Bishop, Ted

(E.L. Bishop, Edward Bishop, Edward L. Bishop)

PERSONAL: Education: University of Alberta, B.A.; Queen’s University, M.A., Ph.D.

ADDRESSES: Home— Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Office— Department of English, University of Alberta, 3-5 Humanities Ctr., Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E1, Canada. E-mail— edward.bishop@ualberta.ca.

CAREER: University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, professor of English.

AWARDS, HONORS: Best Motorcycle Book, Motorcycle Awards of Excellence, City of Edmonton Book Award, Province of Alberta Wilfred Eggleston Award, Governor- General’s Literary Awards finalist, all 2005, all for Riding with Rilke: Reflections on Motorcycles and Books.

WRITINGS

(As Edward Bishop) A Virginia Woolf Chronology, G.K. Hall (Boston, MA), 1989.

(As Edward Bishop) Virginia Woolf, St. Martin’s Press (New York, NY), 1991.

(Editor and transcriber, as Edward L. Bishop) Virginia Woolf, Jacob’s Room: The Holograph Draft: Based on the Holograph Manuscript in the Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature at the New York Public Library, Pace University Press (New York, NY), 1998.

(Editor, as Edward L. Bishop) Virginia Woolf, Jacob’s Room, Blackwell Publishers (Malden, MA), 2004.

(As Ted Bishop) Riding with Rilke: Reflections on Motorcycles and Books, Penguin Canada (Toronto, Canada), 2005, W.W. Norton (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to periodicals, including Cycle Canada, Enroute, Prairie Fire, Rider, and Word Carving.

SIDELIGHTS: Ted Bishop is a Canadian professor of English who has specialized in writers such as Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, and other modernists. His 2006 book, Riding with Rilke: Reflections on Motorcycles and Books, is a popular departure from his usual academic writings, blending Bishop’s own love of riding motorcycles with his knowledge of literature. The book was written during Bishop’s convalescence from a motorcycle accident, and it chronicles a road trip he took from his hometown in Edmonton, Alberta, to Austin, Texas. Part memoir and part literary discussion, Riding with Rilke is, according to Booklist critic David Pitt, a “joyful book, a celebration of intellectual pursuit and carefree exploration,” as well as a “one-of-a-kind treat.” Similarly, a Publishers Weekly reviewer termed it an “easygoing, romantic memoir infused with joie de vivre.” Writing in Toronto’s Globe and Mail, Ira Nadel noted that Riding with Rilke blends “travelogue, autobiography and literary history with the art of motorcycle maintenance.” Mark Alan Williams, writing in Library Journal, voiced a similar opinion, calling Riding with Rilke“an unusual combination of literature and travelog but one that ultimately works and is an enjoyable read.”

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES

BOOKS

Bishop, Ted, Riding with Rilke: Reflections on Motorcycles and Books, W.W. Norton (New York, NY), 2006.

PERIODICALS

Biography, winter, 2006, Ira Nadel, review of Riding with Rilke: Reflections on Motorcycles and Books, p. 200.

Booklist, September 1, 2006, David Pitt, review of Riding with Rilke, p. 43.

Globe and Mail (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), October 1, 2005, Ira Nadel, review of Riding with Rilke, p. D16.

Library Journal, November 1, 2006, Mark Alan Williams, review of Riding with Rilke, p. 76.

Playboy, January, 2006, Amy Loyd, review of Riding with Rilke, p. 34.

Publishers Weekly, August 7, 2006, review of Riding with Rilke, p. 48.

ONLINE

Austin Chronicle Online, http://www.austinchronicle.com/ (November 10, 2006), Jess Sauer, review of Riding with Rilke.

College Quarterly Online, http://www.senecac.on.ca/ (December 11, 2006), Howard A. Doughty, review of Riding with Rilke.

Doing “It” Weekly, http://www.blogto.com/ (December 11, 2006), “Interview # 1: Ted Bishop.”

FFWD Weekly, http://www.ffwdweekly.com/ (November 17, 2005), Roberta McDonald, “The Professor and the Motorcycle.”

International Journal of Motorcycle Studies Online, http://ijms.nova.edu/ (December 11, 2006), review of Riding with Rilke.

Penguin Canada Online, http://www.penguin.ca/ (December 11, 2006), brief biography of Ted Bishop. University of Alberta English Department Web site, http://www.humanities.ualberta.ca/english/ (December 11, 2006), faculty profile of E.L. Bishop.