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With more than forty years experience in the publishing world, and over fifteen years in entertainment, Dr. Ken Atchity is a self-defined "story merchant"--writer, producer, teacher, and literary manager, responsible for launching dozens of books and films. His life's passion is finding great storytellers and turning them into bestselling authors and screenwriters. Films Ken has produced 26 films, including "Joe Somebody" (Tim Allen; Fox), "Life or Something Like It" (Angelina Jolie; Fox), "The Amityville Horror" (NBC), "Shadow of Obsession" (NBC), "The Madam's Family" (CBS). "Meg" (New Line), "Henry's List of Wrongs" (New Line), and Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not (starring Jim Carrey; Paramount) are approaching production. His 14 books include books for writers at every stage of their career. Based on his own teaching and writing experience, Ken has successfully built bestselling careers for novelists, nonfiction writers, and screenwriters from the ground up. Clients include bestsellers Steve Alten, Jamise Dames, Noire, Shirley Palmer, Tracy Price-Thompson, Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not!, Cheryl Saban, and Governor Jesse Ventura. Now, as chairman and CEO of Atchity Entertainment International, Inc. www.aeionline.com, Ken's Story Merchant companies, provide a one-stop full-service development and management machine for commercial and literary writers who wish to launch their storytelling in all media---from publishing and film and television production, to Web presence and merchandising & licensing. Ken was born in Eunice, Louisiana; and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, where he attended Rockhurst High School (he was editor in chief of The Prep News), and was founder and editor of the St. Elizabeth young teen newspaper The Rumble. After receiving K.C.'s Mnookin-Brown American Legion writing fellowship, Ken left K.C. on an Ignatian Scholarship to Georgetown University. After undergraduate work at Georgetown (A.B., English/Classics; Virgilian Academy Medal; editor, The Hoya, published in Georgetown Journal, Courier, and Viewpoint) Ken received his M.Phil. in Theater History and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature at Yale (Porter Prize for his dissertation, "Homer's Iliad: The Song and Shield of Memory," teaching assistant to Eric Segal of Mass Communications, Richard Ellman, Davis Harding). He served as professor and chairman of comparative literature and creative writing at Occidental College (Faculty Achievement Award; published articles, reviews, short stories, and poems in major journals and magazines throughout the world). He received awards and grants from the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation. He was founder and editor of CQ: Contemporary Quarterly: Poetry and Art; and co-founder and -editor (with Marsha Kinder of Dreamworks: An Interdisciplinary Journal Devoted to the Relationship between Dreams and the Arts (authors published and/or advisory board included Joyce Carol Oates, Ursula Leguin, Ernest Cardenal, Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, Paul Bowles, John Fowles, Hubert Selby, John Rechy, Stephen King, Georges Simenon, Carlos Fuentes, Eugene Ionesco). Dr. Atchity served as Fulbright Professor of American Studies at the University of Bologna, Distinguished Instructor, UCLA Writers Program, and was a regular columnist-reviewer for The Los Angeles Times Book Review. Ken has made numerous radio and television appearances, speaking on creativity, dreams, and various academic and entertainment and publishing related subjects. He wrote and served as on-camera talent for Synapse Technology's "Columbus: The Voyage of Discovery," and consulted for the Discovery Channel's series, "The Power of Dreams." One of Ken's favorite activities is reaching out to writers as keynote speaker at conferences. Conferences he's appeared at include: CASE Institute (San Diego) Romantic Times Convention (New York City) Deep South Writers Conference (Lafayette, Louisiana) Southwest Writers Conference (Albuquerque) Austin Writers League Conference Florida Bar Association (Miami) The Learning Annex (Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Toronto) Honolulu Writers Conference American Writers Conference Southwest Writers Conference (Houston) Dallas Writers Conference Loyola Writers Conference (Los Angeles) Open University (Minneapolis) University of California (Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, Santa Barbara, San Diego) California State University (Bakersfield, Los Angeles, Dominguez Hills) Georgetown University University of Houston University of Texas (Dallas) Rico University Villanova Swarthmore Avila Writers Conference (Kansas City) University of Missouri (Kansas City) Women in Film (Hollywood) Women's National Book Association (New York) WOW (Baltimore) After undergraduate work at Georgetown (A.B., English/Classics; Virgilian Academy Medal; editor, The Hoya, published in Georgetown Journal, Courier, and Viewpoint-- Ken received his M.Phil. in Theater History and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature at Yale (Porter Prize for his dissertation, "Homer's Iliad: The Song and Shield of Memory," teaching assistant to Eric Segal of Mass Communications, Richard Ellman, Davis Harding). He served as professor and chairman of comparative literature and creative writing at Occidental College (Faculty Achievement Award; published articles, reviews, short stories, and poems in major journals and magazines throughout the world). Received awards and grants from the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation Editor of CQ: Contemporary Quarterly: Poetry and Art Co-founder and -editor (with Marsha Kinder of Dreamworks: An Interdisciplinary Journal Devoted to the Relationship between Dreams and the Arts (authors published and/or advisory board included Joyce Carol Oates, Ursula Leguin, Ernest Cardenal, Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, Paul Bowles, John Fowles, Hubert Selby, John Rechy, Stephen King, Georges Simenon, Carlos Fuentes, Eugene Ionesco). Served as Fulbright Professor of American Studies at the University of Bologna Distinguished Instructor, UCLA Writers Program Regular columnist-reviewer for The Los Angeles Times Book Review (involved in establishing the Los Angeles Times Book Awards) Vice-president of P.E.N. Los Angeles Ken has made numerous radio and television appearances, speaking on creativity, dreams, and various academic and entertainment and publishing related subjects. He wrote and served as on-camera talent for Synapse Technology's "Columbus: The Voyage of Discovery," and consulted for the Discovery Channel's series, "The Power of Dreams." Several of Ken's screenplays are currently under option. Corporate consulting clients of AEI and Ken Atchity have included: Afro-American Urban Center Association for the Study of Dreams The Book Bridge California Arts Council CASE Institute Freshhh! Orange Juice The Getty Museum The Joyce Gary Report The Learning Annex Los Angeles Times Book Review Mark Taper Forum Mitchell Oil & Petroleum Pasadena Unified School District, Research and Teacher Education (RATE) Project Ripley Entertainment SignaturesCelebrities and SignaturesNetwork U.S. Postal Service Getty Museum University of Houston, Continuing Education Ken's biography is listed in: Who's Who in America Contemporary Authors Directory of American Scholars Who's Who in California Who's Who in the West International Who's Who in Poetry

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