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Anita Mathias, C.V.

By Anita Mathias

Education

M.A. in English, Somerville College, Oxford University, 1990.
M.A. in English and Creative Writing, The Ohio State University, 1989. B.A. (Honors) in English, Somerville College, Oxford University, 1986

Academic Scholarships
Scholarship from the Radhakrishnan Fund of Oxford University to study at Oxford, 1984.
Scholarship from the Eckersley Trust, Oxford, to study English at Oxford, 1984.

Literary Awards

  • National Endowment for the Arts Award, 1998 ($20,000).
  • Individual Artist Fellowship from the Minnesota State Arts Board, 1992 ($6000).
  • Literary Travel Grant, The Jerome Foundation, Minnesota, 1993.
  • Full Fellowship, Residency in Creative Nonfiction, The Vermont Studio Center, a Writers’ Colony, 1997.
  • Fellowship, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Sweet Briar, Virginia, a Writers’ Colony, 2002.

Selected Literary Prizes and Honors

  • First Prize, Best General Interest Article, Catholic Press Association of America & Canada, 2000.
  • The Jakobson Scholarship for Writers of Unusual Promise, Wesleyan Writers’ Conference, Connecticut, 1994.
  • Working scholarship in Nonfiction to the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Vermont, 1997.
  • Scholarship in Nonfiction to the Chenango Valley Writers’ Conference, New York, 1996.
  • Odyssey Bookstore Scholarship in Nonfiction, Mount Holyoke Writers’ Conference, Massachusetts, 1992.
  • Asian Pacific Inroads Award, The Loft Literary Center, Minnesota, 1992.

Selected Publications

  • “First Thing in the Morning,” The Style Plus Page, The Washington Post, 16th September, 1997.
  • “Nirmal Hriday,” London Magazine, Aug./Sept. 1993.
  • “Memories of a Catholic Childhood,” Commonweal, October 8th, 1999.
  • “That Ancient Yarn,” Virginia Quarterly Review, Winter 2000.
  • “The Holy Ground of Kalighat,” Notre Dame Magazine, Autumn 1998.
  • “Learning to Pray,” The Christian Century, March 22nd, 2000.
  • Also selected by and posted on Religion-Online.org
  • “Candlelight Prayer at Stanford,” America, April 11, 1992.
  • “View from the Margins,” Contemporary Literary Criticism, 2003.
  • “Aliens and Strangers,” Southwest Review, Vol. 87, #2, Nov. 2002.
  • “Kalighat,” New Letters, Vol. 59, No. 2, 1993.
  • “Tryst,” and “At Santa Maria Novella, Florence,” The Journal, Vol. 13, No.2, 1990.
  • “Suttee,” Envoi, No. 98, Winter 1990/91.

Selected Publications
“First Thing in the Morning,” The Style Plus Page, The Washington Post, 16th September, 1997.
“Nirmal Hriday,” London Magazine, Aug./Sept. 1993.
“Memories of a Catholic Childhood,” Commonweal, October 8th, 1999.
“That Ancient Yarn,” Virginia Quarterly Review, Winter 2000.
“The Holy Ground of Kalighat,” Notre Dame Magazine, Autumn 1998.
“Learning to Pray,” The Christian Century, March 22nd, 2000.  (Also selected by and posted on Religion-Online.org)
“Candlelight Prayer at Stanford,” America, April 11, 1992.
“View from the Margins,” Contemporary Literary Criticism, 2003.
“Aliens and Strangers,” Southwest Review, Vol. 87, #2, Nov. 2002.
“Kalighat,” New Letters, Vol. 59, No. 2, 1993.
“Tryst,” and “At Santa Maria Novella, Florence,” The Journal, Vol. 13, No.2, 1990.
“Suttee,” Envoi, No. 98, Winter 1990/91.

Anthologies

  • “Memories of a Catholic Childhood,” Best Spiritual Writing 2000, HarperSanFrancisco.
  • “The Holy Ground of Kalighat,” Best Spiritual Writing, 1999, HarperSanFrancisco.  (Also selected by and posted on ChristianGateway.com, and Faith.com.)
  • “Kalighat,” reprinted in Tanzania on Tuesday, New Rivers Press, MN, 1997.
  • “Zigzags,” reprinted in The Best of Writers at Work 1994, Northwest Publishing, Inc., Utah.
  • “Zigzags,” Speaking in Tongues, a multi-cultural anthology, The Loft Literary Center, Minneapolis, MN 1994.
  • Three contributions to  WomanPrayers: Prayers by Women from throughout History and Around the World, ed. Mary Ford-Grabowsky, (HarperSanFrancisco, 2002).
  • “That Ancient Yarn,” selected as a Notable Essay of 2000, Best American Essays 2001, Houghton Mifflin.
  • “I was a Teenage Atheist,” selected as a Notable Essay of 1999, Best American Essays 2000, Houghton Mifflin.

