ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio University Journalism Professor Michael Bugeja has been unanimously selected honorary chancellor by the National Federation of State Poetry Societies.
"He handles formal forms very well and he does them with such grace," said Amy Jo Zook, a member of the NFSP board representing 38 state poetry societies. "He has a lot of human worth in everything he writes. It's not just a mind churning around, there is a heart too."
A prolific writer, Bugeja, 45, has written some 15 books of social criticism, nonfiction, fiction and poetry. His literary nonfiction and creative writing have been published in Harper's, The Georgia Review, The Kenyon Review, New England Review and other publications. His articles have appeared in Journalism Quarterly, Quill, Editor & Publisher, Writer's Digest and Journalism Quarterly.
"I'm happy about the appointment because the NFSPS promotes poetry nationwide and is a great support group for students," Bugeja said. "You get to meet poets of all ages and backgrounds from across the country. On a personal level, I am deeply touched at becoming honorary chancellor, knowing a few of the poets who have held the post before me."
Previous honorary chancellors include Tess Gallagher, who preceded Bugeja, John Crowe Ransom, Scott Momaday, James Dickey, Rodney Jones and Robert Penn Warren. Bugeja will serve a two-year term as chancellor and attend writing workshops nationwide promoting poetry.
The 1995 Ohio Poet of the Year, Bugeja is adviser on standards at Ohio University and teaches ethics and magazine writing at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism.
His awards include a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, fiction; a National Endowment for the Humanities grant, culture; an Associated Writing Programs Anniversary Award, poetry; and an Ohio Arts Council Grant for poetry. He writes a 2000-word monthly poetry column as contributing editor for Writer's Digest.
"Many people know I wear three hats--journalist, poet, ethicist," Bugeja said. "All writers, at some level, are interested in truth. I became a journalist because I wanted to report the truth. Truth is universal in poetry, and fundamental in ethics, too.
"But there is also a key difference between nonfiction of any kind and poetry. Poetry is music, and like any instrument, difficult to learn -- no matter how gifted one is as a writer of prose. Poetry is made up of words, not only in the best order, but in the right voice. It's emotion, tone and texture. When you read good poetry, you experience something musical and sublime -- beauty and terror unfolding in you at once."
Bugeja's ability to both write and explain poetry is what sets him apart from many poets, according to Ohio State University English Professor David Citino, a former director of OSU's Creative Writing Department.
"What impresses me so much is he (Bugeja) can take a complex thing like poetry and explain it and make it understandable to a large segment of the population," Citino said. "It is the teacher in him. He doesn't dumb it down or talk down to the audience."
Bugeja came to Ohio University in 1986 after serving eight years as a news writing professor at Oklahoma State University. Prior to teaching at Oklahoma, he was state editor for United Press International in North Dakota and South Dakota.
Bugeja completed a B.A. at Saint Peter's College, an M.S. in journalism at South Dakota State University and a Ph.D. in English at Oklahoma State University.
Bugeja and his wife Diane Sears-Bugeja live in Athens with their children, Erin and Shane.
"I am not surprised that Michael has received this award," said Fred Chappell, distinguished professor of creative writing at the University of North Carolina. "He has the gift of communicating with people who are not normally interested in literature. He is able to bring them to this new enjoyment and to reassure them that such activity is worthwhile."