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| Southern Writers Interview with Susan Reichert |
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
I grew up in El Paso, went to Pomona College for a B.A. in Spanish Literature and to the University of Washington for an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, spent a formative year in Madrid, and then in 1973 came to Athens, Georgia, to join the faculty of Comparative Literature at the University of Georgia. All that was a long time ago. After thirty-eight happy years at the University of Georgia, I retired in 2011 as University Professor of Comparative Literature and Director of the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts. Since then I have been writing murder mysteries. I live in Athens, Georgia, with an African Grey parrot named Cosmo.
ACADEMIC RESUME
Betty Jean Craige
bjcraige@uga.edu
Betty Jean Craige is Professor Emerita of Comparative Literature and Director Emerita of the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts at the University of Georgia. She lives in Athens, Georgia.
Betty Jean received her B.A. in Spanish Literature from Pomona College (1968) and her M.A. (1970) and Ph.D. (1974) in Comparative Literature from the University of Washington. She taught at the University of Georgia from 1973 to 2011.
She has published books in the fields of Spanish poetry, modern literature, history of ideas, politics, ecology, and art. In the early 1980s, Betty Jean became interested in what she considers a fundamental transformation of the West’s conceptual and political order. Reconnection: Dualism to Holism in Literary Study (1988) and Laying the Ladder Down: The Emergence of Cultural Holism (1992) explore the development in the twentieth century of a holistic understanding of culture and nature. American Patriotism in a Global Society (1996) examines the relationship of “political holism” to globalization. Her biography Eugene Odum: Ecosystem Ecologist and Environmentalist (2001, 2002) is the fourth book in this set of books about holism.
After completing the Odum biography, Betty Jean published several art books on the Catalan (Spanish) artist Alvar Suñol, including Alvar: Thirty Years of Lithography (2001); and Alvar: In Color and Poetry (2005), a trilingual volume (English, Spanish, and Catalan) that includes her introduction and her translation into English of seven poems by Marjorie Agosín. She guest-curated a show of Alvar’s lithographs at the Georgia Museum of Art (2001) and produced a 42-minute documentary, with Alan Stecker, titled Alvar Suñol: His Vision and His Art (2005). In 2007, she edited the catalogue Alvar: The Albany Museum of Art and curated the exhibition at the Albany Museum of Art titled Alvar: Contemporary Renaissance.
Her work as a Hispanist includes a study of Federico García Lorca’s surrealist poetry, titled Lorca’s Poet in New York (1977), and five book-length translations, Selected Poems of Antonio Machado (1978), The Poetry of Gabriel Celaya (1984), Manuel Mantero: New Songs for the Ruins of Spain (1986), Poems for Josefina, by Marjorie Agosín (2004), and Mother, Speak to Us of War / Madre, háblanos de la guerra, by Marjorie Agosín (2006).
In 2010, Betty Jean published in both hardback and audiobook Conversations with Cosmo: At Home with an African Grey Parrot. For two years—2012 and 2013—she wrote a weekly Sunday column in the Athens Banner-Herald titled “Cosmo Talks.” Ruminations on a Parrot Named Cosmo appeared in 2021.
In retirement she turned her attention to writing fiction: a "Witherston Murder Mystery" series, including Downstream (2014), Fairfield's Auction (2016), Dam Witherston (2017), Saxxons in Witherston (2019), Death in Potter's Woods (2021), and Life and Death at Zoo Arroyo (2022); and the thriller Aldo (2018).
Betty Jean's essays have appeared in PMLA, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and The Athens Banner Herald.
Betty Jean has received the University of Georgia Alumni Society Faculty Service Award (1994), the Albert Christ-Janer Award for Creativity in Research (2003), the Blue Key Service Award (2010), and the Women's Studies Faculty Award (2011). She has also received awards for teaching, including the Honoratus Medal from the Honors Program. The title “University Professor” was granted to her in 1995 as “highest recognition for significant impact on The University of Georgia.” On May 13, 2004, she received the Governor’s Award in the Humanities.
On December 20, 2003, Betty Jean delivered the graduate and professional schools’ commencement address at the University of Georgia. On January 27, 2012, she gave the University’s Founders Day Lecture. On September 17, 2013, she accepted the Jeannette Rankin Fund Founders' Award.
Betty Jean was Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Delta Prize for Global Understanding.
She served as President of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI@UGA) in 2015-2016.
See: http://bettyjeancraige.org/
BOOK AND FILM AWARDS
- Reconnection: Dualism to Holism in Literary Study won the 1988 Frederic W. Ness Award.
- Laying the Ladder Down: The Emergence of Cultural Holism won 1992 Georgia Author of the Year Award.
- Alvar: His Vision and His Art won First Place in Short Documentary in the 2006 Indie Gathering independent film festival.
- Conversations with Cosmo won ForeWord Reviews 2010 Silver Book of the Year in Pets category.
- Downstream received a 5-Star Review from Readers' Favorite.
- Fairfield’s Auction won First Place in Mystery and Mayhem category of 2018 Chanticleer Book Awards.
