Grace Beyond Measure

About the Book

About the Author

Bess Holland Oxendine grew up in North Carolina, where she began writing almost as soon as she learned her ABCs.  Poetry was a natural expression for her.  She loved to read it and to recite poem after poem for the enjoyment of her teachers and classmates.  Her first published original was in the small childrens magazine WEE WISDOM, which went out of print several years later.

As Oxendine moved into high school and later went on to college, she ventured into student journalism and literary magazines as well as writing groups.  One such group, The Twenty Writers, at Berea College, was made up of students and faculty, who published a magazine each year.  She recalls that, as president, she typed almost the entire magazine during spring break her senior year because she lived downtown that year and was the only member on campus for the holiday.  Although a deadline was looming, she found it to be a labor of love.

As she began teaching, she encouraged students to excel in writing - both prose and poetry; and, although she had written many essays, she wrote her first short story along with her students.  Advising newspaper, yearbook, and literary magazine - all at once - for a while, she managed to work in a bit of grammar as well as British and American literature with a tight schedule.

As she and her pharmacist husband, Denford, began to raise a family -  consisting now of two grown children, a son-in-law, and two grandchildren - she continued her education.  After earning an M.A. in English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she went on to complete the Certificate of Advanced Studies in English at UNC-Charlotte.  She also studied filmmaking at Duke University one summer, and photography became a passion of hers - so muchso that she installed a darkroom in her basement, where she experimented with both black and white and color photos.  During those years, she was also advising the American Field Service Club (AFS) at the school where she was teaching.  She still considers that ten-year venture one of the most satisfying things she has ever done.  She and her family hosted a young girl from Thailand one year, and they still communicate with Chollada often.  

Active in her professional organizations, Oxendine has been a delegate and a presenter at national conventions.  For approximately twenty years, she has been a judge for the Good Writing Contest, sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English.  She especially treasures memories of two summers spent teaching philosophy at the North Carolina Governors School for Gifted and Talented (for juniors and seniors,) which became the pattern for several states.  With a young daughter still at home, however, it became hard for her to continue there.  My family is the major focus of my life after God, and whatever strengthens that I subscribe to wholeheartedly, she says.

Oxendine says she couldnt have accomplished much of value in life or career if she hadnt kept her spiritual life active.  Her church work has filled her life with meaning and given her talents a place to grow and develop.  Writing a play for the diamond anniversary of her church and doing other scripts and poetry for programs there have allowed her to branch out.  She is presently considering greeting card writing and thinks of sending cards as a real ministry.

Even now, Oxendine attends Christian writing conferences, and her husband accompanies her, mainly to explore the area. A recent trip was to Glorieta, New Mexico, where she attended classes while her husband and grown son spent quality time touring early Indian settlements, etc.

For the past decade, she has taught English and Creative Writing at a nearby community college while writing, doing research, and enjoying her young grandchildren, Daniel and Hannah.  She still writes poems to honor special people and to commemorate events  -  much as she has done over the years in the unofficial position of poet laureate at the high school.  A favorite project was the madrigal dinner script which she wrote and the choral teacher produced every three years for at least twelve years.

One of her most rewarding activities has been as teacher of a creative writing class at a senior center in a neighboring town.  Her students have had so many life experiences on which to draw.  She  says that meeting with these creative people refreshes her own spirit.

In 1995, Oxendine published a childrens book, MIRIAM, first in a planned series, and hopes to publish SAMUEL in 2000.  She is currently writing an untitled novel growing out of her teaching experiences and compiling a book of her poetry, tentatively titled RUNNING OVER.

The writing life is surely the best of all possible lives, for me.  I am delighted when I have  an hour or two just to take out my yellow legal pad and put pen to paper.  I could ask for no greater gift, she declares.  She uses a word processor for later drafts and has recently been given a computer, but - for now - that first rush of words seems to flow through my fingers onto the paper with nothing else to be desired!