Contact
Richard Hoffman rchoffman@comcast.net

 

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The Abbington Group

 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE:

Richard Hoffman’s work, both prose and verse, has appeared in Agni, Ascent, Harvard Review, Hudson Review, The Literary Review, Poetry, Shenandoah, Witness and elsewhere, as well as in several anthologies. He is the author of the poetry collection Without Paradise (Cedar Hill Books.) Currently Writer-in-Residence at Emerson College, he also teaches in the Stonecoast MFA program at the University of Southern Maine. He is the recipient of several fellowships and awards, most recently a Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship in fiction, and The Literary Review’s Charles Angoff Prize.

RICHARD’S CV:

RICHARD HOFFMAN
3 Gladstone St.
Cambridge, MA 02140
(617) 661-8043
rchoffman@comcast.net
http://www.abbington.com/hoffman

EDUCATION

M.F.A. Goddard College, Plainfield, VT 1977; Creative Writing.

B.A. Fordham University, Bronx, NY 1971; English.

PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS:

Half the House: a Memoir. New York. Harcourt, Brace. September, 1995; paperback, 1997, Harvest Books; New Rivers Press edition, Moorhead, MN, New Rivers Press, Many Americas Rediscovery Series, October, 2005.

Without Paradise: Poems. San Diego. Cedar Hill Publications. September, 2002.

Gold Star Road: Poems. New York. Barrow Street Press. May, 2007

WORK IN ANTHOLOGIES:

Daily Fare: Essays from the Multicultural Experience, ed. Kathleen Aguero. Athens, GA. University of Georgia Press. 1993

An Ear to the Ground: Contemporary U.S. Poetry, ed. Kathleen Aguero & Marie Harris. Athens, GA. University of Georgia Press. 1989

The Uses of Poetry, ed. Agnes Stein. New York. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1976

Eating the Menu: Contemporary American Poetry, ed. Bruce Edward Taylor. Dubuque. Kendall-Hunt Publishing. 1974

WORK IN PERIODICALS:

My work, both prose and verse, has appeared in such periodicals as Agni, American Review, Ascent, Bostonia, The Boston Sunday Globe (book pages), The Carleton Miscellany, Harvard Review, Hudson Review, Kansas Quarterly, The Larcom Review, The Literary Review, Marlboro Review, Poetry, Shenandoah, South Dakota Review, New Age, The Sun, The Writers’ Chronicle, and Witness among others, as well as in the on-line journals Flashpoint and In-posse Review. (A complete bibliography of works in magazines is available on request.)

In addition to literary work, I have written articles for Harvard Public Health Review, The Brown University Long-Term Care Quality Letter, Contemporary Long-Term Care, Nursing Homes, and The Quality Care Advocate.

INTERVIEWS

NBC News, Anchorage, KTUU Television. Two 5 minute news segments on institutional responses to the sexual abuse of children.

Consider This, KAKM Anchorage Public Television. Discussion of Half the House, sexual violence against children, justice and reparations.

To the Point, KCRW Los Angeles and Public Radio International. Discussion of youth, media, and sexuality.

Ann On-line: two lengthy interviews with Ann Devlin in RealAudio on her web-based news and entertainment program. The program also features a reading from Half the House.

Dateline NBC: an eighteen minute segment with correspondent John Hockenberry, chronicled the impact of my memoir, Half the House, which led to the arrest of a coach who had sexually assaulted more than 400 children over a forty year period.

Soundings: interview with Wayne Pond, Public Radio International. National Center for the Humanities.

Radio Times: interview with Marty Moss-Coane. WHYY-FM. Philadephia.

Men in Sport: interview with Peter Solomon. WIP Radio. Philadelphia.

The Geraldo Rivera Show: provided "expert commentary" on a program focused on the problem of child abuse, the courts, and vigilante justice.

The Book Case: interview with Michelle Breneman. Continental Cablevision.

Culture TV: interview with Gary McClouth, Albany, NY.

