sfsu creative writing faculty

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Minor in Creative Writing

The minor in Creative Writing provides students with a chance to pursue their passion for creative writing while engaging with a wide range of texts, ideas, and cultural works. In Creative Writing classes, students work with an active, publishing faculty. They learn by vigorous practice; by focused studies of craft; and by extensive reading, analysis and discussion of their work, as well as that of published authors.

Program Learning Outcomes

• Creative Work: Students will produce a written creative work demonstrating growth as writers.
• Literature: Students will read, discuss, and analyze the work of a broad range of writers from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds and explain how literature in general, and their own genre in particular, relates to the larger human experience.
• Craft Elements: Students will write and revise creative nonfiction, fiction, plays, and/or poetry using the elements of craft to embody their individual and universal visions as well as analyze and discuss craft elements in their peers’ work.

Minor in Creative Writing - 18 units

A minimum of 6 upper-division units are required to complete the minor.

All coursework used to satisfy the requirements of the minor must be completed with a minimum grade point average of 2.0.

Fundamentals (3 units)

Select One:

Craft (3 units)

Minor Electives (12 units)

Select Four:

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IU Columbus

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• Katherine Wills

Katherine Wills, Ph.D.

Program Director and Professor, English

Biographical Statement

Thank you for coming to my page. My research, teaching, and service focus on both scholarly works as well as creative activity in poetry. My writing studies research is primarily theorized through a cultural studies lens.

• B.A. from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, English Literature
• B.A. Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, Anthropology
• M.A. Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, Writing
• Ph.D. University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, Composition and Rhetoric

Professional Activities (selected)

• External P&T Reviewer. Carnegie Mellon Graduate Business Dept. 2024,2022.
• External P&T Reviewer. Univ of CA, Muir Writing Prog., San Diego. 2023.
• Policy Analyst for Higher Education National Council Teachers of English-IN
• Social Justice Action Committee at Conference for Comp & College Comm
• Association for Business Communication (ABC), member
• Association for Business Communication Chairperson Intr. Issues Committee
• Judge (invited) for the Creative Writing Program Midland Coll., Midland, TX
• Manuscript reviewer,  Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
• Manuscript reviewer,  Journal of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
• Manuscript reviewer,  Journal of Teaching and Learning with Technology
• Judge, National Council of Teachers of English Publications
• Book Reviewer, Utah State University Press
• Judge Columbus East High School Senior Projects and Columbus Magnet School Columbus, IN

Courses Taught

• English Capstone
• Technical Communication for Mechanical Engineers
• Professional Writing
• Fiction/Advanced Fiction Writing Workshops
• Poetry/Advanced Poetry Writing Workshops
• Issues in the Teaching of Writing
• Advanced Expository Writing
• Introduction to Creative Writing
• Screenwriting
• Composition 1
• Composition 2

Administrative & Service Responsibilities

• Interim Division Head, IUPUC Division Head of Liberal Arts (2010).
• Founding Director and current Director of the Indiana University English Program at Indiana University at Columbus (2011 to current).

Awards & Activities (selected)

• Award Indiana Univ. Columbus Martin L King Building Bridges 2022
• Fellow, Indiana University Statewide Inaugural Digital Gardener 2021
• Fellow, IUPUC Teaching and Learning Gateway CoP EcO 2018
• Fulbright U.S. scholar co-facilitator for Humanities Summer Institute. Moscow State University. Moscow, RU 2013.
• Outstanding Student Club Adviser (co-winner) IUPUC 2017 
• IU Trustees Faculty Teaching Award
• IUPUI Prestigious External Award Recognition (PEAR for two years)
• IU Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching (FACET)
• IUPUC Outstanding Research Faculty Award
• IUPUC Outstanding Fulltime Faculty Award
• IUPUC Outstanding Teacher Award

National Awards for Books

• NATIONAL-Honorable Mention for chapter by Sushil K. Oswal for Disability rhetoric in Wills & Rice ePortfolios . Presented by Computers and Composition Digital Press for accessibility studies in digital composition.
• NATIONAL-- C ouncil of Teachers of English. National Award for Best  Co-edited Collection in Technical and Scientific Writing for book Critical Power Tools: Technical Communication in Cultural Studies. Scott, Longo, & Wills (Eds.). NY: SUNY, 2006. Teaching-related research: “The first book to focus on the intersection of cultural studies and   technical communication, Critical Power Tools draws on various traditions of cultural studies to develop theoretical, methodological, and   pedagogical approaches to technical communication. This is a   sourcebook for the field.”

