James welch biography summary templates

Welch failed out of college twice and worked as a Forest Service firefighter, a laborer, and an Upward Bound counselor before enrolling at the University of Montana. He took a short story class and enjoyed it so much that he applied for the school’s new creative writing MFA.

In that program, he studied under Richard Hugo, who encouraged him to write about the Native American culture he originated from. Welch and Hugo soon became close. On a trip with J. D. Reed, the three challenged each other to write a poem about a bar in Dixon, Montana, and submitted the set of poems that emerged to The New Yorker.

James welch

The magazine accepted the whole set, and suddenly Welch was a published poet. After his graduation from the University of Montana, he began writing more seriously. He married comparative literature professor Lois Monk in 1968; during her sabbaticals, the couple lived abroad, where Welch could focus on his writing for long periods.

Welch’s first and only poetry collectio