KEYNOTES, PANELS, TALKS

Fourth Annual Common Ground International Conference on the Book. Hyatt-Regency Boston, October, 10, 11, 12. (Plenary session panel: "Truth-telling in the 21st Century" w/ Sara Nelson, Publishers Weekly, Helene Atwan, Beacon Press; Closing Plenary Session, A Reading [from Half the House and Without Paradise] w/ Pamela Painter and Daniel Tobin.

Fifth International Festival of Poetry, sponsored by Fundación Poetas de El Salvador. October 2-7, 2006. Read to 12 audiences in 5 days, with poets from France, Spain, Italy, Nigeria, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, Ecuador, Argentina, Venezuela, Guatemala.

The Writers' Center at Chautauqua. The Chautauqua Institution. August 11, 2006. (Lecture: "James Baldwin, The Price of the Ticket")

Annual AWP Conference, Austin, TX, March, 2006. (Panel: "Low Residency Programs, Then & Now" w/Elaine Terranova, Sharon White, Patricia Eakins.)

NonFictioNow! Conference, University of Iowa, November 10-12, 2005 (Panel: "You Get No Credit for Playing: When Sport Occasions Memoir" w/ Dale Rigby, Gretchen Legler, James McKean, Michael Steinberg.)

Envisioning Change: Organizing to End Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence. Marlborough, MA, June 24, 2005. Jane Doe, Inc. Panel: “Survivors’ Leadership: Influencing Policies, Communities, and Organizations

Annual AWP Conference, Vancouver, B.C., March 31, 2005. (Panel: “Writing with Heart AND Intellect” w/ Grace Paley, Linda McCarriston, Marybeth Holleman, Elizabeth Wales)

Current Thinking/ New Directions Conference, Children’s Cove: Cape Cod Child Advocacy Center and Barnstable County District Attorney’s Office. Keynote: June 18, 2004.

Alaska Press Women’s Luncheon. Alaska Press Women, Anchorage. Keynote: March 4, 2004.

The Writer as Grass Roots Intellectual. Pacific Rim Conference on Literature and Rhetoric. University of Alaska at Anchorage, March 5, 2004.

The Writers’ Center at Chautauqua. The Chautauqua Institution. August 8, 2003. (Lecture: Memoir’s Motives: Ethical Issues in First-person Non-fiction.)

Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, Northeastern University, December 7, 2002. (Keynote & Panelist)

The Grolier Poetry Bookshop. Book-signing and reading to celebrate publication of Without Paradise. September 21, 2002.

Emerging Issues in Response to Sexual Assault. Massachusetts Medical Society Conference on Improving Services for Survivors of Sexual Assault. September 20, 2002. (Panelist)

Writing from Life: Why Should Anyone Care about Your Story? National Writers’ Union./ Cambridge Center for Adult Education. April 10, 2002. (Panelist)

The Writers’ Center at Chautauqua. The Chautauqua Institution. July 7, 2000. (Lecture: “Democracy’s Genre: Memoir as the Literature of Witness.”)

Massachusetts Attorney General’s Conference on Violence and Its Victims. World Trade Center, Boston. April 25, 2000. (Keynote Address)

11th Annual “To Tell the Truth” Conference. Rhode Island College. November 7, 1999. (Keynote Address)

4th Annual Conference of the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. October 2-3, 1999. (Keynote Address)

Compunction: Art as Catalyst & Catharsis. Brown University, Swearer Center for Public Service, May 18-20, 1999. (Talk: “The Right Not to Lie: Complicity, Silence, and Literary Responsibility”)

17th Annual AWP Conference, Albany NY. April 17, 1999. (Roundtable, “Who If Not Us: Writers and Literary Silence” w/Reginald Gibbons, Carol Bly, Linda McCarriston, Gene Bell-Villada)

6th Annual New Hampshire Department of Justice Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect. October 22-24, 1998. (Keynote Address)

Memoirs: Why Write Them Now? Boston Public Library. April 3, 1997.

The Writer’s Life. Cambridge Adult Education Center/ National Writers’ Union, Boston Local. April, 1998.