Publications Scholarly and Creative Activity (selected) 

Books, chapbooks, and edited collections.

• Wills, K.V. & Rice, R.  (Eds.) (2013). ePortfolio Performance Support Systems: Constructing, Presenting, and Assessing Portfolios in Public Workplaces .
• Tsiopos K. (in progress). Complicit in Green . Poetry Chapbook. 
• Tsiopos, K. (2013). Our Slow Migration North . Finishing Line Press and Kindle . Poetry Chapbook.
• Scott, B., B. Longo, & K. V. Wills (Eds). (2006). Critical Power Tools: Technical Communication and Cultural Studies .  Albany: SUNY. Edited Collection.
• Tsiopos Wills, K.V. (2015).  A Study of Technological Literacy and Privilege in Writing Programs . Omni Scriptum Saarbrucken,GER. ISBN 978-3-639-76383-6
• Bousquet, M., & K. Wills (Eds). (2004). Politics of Information: Electronic Mediation of Social Change .   Alt-X/EBR Critical E-Books Series inaugural edition.   http://www.altx.com/ebooks/infopol.html
• Wills, K.V. (Ed). (1999).  Reflections of Courage: Letters and Poetry to Dr. Martin Luther King from Students of IPS 44 . Little Voice and Chapbooks.Com Indianapolis, IN. Edited collection.

Articles and Chapters (selected mostly peer reviewed)

