Dr. Jeri Veenstra, PhD.
Associate Professor of Health Science
Veenstra teaching Anatomy and Physiology
On the wall of Dr. Jeri Veenstra’s office is a rustic painting of market day in Atitlan, Guatemala, that she bought on one of the many summer trips she has directed. Her desk is covered with students’ assignments, reflecting the hours to come that will be spent grading. In spite of this, she takes time out to help advise students and simply chat with other visitors to her office.
Dr. Chad Prevost, PhD.
Assistant Professor of English
Dr. Chad Prevost’s office in Lee University’s Walker Memorial Building is littered with pieces of paper and self-addressed, stamped envelopes. What makes these papers different from others on other professor’s floors is that on these papers are poems Prevost has written and is working to have published. Following the printing of his premier work of poetry, Snapshots of the Perishing World, and his anthology of contemporary American poets on spirituality, Evensong, Prevost is not resting on his laurels. He is hard at work to do even better next time.
“Publishing [Snapshots] had been so much like the Holy Grail, but life after it is really just life,” said Prevost. “Sure, lots of great opportunities come from it but, in a sense, nothing has changed. It builds confidence, but it’s just an extension of what I want to be doing. I feel like I’m on the right track but I feel restless.”
The book is a collection of what Prevost considers to be his best work from 1999 until he assembled the book in 2005. The book’s theme, according to Prevost, is spirituality explored through a number of different subjects like his wife, his children and philosophy.
Although Prevost’s poetry had been published in nearly 100 magazines and/or independent presses, getting his book published was still a struggle. He spent three years entering his book in every contest he could afford, trying to get a publishing house to pick it up. In the end, WorldTech Press accepted the collection and published the book through their Cherry Grove Imprint in August 2006.
Striving to succeed in this career was familiar ground for Prevost. After attending George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University and wrestling with his calling to be a writer and his desire to be a minister, Prevost decided to give writing a try. “I was really, really hungry to make a name for myself as a writer.”
He entered Georgia State University to study his craft and began aggressively submitting his writing for publication despite being told by professors that the odds were against him and his classmates. “We were constantly told how hard it is to publish, especially a book of poetry,” said Prevost. “Publishers don’t like to accept too many because they don’t make money.” In the end, when he sold his book to WorldTech Press, he agreed to help with the marketing and to sell 250 copies in the first year in order to keep the book in print.
Undertaking the work of an anthology so soon after publishing the solo work may have sounded like a daunting task to most, but not to Prevost. As a former co-editor and publisher of Terminus Magazine, which he co-founded, Prevost felt that the work to put together an anthology would be similar to putting out the magazine. “I put in so much work to put out an issue of Terminus and wouldn’t it be the same amount of work to put together a book and get it published? The only trick would be to find a publisher,” said Prevost.
Soon after the acceptance of Snapshots of the Perishing World, Prevost’s anthology of poetry, compiled with fellow poet Gerry LaFemina, was accepted by Bottom Dog Press and was released in September 2006. The anthology is a collection of poets, many of whom Prevost considers to be influences for his own work, who celebrate “the rich spiritual tapestry that is contemporary American religious experience.”
Among promoting his recent publications, Prevost is currently at work on a memoir and second collection of poems. He will also be the featured writer in the Abbeywood Press anthology Wings and Waking Dreams due to come out in 2007. Prevost will be reading from Snapshots of the Perishing World at the Meacham Conference at UTC on Friday, October 6 and will be a part of the Lee University Writers Series in the Johnson Lecture Hall on November 16 at 7 p.m.
Prevost lives with his wife, Shelley, and two young sons, Eliah and Lucas in North Chattanooga, Tenn. When he’s not teaching, writing or spending time with his family, he enjoys disc golfing and mountain biking.
