Bill Hillmann

Bill Hillmann American Author
Bill Hillmann in 2013

Bill Hillmann (born 1982) is an American author, storyteller, and journalist. He is a bull-runner and former boxer.

Early life and education

Hillmann was born in Chicago in 1982,[1] and grew up on the city's North Side. He has a bachelor's degree from Elmhurst College and an MFA from Columbia College Chicago.[2]

Writing

Hillmann is the author of the novel The Old Neighborhood (2014),[3][4][5][6] and the nonfiction book Mozos: A Decade Running with the Bulls (2015)[7][8] which was translated and published in Spain as Corriendo con Hemingway (2016).[1][9]

As a storyteller, Hillmann is the creator of the Windy City Story Slam.[10][11] He also created the National Story Slam, in which ten storytellers representing different storytelling series across the country performed at the main stage of the Chicago Tribune Printer's Row Lit Fest.[12][13][14] He has told stories at storytelling series in Philadelphia,[15] Portland,[16] San Francisco,[17] and Boston,[18] and won the Boulder Story Slam in Boulder, Colorado in 2014.[19] He has produced and performed in Story Slam events in London and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.[20][21][22] He has also told stories on NPR's The Story and Snap Judgment.[23][24]

As a journalist, Hillmann has written for NPR as well as for the Toronto Star, Playboy, Chicago Tribune, Salon, Daily Mail, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post.[25][26][2][27] He was the Chicago correspondent for Fightnews, and is the special boxing contributor for the Chicago Tribune RedEye.[28][29]

Boxing

Hillmann is a 2002 Chicago Golden Gloves boxing champion representing the Windy City Gym and a two time selection for the Chicago Golden Gloves International Traveling Team.[2][6][30]

Bull-running

Hillmann is an experienced participant in running of the bulls, and has been described as "the best young bull runner from the United States".[31] He has given expert commentary on the running of the bulls for CNN,[32] The Today Show,[33] CBS This Morning,[34] and Esquire Network.[35] His audio essay "Running with the Bulls in Pamplona" for WBEZ Chicago Public Radio won an Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association in 2010.[36]

He was inspired to join the tradition by Ernest Hemingway's book The Sun Also Rises,[37][38] and has taken part in the bull runs in Pamplona since 2005.[38][39][40] In 2011 and 2012 he wrote how-to guides on the running of the bulls for Outside magazine.[40][41] By 2013 he had acquired the nickname "Buffalo Bill Hillmann",[31][37] and in 2014 he co-authored the book Fiesta: How to Survive the Bulls of Pamplona with Alexander Fiske-Harrison and John Hemingway.[42][43]

On July 9, 2014 at the festival of San Fermín in Pamplona a bull gored Hillmann twice in the thigh,[42][43][44] but he returned to bull-running in Pamplona in 2015,[38] and published his memoir, Mozos: A Decade Running with the Bulls.[7] In the summer of 2016 he ran with the bulls more than 200 times in towns throughout Spain.[45][46] He has stated that his favorite running of the bulls is the oldest, in Cuéllar, a small town about two hours north of Madrid, where hundreds of horsemen guide the bulls 3 miles (5 km) to the town and into the run.[38][39][47]

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 Seoane, Andrés (6 July 2016). "Bill Hillmann: 'Para correr un encierro hay que estar dispuesto a morir'" (in Spanish). El Cultural. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Bill Hillmann Will Serve as Final Judge for the 2016 Nick Adams Short Story Contest". Associated Colleges of the Midwest. 22 November 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  3. Samarov, Dmitry (11 April 2014). "Review: 'The Old Neighborhood' by Bill Hillmann". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  4. Hoffert, Barbara (3 June 2014). "Top Indie Fiction: 30 Key Titles Beyond the Best-Sellers List for Spring/Summer 2014". Library Journal.
  5. 1 2 Ludwig, Jerome. "Best of Chicago 2014 – Best New Book by a Former Chicago Golden Gloves Champ: The Old Neighborhood by Bill Hillmann". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  6. 1 2 Keilman, John (7 July 2015). "Two New Books Tackle The Running of the Bulls". Chicago Tribune.
  7. "Nonfiction Book Review: Mozos: A Decade Running with the Bulls of Spain by Bill Hillman". Publishers Weekly. July 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  8. Abella, Carlos (9 October 2016). "Bill Hillmann: Corriendo con Hemingway. Un mozo americano en los sanfermines". El Imparcial (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  9. Hageman, William (25 February 2010). "The Story Slam plot thickens during finals: 5 local storytellers will step". The Chicago Tribune.
  10. Clark, Alex (30 July 2010). "The new wave of literary events". The Guardian.
  11. "National Story Slam ref 4".
  12. "National Story Slam Ref 3".
  13. "National Story Slam" (PDF).
  14. "Philadelphia".
  15. "Portland".
  16. "San Francisco".
  17. "Boston".
  18. "Boulder Colorado".
  19. "London".
  20. "Spectator".
  21. "Book Slam Alumni".
  22. "The Story".
  23. "Running With The Bulls". Snap Judgment. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  24. "Salon: George Whitman, Paris and Company Bookshop".
  25. "Playboy: Irvine Welsh Interview".
  26. "LA Times".
  27. "RedEye Boxing".
  28. "Fightnews".
  29. Hageman, William (12 August 2011). "Remarkable Person: Bill Hillmann". Chicago Tribune.
  30. 1 2 Frayer, Lauren (9 July 2014). "'Buffalo' Bill Hillmann, author of bull-run guide, gored at Pamplona". Los Angeles Times. Bill Hillmann is considered the best young bull runner from the United States
  31. "CNN International".
  32. "NBC TODAY".
  33. "CBS This Morning".
  34. "Esquire Network".
  35. "Edward Murrow Award".
  36. 1 2 Clayfield, Matthew (2013-04-12). "Beyond the bull in Pamplona". The Australian. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
  37. 1 2 3 4 Khazan, Olga (2015-07-10). "What It's Like to Be Gored at the Running of the Bulls ... and go back to run the next year". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
  38. 1 2 Hillmann, Bill (18 July 2014). "I got gored in Pamplona. But I will run with the bulls again". Opinion. Washington Post. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  39. 1 2 Hillmann, Bill (2011-06-23). "How to Survive the Running of the Bulls". Outside Online. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  40. Hillmann, Bill (25 June 2012). "How to Run With the Bulls". Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  41. 1 2 Kassam, Ashifa (9 July 2014). "Author of bullrunning survival guide gored at Pamplona festival". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  42. 1 2 Minder, Raphael (9 July 2014). "Co-Author of Bull-Running Guide Is Gored in Pamplona". The New York Times.
  43. Hillmann, Bill (2016-09-29). "Chicago man locks horns with bull in Spain to rescue friend". RedEye. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
  44. Gutiérrez, Natxo (September 29, 2016). "El hombre de los 200 encierros". Diario de Navarra (in Spanish). Retrieved November 25, 2016 via thedangeroussummerblog.com.
  45. Fiske-Harrison, Alexander (31 May 2013). "Spain: 'The real old stuff'". Financial Times.

External links

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