William Rodney Allen is an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and former

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 the

Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts , motto_translation = We shall excel , slogan = ''Above. Beyond.'' , streetaddress = 715 University Parkway , city = Natchitoches , state = Louisiana , zipcode = 71457 , country = United States , coordinates = , type = Public, Selectiv ...

. He received his PhD from Duke University, and was a faculty member at LSMSA from the time the school first opened in 1983 until his retirement in 2011. He is married to Cindy Allen, a counselor at the school, and has two daughters, Emily and Claire, with her. He has many interests, which include and are not limited to playing

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

, and cutting down

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

trees. He is also a

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

fan and owns what is believed to be the last thing that Vonnegut wrote before his death in 2007, a

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...

addressed to Allen.

Works

''Walker Percy: A Southern Wayfarer''
University Press of Mississippi, 2006,
''Conversations with Kurt Vonnegut (Literary conversations series)''
University Press of Mississippi, 1988, * ''Understanding Kurt Vonnegut (Understanding Contemporary American Literature)'' (1991) * ''The Heath Introduction to Literature'' (1999)
''The Coen Brothers: Interviews''

Conversations with Filmmakers Series The Conversations with Filmmakers Series is part of the University Press of Mississippi which is sponsored by Mississippi's eight state universities. The mission of the Series is to publish collected interviews with world-famous directors. The cu ...

University Press of Mississippi, 2006,

References

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American literary critics American academics of English literature Duke University alumni American non-fiction writers {{US-nonfiction-writer-stub