• Zoeller, A. N., Towers, G., & K. Wills. (Apr 2020). “Experiencing Our Town: In the Words of Immigrant Women.” ENGAGE! Co-created Knowledge Serving the City 2:1. IUPUI Office of Engagement, IUPUI, Indianapolis, IN. https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/ENGAGE/issue/view/1524
• Wills, K.V. & Fritz, R. W. (2020). “Authentic Instruction through Blogging: Increasing Student Engagement with Digital Humanities.” (Eds.) Young, C.J, Morrone, M.C., Wilson, T.C., & Wilson, E.A. Quick Hits for Teaching with Digital Humanities: Successful Strategies from Award-Winning Teachers. IU Press. Bloomington, IN. https://iupress.org/9780253050212/quick-hits-for-teaching-with-digital-humanities/
• Auberry, K. V., Wills, K.V., & C. Shaver. (2017). “Improving medication practices for persons with intellectual and developmental disability: Educating direct support staff using simulation, debriefing, and reflections.”  Journal of Intellectual Disabilities .   https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28974141/
• Jones, K., Wills K.V., & E. Berte. (2017). A study of MBA students’ perceptions toward business leadership pedagogy.” Journal of the Academy of Business Education 18 (Winter 2017). Pgs. 325+
• Schleifer, R., Townsend, M.A., Tsiopos Wills, K.V., Akasakalova, O., Nemec Ignashev, D., & Vendiktova, T. (2016). Under Lomonosov’s Watchful Gaze: A Case Study of an Early Faculty Development Writing Workshop in Russia.  Contrastive Linguistics,  #5: 297-310. СОПОСТАВИТЕЛЬНАЯ ЛИНГВИСТИКА.  ПОД СТРОГИМ ВЗГЛЯДОМ ЛОМОНОСОВА: УЧЕБНАЯ СЕССИЯ ПО РАЗВИТИЮ АКАДЕМИЧЕСКОГО ПИСЬМА В РОССИИ
• *Lovejoy, K., Fox, S., & Wills, K. (2015). “From language Experience to classroom practice: Affirming linguistic diversity in writing pedagogy.”  Students’ Rights to Their Own Language . (Eds) Perryman-Clark, S., Kirkland, D.E., & A. Jackson. Bedford St. Martins: Boston. REPRINT
• Warchal, L.R., Ruiz. A.I., Lin, P. L., Drnach, M., Wills, K., & N. Marthakis. (2013) "Reflections on connections in service learning" Lin, P. L. (Ed).   Fourth International Symposium on Service-Learning: Connecting the Global to the Local at Ningbo Technological University . Ningbo, China. Univ. of Indianapolis UP, Indianapolis.
• Wills, K.V. (2011). “I Just Felt Kinda Invisible”: Accommodations for Learning Disabled Students in the Composition Classroom .” Autism and Aspergerger’s Syndrome in the Classroom.”  V. Gerstle and L. Walsh. Marquette UP. 35-44.
• Killian, L. & K. V. Tsiopos-Wills. (2010). “The Service-Learning Economic Benefits: A Case Study of the Alternative Spring Break (ASB) Model.” Service Learning In Higher Education: National and International Connection  (Ed) P. L. Lin. U of Indianapolis P. 237-48.
• Wills, K.V. (2010) “Still Paying Attention Ten Years Later: A Bakhtinian Reading of the National Information Infrastructure Initiative Administrative Agenda. Computers and Composition Online .
• Wills, K.V., & T. Clerkin. (2009). "Using Reflective Practice in International Studies. “Business Communication Quarterly .
• Lovejoy, K., Fox, S., & K.V. Wills. (2009). “From Language Experience to Classroom Practice: Affirming Linguistic Diversity in Writing Pedagogy.” PEDAGOGY 9.2  
• K. V. “Designing Students: Using Cultural Studies Approaches in Technical Writing.” Critical Power Tools: Cultural Studies Approaches in Technical Communication. Eds. Bernadette Longo, Scott Blake, and Katherine V. Wills. Albany: SUNY, 2006 . 259-270.
• Cross, G., & K. V. Wills. (2005). “Bridging Disciplinary Divides in Writing across the Curriculum.” ATD 2.  http://wac.colostate.edu/atd/articles/cross_wills2005/
• Wills, K. V. (2004). “The Lure of Easy Psychic Income in Academic Capitalism. " Tenured Bosses and Disposable Teachers: Writing Instruction in the Managed University . Eds. Marc Bousquet, Tony Scott, and Leo Parascandola. Southern Illinois UP. 201-206.
• Wills, K.V. (2004). “A Response: Mentors and Technology.” Computers and Writing: The Cyborg Era .” Ed. James Inman. London: Lawrence Erlbaum: 257.
• Wills, K. V. (2000). “ Three Delicacies.” Comp Tales: the Composition Frontline . (Eds. Rich Haswell and Min Zhan Lu). New York: Addison, Wesley, & Longman: 97-98.
• Marti, J., Wills, K. V., Ghetti, B., & S. A. Bayer. (2000). “The Weaver Gene Continues to Target Late-generated Dopaminergic Neurons in Midbrain Areas at P90.” Developmental Brain Research 122: 173-181
• Broome, J. D., Wills, K. V., Lapchack, P. A., Ghetti, B., Camp, L.L., & S. A. Bayer. (1999). “Glial- cell line derived Neurotrophic Factor Protects Midbrain Dopamine Neurons from the Lethal Action of the Weave Gene: A Qualitative Immunocytochemical Study.” Brain Research .
• Bayer, S. A., Wills, K., (1996). Wei, J., Feng, Y., Dlouly, T., Hodes, M.E., Verina, T., & B. Ghetti. “Phenotypic effects of the weaver gene are evident in the embryonic cerebellum but not in the ventral midbrain.” Developmental Brain Research 96, 130-37.
• Bayer, S. A., Wills, K., Triarhou, L. C., Thomas, J.D., & B. Ghetti. (1995). “Selective Vulnerability of Late-Generated Dopaminergic Neurons of the Substantia Nigra in Weave Mutant Mice.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 92: 9137-9140.
• Bayer, S. A., Wills, K.V., Triarhou, L. C., & B., Ghetti. (1995). “Time of Neuron Origin and Gradients of Neurogenesis in Midbrain Dopaminergic Neurons of the Mouse.” in Weave Mutant Mice.” Experimental Brain Research 105 London: 191-199.
• Bayer, S. A., Wills K.V., Triarhou, L.C., Thomas, J.D., & B. Ghetti. 1995). “Systemic Differences in Times of Normal Mice and Homozygous Weaver.” Experimental Brain Research 105 London.  

