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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 9, 1987)
Thursday, April 9, 1987TThe Battalion/Page 5 I DON'T Tk» WU NEED WSFHeukh -JA&M professor successful with novels, fiction stories Campbell enjoys role as mentor to students By Tracy Staton Reporter A group of 11 students is seated at a large table in a local restaurant. Since few of them are acquainted, uncertainty lingers in the air. They have been brought together by a man who hopes to cultivate their in terest in writing fiction. [ Dr. Bob Campbell, associate pro fessor of English at Texas A&M, sits at the center of one side of the table. He plans to start the discussion by talking about rejection slips. He opens a manila folder, brings out three types of rejection letters, and begins to dissect each phrase. As he ejqrlains the shades of meaning he finds, the students start to relax. The creative writing teacher has received many such letters since he began his career in 1967, but not all responses to his submissions have been negative; he has published three novels and numerous short stories under the pen name of Ewing Campbell. His most recent work is an anthol ogy of stories entitled, “Piranesi’s Dream.” Several students begin asking questions — about agents, cover let ters, thank-you notes — and Camp bell answers them eagerly. He enjoys his role as mentor to aspiring writ ers. “I like helping young people who are serious about writing, who feel they have something to say,” Camp bell says. “I enjoy what l am doing and I believe in it — that is, I believe in the end result, which is the wri ting.” Fortunately, Campbell’s attitudes MSC Travel ur program ." ip/oma," Gfa lining is rep: Kxauseofilit;: heir offices. s C0un o about teaching aren’t reflective of stories. “I tend to write gloomy fiction,” he says. “My work is not sunny and x‘ called roid >b of a com ire like beinj ectors,” he iment is bi{ rung Instil® ory of Vera:* s the formet shed the fits in formal educ fexas’ cottntv 6. n, the progran i0 people, It .•e the efficient! als. be axed in ployees thei )rate down#; the blaclicoi ng of the bind lies: E r RVE I jrchase on P l present college We're eour Wt c is an r com- BoRMEb out? celebrate after FINALS!! PUERTO VALLARTA ONLY $350.00 MAY 17-21 DEADLINE for deposit April 10 for more info call 845-1515 Dr. Bob Campbell lectures his creative-writing class. Photo by Trac y & ton H EAD free-swinging., bizarre .. Don't miss the Monkees as they jead us through a wild fantasy world where just about anything can happenl They are joined by an amazing group of celebrities including Frank Zappa and Carol Doda, the silicone queen. FRIDAf 4/10 & Saturday 4/11 irTft Advanced-Sale Tickets Available dry.” A contributing factor to the mel ancholy tone of Campbell’s work may be his childhood, which he spent in a city that stifled him. An other factor could be his college edu cation, which was sporadic because of the jobs he had to take to pay for bis schooling. Although he served two years in he Army, no government funds were available to help pay for his ed ucation. He quit school several times to work until he earned enough money to return. “I took whatever type of work I could get,” Campbell says. “I shin gled roofs, unloaded boxcars and worked on the docks.” ,, These various jobs appear in his lllVSS riCti ° n - r ■ r One of his novels, “Rincon I rip- tych,” uses material from his experi- nces as a longshoreman in Corpus Chris ti. •ationsreW "September Crickets,” a short given some®? itory from “Piranesi’s Dream,” is set the hotel Southernaire, where he worked in Hattiesburg. Campbell’s books adorn the ofBlackE«» shelves of libraries across the state and nation, but not in the Sterling C. Evans Library. The writer s; The writer says he is better known nationally and internationally than locally. He cites the Texas literary estab lishment’s emphasis cm Texan tradi tion as the reason for his lack of rec ognition. “People in Texas focus only on Texas and don’t realize how this sin gle-mindedness looks f rom the out side,” he says. “Texans are so narcis sistic that they are unaware how absurd these attitudes are.” These attitudes could be stifling Texas literature, he says. “The state literary establishment studies Texas writing as if it had no connection with the outside world,” he explains. “It makes the writing parochial and incestuous, feeding on itself instead of allowing itself to be influenced by the best international writers.” On a smaller scale, the English de partment at A&M is guilty of the same type of prejudice, Campbell shys. “We should be encouraging stu dents to take every opportunity they can to expose themselves to impor tant works,” he contends. “However, the modern languages department wanted to offer a course on ‘Don Quixote’ during the spring semester of 1986. “The English department ob jected because some people felt the course would be imposing on the de partment’s ‘turf.’ The department has no specialist on Cervantes (au thor of ‘Quixote’) and does not teach the novel as part of any other cour se.” Several novels that were part of a literature class Campbell taught dur ing the fall of 1986 were heavily in fluenced by “Don Quixote,” he says. If his students had studied th novel prior to his class, he says, thccourse could have been more stimuUing. “The more background ^student has, the more knowledge he can bring to a class,” he says. “Vhen stu dents are better students, are bet ter teachers.” In addition to his cretdve writing course, Campbell teachs freshman composition and litenture classes and approaches evey class as a learning experience. “Part of my challeige as a teacher is to learn from myilasses,” he ex plains. “I am contimally looking for knowledge, especialy in my creative writing course, bcause it is of greater interest to ne.” Because he njoys learning, Campbell sees hinself as a student, rather than as a tocher. “Just as sorm people see them selves as fat altlough they are slen der,” he says, “by self-image is that I am a student in tead of a teacher.” He is enactirg this self-perception by taking a conversational Spanish course offered at no charge to the University faculty. “I am just as excited as a young kid,” the 4i-year-old says with a smile. “My goal is to be fluent in Spanish bythe end of the semester.” This god is not far from Camp bell’s reaqi. He ha/co-translated a book from Spanish/o English and has lived for extended periods in Mexico. He sill visits the country occasion ally, tilveling most often to a colo nial vilage called San Miguel de Al- lende Dicing one of his trips to the vil- Midnight $1.50 Rudder Theater ,/ The Lady and The Tramp ^ 7:30 wed 415 life* w % $7 X THE \ / € /IyI ./VI Y"" r 1 *1 1 DETECT! Vli / / | fyg? fGK L— J * > 1966 The Won Diiney Compony >X< See Campbell, page 12 Charli v* 696-9926 Designs & Fashions For The Modern Woman Stop by and see us today for special Easter, Graduation & Mother’s Day Gifts. 696-9229 Travel Designed With You in Mind 'Travel. Clocks Glassware Antiques 695-7004 Gloojb@ mvo GoLteoxaBLep © Petal Patch ^ . "Your Complete Florist” 696-67 13 Cards & Gifts ^^USA - ~ 693-3101 America’s Business Telephone Systems Quality Named Stereos & TV’s AUDIO W0EX1© Sony & JVC Equipment 696-5719 Computer Rentals 764-7363 ? G depot RENTABYTI Across from Texas A&M University DILLARD’S presents a College Career Event a seminar for the graduating Men and Women of Texas A&M University Thursday, April 19 in Dillard’s Dress Department Dillard’s shows you how to look your best for that critical inter view with appropriate, up-to-date fashions, the correct make-up for the job-seeking woman, and the last word on clothes and packing for that exciting out-of town interview. Thursday, April 9 6:30 Make-up that ‘works’ by Estee Lauder 7:00 Your Image: The Finishing Touches that say ‘success’ fashion show 7:30 The Minimum Wardrobe in the Minimum Luggage, Clothes that travel Dillard’s honors Aggies Graduates with a 10% discount on purchases this night only, at the conclusion of the Senimar. This event is free, but seating is limited! Reserve your place by calling 764-0014, or stop by the cus tomer service desk at Post Oak Mall DILLARD’S