UM Alumnus to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at Montana Book Festival
MISSOULA – The University of Montana Creative Writing Program will present author Rick DeMarinis, a 1967 UM alumnus, with its Lifetime Achievement Award during the Montana Book Festival, Sept. 9-12. The award will be presented at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, at the Holiday Inn Downtown Garden City Ballroom D, located at 200 S. Pattee St. A panel discussion will follow.
DeMarinis has written ten novels and seven collections of short fiction. His novel “Year of the Zinc Penny” (Norton, 1989) is a New York Times Notable Book. His short stories have appeared in several noteworthy journals, including Esquire, The Atlantic Monthly, Harpers, GQ, The Paris Review and The Iowa Review. After receiving his Master of Arts degree from UM in 1967, he taught creative writing for 25 years as a professor at San Diego State University, Arizona State University and the University of Texas at El Paso. He served as a visiting writer at a number of prestigious writing programs, most recently the Master of Fine Arts program at UM in 2002.
“Rick DeMarinis, since I came to Missoula 45 years ago, has been one of our finest, and best thought-of, writers,” Kittredge said. “The highlight reel from those early years features Dick Hugo, Jim Welch, Jim Crumley and Rick DeMarinis. The others are gone, Rick isn’t. Let’s celebrate one of our last, best friends and talents while he’s still around.”