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I. Biography
Paula
Sheil was born in Beale Air Force Base, which is about 150 miles north of Sacramento, near Marysville. As a child, Paula went to elementary school on the air force base that her father worked at. She attended junior
high and high school both in Sacramento, and went to Raymond College (which no longer exists) in Stockton, California. Paula currently lives in Stockton where she is a featured writer for the Stockton Record. She
is married and has two boys ages, 17 and 15.
While attending Raymond College Paula majored in liberal arts and got her teaching credential. Though her jobs have ranged anywhere from working as a teacher at Lodi Unified
School District to working at Rock Bottom Beds and Furnishings. When asked what her main jobs have been, she replied, "it's more the areas of jobs I have held that matter." There are three main areas of jobs she has
had: teaching, arts administration/coordinating and publishing.
Paula began writing informally as a child at the air force base. She didn't talk on the phone that much so she wrote letters to her friends.
That is how her writing began. Paula always loved poetry and rhymes like "Mother Goose." Her first poem was published in 1969, and she still uses this poem in her readings. Paula writes mainly about people and
human interests. Occasionally she writes about finance. She enjoys listening to people and then telling their stories.
With Julia Holzer, Paula edits Zambomba, a free poetry quarterly showcasing Central
Valley poets. Zambomba started in the fall of 1996. Sheil also led open readings in Stockton for three years, and now she performs regularly in the Bay Area and other venues in northern California.
As of now, Paula is writing a novel in order to get her masters degree. She says it will be a "love story to end all love
stories." Poems of hers are being published in Mexico City and in Fresno. A CD is being made of all the times she has been on KUSF, a San Francisco radio station. And her articles can be found every Wednesday and
Thursday in the Stockton Record.
Paula has been featured live on: KUOP, 91.3 FM, Poet's Corner, University of the Pacific; KUSF, 90.3 FM, University of San Francisco; and KFCF 88.7 in Fresno.
She
has received many awards for her work. Such awards include the Stockton Civic Theater: Special Recognition for Children's Theater(1983); Layne Fields Award for acting, directing, designing and administration of the theater
programs (1984); Stockton Arts Commission: Special recognition for Children's Theater (1984); and the STAR Award for acting, dancing, and launching Zambomba (1997).
Paula can be reached Monday through Friday at the
Stockton Record where she currently works.
II. Sources
Sheil, Paula. Personnal Interview. 14 Feb.1999.
III. Interview Questions
1. Where were you born?
2. Where were you educated?
3. What did you major in in college?
4. What were your main job areas?
5. When did you begin writing and how did you start?
6. What types of things do you write about?
7. What types of things do you enjoy writing most?
8. Do you have anything pending publication?
9. When did you start Zambomba (poetry newspaper)?
IV. Literary Works
Books
The Moon in Three Pieces (1998); co-authored with Josee Andrei and Edie Postell
Newspaper Articles
Over 400 features and business articles in The Record (1996 - present)
Sixteen (16) stories in Downtown Focus (1993 - 1995)
Three (3) stories in Art & Soul (1995)
"Un Artista de la Masa," El Foro Magazine (1994)
Poems
"Blood of My Blood" (1992)
"Blood of My Blood" (1993)
"Isn't each Child?" (1993)
"The Power of Touch" (1993)
"To Question is the Answer" (1993)
"1969" (1994)
"L'Donna" (1994)
"Leaving Work to Make Love" (1994)
"Lucian, Bringer of Light" (1994)
"Settling In" (1994)
"Raw Material" (1993 - 1994)*
"Borrowed Dress"(1993 - 1994)*
"Don't Blow Out the Candles Till We Sing" (1995)
"Flatline" (1995)
"To Question is to Answer" (1995)
"From My Womb, They Bleed" (1997)
"The New Main, San Francisco" (1998)
"A Woman Returns to Sanity in the Bath" (1999)
"The New Main, San Francisco" (1999)
"Telling Our Story" (1999)
"Wash" (1999)
The following poems were published in Connections: An Alternative Newspaper of San Joaquin County between 1994 and 1999:
"Kelly Freed is Dead"
"All My Pretty Babies"
"The Poet is Letting Her Hair Grow"
"Maids of All Work"
"At the Swan's Crossing"
The following poems were read on KUOP's
Stockton radio program, "The Poet's Corner," between 1997 and 1999:
"Talking to Eve"
"Isn't Each Child"
"The New Main, San Francisco"
"At the Swan's Crossing"
* Shiel's estimated publication date.
Newspaper Publication Activities
Zambomba. Paula Sheil, Editor & Contributor. (996 - Present)
Audio
Free Space. Chapbook on Tape (1996)
Numerous appearances on the following radio stations: KUOP Stockton, KUSF San Francisco and KFCF Fresno.
Regular Reader and Performer in San Francisco and Northern California.
Play
Dancing off the Edge: A Tribute to Jess Saenz. Performed by Paula Sheil (1996)
This essay was
submitted by students of Matthew Weeks, a teacher at St. Mary's High School in Stockton, California |
