The pen or the sword?
Denison University’s Peter Grandbois loves both
GRANVILLE – He writes books, plays and poetry, and he’s a nationally ranked fencer. He’s no ordinary college professor.
“I have two roles at Denison,” said Peter Grandbois. “I’m both professor of creative writing and contemporary literature, and head fencing coach for the women’s varsity fencing team.”
Now 57, Grandbois was born in Minneapolis but grew up in the Denver area. He graduated from Overland HS in Aurora, majored in English and biology at the University of Colorado, then earned a master’s in English at the University of Colorado, an MFA in creative writing at Bennington College, and a PHD in creative writing and contemporary literature from the University of Denver.
“I was an introvert growing up,” he recalled. “My nose was always in books. I loved science fiction, fantasy and anything to do with sword fighting. I remember scanning for old Errol Flynn movies and playing hooky any time I saw an old sword fighting movie on TV.”
“Neither of my parents went to college,” he continued, “so I didn’t dare dream of teaching in college or being a writer. I knew that’s what I wanted to do but didn’t dare say it. I didn’t think I was smart enough.”
Then he had one of “those” moments.
“My drama teacher in high school once told me to ‘always follow your heart,’” he recalled. “I still remember distinctly everything about that moment. It had a huge impact and has guided my life ever since.”
As for fencing, well, he’d never even heard of anyone learning to fence.
“I never dreamed it was possible,” he explained, “until I saw a flyer advertising a class when I was a freshman at the University of Colorado. I fell in love
with the sport instantly. Soon, I became obsessed and made it my goal to make the U.S. team.”
After several years, Grandbois became the best in the seven state Rocky Mountain region. After college he moved to San Francisco to train with the best fencers in the country and rose to a ranking of 5th in the US in ’93 and ’94 and as high as 3rd just before he quit in ’95.
“Seventeen years later,” he said, “I returned to competitive fencing to compete in the ‘Veteran’s,’ or as I call it, the ‘Old Man’s’ category. I was ranked number 1 in the U.S. until the Denison fencing team took off and I had to stop competing.”
Over the years he, in fact, “held down countless jobs,” as he put it, before he began his collegiate career at the age of 42. He came to Denison in 2010.
“We are incredibly lucky to have Peter at Denison,” said Margot Singer, director of the Eisner Center for the Performing Arts and professor of English and director of creative writing. “He’s a masterful teacher, an innovative and prolific writer, a champion fencer, and an amazing mentor to students and athletes alike. Most of us drill down and try to do our one thing as best we can. Peter takes on challenge after challenge and masters them all.”
“I’d secretly dreamed of being a writer since high school,” Grandbois responded, “but the idea of actually becoming a writer was terrifying to me. So for many years I wrote in secret – mostly bad sci-fi and even worse poems.”
“But then a couple weeks after my first child was born, I suddenly felt compelled to write,” he noted. “Somehow the birth of that child stirred something in me that had always been there. I’ve published thirteen books of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction, and had several plays produced. I don’t suffer from writer’s block. Instead, I listen to the writing. I listen for what it wants to be. What form does it want to take – a play, poem, story or an essay?”
“I feel very lucky to be doing what I’m doing,” he concluded. “It’s a risky thing to ‘follow your heart,’ as my drama teacher advised. I could have ended up less successful. But I would argue that I would have still been happy because I would be doing what I loved. So I teach writing and fencing because I love them, because I believe they have value in helping others to live worthwhile happy, healthy lives.”