Clarence Stasavich, the team compiled a 10–0 record, won the NSC championship, and outscored opponents by a total of 380 to 70. 1956 remains the only perfect season in the history of the Lenoir–Rhyne Bears football program. The Bears also had undefeated seasons in 1955 and 1960 in which their record was marred only by a single tie game.
Hanley Hayes Painter was an American football and baseball coach, college athletics administrator, and educator. He served as the head football coach at Lenoir–Rhyne College—now known as Lenoir–Rhyne University—in Hickory, North Carolina from 1962 to 1973, compiling a career college football of 66–43–2. He led the Lenoir–Rhyne Bears to five Carolinas Conference titles and an appearance in the NAIA Football National Championship title game in 1962. Painter was also the head baseball coach at Lenoir–Rhyne from 1957 to 1961, the school's athletic director from 1961 to 1982, and a professor of health and education.
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