Tom Whalen
Tom Whalen is an American writer and scholar.Education and career
Whalen graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1970 with a B.A. in English, and earned a M.A. in Writing from Hollins College in 1971.
He attended Tulane University in 1974 and the University of California, Berkeley, in 1981. In 2008 he received a Ph.D. in American Literature from Freiburg University, Germany where he was a Visiting Professor in North American Studies. Whalen also was a Visiting Professor in American Film and Literature 2006-09 at the University of Stuttgart.
In 2008, he taught a film class at the Staatliche Akademie der Künste Stuttgart.Honors and distinctions
- Caketrain Chapbook Competition, 2006.
- Texas Review Press Novella Award, 1996.
- The Missouri Review Editor's Prize, 1993.
- Distinguished Teacher, Presidential Scholars Commission, 1984, 1994.
- Pro Helvetia Research Grants Summer 1988 and Summer 1990.
- Louisiana Artist Fellowship in Literature, 1985.
- New Orleans Public Schools Teacher of the Year, 1984.
- National Endowment for the Humanities Grant, SUNY-Buffalo, Summer 1984.
- Outstanding Arts Teacher, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, 1984.
- McNeese State University Research Grant, 1976.
- Hollins College Fellowship, 1970-71.
Works
Novels
- The Camel's Back. With Michael Presti. New Orleans and Tuscaloosa: Portals Press, 1993.
- Roithamer's Universe. New Orleans: Portals Press, 1996.
- A Newcomer's Guide to the Afterlife: On the Other Side Known Commonly As "The Little Book." With Daniel Quinn. New York: Bantam Books, 1997.
- The President in Her Towers. New York: Ellipsis Press, 2012.
- The Straw That Broke. San Francisco: Black Scat Books, 2014.
Short fiction
- The Eustachia Stories: An Astroromance. Illustrations by Linda Francis. California: Velocities. 1985.
- Elongated Figures. New York: Red Dust, 1991.
- The Baby. Black River Falls, WI: Obscure Publications, 2001.
- Report from the Dump. Black River Falls, WI: Obscure Publications, 2001.
- The Internecine Wars: from THE PRESIDENT IN HER TOWERS: Black River Falls, WI: Obscure Publications, 2001.
- Concerning the Vampire. Black River Falls, WI: Obscure Publications, 2001.
- Twenty-Six Novels. Black River Falls, WI: Obscure Publications, 2001.
- The Cosmic Messenger: from TALES FROM THE HYBRID POOL. Black River Falls, WI: Obscure Publications, 2002.
- Memoirs from a Mousehole: from THE STRAW THAT BROKE. Black River Falls, WI: Obscure Publications, 2002.
- Quantum Surge in O Central. Black River Falls, WI: Obscure Publications, 2003.
- An Exchange of Letters. Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada: Parsifal Press, 2007.
Poetry
- The Spare Key. Seventeen Poems. Nacogdoches, Texas: The Seven Deadly Sins Press, 1977.
- The Lonely Person's Garden. Prose Poetry. Nacogdoches, Texas: The Seven Deadly Sins Press, 1980.
- Winter Coat. New York: Red Dust, 1998.
- The Wrong Mistake. Black River Falls, WI: Obscure Publications, 2001.
- Strange Alleys: Prose Poems. Illustrations by Nick Wadley. Black River Falls, WI: Obscure Publications, 2004.IV.
- Green Man and the Priests. Black River Falls, WI: Obscure Publications, 2007.
- Dolls: Prose Poems. Pittsburgh, PA: Caketrain Press, 2007.
Criticism
- "What an Edifice of Artifice!": Russell H. Greenan's It Happened in Boston?. Black River Falls, WI: Obscure Publications, 2008.
- It's What We Do Best: Essays on War Films by Godard, Malick, and Carpenter. Black River Falls, WI: Obscure Publications, 2009.
- A Bucket of Maggots, A Can of Worms: Methods of Order in Greenan’s Macabre Collage. College Hill Review No. 7, Spring 2011.
- The Birth of Death and Other Comedies: The Novels of Russell H. Greenan. Normal, IL: Dalkey Archive, Spring 2011.