ERIC Teaching Publications (peer-reviewed)  

• Wills, K. V. “Hip Hop WAC: Students Redefine ‘Writing in a Junior High School Technology Camp.” WAC 2002. Houston, TX. Mar. 09, 2002. Invited ERIC Document. CS 510893.
• Wills, K. V. "Mean E-Streets: The Violence of the Virtual." Conference on College Composition and Communication. Chicago, IL. 2002. Mar. 22, 2002. Invited ERIC Document. CS 510892.
• Cross, Geoffrey, & V. Wills. "Using Bloom to Bridging the WAC/WID Divide." WAC National Conference . Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. May 2, 2001. Invited ERIC Document. CS 510890.
•   Wills, K. V. "From Classroom to the Cubicle: Reading the Rhetoric of Emerging Corporate Universities." International Reading Association . New Orleans, LA. May 4, 2001. Invited ERIC Document. CS 510889.
• Wills, K. V. Assessing Sex: Who Benefits from Gendered Writing and Visual Rhetoric in the Computer-Mediated Classroom? Conference on College Composition and Communication . Denver, CO. Mar. 16, 2001. Invited ERIC Document. CS 510891

Poetry (selected)

• Tsiopos K.V. (2023). “The Mouse Colony.” Journal of Animal Studies.  https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1605&context=asj
• Tsiopos, K.V. (2023). “Clearcut ” Flying Island. Indianapolis, IN.
• Tsiopos, K.V. (2023). “ Saffron Gatherers .” Flying Island. I ndianapolis, IN.
• Tsiopos, K.V. (2021). “Gaze” & “Occupy.” Engage! Environmental Justice.3/1 . IUPUI, Indianapolis, IN.
• Tsiopos, K.V. (2020). Inverse Archive. Two poems. Indiana Historical Society. Indianapolis, IN.  https://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16066coll82/search/searchterm/tsiop os
• Tsiopos, K., & Collective. (4/2016). “BeeLines” ArtsGarden Indianapolis, IN.
• Tsiopos Wills, K. (2015). “Rituals” Poem. The Art of Infertility Travelling Project. http://www.artofinfertility.org/main.php
• Tsiopos Wills, K. (2015). “St Louis Jazz” Poem. Indiana Humanities Council Poetry Monthly
• Tsiopos, K. “Indiana SCUBA.” And Know this Place . Ed. J. Kander. Indiana Historical Society Indianapolis, IN. (2012).
• Tsiopos, K. “Blessing of the Bikes: Bean Blossom Boogie.” A nd Know this Place . Ed. J. Kander. Indiana Historical Society Indianapolis, IN (2012)
• Tsiopos, K. “Blessing of the Bikes.”  ABATE . (Aug 2009). 9.
• Tsiopos Wills, K. “Counter Girl.”  ART/LIFE 16:4  (1996).
• Tsiopos Wills, K. "A Wall, a Ditch" Flying Island 2:2, Indianapolis, IN (May, 1994).
• Tsiopos, Wills K. "Je suis une chaise."  ART/ LIFE. 10:8 , Ventura, CA (Oct.1993).
• Tsiopos, K. "Sister."  River Styx #5 Limited Edition , St. Louis, MO (May 1979).
• Tsiopos, K. "Exploratory Surgery."  Y-Bird: 1 , #2, Berkeley, CA (Spring 1979). 128. 

