Brent A . Spencer, MA, MFA, PhD

Department

English

Position

Professor

Books

• Writer's Workshop Press
  Dialogue Tips and Traps: A Guide for Fiction Writers (chapbook) 2012
• Writer's Workshop Press
  Making a Scene: A Guide for Fiction Writers (chapbook) 2012
• Backwaters Press
  Rattlesnake Daddy (memoir) 2011
• The River Teeth Reader
  Spencer, Brent Tough, p. 308-320 2008
• Now write!: Fiction writing exercises from today's best writers and teachers
  Spencer, B. Storyboard your story, p. 162-164 2006
• University of Scranton Press
  Spencer, B. 'Fishermen at Mori Point' and 'Boy Raised by Wolves,' Palpable Clock: 25 Years of Mulberry Poets. 2004
• University of Nebraska Press
  Spencer, B. 'Pie Night,' A Different Plain: Contemporary Nebraska Fiction Writers. 2004
• Spencer, B. "Down in the Jungle Room" (short-short), Sudden Stories: A Mammoth Anthology of Minuscule Fiction.  2003
• Backwaters Press
  Spencer, B. 'Save or Turn to Stone,' Road Trip. 2003
• Mammoth Press
  Spencer, B. 'Class Report,' Sudden Stories: A Mammoth Anthology of Minuscule Fiction. 2003
• Arcade Publishing
  Are We Not Men? (stories) 1996
• Arcade Publishing
  The Lost Son (novel) 1995
• Stanford Alumni Association
  Spencer, B. 'The Small Things That Save Us' (as 'Night, Sleep, Death, and the Stars'), The Uncommon Touch 1989
• Wampeter/Bantam
  Spencer, B. 'The Small Things That Save Us,' The Editors' Choice 1986
• Twin Pines Press
  Spencer, B. 'Two Lancaster Poems,' Scanlan Saloon Poetry Anthology 1979

Plays

• New Horizons Picture Corporation
  Full Throttle (co-writer with Jonis Agee), Executive Producer: Roger Corman. Completed, not distributed. 2015

Poems

• Midwest Quarterly
  Spencer, Brent "Aubade" [poem]
  52, p. 352-354 2011
• Hurakan
  Spencer, B. 'Woman Trades Child for Sportscar' [poem] 1995
• Midland Review
  Spencer, B. 'Fishermen at Mori Point' [poem]
  #6 1990
• Intro 13
  Spencer, B. 'Christmas Cards on Catherine Street' [poem] 1982
• Arachne
  Spencer, B. 'Terrorist Poem' [poem] 1981
• Dekalb Journal of Literary Arts
  Spencer, B. "Poultry Disease" [poem] 1980
• Dekalb Journal of Literary Arts
  Spencer, B. 'Inventor,' [poem] 1980
• US 1 Worksheets
  Spencer, B. 'Farm Ceremony,' [poem] 1979
• US 1 Worksheets
  Spencer, B. "Deserted by Bulbs" [poem] 1979
• Poet and Critic
  Spencer, B. 'Old Hills in Pennsylvania' [poem] 1979
• Poet & Critic
  "Two Lancaster Poems" [poems]
  Fall 1979 1979
• King James Review
  Spencer, B. 'An Epic Poem for Mr. Pope' [poem] 1973
• Arachne
  Spencer, B. "Some Postcards" [poem]

Articles

• Pif Magazine
  'Interview with Brent Spencer'
  25 1999

Publications

• Southern Review
  "Thank You, Dark", p. 454-72 2018
• Fifth Wednesday
  "Let It Go"
  20, p. 178-86 2017
• Screenplay
  Babyman, Optioned twice by Pachyderm Productions. 2015
• Brigit Saint Brigit Newsletter
  Spencer, B. “Long Day’s Journey Into O’Neill.” 2013
• Fifth Wednesday
  Spencer, Brent "Siren" 2010
• River Teeth
  Spencer, Brent "Mystery ways"
  11, p. 99-108 2009
• Prairie Schooner
  Spencer, B. "The true history"
  80, p. 139-151 2006
• Witness
  Spencer, B. "Red-eyed dog", p. 77-86 2006
• McSweeney's
  Spencer, B. 'The Tyrant's Tales,' McSweeney's (online), (http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2004/1/29spencer.html) 2004
• EPOCH
  'Down in the Jungle Room' (short story)
  51:2 2002
• Glimmer Train
  Spencer, B. 'Pie Night' 1999
• Instructional Technology Magazine
  'WebCT and Me'
  1:3 1998
• Writer's Digest
  'Ten Dialogue Dos and Don'ts' 1998
• GQ
  Spencer, B. 'This Is the Last of the Nice' 1996
• Antioch Review
  Spencer, B. 'All I Ever Wanted' 1995
• Missouri Review
  Spencer, B. 'Babyman'
  XV, 3 1992
• American Literary Review
  Spencer, B. 'Haven't You Ever Seen Cary Grant?' 1991
• Stanford Magazine
  Spencer, B. 'The Hazards of Poetry.' 1991
• The Atlantic
  Spencer, B. 'The Small Things That Save Us' 1984
• AWP Newsletter
  'Inside the Programs: Iowa' 1983
• Stony Hills
  'Poetry and the Centered Life'
  11 1982
• Kayak
  'The Poem of Personality Once More' 1982
• The Sun
  Spencer, B. "Simple Pleasures." 1980
• The Sun
  Spencer, B. 'Home.' 1979

