I’m an award-winning author and educator whose work in three genres—fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction—focuses strongly on place, culture, and the natural environment. I have an especially deep interest in Central Asia, where I lived and worked for four years, and I’ve traveled widely across Asia and twice bicycled throughout Great Britain. I earned degrees in creative writing from Bowling Green State University (BFA) and Eastern Washington University (MFA). I’ve taught writing and literature for nearly two decades and conducted numerous workshops, both in the U.S. and abroad. I currently live with my wife (an ethnic Russian Kazakhstani) and two cats in Corvallis, Oregon, where I teach at Oregon State University and am at work on a novel. I’m available for workshops, readings, and related areas. Please contact me through my website listed above.
Our Recent Posts
Our Post Archives
NPR’S BOOK OF THE DAY
- Cara Bastone's 'No Matter What' is a romance novel that begins with a separation March 18, 2026Cara Bastone says she wanted to write a book filled with miscommunications that couldn’t be solved with a quick conversation. In her novel No Matter What, Roz and Vin navigate a changing relationship after the couple endures a traumatic accident. In today’s episode, Bastone speaks with NPR’s Juana Summers about developing characters who look like […]
- In 'The Mixed Marriage Project,' Dorothy Roberts works through her dad's archive March 17, 2026After the death of her father, sociologist and law professor Dorothy Roberts decided to sort through his boxes. What she found was an archive of notes related to his research on interracial marriage, which he saw as a means to dismantle white supremacy. Roberts’ new memoir The Mixed Marriage Project chronicles her confrontation with her […]

