University of Southern California
USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
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About
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Dinah LenneyAssistant Professor (Teaching) of WritingContact Information E-mail: dinahlenney@aol.com Phone: (213) 740-3250 Office: WPH 404 LINKS Curriculum Vitae |
Biographical Sketch |
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| Dinah Lenney is the author of Bigger than Life: A Murder, a Memoir, published by the University of Nebraska in Tobias Wolff’s American Lives Series. She co-authored Acting for Young Actors and her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Agni, Creative Nonfiction, Ploughshares, and elsewhere. Dinah holds a BA from Yale, an MFA from Bennington, and a certificate from the Neighborhood Playhouse School where she studied with Sandy Meisner. She teaches nonfiction for the Rainier Writing Workshop, as well as in the Bennington Writing Seminars. A working actor, she recurred on NBC's critically acclaimed ER for 15 years, and has guest-starred in television series too numerous to mention. Dinah lives in Echo Park – just over the hill from Dodger Stadium -- with her husband and two children. | |
Education |
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 M.F.A. Literature and Creative Nonfiction, Bennington Writing Seminars, 6/2003
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B.A. American Studies, Yale University, 5/1978
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Multimedia Scholarship and Creative Works |
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Personal Essay , "Eggs" The Mom Egg, 2010-2011
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Review, Hector Tobar, "The Barbarian Nurseries," The Washington Post, 2010-2011
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critical essay , "Be Thou the Voice" Los Angeles Review of Books, 2010-2011
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personal essay , "Christmas" The Los Angeles Times, 2010-2011
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personal essay , "Against Knowing" Brevity Online, 2010-2011
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personal essay , "The Dinner Party" Creative Nonfiction, 2010-2011
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personal essay , "Scoops" Defunct Online, 2010-2011
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book reviews, Katherine Rosman, Diana Athill, Roger Rosenblatt, Brenda Miller for the Los Angeles Times, 2009-2010
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personal essay, Water~Stone Review, "In the Frame", 2009-2010
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personal essay, "This Spoon" Coachella Review, 2009-2010
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personal essay, "Coffee Table" Superstition Review, 2009-2010
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personal essay, "Something for Nothing" Defunct Magazine, 2009-2010
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personal essay, "Playing Gertrude" The Kenyon Review Online, 2009-2010
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personal essay, "Flight Jacket" AGNI Online, 2009-2010
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book reviews, Kate Redfield Jamison,Joe Queenan, Christina Schwarz, 2008-2009
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craft essay , "From Confession to Craft" Brevity Magazine, 2008-2009
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opinion/personal essay, "The Graduate, Hovering"
"The End of Nurse Shirley"
Los Angeles Times, 2008-2009
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personal essay, "What Will the Soul Do For Solace Then? AGNI JOURNAL, 69, 2008-2009
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personal essay, "How I Inhabit the Earth" Off the Shelf for the Los Angeles Times, 2008-2009
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profile, Amy Gerstler for the Los Angeles Times, 2008-2009
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Service to the University |
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Media, Alumni, and Community Relations |
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Emerging Voices Mentor for PEN USA, 2008-2009
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Other Service to the University |
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Los Angeles Times Book Festival, Moderator on the USC Stage: Memoir and Disability with Tim Page and Mark Richard., 2010-2011
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Organized and moderated "Writing the Memoir" with Bernard Cooper, MG Lord, and Sandra Tsing-Loh, 2010-2011
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Organized and moderated FAITH AND THE WRITER with Eric Lax, Mark Salzman, Heather King, and Justin Wood, 2009-2010
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Organized and Moderated Critics' panel, with David Ulin, Jonathan Gold, Kenneth Turan, and Evelyn McDonnell, for MPW program and the public., 2008-2009
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Service to the Profession |
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Conferences Organized |
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Moderator/ Faith and the Writer, Associated Writing Programs , Washington D.C., with Dani Shapiro, Askold Melnychuk, David Biespiel, Brenda Miller, 2010-2011
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Panelist/What the Narrator Doesn't Know, Associated Writing Programs , Washington D.C., with David Huddle, Lia Purpura, Lee Martin, Jill McCabe Johnson, 2010-2011
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Moderator/ Memoir: Living in a Shadow, Los Angeles Times Book Festival, Los Angeles, CA, with Alexandra Styron, Linda Gray Sexton, Meghan O’Rourke, and Jill Bialosky, 2010-2011
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Moderator/ Criticism for Its Own Sake, Associated Writing Programs , Denver, Colorado, with Dana Goodyear, Sven Birkerts, William Giraldi, Amy Gerstler, 2009-2010
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Moderator/ Memoir: Telling True Stories, Los Angeles Times Book Festival, Los Angeles, CA, with Tim Page, Meghan Daum, James Brown, Lac Su, 2009-2010
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panel moderator, Associated Writing Programs Conference, Denver, Organized Panel for the Conference: Criticism for Its Own Sake with Sven Birkerts, Judith Kitchen, Dana Goodyear, Amy Gerstler, and William Giraldi., 2008-2009
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panelist, Associated Writing Programs Conference, New York City, "The Power of Silence in the Memoir" with Bob Shachochis, Sven Birkerts, Phillip Lopate, and Susan Cheever, 2008-2009
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moderator , Hollywood Book Festival, Hollywood, Moderator, "From the Page to the Stage.", 2008-2009
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Moderator, Los Angeles Times Book Festival, Los Angeles, Moderator, Memoir: The Wider Picture, with Lynne Sharon Schwartz, Samantha Dunn, and Gabrielle Burton., 2008-2009
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Moderator, Los Angeles Times Book Festival, Los Angeles, Moderator, Memoir: Hopes and Challenges,with Mike Farrell, 2008-2009
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Keynote Speaker, Sacramento Writers' Conference, Sacramento, Delivered keynote address, "Writing as Performance: What's Voice Got to Do With It?" , 2008-2009
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Professional Memberships |
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PEN USA, 2010-2011
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PEN USA, 2009-2010
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PEN USA, 2008-2009
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Media, Alumni, and Community Relations |
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New American Writing at the Hammer Museum, 2010-2011
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PEN USA EMERGING VOICES, Visiting Writer, 2010-2011
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Visiting Writer, Centennial Place Shelter for the Homeless, six week course, Poets and Writers Grant, 2010-2011
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Visiting Writer, Los Angeles Public Library, Memorial Branch, 2010-2011
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Writing Family Panel at Diesel Books in Brentwood, 2010-2011
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PEN USA EMERGING VOICES, Visiting Writer, 2009-2010
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