Editing and Reviews

• Great Plains Quarterly
  Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film?..A Reporter's Perspective, 1998-2012 [book review]
  34, p. 191-192 2014
• Midwest Book Review
  “Reading My Father by Alexandra Styron” Reviewers Bookwatch [book review] 2011
• Prairie Schooner
  Review of Francine Prose, Bigfoot Dreams
  72:4 1998
• Prairie Schooner
  Reviews of various books by contemporary fiction writers: Dallas Morning News, Prairie Schooner, Living Digital, on-line magazine of Prodigy, 1995-96; San Francisco Chronicle, 1985 1988; Aspen Anthology, Rural Review Project, Coordinating Council of Literary Magazines, 1978 79 1995
• Poet and Critic
  'The Country of Donald Hall' 1982

General

Presentations

• Reading, Wayne State College 2014
• Panelist, "The Price of Free Music," 10th Annual Creighton Business Symposium 2013
• Reading, "War is Trauma," Hot Shops Art Gallery 2012
• Reading, Nebraska Arts Council, Omaha, NE 2010
• "A Spy in the House of Words" (keynote speaker), Two-Year College English Association Conference, Des Moines, Iowa 2010
• Visiting Writer, Mount Ranier Writers Workshop, Tacoma, WA, 2008 2008
• Visiting Writer, Nebraska Summer Writers Conference, 2005-2007. Course Taught: Masterclass in the Novel 2005
• Visiting Associate Professor of English, University of Nebraska--Lincoln, 2004. Course taught: Advanced Fiction Writing (undergraduate) 2004
• Reading, Lee Booksellers, Lincoln, NE 2003
• Panelist, Banned Books Week, Academic Freedom Coalition of Nebraska, University of Nebraska 2003
• "Writing and Publishing Fiction," Nebraska Book Festival, Grand Island, NE 2003
• "The Craft of Writing Fiction," Communications Academy, Harry A. Burke High School, Omaha, NE 2003
• "Wright Morris: The Writer's Eye," Joslyn Museum 2003
• Reading, Wayne State University 2003
• Reading& Workshop, Peru State College 2002
• Reading, Omaha Public Library 2002
• Reading & Workshop, Northeast Community College 2002
• Visiting Writer, Taos Summer Writing Festival (2001, 2002, 2013, 2017) Taught weekend and week-long workshops in the writing of fiction and in memoir 2001
• Visiting Writer, Mississippi River Creative Writing Workshop, 2001, 2002, 2003 2001
• Visiting Writer, Iowa Summer Writing Festival, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002. Taught weekend and week-long workshops in the writing of fiction 1999
• Visiting Writer, Sewanee Writers' Conference, 1997, 1998. Taught workshops, gave readings and craft talks, and met with writers individually for manuscript conferences at the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee 1997

