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Bill Camp is keeping pace, sharing his knowledge of English composition at Camp Community College, Tidewater Community College and Norfolk State University. In the midst of all this, he finds time to carve his niche, but with his “mighty pen.”

Camp recently sold a poem and a short story. Both have published and are available online.

The poem, “A Perfect Rainbow,” appears in the Spring/Summer 2020 edition of Teach.Write., A Writing Teachers’ Literary Journal.

Witnessing an unexpected full spectrum arc one day moved Camp to capture his experience for readers.

“It was the most perfect rainbow I’d ever seen, as described in the poem,” said Camp. “I actually struggled with what the meaning could be on some other level.” He worked and reworked the piece, before realizing the metaphor for perfection. “For many of us, our times of perfection are fleeting, although I’m sure we all strive for them all the time,” he added.

The poem is printed on page 80 at the following link:

winkler766087.files.wordpress.com/2020/04/teach.-write.-springsummer2020_edited.pdf.

“The Lecturer” is a short story in the genre of horror about the impression left on a professor after visiting an intriguing lecture in the back room of a dive bar known as The Rabbit Hole — an encounter that will alter his greatest fear.

The short story hails the influence of H.P. Lovecraft, who once said, “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” However, inspiration is drawn from more than one place in this work.

“Lovecraft is what many people, including Stephen King, consider the greatest horror writer of all,” said Camp. “Many of Lovecraft’s stories deal with ancient civilizations and early humans, and connections that present-day people have to them.”

The main character is a more obvious parallel to the writer, but the writer’s experience wanting to enter an off-the-beaten-path record store in Toronto despite the hesitations of companions was as well.

“I’m sure the small business owner appreciated our patronage,” said Camp, “and perhaps that serves as a strong reminder that we should be supporting our local businesses with the ongoing present issues.”

Camp’s “The Lecturer” can be read by visiting “Page and Spine,” an online publication that supports new, emerging authors. His work is on the new Outta This World page at www.pagespineficshowcase.com/bill-camp.html.

Camp has a number of published works, including poems, a dark comedy and other short stories. He is a member of the Horror Writer’s Association, who awarded him the Rocky Wood Memorial Scholarship in 2018 for his research project about the history of Frankenstein in film.