Digital, Media, Public Recognition

• 2022 Podcast Interviewed on Mentoring Brittany King by Eric White San Diego, CA. (Pending 2022).    https://discoposse.com/2019/02/01/podcast-ep-54-on-mentoring-with-eric-  wright-discoposse/    
• NPR Interview by Katrina Schwartz, San Francisco Education Section Mindshift KQED. “Teaching Strategies" Could Rubric-Based Grading Be the Assessment of the Future?”   http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/10/14/could-rubric-based-grading-be-the-assessment-of-the-future/
• 2021   Poetry https://www.in.gov/arts/programs-and-services/partners/indiana-poet-laureate/inverse-indianas-poetry-archive/    
• 2020 Teaching: X204 Project   https://x204project.wordpress.com/about/    
• 2017 Wabash Poetry http://www.wabashwatershed.com/2015/11/01/project-411-unveiled/    
• 2016 Beeline Collective Poetry. Artsgarden. Indianapolis, IN.  

Professional Ranking & Social Organizations 

• Humanities Commons https://hcommons.org/members/kwills/
• Research Gate https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Katherine-Wills-2
• Semantic Scholar https://www.semanticscholar.org/author/Katherine-Wills/46389530
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-wills-ab391013/  

Available upon request: artistic readings, conference presentations, ERIC docs, grants, interviews of me and by me, patents, proceedings, references, reviews, seminar papers, other scholarly work, student-related projects, and freelance pieces.

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San Francisco State University

• Creative Writing

Department of Creative Writing

Location: 1600 holloway avenue humanities building, room 573 san francisco, ca 94132 (see map), hours:  monday through friday, 9am to 5pm, contact:  email:  [email protected]    phone:  (415) 338-1891, webpage:  https://creativewriting.sfsu.edu/, information and student experience.

The Department of Creative writing at SFSU aims to teach students how to fully express themselves and push the boundaries of the writing medium itself.

Personal Experience: Professor Steve Dickison is  a great professor for Creative Writing, especially if poetry is an object of your interest

Important Links

View published work by Creative Writing Alumni:  https://creativewriting.sfsu.edu/alumni-student-publications

Article about acclaimed poet joining SFSU Creative Writing faculty:  "Writing into the unknown: a conversation with Marcus Endowed Chair Tonya M. Foster"

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Welcome to the Department of Creative Writing

The mission of the Department of Creative Writing is to make our writers attentive readers of the literatures of the world and socially aware members of society, who can use writing for self-expression, explorations of the possibilities of the medium, as well as in service of social causes and concerns.

Why Creative Writing at SF State?

In Creative Writing classes, students work with an active, publishing faculty. They learn by vigorous practice; by focused studies of craft; and by extensive reading, analysis and discussion of their work, as well as that of published authors.

Our well-published and well-recognized faculty teach in our undergraduate, masters and masters of fine arts program, in which they guide students in the production and revision of their craft in creative nonfiction, fiction, playwriting, poetry and literary translation. Learn more about our faculty .

A great many of our students, and alumni go on to publish imaginative work of distinction; many others are in positions of leadership in publishing firms, foundations and art organizations. View our extensive list of alumni publications .

Announcements

Endowed Chair Dr. Tonya Foster Wins 2023 C.D. Wright Award for Poetry!

Congratulations to Professor Foster! Read more about the award and Dr. Foster here . 

Congratulations, Caro De Robertis, John Passos Prize Winner!

Professor De Robertis’ named John Dos Passos Prize winner.  Read more about the award !

Tomorrow in Shanghai long-listed for the Story Prize

Tomorrow in Shanghai long listed for the Story Prize . Congratulations to Professor Chai! 

Strike! December 5th Action on SF State Campus

Creative Writers on Strike!

