Draft:Ralph D. Witten

Ralph D. Witten is a Dutch-Canadian writer of short stories, poetry, and creative non-fiction.

Background
Ralph D. Witten was born to Dutch immigrant parents in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1962. In 1985, Witten began studying under Canadian writer Rudy Wiebe. Witten received his Masters of Arts (MA) in creative writing at the University of Alberta in 1987. In 1989, Witten published a biographical study and interview with Rudy Wiebe.

Writing
Witten received first prize at The Edmonton Journal's 1987 Literary Awards for his short story “Cats Night.” In 1988, Witten published River Through the Badlands, a collection of nine short stories set in Alberta. Although Witten's short story “You Could Win” was included in River Through the Badlands, it was originally published in Edges Literary Magazine in 1987.

Multiple Ralph Witten stories have been produced for CBC Radio. In 1988, Witten's short story "Cats Night" was produced for CBC Radio and read by Fred Keating. Witten described the story as "an exaggeration of childhood memories; it's an attempt to convey Leo's growing awareness of the gulf between his religious community and the world beyond that community." In 1989, Witten's short story "Batoche" was produced for CBC Radio and read by Wendell Smith. The CBC explained that Witten was inspired to write the story after visiting Batoche, Saskatchewan and witnessing the site of the historic Battle of Batoche of the Northwest Rebellion of 1885.

Hendrika Ruger has written extensively on the influence of Dutch immigration on Canadian literature, and The Edmonton Journal stated that although Ralph Witten is "a native Edmontonian, Witten was raised by his Dutch immigrant parents in the Beverly area" of east Edmonton.

In 2021, Witten published the poems "New Moon" and "Astotin Lake" in Canadian literary journal The Trumpeter. In 2022, Witten published the poems "On a Whim" and "Time in the Mountains" in Canadian literary magazine The Goose.

Other work
In 2012, it was reported that Witten was employed as the Associate Chair of the Liberal Arts department at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT). Ralph Witten is the brother of Canadian coin engraver Stanley Witten, and the brother-in-law of Canadian philosopher Ronald A. Kuipers. When Kuipers' monograph Richard Rorty: Contemporary American Thinkers was published in 2012, Kuipers wrote "I would especially like to thank my brother-in-law Ralph Witten for reading the manuscript in its entirety and offering timely comments and stimulating conversation. This interaction helped make the book a joy to write."

Fiction

 * You Could Win (1987)
 * River Through the Badlands (1988)
 * Batoche (1989)

Poetry

 * Snake In The House (2008)
 * New Moon (2021)
 * Astotin Lake (2021)

Non-Fiction

 * Running With Vision (2005)
 * How Does English Square with Technology? (2018)