He has written nearly 900 columns on effective business writing. His
syndicated column appears every other Monday in the business section of
the
Minneapolis Star Tribune and in
the
Orange County Register.
His doctoral dissertation, a history of the renowned Iowa Writers'
Workshop, was published by the University of Iowa Press. In addition, he
has published two collections of his columns,
Writing for Business
(winner of a 1994 Minnesota Book Award) and
Writing by Wilbers.
His book on stylistic technique,
Keys to Great Writing,
has been described as "a writing class in a book" that "breaks down
general advice on what to do into practical steps on how to do it."
Writer's
Digest Books
will publish his
monthly writing tips
as a
book, tentatively titled
The Unforgettable Writer: 52 Tips for Writing with Style,
in the spring of 2014.
This Northern Nonsense: Ernest Oberholtzer and
Mallard Island,
his chapbook of poems about the legacy of the preservationist who helped
save the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness from development, was
published by Red Dragonfly Press.
A Boundary Waters History: Canoeing Across Time
depicts efforts to preserve a remarkable wilderness on Minnesota's
northern border while telling the story of canoeing for nearly 30 years
with his father. His most recent book,
Canoeing the Boundary Waters Wilderness: A Sawbill Log,
continues the story of the challenges, dangers, and rewards of wilderness
canoeing. He is currently working on a number of books, including
A Grammatical Affair: A Wildly Romantic
Love Story Offering Writing Instruction in the Form of a Novel,
which combines fiction and pedagogy.
Dr. Wilbers earned his B.A. at Vanderbilt University and his M.A. and
Ph.D. at the University of Iowa. He was a Visiting Fulbright Fellow at the
University of Essex in Colchester, England. Before starting his business
as a writing consultant, he established the University of Iowa’s first
campus-wide advising program. At the University of Minnesota he directed
student academic support services in the College of Liberal Arts and later
served as Associate Director and Acting Director of the Program in
Creative and Professional writing, where he worked with the creative
writing faculty to establish a multi-section “meet the authors” creative
writing course that is still offered more than 20 years later.
An avid reader, canoeist, cyclist, Nordic ski racer, and two-time
skydiver, he and his wife Debbie have two grown children and live in
Minneapolis, where he is a proud member of
The Loft Literary Center,
serving as a member of the Loft's board of directors from 2003 to 2009 and
as board chair from 2007 to 2009.
For additional information, see
his
résumé.
Clients
Books by Stephen Wilbers
Contact Stephen Wilbers at
wilbe004@umn.edu.
