Daniels grew up on the road, living for stints with his parents in a Hawaiian commune, a waterless, powerless cabin in the desert, and in an old step-van outfitted with bunks.
As an adult, he set off on his own, traveling extensively through Europe, Mexico and Central America. Along the way, he picked up odd jobs when he could find them, jobs such as production manager of a furniture factory (Guatemala), newspaper reporter (Mexico), and bartender (all over). Cloudbreak, California focuses on some of these adventures.
His short fiction and nonfiction has appeared in Puerto del Sol, Cimarron Review, Third Coast, Sonora Review, South Dakota Review, Santa Clara Review, GSU Review, Orange Coast Review, Eyeshot and other journals. Among other awards, he won first prize in Creative Nonfiction at the San Miguel Writers’ Conference.
Daniels holds a Ph.D. from Western Michigan and has taught creative writing at Augustana College since 2007.
The River Readings series is sponsored by the Office of Academic Affairs, the Institute for Leadership and Service, the Thomas Tredway Library and the English Department. For more information, contact Amanda Makula, (309) 794-7316.
