Author Archives: Ed Battistella

About Ed Battistella

Edwin Battistella’s latest book Dangerous Crooked Scoundrels was released by Oxford University Press in March of 2020.

Coffee Houses and History, a guest post by Gray Blair

Posted on June 21, 2022 by Ed Battistella

Coffee Houses and History: How Their Reputation has Evolved Coffee houses are known today as places for first dates and novel writing, but their history is much more politically radical. Originally popularized in the Middle East during the ottoman empire, coffeehouses … Continue reading →

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An Interview with John R. Rickford

Posted on June 13, 2022 by Ed Battistella

John R. Rickford is the J.E. Wallace Sterling Professor of Linguistics and the Humanities (emeritus) at Stanford University, where he has been since 1980. He won a Dean’s Award for distinguished teaching in 1984 and a Bing Fellowship for excellence … Continue reading →

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An Interview with Diana Coogle

Posted on March 22, 2022 by Ed Battistella

Diana Coogle grew up in Georgia and attended Vanderbilt University (graduating Phi Beta Kappa and fifth in her class) later earning an MA in English at Cambridge University and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Oregon. A former … Continue reading →

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An Interview with Lynn Ransford

Posted on March 7, 2022 by Ed Battistella

Lynn Ransford grew up on a chicken farm in the San Fernando Valley, where she was surrounded by a variety of animals. A little like Beverly Cleary’s Ramona, or L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables, Lynn often got into small … Continue reading →

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An Interview with Rick Bleiweiss, Author of Pignon Scorbion & the Barbershop Detectives

Posted on January 9, 2022 by Ed Battistella

Rick Bleiweiss began his career in the music industry as a recording artist, Grammy-nominated producer, recorded songwriter and record label senior executive. He worked with such music industry legends as Clive Davis, Robert Stigwood, Pink, Alicia Keys, Kiss, Donna Summer, … Continue reading →

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Literary Ashland Interview with Michael Niemann, author of The Last Straw

Posted on November 8, 2021 by Ed Battistella

Award winning author Michael Niemann is the author of six novels featuring UN investigator Valentin Vermeulen. Niemann grew up in a small town in western Germany before moving to the United States. He has studied at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität in Bonn, … Continue reading →

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An Interview with Arika Okrent, author of Highly Irregular

Posted on October 4, 2021 by Ed Battistella

Arika Okrent has an undergraduate degree from Carleton College, an M.A. in Linguistics from Gallaudet University, and a Ph.D. in Psycholinguistics from University of Chicago. A winner of the Linguistic Society of America’s Linguistic Journalism Award in 2016 and a … Continue reading →

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An Interview with Michael Rousell, author of THE POWER OF SURPRISE

Posted on August 16, 2021 by Ed Battistella

Dr. Michael A. Rousell is a teacher, psychologist, and professor emeritus at Southern Oregon University. Rousell studied life-changing events for over three decades and established his expertise by writing the internationally successful book Sudden Influence: How Spontaneous Events Shape Our … Continue reading →

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An Interview with Margaret Perrow, author of A Hidden History of Youth Development in South Africa

Posted on August 2, 2021 by Ed Battistella

Dr. Margaret Perrow is Professor of English and English Education at Southern Oregon University, where she has taught since 2006. She has a BA from Yale University and an MA and PhD in Language, Literacy, and Culture in Education from … Continue reading →

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An Interview with Nathan Harris, author of The Sweetness of Water

Posted on July 14, 2021 by Ed Battistella

Writer Nathan Harris has a MFA from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon, where he won the Kidd Prize. He was a 2010 graduate of Ashland High … Continue reading →

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