Lionel Basney (December 2, 1946 – August 21, 1999) was a poet and professor of English at Calvin College in Grand Rapids,

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. Prior to his time at Calvin, Basney taught at

Houghton College Houghton University is a private Christian liberal arts college in Houghton, New York. Houghton was founded in 1883 by Willard J. Houghton and is affiliated with the Wesleyan Church.

, where his father also taught before him. Basney was interested in Samuel Johnson,

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, and

Ned Ludd Ned Ludd is the legendary person to whom the Luddites attributed the name of their movement. In 1779, Ludd is supposed to have broken two stocking frames in a fit of rage. When the "Luddites" emerged in the 1810s, his identity was appropriated ...

and the origins of the

Luddite The Luddites were a secret oath-based organisation of English textile workers in the 19th century who formed a radical faction which destroyed textile machinery. The group is believed to have taken its name from Ned Ludd, a legendary weaver ...

movement. He was the author of ''An Earth-Careful Way of Life: Christian Stewardship and the Environmental Crisis''.

Wendell Berry Wendell Erdman Berry (born August 5, 1934) is an American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer. Closely identified with rural Kentucky, Berry developed many of his agrarian themes in the early essays of ...

's ''Life is a Miracle: An Essay Against Modern Superstition'' is dedicated to Basney. In 2000, The Conference on Christianity and Literature at

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and th ...

began awarding the annual Lionel Basney Prize "to the article deemed by the CCL Publications Committee to be the most outstanding article of the year in ''Christianity and Literature''". According to the website, "the award...commemorates both the scholarly career and the personal character of a teacher, scholar, poet, and essayist who, during nearly two decades of affiliation with Calvin College, was deeply committed to CCL and all that it seeks to promote."Basney Award – The Conference on Christianity & Literature
/ref> Basney's own work received awards and critical recognition, particularly the essays that were published in

The American Scholar "The American Scholar" was a speech given by Ralph Waldo Emerson on August 31, 1837, to the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard College at the First Parish in Cambridge in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was invited to speak in recognition of his gro ...

in 1999 and 2002. "Immanuel's Ground" was included in ''The Best Christian Writing 2000'' (ed. John Wilson) and ''The Best Spiritual Writing 2000'' (ed.

Philip Zaleski Philip Zaleski is the author and editor of several books on religion and spirituality, including ''The Recollected Heart,'' ''The Benedictines of Petersham,'' and ''Gifts of the Spirit.'' In addition, he is coauthor with his wife Carol Zaleski of ...

.) "Teacher: Eleven Notes" not only was included in ''The Best Christian Writing 2002'' (ed. John Wilson) but also received

's award for Best Essay in January 2003. According to Basney,

References

Works

*"Myth, History and Time in ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...

''" in ''Understanding the Lord of the Rings: The Best of Tolkien Criticism'' By Rose A. Zimbardo, Neil David Isaacs 2004 Houghton Mifflin . *"Teacher: Eleven Notes." ''

'': 71:1 (January 2002): 75–89. *"The Snow Plough Man." ''Christianity and Literature'': 50:3 (Spring 2001): 412–435. *''An Earth-Careful Way of Life: Christian Stewardship and the Environmental Crisis'',

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, BC:

Regent College Regent College is an interdenominational evangelical Christian College of Christian studies, and an affiliated college of the University of British Columbia, located next to the university's campus in the University Endowment Lands west of V ...

Publishing, 2000 . (Original Publication Information:

Downers Grove, IL Downers Grove is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1832 by Pierce Downer, whose surname serves as the eponym for the village. It is a south-west suburb of Chicago. The village is located between I-88 and I-55. ...

InterVarsity Press Founded in 1947, InterVarsity Press (IVP) is an American publisher of Christian books located in Westmont, Illinois. IVP focuses on publishing Christian books that speak to important cultural moments, provide tools for spiritual growth, and e ...

, 1994 .) *"Immanuel's Ground." ''

'': 68.3 (Summer 1999): 109–120.
"Meditations for Lent 1999"
'' The Banner'' February–March 1999.
"Questioning Progress: The Resurrection of Ned Ludd"
''Books & Culture'': 4.5 (September/October 1998): 18.

''The Other Side'': 33.3 (May/June 1997).
"Mia California: An Opera Journal"
in ''

Virginia Quarterly Review The ''Virginia Quarterly Review'' is a quarterly literary magazine that was established in 1925 by James Southall Wilson, at the request of University of Virginia president E. A. Alderman. This ''"National Journal of Literature and Discussion" ...

'', Spring 1996. *"Five Notes on the Didactic Tradition, in Praise of

" in Paul Merchant, editor. ''Wendell Berry'' (American Authors Series). Lewiston, Idaho: Confluence, 1991: 174–183. *"Narrative and Judgment in the Life of Savage." ''Biography'': 14.2 (Spring 1991): 153–64. *"Prudence in the Life of Savage." ELN: 28.2 (Dec. 1990): 17–24. *"'His Proper Business': Johnson's Adjustment to Society." ''Texas Studies in Literature and Language'': 32.3 (Fall 1990): 397–416. *"Having Your Meaning at Hand: Work in Snyder and Berry", in: ''World, Self, Poem: Essays on Contemporary Poetry from the Jubilation of Poets'', ed Leonard M. Trawick. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1990: 130–143. *"Review of Collected Poems 1957-1982." ''Christianity and Literature'' 25 (Summer 1986): 31–32. *"God and Peter Wimsey." ''Christianity Today'' 17 (1973): 27–28 *"The Balanced Mind: Johnson's Christian Empiricism"; ''Christian Scholar's Review'' III:3 (1973). *"Ecology and the Scriptural Concept of the Master"; ''Christian Scholar's Review'' III:1 (1973): 49–50. *"'Lucidus Ordo': Johnson and Generality" ''Eighteenth-Century Studies'', Vol. 5, No. 1 (Autumn, 1971): 39–57.

External links

Memorial page
by Claire (Basney) Ramsey

obituary in 10 Sept 1999 ''Calvin College Chimes''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basney, Lionel 1946 births 1999 deaths American academics of English literature Calvin University faculty Houghton University faculty 20th-century American poets 20th-century American non-fiction writers