Ron Block

Born 1955 Gothenburg, NE (USA)

Ron Block's family has lived in Gothenburg, Nebraska since the 1870s. He writes poetry, short fiction and creative nonfiction. He received a Distinguished Achievement Fellowship from the Nebraska Arts Council in 2000, and a Fellowship in Fiction from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2002. He contributed to both A Different Plain: Contemporary Nebraska Fiction Writers, 2004 and The Big Empty : Contemporary Nebraska Nonfiction Writers, 2007. He teaches creative writing at Rowan University in New Jersey.

Places Lived

Gothenburg, NE
North Platte, NE
Lincoln, NE
Kennebunkport, ME
New Orleans, LA
Syracuse, NY
Minneapolis, NM
Fargo, ND
Milwaukee, WI
NJ

Author Of

Fiction
Poetry
Nonfiction

Education

BA in English and Linguistics, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
MA in English Literature and Creative Writing, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
MS in Television-Radio-Film, Syracuse University, NY.

Occupation

Creative Writing instructor
Professor at Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ

Places Worked

Mid-Plains Community College, North Platte, NE
Rowan University, NJ

Honors

Winner of the Minnesota Voices Competition in 1988 for Dismal River
Winner of the Minnesota Voices Competition in 1998 for The Dirty Shame Hotel
John H. Ames Reading Series, Featured Reader, 18 February 1999
Distinguished Achievement Fellowship from the Nebraska Arts Council
Fellowship in Fiction from the National Endowment for the Arts

Associations

National Endowment for the Arts literary fellowship

Bibliography

Dismal River: A Narrative Poem. 1990.
Dirty Shame Hotel. 1998.
Ron Block Reads His Fiction. 1999. (John H. Ames Reading Series DVD)
Nebraska Presence. 2007. (Contributor)
Nebraska Poetry: A Sesquicentennial Anthology, 1867-2017. 2017. (Contributor.)

His February 1999 Ames Reading Series presentation can be viewed here:

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