2018 Visiting Scholar
David King Dunaway
2018 Jim & Linda Burke Visiting Scholar
David King Dunaway has written about American culture for publications ranging from
the New York Times to the Virginia Quarterly. He is the author of nine volumes of
history and biography. Dunaway is currently a professor at the University of New Mexico,
Distinguished Professor of Broadcasting at San Francisco State University, and a DJ
for KUNM-FM radio in Albuquerque.
Writing & Filming the Southwest
On Tuesday, July 10, 2018, the Jim & Linda Burke Visiting Scholar David King Dunaway and John Nichols had a discussion of the portrayal of New Mexico in film and writing, including consideration of the stereotypes of the region’s communities and the challenges of trying to make an honest portrayal of the region.
David King Dunaway's specialty is the presentation of folklore, literature, and history via broadcasting. He is the Executive Producer of award-winning national radio series for Public Radio International, including “Writing the Southwest” (1995); “Aldous Huxley's Brave New Worlds” (1998); “Across the Tracks: A Route 66 Story” (2001); and Pete Seeger: How Can I Keep From Singing? (2008). He is currently a DJ for KUNM-FM and a professor at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
John Nichols is the author of the "New Mexico trilogy", a series about the complex relationship among history, race and ethnicity, and land and water rights in New Mexico. The trilogy includes The Milagro Beanfield War, which was adapted into a movie. Two of his other novels have been made into films. Nichols also has written non-fiction, including the trilogy If Mountains Die, The Last Beautiful Days of Autumn and On the Mesa. Nichols has lived in Taos for many years.
Writing the Southwest
On Tuesday, September 25, 2018, The 2018 Jim & Linda Burke Visiting Scholar, David King Dunaway, spoke about and played extracts of interviews with authors from his oral history-based book and award-winning broadcast, Writing the Southwest.
Writing the Southwest is an assemblage of interviews, bibliographies, excerpts, and criticism on fourteen prominent Southwest authors: Edward Abbey, Simon Ortiz, Rudolfo Anaya, Frank Waters, Joy Harjo, Luci Tapahanso, Denise Chavez, Linda Hogan, Terry McMillan, Alberto Rios, John Nichols, Stan Steiner, Barbara Kingsolver, and Tony Hillerman. The book was first published in 1995 and updated and expanded in 2003
Dunaway is currently a professor at the University of New Mexico, Distinguished Professor of Broadcasting at San Francisco State University, and a DJ for KUNM-FM radio in Albuquerque. He has written about American culture for publications ranging from the New York Times to the Virginia Quarterly.