Fair Play or Foul Ball? A Symposium on Ethics & Sport. Brown University. April 9, 1998.

Writing for Love & Money. National Writers’ Union Conference. John F. Kennedy School of Government. April 26, 1997.

2nd Annual New Voices Conference, Misty Valley Books, Chester, Vermont. January 20-21, 1996.

In addition to the above, I have recently guest-lectured or read from my work at the following institutions: College of St. Rose (Albany), Fairfield University, Lesley University, North Shore Community College, Pine Manor College, Suffolk University, University of Massachusetts, Boston.

GRANTS AND AWARDS

Barrow Street Poetry Prize, 2007
Charles Angoff Award, The Literary Review, 2002
Massachusetts Cultural Council, 2002 (fiction)
Grolier Poetry Prize, Runner-up, 2000
Massachusetts Cultural Council, 1996 (fiction)
Gardner Fund Arts Fellow, 1993 (nonfiction)
Somerville Arts Council Grant, 1986 (fiction)
Massachusetts Artists' Foundation Fellowship, 1985 (nonfiction)
New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship, 1983 (poetry)

Half the House: a Memoir was named 1996 Book of the Year by The Boston Athenaeum Readers' Group.

EMPLOYMENT

December 2002 to present:

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MAINE. Stonecoast MFA program. Conducted workshops during twice-yearly residency. Offered 2 hour craft seminar on strategies of first-person narration in fiction and memoir. Presently mentoring 5 graduate students via mail/internet.

September 2001 to present:

EMERSON COLLEGE. Writer-in-Residence. Teaching full-time (2-3) load, including both writing and literature courses, in undergraduate and graduate writing program. Responsibilities also include chairing several Master’s theses, conducting independent directed study projects for seniors, and advising Redivider, the national literary journal associated with Emerson’s MFA Program.

September 1999 to May 2001:

EMERSON COLLEGE. Adjunct Professor in the Dept. of Writing, Literature and Publishing. Designed and taught graduate seminar on contemporary short fiction, and upper-level undergraduate literature course on the personal essay, along with a graduate workshop in the memoir and an undergraduate workshop in fiction. Served as advisor to independent study projects and chaired Master’s thesis committees.

September 2000 to May 2001; September 2002 to May 2003:

HARVARD UNIVERSITY. Graduate School of Education, Office of School Partnerships. Taught graduate level writing and literature courses, to Boston Public and Private Secondary School teachers.

January 2001 to August 2003:

HARVARD UNIVERSITY. Graduate School of Education. “Teachers as Scholars” program. Taught literature course: “Memory and Meaning: The Situation of Memoir,” and writing course: “The Ninth Letter of the Alphabet: Writing the Personal Essay.”

August 1999 & 2000:

COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS. Instructor in non-fiction. Holy Cross Summer Institute on Writing and Teaching. Designed and taught course on the personal essay — its rationale, strategies, pedagogy, possibilities — to 15 secondary school teachers.

July , 2000, 2001, 2002

NEW YORK STATE SUMMER YOUNG WRITERS’ INSTITUTE. Silver Bay, New York. Taught workshop for teens in first-person non-fiction.

July 2-8, 2000

THE CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTE. Writer-in Residence, The Writers’ Center at Chautauqua. Taught workshop for adults in creative nonfiction.

10/97 to 1/98:

THE ARTIST'S WAY AT WORK: RIDING THE DRAGON. Senior writer/editor. "Ghosted" several sections of this best-selling book by Mark Bryan, Julia Cameron, and Catherine Allen, including the lyrical essays that begin each chapter. Performed extensive developmental editing, reorganizing, and rewriting of much of this book.

7/95 to 9/02:

FRONTLINE PUBLISHING CORP., INC. Editorial Director. Developed continuing education programs for the healthcare industry. Editor of Nursing Assistant Monthly. Researched, wrote, edited monthly publication and accompanying curriculum guide for training of paraprofessional staff. Wrote articles, editorials, for national trade publications. Keynote speaker and workshop presenter at state healthcare association conferences. "Ghosted" three books by executive editor. Initiated and fostered relationships with news media, and provided information and commentary. Managed a staff of three, and coordinated efforts of editorial advisory board, freelance contributors, and consultants.

