Faculty for the inaugural Writing Down the Jaguar are:
Simmons B. Buntin
Simmons B. Buntin is the author of two books of poetry: Bloom (2010) and Riverfall (2005), both published by Salmon Poetry. He has also published poetry and creative nonfiction in such journals as Orion, North American Review, Kyoto Review, and High Desert Journal. He is the founding editor of Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built & Natural Environments, an e-journal that since 1998 has brought together a rich mix of literary and technical contributions in two theme-based issues per year. Simmons has taught poetry workshops for the University of Arizona Poetry Center and has lectured and presented at a variety of colleges and conferences. He holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Arizona and a master of urban and regional planning from the University of Colorado. Simmons lives in the wildlands of suburban Tucson — which is to say, the community of Civano — and can be found online at www.simmonsbuntin.com.
Scott Calhoun
Scott Calhoun is an award-winning author, photographer, and garden designer based in Tucson, Arizona. Scott is the author of six gardening books. His first book, Yard Full of Sun, was awarded the 2006 American Horticultural Society Book Award; his second title, Chasing Wildflowers, won the Garden Writers Association 2008 Silver Book Award. Scott writes a monthly garden column for Sunset magazine and has written for most national gardening magazines. He runs Zona Gardens, a design studio, and gardens, writes, photographs, and lectures across the United States. When he is at home, he can often be found in his garden, a magenta glass of prickly pear lemonade in hand and his dog, Macy, at foot. More about Scott at www.zonagardens.com.
Ken Lamberton
When Ken Lamberton published his first book Wilderness and Razor Wire: A Naturalist’s Observations from Prison (Mercury House, 2000), the San Francisco Chronicle called it “…entirely original: an edgy, ferocious, subtly complex collection of essays….” The book won the 2002 John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing. He has published five books and more than a hundred articles and essays in places like the Los Angeles Times, Arizona Highways, the Gettysburg Review, and The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2000. His latest book, Dry River: Stories of Life, Death, and Redemption on the Santa Cruz has just been released by the University of Arizona Press (2011). He holds degrees in biology and creative writing from the University of Arizona and lives with his wife in a 1890s stone cottage near Bisbee. Visit the author’s website at www.kenlamberton.com.
Dawn C. Sellers
Dawn C. Sellers was a pianist, composer, and educator prior to receiving an MFA in dramatic writing from Carnegie Mellon University. Her screenplay, Butterfly Found, won the Arthur Sloan Foundation Screenwriting Award, given to “outstanding filmmakers and screenwriters who bring innovative compelling stories about science and technology to the screen,” as well as the Santa Fe Screenwriter’s Conference Award. Her one act play, How Women Outrun the Wolves, was a finalist in New York’s Hanager Theatre Workshop. Previously, Dawn studied playwriting at the New American Theater School of Women’s Projects and Productions in New York. She composed music for the Off-Broadway Production of Dance With Me by Jean Reynolds and is published with Hal Leonard Music Publishing, Alfred Music Publishers, and the Neil A. Kjos, Jr. Music Company. Dawn also holds a master’s of music from Northwestern University and a Ph. D. in music education from the University of Oklahoma. Since moving to Tucson, her plays have been produced by This Side Up Productions in conjunction with Arizona OnStage Productions, Beowulf Alley Theatre, Live Theatre Workshop’s ETC., and Arizona Women’s Theatre. Dawn is currently a music director with the Rogue Theatre. She is also listed on nytheatre.com, which features emerging women playwrights.