• June 10, 2024 Kiana Lew, BA CW Alumni- Debut Novel DANCE O THE STARLIT SEA Join CW BA Alumni for the launch of their debut novel, DANCE OF THE STARLIT SEA Location: Books Inc. 2251 Chestnut St., San…
• March 05, 2024 Lara Coley Debut Poetry Collection ex traction Congratulations to MFA Alumni Lara Coley on her debut poetry collection, ex traction! Lara Coley delivers her debut poetry…
• February 06, 2024 Exciting developments from Professor Tonya Our wonderful professor — Dr. Tonya Monique Foster — has accomplished quite a few feats within the past year and has more op…
• Aug 06 Dance of the Starlit Sea Book Launch Tue, August 06, 06:00 pm Books Inc. Chestnut - 2251 Chestnut St, San Francisco

Trans Brilliance, Trans Futures: Leading Writers Speak Out is a Creative Writing Department virtual panel featuring three acclaimed trans writers: Julián Delgado Lopera (Lamba Award-winning author of "Fiebre Tropical"), Jo Livingstone (author and critic, winner of the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing from the National Book Critics’ Circle) and Denne Michele Norris (editor-in-chief of "Electric Literature" and author of the forthcoming novel, "When the Harvest Comes"). Moderated by Professor Caro De Robertis (John Dos Passos Prize for Literature-winning author of "The President and the Frog" and "Cantoras") Co-hosted by Creative Writing Department Acting Chair, Prof. May-lee Chai

The What’s Next Panel discusses the variety of pathways in which students might apply their Creative Writing degree. Writers Matt Ortile, Lydia Jen, Trevaughn Roach-Carter, Emily Hunt Kivel and Matthew Clark Davison share aspects of their personal writing journey post-graduation.

SF State Creative Writing Department Virtual Panel M.A. or M.F.A.: Q & A Thursday, October 26th, 2023, from 1 - 2 p.m.; featuring M.F.A. Candidates Gretchen Cion, Billy Gong & Ryan Jones and hosted by Professor and Graduate Coordinator May-lee Chai

The Department of Creative Writing presents a virtual panel of four distinguished authors describing their own pathways to publication in different genres of writing, including first publications, how they determine where and with whom they'd like to be published, working across genres, advice for emerging authors, etc. with a Q&A from audience members.

Hasti Jafari, Class of 2023 Commencement Speech

Hasti Jafari, recent graduate with an M.F.A. in Creative Writing, was the class of 2023 graduate student selected to represent classmates in the College of Liberal & Creative Arts during Commencement.

Since coming to SF State from Iran, playwright and theatre artist Hasti Jafari has been extraordinarily active in the Creative Writing Department — whether they are creating a series of zines on the Jina revolution in Iran (also known as the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement), writing comedic plays and creative nonfiction, volunteering or teaching.

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• English & Creative Writing

Faculty and Staff

Writers. scholars. teachers..

SFA's Department of English and Creative Writing is composed of professors with a wide range of backgrounds, interests and experiences. You'll work with award-winning writers and scholars of literature, creative writing and rhetoric who study and teach textuality in many forms, everything from ancient and medieval literature to modern novels, drama, poetry, and AI tools. One thing our English professors have in common: they love teaching as much as they love research, and they are passionate about working with literary-minded Lumberjacks. 

Mark Sanders

Mark Sanders recently won the Western Heritage Award for Landscapes, with Horses , Outstanding Book of Poetry for 2019 from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.  That collection also won the Honor Poetry Nebraska Book Award for 2019.  He is a poet, creative essayist, fiction writer, and literary critic, with more than 500 publications appearing in journals in the United States, Great Britain, Australia, and Canada.  His short story, “Why Guineas Fly,” was selected as one of 100 outstanding short stories for 2007 by Stephen King in Best American Short Stories ; his essay, “Homecoming Parade,” was selected as one of the outstanding works of the year in the 2016 edition of Best American Essays .  His writing has been nominated for Pushcart Prizes more than a dozen times and been listed among the notable works in Pushcart.  He has had poetry featured in American Life in Poetry , a syndicated series published by former U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser, and on the Poetry Foundation website.

Among his books of poetry are The Suicide (1988), Before We Lost Our Ways (1996), Here in the Big Empty (2006), and Conditions of Grace: New and Selected Poems (2011).  Edited works include:  On Common Ground: The Poetry of William Kloefkorn, Ted Kooser, Greg Kuzma, and Don Welch (with J. V. Brummels, 1983); Jumping Pond: Poems and Stories from the Ozarks (with Michael Burns, 1983); Three Generations of Nebraska Poets (with Stephen Meats, 2011); Riddled with Light: Metaphor in the Poetry of W. B. Yeats (2014); The Weight of the Weather: Regarding the Poetry of Ted Kooser (2017); and, A Sandhills Reader:  30 Years of Great Writing from the Great Plains (2015).