11/94 to 7/95:

BAY COLONY HEALTH SERVICES, INC. Business Development Director/ Community Resource Director. Responsible for all aspects of market development and public relations.

10/93 to 11/94:

BOURNEWOOD HEALTH SYSTEMS. Referral Coordinator. Responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with client agencies, public and private, in Greater Boston and on the North Shore, as well as for written communications, including brochures, advertisements, and press releases.

4/93 to 10/93:

MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION/ CODE HELPLINE. Interim Executive Director. Responsible for networking with other community agencies, working with funding sources, including United Way/ Community Chests and corporate donors, and seeking new sources of support. Also responsible for outreach, publications, public relations, and design of community education programs.

1/89 to 11/92:

MEDIPLEX/ SPOFFORD HALL. Regional Service Representative. (Previous Positions: Education Coordinator, School Liaison, Adolescent Specialist.) Created and maintained a referral base in 71 cities and towns in Northern and Central Massachusetts for provider of mental health and substance abuse treatment.

6/88 to 1/89:

STUDENTS IN TRANSITION, INC. Assoc. Director. Responsible for program development, marketing, public relations, and staff supervision.

9/85 to 6/88:

CHAPEL HILL - CHAUNCY HALL SCHOOL. English Instructor, Assoc. Director of Admissions, Student Assistance Team Chair, Coach.

9/84 to 6/85:

ROXBURY LATIN SCHOOL. English Instructor, Director of Dramatics Program.

9/78 to 6/83:

BLAIR ACADEMY. English Instructor, Director of Dramatics Program, Housemaster, Coach.

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE

I served until recently as a member of the Steering Committee of the Massachusetts Governor’s Commission on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. (Term expired 2006.)

I am an elected member of the PEN New England Executive Board, and a member of the Freedom-to-Write Committee.

I have recently served as the fiction judge for New Rivers Press's Many Voices Project national fiction prize.

Recently (2003. 2004) I served as a judge for the PEN New England L. L. Winship Award for best book published by a New England author or with a New England theme or setting.

I recently served as a member of the Steering Committee of the Governor’s Task Force on Sexual Assault and Abuse, and chair of the Prevention Strategies Work Group.

I am on the Board of Directors of Massachusetts Citizens for Children, the oldest nonprofit child advocacy center in New England.

I serve as chair of the Survivors, Parents, and Partners Committee of the Massachusetts Partnership for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse, an initiative sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

I am a member of the Men’s Initiative for Jane Doe, a statewide group of men working on issues of domestic violence and sexual assault.

I recently served as judge for the New Hampshire Book Awards.

I served on the panel for the Pennsylvania Arts Council’s Literature Fellowship in 2002.

I was recently involved in a project at the Cambridge Women’s Commission, sponsored by the Brookline Mental Health Center, working with homeless youth who identify as gay. I taught first-person writing, coaching three young women and two young men in writing their histories. The Brookline Mental Health Center printed this booklet of autobiographical essays under the title “Not Who You Think.”

I have been involved in the Alternatives to Violence Program, and have periodically participated, as a volunteer, in weekend AVP workshops in Massachusetts prisons.

Under the auspices of the Mental Health Association of Central Middlesex, I developed and taught a 12-week course in relapse prevention called "Tools of Recovery" for incarcerated substance abusers at Northeast Correctional Center in Concord, Massachusetts. I taught this course six times over a two year period.

Recently (2003. 2004) I served as a judge for the PEN New England L. L. Winship Award for best book published by a New England author or with a New England theme or setting.

I currently teach prisoners, as a volunteer for PEN New England, at the Northampton County House of Correction

MEMBERSHIPS

I am a member of The American Association of University Professors, The Authors Guild, the National Writers' Union, PEN New England, and The Academy of American Poets, The New England Poetry Club, and The Poetry Society of America. I am listed in the Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers. References available on request.