Scott Russell Sanders (born October 26, 1945 in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

) is an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

and

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal ...

. Sanders has won acclaim for his skill as a personal essayist. A contributing editor for ''Orion'' magazine, he has won the John Burroughs Natural History Essay Award, the Indiana Authors Award, and the Mark Twain Award, among other honors. A frequent public lecturer, Sanders also conducts writing workshops across the United States, including recent ones in Alaska, Vermont, Massachusetts, Oregon, and New Mexico. He received the Lannan Literary Award in 1995 for his non-fiction writing, and has received the Frederic Bachman Lieber Award for Distinguished Teaching, the highest teaching award given at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

. In 2012 he was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

. Sanders was a judge for the 2016 Permafrost Book Prize in Nonfiction for Permafrost: Literary Journal. Sanders was a distinguished

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

at Indiana University, where he taught from 1971 until his retirement in 2009. During his career, he has spent sabbatical years as a writer-in-residence at Phillips Exeter Academy, and as a visiting professor at

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

, and

Beloit College Beloit College is a private liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin. Founded in 1846, when Wisconsin was still a territory, it is the state's oldest continuously operated college. It is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and h ...

. He is

married Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

with two children, Eva and Jesse, both of whom he addresses in letters included in ''The Force of Spirit''. He and his wife, Ruth, a biochemist, live in Bloomington, Indiana, in the watershed of the White River.

Works

Fiction

Novels

* ''

Terrarium A terrarium (plural: terraria or terrariums) is usually a sealable glass container containing soil and plants that can be opened for maintenance to access the plants inside; however, terraria can also be open to the atmosphere. Terraria are ofte ...

'' (1985) * ''Bad Man Ballad'' (1986) * ''The Engineer of Beasts'' (1986) * ''The Invisible Company'' (1989) * ''Divine Animal'' (2014)

Short story collections

* ''Wilderness Plots'' (1983) * ''Fetching the Dead'' (1984) * ''Dancing in Dreamtime'' (2016)

Creative non-fiction/essays

*"Scott: Towards a Social Theory of Literature"
''Telos''
18 (Winter 1973-74). New York: Telos Press. * ''The Paradise of Bombs'' (1987) * ''In Limestone Country'' (1991) * ''Secrets of the Universe: Scenes from the Journey Home'' (1991) * ''Staying Put: Making a Home in a Restless World'' (1993) * ''Writing from the Center'' (1995) * ''Hunting for Hope: A Father's Journeys'' (1998) * ''The Country of Language'' (1999) * ''The Force of Spirit'' (2000) * ''A Private History of Awe'' (2006) * ''A Conservationist Manifesto'' (2009) * ''Earth Works: Selected Essays'' (2012) * ''Stone Country: Then and Now'' (2017) * ''The Way of Imagination: Essays'' (2020)

Children's books

* ''Hear the Wind Blow'' (1985) * ''Aurora Means Dawn'' (1989) * ''Warm as Wool'' (1992) * ''Here Comes the Mystery Man'' (1993) * ''Floating House'' (1995) * ''Meeting Trees'' (1996) * ''A Place Called Freedom'' (1997) * ''Crawdad Creek'' (1999)

Honors

Marshall Scholarship The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is widely considered one of the most prestigious sc ...

Guggenheim Fellowship
Lannan Literary Award in Nonfiction
br/
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Creative Writing
br/
Associated Writers and Writing Programs Award in Creative Nonfiction
br/
Ohioana Book Award in Nonfiction for ''Staying Put''
br/

br/> ttps://www.indianaauthorsawards.org/the-awards/previous-award-winners/ Indiana Authors Award, National Winnerbr/
Mark Twain Award from Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature
br/
Cecil Woods, Jr. Award for Nonfiction from the Fellowship of Southern Writers

References

*http://www.scottrussellsanders.com/biog.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20080514155327/http://www.kenyonreview.org/interviews/sanders.php

External links

Scott Russell Sanders official Web siteScott Russell Sanders Faculty Profile
at

Sanders, Scott Russell mss., ca. 1966-2009
at the Indiana University Lilly Library.
Scott R. Sanders teaching and faculty files, 1971-2009, bulk 1989-2009
at the Indiana University Archives. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Scott 1945 births Living people Beloit College faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Writers from Memphis, Tennessee