Research/Focus Areas
- Contemporary poets: (e.g., David Wagoner, Tess Gallagher, B.H. Fairchild)
- Northwest Writers: (e.g., James Welch, Norman Maclean, Sherman Alexie)
- Hemingway
- Creative writing: nonfiction, poetry, fiction
Academic Programs
My Courses
- English 341: Survey of British Literature
- English 345: Shakespeare
- English 404: Special Topics—The Novella
- English 426: Modern Poetry
- English 431: Contemporary Poetry
- English 427: British & American Fiction (1900-1950)
- English 453: 17th-Century Poetry & Prose
- English 465: The Romantic Period
- English 482: Major Authors, Hemingway
- English 482: Major Authors, Sherman Alexie
- English 485: Global Literatures in English—African Writers
- English 591: Advanced Poetry Writing
“Bray a fool and an ass answers brother.”
Ron McFarland
College of Letters, Arts & Social Sciences
Department of English
Professor
With UI Since
1970
Department of English
Professor
With UI Since
1970
Office: Brink Hall 122
Phone: (208) 885-6937
Email: ronmcf@uidaho.edu
Mailing Address:
English Department - University of Idaho
P.O. Box 441102
Moscow, Idaho 83844-1102
Phone: (208) 885-6937
Email: ronmcf@uidaho.edu
Mailing Address:
English Department - University of Idaho
P.O. Box 441102
Moscow, Idaho 83844-1102
- Ph.D., English, University of Illinois, 1970
- M.A., English, Florida State University, 1965
- B.A., English, Florida State University, 1963
- A.A., Brevard Junior College, 1962
Ron McFarland teaches literature and creative writing at the University of Idaho. Stranger in Town, his new & selected poems, appeared in 2000 (Confluence Press), his baseball chapbook, At the Ballpark, in 2005 (Pudding House Press). His essays on growing up in Florida, Confessions of a Night Librarian, surfaced in 2005 (Florida Historical Society Press—yes, my life is “history”). His most recent book is a critical study of regional memoir, The Rockies in First Person (McFarland Publishing, 2008—no relation). His next book, to be published in 2009, is The Long Life of Evangeline: A History of the Longfellow Poem in Print, in Adaptation and in Popular Culture.
In addition, he is an advisor for Creative Writing track majors in English; member of committees for numerous M.A. & M.F.A. graduate theses in English; and mentor for several students over the years, most recently for a Moscow High School senior "who did some wonderful work on Tolstoy."
Ron also played soccer at the University of Idaho for more than 20 years before blowing out his left knee. In addition to shooting at birds & angling, his current fascination is fantasy football. His wife Georgia does not applaud this fascination. His three remarkable children are Kimberley, Jennifer, and Jonathan. He has no unremarkable children that he knows of.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
SCHOLARSHIP (In Process)
- The Rockies in First Person (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1008)—a study of recent memoirs from the northern Rockies.
- Confessions of a Night Librarian & Other Embarrassments (Cocoa, FL: Chapin House, 2005)—nonfiction about growing up in Florida in the 1950s & 1960s
- Idaho State Writer-in-Residence, 1984-85
- Burlington Northern Faculty Achievement Award, 1990
- Alumni Award for Faculty Excellence, 1991
- Distinguished Alumnus, Brevard Community College, 1995
- Student Organization Advisor Award, 1998
- University of Idaho Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Achievement , 2002
- Presentor - Idaho State Library’s "Let’s Talk About It" Program
SCHOLARSHIP (In Process)
- “The Woman Who Would Be a Poet” - Novel
- “Subtle Thieves” - Collection of Poems
- Research Phase on a book concerning Lt. Col. Edward J. Steptoe of Steptoe Butte fame