| Summary: | November 4,1994 CONCORDIAN FEATURES 11 A writer worth writing about W. Scott Olsen teaches his craft of travel writing Scott Olsen at his rarely-uncluttered desk. His style of teaching is free-spirited. He allowed a lot of class participa-tion and gave us freedom in our writing. Kirsten Winters former student of Olsen's Erica Wilson Features Writer The desk is lost amidst scattered papers, pens, stray books and pic-tures of his daughter and son. Walls lined with shelves bowing from the weight of so many books and cof-fee cups surround his desk. In the far cor-ner, by the window sits a wicker rocking chair. And in the middle of the room, play-ing solitaire with his computer is W. Scott Olsen, Assistant Professor of English at Concordia. "He's got the 'writer look,'" said Jill Tweten, Concordia alumna. "Wherever he goes, he has coffee. He always wears the tweed jacket with the elbow patches. The first time I saw him, I said, *He's got to be from the English department"1 Wearing a taupe colored cowboy hat of 100 percent felt, called an akubra, which he bought in New Zealand, Olsen said, "I bought it because it fit -1 have a large head - size 8. It's a magnificent hat; it's water-proof and it's warm." "I always wanted a hat like Scott's," said Dr. Bob Brown, Olsen's colleague who also teaches in the English department. "When I saw his, I bought one here in the states. When I told him I bought it, I told him that he was my hero." "When I went to New Zealand and Australia on a May Seminar in 1991, Scott Olsen went along as an observer," said Tweten. Olsen went along on the trip to plan for his future May Seminars in New Zealand and Australia. "In a cafe near the youth hostel where we were staying in Christ Church, New Zealand," said Tweten, "there was a cat that would walk around inside the cafe. It was just a cat that lingered. Scott would sit and write in his journal and stroke the cat as it walked by. He was actually writing about the cafe, but he wanted to appear noncha-lant. The cat became very good friends with Scott." "Scott is very outgoing and friendly and interested in the world outside of himself," said Sandy Johnson, the English department secretary. "He comes into the office and tells jokes. Sometimes he tells jokes that he hears from his kids/1 "His jokes are not very good," said Brown. Olsen has taught discourse, fiction and non-fiction writing at Concordia for the past eight years. He was the advisor of the yearbook, The Concordian, and "After Work," a student literary magazine for the past five years. He also edited the campus magazine "New Voices" for two years. "His style of teaching is free-spirited," said sophomore Kirsten Winters, former student of Olsen. "He allowed a lot of class participation and gave us freedom in our writing. He lets ihc students do the cri-tiquing. It helped us become more careful writers." Olsen himself was taught to write at the University of Missouri, Columbia. "When I began school, writing was the farthest thing from my mind. I wanted to study electrical and computer engineering." He was "seduced by English courses" during his first year; by his sophomore year he knew that he wanted to write, he said. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts at the University of Missouri, he earned his Master of Fine Arts, specializing in fiction writing, at University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Olsen then taught at Lander College in Greenwood, S.C., where he created "New Voices," which he later brought to Concordia when he began teaching here. After teaching at Concordia for six years, Olsen received tenure. "It's the pro-tection of academic freedom," Olsen said. "It protects you from being fired for intel-lectual reasons. Olsen has led a "Writing Down Under" May Seminar to New Zealand and Australia twice. His third trip will be in May of 1995. During his May Seminar, Olsen teaches travel writing. "I enjoy writing more than teaching," said Olsen. He smiled and quipped, "It pays well." Ever since he was a little boy, he enjoyed reading, he said. "Reading and writing held a special interest for me," Olsen said. He began to enjoy writing during the third grade and his interest continued to grow. Now he writes books. "I get ideas every-where and anywhere," Olsen said. Olsen took this semester off to devote more time to his latest book about the Arctic Circle, a travel journal based on a trip he took to the Arctic last summer. On the trip, he took clothes, fishing gear, a camera, a "bone head repair kit" and a CB radio. "I wanted to know how far you can drive on a public road," he said. "Who lives at the end of the road? Are they anything like us? "I want to spend June 21 at the Arctic Circle - I want to interview everyone who crosses it that day." Olsen plans on return-ing to do this interview this summer. This will not be the first book for Scott. With the help of his agent, Richard Parks, of New York City, he has published several other books. His book, "Meeting the Neighbors" started as fiction. "Pointed Home" started as an experiment in travel writing. "I just wanted to see if I could do it," he said. He also wrote "Just This Side of Fargo" which is fiction. In addition, he wrote three anthologies of regional writing called "The Best of Northern Light." Olsen has also worked as publisher of "Fresh Tracks," a journal of fine writing. "I am not nervous to be published," he said. "You gel a 'yes' to every 25 to 30 'no's; it's like buying a house - there's noth-ing with them, they're just not right for you. "I find time to write here and there. The busier I am, the more productive I am. I do an awful lot of writing at night, between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. in my office." Besides having an interest in writing, Olsen finds time to do other things. "It is not hard to balance my profession-al and my personal life," said Olsen. When he talks about his family, he gets a smile on his face.' He and his wife, Maureen, have two children. Kate is four and Andrew is one year old. The family has a miniature collie named Story. "I like to take my kids to the Burger King near the airport for fries and a Coke. I get coffee," Olsen said. 4Then we go to the observation room to watch the planes. "Andrew was born on Father's Day," Olsen said, "but if he had been born on a day before or after, I would have been just as happy." "Scott is a family type of guy, he is very concerned about his kids," said T\veten. "Scott is like a breath of fresh air," said Tweten, who observed Olsen during their time together in New Zealand and Australia. "He was hip. He wanted us to have fun." Write for the Features Section
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