The Weight of the Weather won the 2018 Nebraska Book Award in the biography category, and A Sandhills Reader won the 2016 Nebraska Book Award for an anthology.

His newest collection of poetry is In a Good Time , published by Wayne State College Press in September 2019.

Sanders is the long-time editor of Sandhills Press, a small, independent press which he started in his  hometown in Ord, Nebraska in 1979.  For his work in promoting the poetry of emerging and established Nebraska writers, he won the Mildred Bennett Award from the Nebraska Center for the Book in 2007 for fostering Nebraska’s literary heritage.   He is Associate Dean of the College of Liberal and Applied Arts and Professor of English at Stephen F. Austin State University.

Andrew Brininstool

Andrew Brininstool holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Texas and an Master of Fine Arts from the University of Houston. His areas of specialization include creative writing (fiction) and contemporary American literature. His work has appeared in such journals as Hobart, New South, Quick Fiction and the anthology Best New American Voices 2010. His collection of short stories, Crude Sketches Done in Quick Succession, was published by Queen's Ferry Press in 2015. He is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship.

Deborah Bush

Deborah Bush received her Bachelor of Arts in 1985 and Master of Arts in English in 1987 from SFA. She has been a member of the adjunct English faculty since 1988, and her teaching specialties are developmental, freshman composition and western world literature.

Dr. Megan Condis Assistant Professor

Dr. Megan Condis is the coordinator for the English department's technical writing minor, and her research interests include discourse and identity on the internet. Her book, Playing Politics: Trolls, Fake Geeks, and the Game of Masculinity in Online Culture, is forthcoming from the University of Iowa Press. Her scholarship has appeared in such journals as The Journal of Modern Literature, Gender Forum and Resilience: A Journal of the Environmental Humanities. She received her Master of Arts and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois.

Jamie Couch

Jamie Couch has taught freshman composition at SFA since the fall of 2000.

Dr. Jacqueline Cowan Assistant Professor

Dr. Jacqueline Cowan holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto and a Ph.D. from Duke University. Her areas of specialization include early modern British literature, restoration literature and the history of science and technology. She is a Wisely Fellowship recipient at SFA; recent scholarship includes The Imagination's Arts: Poetry and Natural Philosophy in Bacon and Shakespeare in Studies in Philology and Francis Bacon's New Atlantis and the Alterity of the New World in Literature and Theology. She has also made presentations at conferences of the Shakespeare Association of America, the Central Modern Language Association and the Modern Language Association. 

Jillian DeFore

Jillian DeFore received her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in English from SFA (Axe ‘Em, Jacks!). She has taught freshman composition and technical writing since 2006.

Dr. Michael Given

Dr. Michael Given holds a Bachelor of Science in cinema, a Master of Arts in 19th century literature and a Ph.D. in 20th century British literature from Southern Illinois University. He has recently published in Clues: A Journal of Detection and Working Papers in Irish Studies. He has also presented scholarship at meetings of the Popular Culture Association, American Studies Association and South Central Modern Language Association. Given's teaching specialties include dystopian literature, Irish literature and literary approaches to textual analysis.

Marc Guidry

Dr. Marc Guidry holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Loyola University and a Master of Arts and a Ph.D. in English from Louisiana State University. His research and teaching interests include Middle English literature, medieval political history, Arthurian romance, linguistics, gender studies and autobiography. His book, published by Stephen F. Austin State University Press, is Geoffrey Chaucer's The Knight's Tale.