- Dam Witherston won Honorable Mention in the 2017 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards in Mysteries, Distinguished Favorite in 2018 Independent Press Awards in Mystery, Winner in the 2018 New York City Big Book Awards in Mystery, and a 5-Star Review from Readers' Favorite.
- Aldo won Distinguished Favorite in the 2018 New York City Big Book Awards in Mystery, Second Place in the Royal Dragonfly Book Awards in both Mystery and Science Fiction, Distinguished Favorite in the 2019 Independent Press Awards in Crime Fiction and a 5-Star Review from Readers' Favorite.
- Saxxons in Witherston won a 2019-2020 Honorable Mention in the 2019 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards in Mystery, Honorable Mention in 2019/2020 Reader Views Literary Awards in Mystery/Thriller, Distinguished Favorite in Independent Press Award, Distinguished Favorite in Mystery in the 2020 NYC Big Book Awards, and a 5-Star Review from Readers' Favorite.
- Ruminations on a Parrot Named Cosmo was named Winner in the Animals/Pets category of the New York City Big Book Award, Winner in the Non-Fiction category of the Best Independent Book Awards, Finalist in the Narrative Non-Fiction category of the 2021 International Book Awards and in the 2021 Best Book Award, First Place in the Animals/Pets category of the Next Generation Indie Book Awards for 2021, and 2022 Independent Press Award Distinguished Favorite in the category of Mystery. It received a 5-Star Review from Readers’ Favorite.
- Death in Potter's Woods was named 2022 Independent Press Award Distinguished Favorite in the category of Mystery and won a 5-Star Review from Readers' Favorite.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fiction
- Life and Death at Zoo Arroyo: A Witherston Murder Mystery. Luminare Press, 2022
- Death in Potter's Woods: A Witherston Murder Mystery. Luminare Press, 2021
- Saxxons in Witherston: A Witherston Murder Mystery. Black Opal Books, 2019
- Aldo. Black Opal Books, 2018
- Dam Witherston: A Witherston Murder Mystery. Black Opal Books, 2017
- Fairfield’s Auction: A Witherston Murder Mystery. Black Opal Books, 2016
- Downstream: A Witherston Murder Mystery. Black Opal Books, 2014
Non-Fiction
- Ruminations on a Parrot Named Cosmo. Sherman Asher Publishing, 2021
- Conversations with Cosmo: At Home with an African Grey Parrot. Sherman Asher Publishing, 2010
Scholarly Books
- Eugene Odum: Ecosystem Ecologist and Environmentalist. University of Georgia Press, 2001, 2002
- American Patriotism in a Global Society. State University of New York Press, 1996
- Laying the Ladder Down: The Emergence of Cultural Holism. University of Massachusetts Press, 1992
- Reconnection: Dualism to Holism in Literary Study. University of Georgia Press, 1988
- Literary Relativity. Bucknell University Press, 1982
- Lorca's Poet in New York: The Fall into Consciousness. University Press of Kentucky, 1977
Major Translations
- Marjorie Agosín, Mother, Speak to Us of War / Madre, háblanos de la guerra (Translated and edited by Betty Jean Craige) Sherman Asher Publishing, 2006
- Marjorie Agosín, Poems for Josefina (Translated by Betty Jean Craige). Sherman Asher Publishing, 2004
- Manuel Mantero: New Songs for the Ruins of Spain (Introduction and Translation). Bucknell University Press, 1986
- With Carmen Chaves McClendon. The Island of the Dead (Translation of Lya Luft's O Quarto Fechado). The University of Georgia Press, 1986
- The Poetry of Gabriel Celaya (Introduction and Translation. Bucknell University Press, 1984
- Selected Poems of Antonio Machado (Introduction and Translation). Louisiana State University Press, 1978
Edited Volumes
- With Marjorie Agosín and Alvar Suñol, Alvar: In Color and Poetry, 2005. Barcelona, Spain: Gesmax, SL, 2005
- With Marjorie Agosín, To Mend the World: Women Reflect on 9/11. White Pine Press, 2002
- Alvar: Thirty Years of Lithography. Decorative Expressions, 2001
- Literature, Language, and Politics. University of Georgia Press, 1988
- Relativism in the Arts. University of Georgia Press, 1983
Documentary
- Betty Jean Craige, Executive Producer, Producer, Writer, Translator, with Alan Stecker. Alvar Suñol: His Vision and His Art (42-minute documentary). Atlanta: ASV, Inc., 2006.
Exhibitions
- Alvar Suñol: Contemporary Renaissance. Albany Museum of Art: September 11 - December 1, 2007
- The Lithographs of Alvar. Guest Curator. Georgia Museum of Art: September 11 - October 21, 2001
Exhibition Catalogues
- Alvar Suñol: Contemporary Renaissance. Editor. Albany Museum of Art, 2007
- Alvar Suñol’s PLENITUD at the University of Georgia. Athens: Georgia Center for Continuing Education, 2007
- Lithographs by Alvar. Georgia Museum of Art: September 11 - October 21, 2001