Awards

• Optioned
  Short story "Babyman" was optioned twice for film development by Pachyderm Productions, a film production company in Hollywood.
  Pachyderm Productions
• 3rd Place
  Awarded for Everlasting [screenplay], later solicited by Zero Gravity Entertainment.
  Silver Screenwriting Awards
• Quarter-Finalist
  Chosen as quarter-finalist for Nicholl Fellowship for screenwriting (for Baghdad Rules), sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
  Nicholl Fellowship
• Nominated for the Pushcart Prize
• Nominated for Theatre Arts Guild Award
  Nominated for the role of Christopher in "Tribes"
  SNAP Productions
• Distinguished Service Award
  Creighton University
• Nebraska Book Award (biography)
  For "Rattlesnake Daddy"
  Nebraska Center for the Book
• Top 25%
  For "Professor Goomba" (co-writer)
  Page International Screenwriting Awards
• Top 25%
  For "Baghdad Rules," 2010, 2011, 2012
  Page International Screenwriting Awards
• William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, Non-Fiction (short-listed)
  For "Rattlesnake Daddy"
• Winner, Midwest Book Award (Autobiography/Memoir)
  For "Rattlesnake Daddy"
  Midwest Independent Publishers Association
• Silver Award, Book of the Year Award
  For "Rattlesnake Daddy"
  Sponsored by ForeWord Reviews
• New England Book Award (Biography/Autobiography), runner-up
  For "Rattlesnake Daddy"
• IGGY Award
  Awarded to outstanding freshman mentors, counselors, advocates & role models
  Center for Student Success and Retention, Creighton University
• Best Action Screenplay
  Award for Baghdad Rules.
  Chicago Screenwriters Association
• Ton 25%
  Awarded for Baghdad Rules [screenplay], 2010, 2011
  Page International Screenwriting Awards
• Gold Award
  Awarded for Baghdad Rules [screenplay]
  California Film Awards
• Gold Level Award Winner
  For "Baghdad Rules" (co-writer), 202 chosen from among 1100 entries
  California Film Awards
• Champion Screenwriting Competition, quarter-finalist
  For "Baghdad Rules," (co-writer), 202 chosen from among 1100 entries
• Creative World Awards, quarter-finalist
  For "Baghdad Rules" (co-writer), chosen from among 4,000 entries
• Best Action Screenplay
  For "Baghdad Rules," (co-writer), chosen from among 2000 entries from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin
  Chicago Screenwriters Network Contest
• 3rd Prize, Silver Screenwriting Competition
  For "Everlasting" (co-writer)
• Page International Screenwriting Awards, quarter-finalist
  For "Everlasting," co-written with Jonis Agee
• Distinguished Artist Award
  Nebraska Arts Council/The Backwaters Press
• Little Bluestem Award
  Nebraska Arts Council/The Backwaters Press
• Donald Barthelme Prize, semi-finalist
  Gulf Coast Magazine
• Semi-finalist
  Awarded for Coultergeist [screenplay]
  Slamdance Screenplay Competition
• Slamdance Screenplay Competition, semi-finalist
  For "Coultergeist"
• The Dorothy Churchill Cappon Nonfiction Award, finalist
  For "Legends of Parts" (creative non-fiction)
  New Letters
• "The True History" included in the eleventh volume of "Best American Mystery Stories"
  Ed. Carl Hiaasen (Houghton Mifflin)
• Included in 101 Best Web Sites for Writers
  For the website nebraskacenterforwriters.org
  Writer's Digest
• Pushcart Prize, special mention
• Faculty Development Award
  College of Arts & Sciences, Creighton University
• Individual Artist Fellowship
  Nebraska Arts Council
• Artist's Residency
  Residencies also awarded from The MacDowell Colony and the Edna St. Vincent Millay Colony
  Yaddo
• US West Fellowship
  Creighton
• Are We Not Men? chosen as one of the 25 best books of 1996
  Editors of The Village Voice
• Individual Artist Fellowship
  Nebraska Arts Council
• Summer Research Fellowship
  For non-fiction book project on U.S.-Mexico border region
  Creighton University
• Pushcart Prize, special mention
  1994-95, for "Babyman"
  Missouri Review
• Wallace Stegner Fellowship
  For the study of fiction writing in the Stanford Creative Writing Program
  Stanford University
• Editor's Choice Award
  "The Small Things That Save Us" chosen as the best story to appear in the magazine that year
  Fiction Editor of The Atlantic Monthly
• James Michener Award
  For the writing of a novel, funded by Michener and administered by The Copernicus Foundation
  Iowa Writer's Workshop
• Research Grant
  For the study of poet Theodore Roethke's papers at the University of Washington library
  Pennsylvania State University
• Pushcart Nomination
  1979, 1992, 1993, 2004. For annual anthology of best writing to appear in little magazines and small presses

Consulting

• Editor/Designer
  My wife and I own and operate a small literary publishing company. These are the books I designed, edited, and published in 2018: Bajo, David. The Ensenada Public Library [novel], 2018. Messenger, Carrie. In the Amber Chamber [short story collection], 2018 Lansky, Ellen. Suburban Heathens [novel], 2018 Reichard, William. The Night Horse [poetry collection], 2018 Owens, Bradly. How I Met You [short story collection], 2018. Davis, Fran. West of Love [novel], 2017 Lentini, Carla. Remote Fishing and Sassafras Tea. 2017.
  Brighthorse Books
  2018 - 2018