Teaching of Creative Writing
Adjunct Professor of Creative Writing, The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia. 1997.
Taught an eight week course in Creative Nonfiction at the Loft Literary Center, Minneapolis, 1993.
Faculty at the Christopher Newport University Writers’ Conference, Virginia, 2000, 2003.
Faculty at the Heritage Public Library Writers’ Conference, Providence Forge, Virginia, 1999.
Faculty at the Spring Writers’ Conference, Columbus, Ohio, 1989.
Taught writing as a Teaching Assistant, The Ohio State University, 1987-1989
Taught the modern novel as a Teaching Assistant at the State University of New York, Binghamton, NY1989

Miscellaneous
Several book reviews for Commonweal Magazine between 2000-2003.
Several Theater and Film Reviews, Minnesota Daily, 1993.
Listed in the Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers.
Profiled as “The Star of the Month” by Mangalorean.com, an expatriate website.

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Anita Mathias: About Me

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My Books

Wandering Between Two Worlds: Essays on Faith and Art

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Francesco, Artist of Florence: The Man Who Gave Too Much

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The Story of Dirk Willems

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Premier Digital Awards 2015 - Finalist - Blogger of the year
Runner Up Christian Media Awards 2014 - Tweeter of the year

Recent Posts

  •  On Not Wasting a Desert Experience
  • A Mind of Life and Peace in the Middle of a Global Pandemic
  • On Yoga and Following Jesus
  • Silver and Gold Linings in the Storm Clouds of Coronavirus
  • Trust: A Message of Christmas
  • Life- Changing Journaling: A Gratitude Journal, and Habit-Tracker, with Food and Exercise Logs, Time Sheets, a Bullet Journal, Goal Sheets and a Planner
  • On Loving That Which Love You Back
  • “An Autobiography in Five Chapters” and Avoiding Habitual Holes  
  • Shining Faith in Action: Dirk Willems on the Ice
  • The Story of Dirk Willems: The Man who Died to Save His Enemy

Categories

What I’m Reading

Childhood, Youth, Dependency: The Copenhagen Trilogy
Tove Ditlevsen

  The Copenhagen Trilogy  - Amazon.com
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Amazing Faith: The Authorized Biography of Bill Bright
Michael Richardson

Amazing Faith -- Bill Bright -- Amazon.com
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On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Stephen King

On Writing --  Amazon.com
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Acedia & me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life
Kathleen Norris

KATHLEEN NORRIS --  Amazon.com
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Andrew Marr


A History of the World
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Opened Ground: Poems, 1966-96
Seamus Heaney


Opened Ground: Poems, 1966-96 
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anita.mathias

Writer, Blogger, Reader, Mum. Christian. Instaing Oxford, travel, gardens and healthy meals. Oxford English alum. Writing memoir. Lives in Oxford, UK

Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford # Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford #walking #tranquility #naturephotography #nature
So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And h So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And here we are at one of the world’s most famous and easily recognisable sites.
#stonehenge #travel #england #prehistoric England #family #druids
And I’ve blogged https://anitamathias.com/2020/09/13/on-not-wasting-a-desert-experience/
So, after Paul the Apostle's lightning bolt encounter with the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he went into the desert, he tells us...
And there, he received revelation, visions, and had divine encounters. The same Judean desert, where Jesus fasted for forty days before starting his active ministry. Where Moses encountered God. Where David turned from a shepherd to a leader and a King, and more, a man after God’s own heart.  Where Elijah in the throes of a nervous breakdown hears God in a gentle whisper. 
England, where I live, like most of the world is going through a desert experience of continuing partial lockdowns. Covid-19 spreads through human contact and social life, and so we must refrain from those great pleasures. We are invited to the desert, a harsh place where pruning can occur, and spiritual fruitfulness.
A plague like this has not been known for a hundred years... John Piper, after his cancer diagnosis, exhorted people, “Don’t Waste Your Cancer”—since this was the experience God permitted you to have, and He can bring gold from it. Pandemics and plagues are permitted (though not willed or desired) by a Sovereign God, and he can bring life-change out of them. 
Let us not waste this unwanted, unchosen pandemic, this opportunity for silence, solitude and reflection. Let’s not squander on endless Zoom calls—or on the internet, which, if not used wisely, will only raise anxiety levels. Let’s instead accept the invitation to increased silence and reflection
Let's use the extra free time that many of us have long coveted and which has now been given us by Covid-19 restrictions to seek the face of God. To seek revelation. To pray. 
And to work on those projects of our hearts which have been smothered by noise, busyness, and the tumult of people and parties. To nurture the fragile dreams still alive in our hearts. The long-deferred duty or vocation
So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I have totally sunk into the rhythm of it, and have got quiet, very quiet, the quietest spell of time I have had as an adult.
I like it. I will find going back to the sometimes frenetic merry-go-round of my old life rather hard. Well, I doubt I will go back to it. I will prune some activities, and generally live more intentionally and mindfully.
I have started blocking internet of my phone and laptop for longer periods of time, and that has brought a lot of internal quiet and peace.
Some of the things I have enjoyed during lockdown have been my daily long walks, and gardening. Well, and reading and working on a longer piece of work.
Here are some images from my walks.
And if you missed it, a blog about maintaining peace in the middle of the storm of a global pandemic
https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/  #walking #contemplating #beauty #oxford #pandemic
A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine. A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine.  We can maintain a mind of life and peace during this period of lockdown by being mindful of our minds, and regulating them through meditation; being mindful of our bodies and keeping them happy by exercise and yoga; and being mindful of our emotions in this uncertain time, and trusting God who remains in charge. A new blog on maintaining a mind of life and peace during lockdown https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/
In the days when one could still travel, i.e. Janu In the days when one could still travel, i.e. January 2020, which seems like another life, all four of us spent 10 days in Malta. I unplugged, and logged off social media, so here are some belated iphone photos of a day in Valetta.
Today, of course, there’s a lockdown, and the country’s leader is in intensive care.
When the world is too much with us, and the news stresses us, moving one’s body, as in yoga or walking, calms the mind. I am doing some Yoga with Adriene, and again seeing the similarities between the practice of Yoga and the practice of following Christ.
https://anitamathias.com/2020/04/06/on-yoga-and-following-jesus/
#valleta #valletamalta #travel #travelgram #uncagedbird
Images from some recent walks in Oxford. I am copi Images from some recent walks in Oxford.
I am coping with lockdown by really, really enjoying my daily 4 mile walk. By savouring the peace of wild things. By trusting that God will bring good out of this. With a bit of yoga, and weights. And by working a fair amount in my garden. And reading.
How are you doing?
#oxford #oxfordinlockdown #lockdown #walk #lockdownwalks #peace #beauty #happiness #joy #thepeaceofwildthings
Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social d Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social distancing. The first two are my own garden.  And I’ve https://anitamathias.com/2020/03/28/silver-and-gold-linings-in-the-storm-clouds-of-coronavirus/ #corona #socialdistancing #silverlinings #silence #solitude #peace
Trust: A Message of Christmas He came to earth in Trust: A Message of Christmas  He came to earth in a  splash of energy
And gentleness and humility.
That homeless baby in the barn
Would be the lynchpin on which history would ever after turn
Who would have thought it?
But perhaps those attuned to God’s way of surprises would not be surprised.
He was already at the centre of all things, connecting all things. * * *
Augustus Caesar issued a decree which brought him to Bethlehem,
The oppressions of colonialism and conquest brought the Messiah exactly where he was meant to be, the place prophesied eight hundred years before his birth by the Prophet Micah.
And he was already redeeming all things. The shame of unwed motherhood; the powerlessness of poverty.
He was born among animals in a barn, animals enjoying the sweetness of life, animals he created, animals precious to him.
For he created all things, and in him all things hold together
Including stars in the sky, of which a new one heralded his birth
Drawing astronomers to him.
And drawing him to the attention of an angry King
As angelic song drew shepherds to him.
An Emperor, a King, scholars, shepherds, angels, animals, stars, an unwed mother
All things in heaven and earth connected
By a homeless baby
The still point on which the world still turns. The powerful centre. The only true power.
The One who makes connections. * * *
And there is no end to the wisdom, the crystal glints of the Message that birth brings.
To me, today, it says, “Fear not, trust me, I will make a way.” The baby lay gentle in the barn
And God arranges for new stars, angelic song, wise visitors with needed finances for his sustenance in the swiftly-coming exile, shepherds to underline the anointing and reassure his parents. “Trust me in your dilemmas,” the baby still says, “I will make a way. I will show it to you.” Happy Christmas everyone.  https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/24/trust-a-message-of-christmas/ #christmas #gemalderieberlin #trust #godwillmakeaway
Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Gratitude journal, habit tracker, food and exercise journal, bullet journal, with time sheets, goal sheets and a Planner. Everything you’d like to track.  Here’s a post about it with ISBNs https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/23/life-changing-journalling/. Check it out. I hope you and your kids like it!
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