Dr. Sara Henning

Sara Henning is the author of two volumes of poetry, most recently “View from True North,” which won the 2017 Crab Orchard Series in Poetry Open Competition Award. Her other collections include “A Sweeter Water,” as well as two chapbooks, “Garden Effigies” and “To Speak of Dahlias.” In 2015, she won the Crazyhorse Lynda Hull Memorial Poetry Prize, judged by Alberto Ríos. She has published poems in many journals and anthologies, most notably Quarterly West, Crab Orchard Review, Crazyhorse, Witness, Meridian, and the Cincinnati Review. She also has a record of publication in fiction and nonfiction, with flash fiction and lyric essays published in journals such as Connotation Press, where she appeared as featured author for the September 2016 issue, and 4 P.M. Count, a journal associated with the Arts Endowment’s interagency initiative with Department of Justice’s Federal Bureau of Prisons in Yankton, South Dakota. She teaches writing at SFA, where she also serves as poetry editor for SFA Press.

Ericka Hoagland

Dr. Ericka Hoagland’s specializations include postcolonial literature and theory, with a focus on African literature, as well as feminist theory, travel writing and science fiction/fantasy. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and history from Eastern Washington University and a Master of Arts and a Ph.D. from Purdue University. Her book, co-edited with Reema Sarwal, is Science Fiction, Imperialism, and the Third World.

Sheila Jones

Sheila Jones is a graduate of SFA's Department of English and Creative Writing. She has been a speaker on topics relative to sexual and domestic abuse and is a member of the S.A.V.E. coalition on campus. She is also a facilitator through the OneLove organization.

Deborah Kirkland

Deborah Kirkland holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in English from SFA.

Eralda Lameborshi

Dr. Eralda Lameborshi received her Master of Arts from SFA, and she completed her Ph.D. in English from Texas A&M University in 2016. She has presented her scholarship at such conferences as the 21st World Congress of the International Comparative Literature Association, the Southwest Council for Latin American Studies, the English Institute at the University of Chicago and the National Endowment for the Humanities seminar on Transcending Boundaries: The Ottoman Empire, Europe and the Mediterranean World.

Kristie Linstrom Adjunct

Kirstie Linstrom holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts from SFA.

Billy Longino

Billy Longino received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in creative writing and his Master of Arts from SFA. His short fiction has appeared in such journals as Permafrost and Black Warrior Review. 

Steven Marsden

Dr. Steven Marsden holds a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from Western Illinois University, a Master of Arts in English literature from Northern Illinois University and a Ph.D. in English literature from Texas A&M University. His research interests include American poetry, biography and autobiography, transcendentalism and pragmatism, reader response theory and horror in literature. A recent critical essay, Unmasking the Lynching Subject: Thomas Nelson Page, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and the Specters of American Race, was published in Haunting Realities: Naturalist Gothic and American Realism by the University of Alabama Press.

Michael Martin

Dr. Michael Martin holds a Bachelor of Arts from Quincy University, and a Master of Arts and Ph.D. from Illinois State University. He has published his work in such journals as Peer English, Children's Literature Association Quarterly, Studies in American Naturalism, and The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review, among others. His research and teaching interests include contemporary American literature, the American road novel, 1950s literary naturalism, southern naturalism, and Jack London. Currently, he is the coordinator of the English and Secondary Education program in the Department of English and Creative Writing.

Dr. Christine Butterworth-McDermott

Dr. Christine Butterworth-McDermott holds the rank of full professor and teaches creative writing, Modernism, and fairy tales at SFA. Her collection, “Woods & Water, Wolves & Women,” includes poems nominated for a Rhysling Award and honorably mentioned in “The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (17th and 18th).” She has also published a chapbook, “Tales on Tales: Sestinas.” A full-length collection about 19th century showgirl Evelyn Nesbit, “Evelyn As” and a chapbook, “All Breathing Heartbreak” will be published in 2019. Her poems, short stories and creative nonfiction have appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review, Beloit Fiction Journal, The Normal School, RATTLE, River Styx, Southeast Review, and more. She is the founder and co-editor of Gingerbread House Literary Magazine, an online journal staffed by SFA alumni from the Creative Writing program and has led summer poetry workshops for The Writers League of Texas. In 2019, she was nominated for the position of state poet laureate. Her academic work has been published in American Transcendental Quarterly, Katherine Mansfield Studies, The Henry James Review, and the book “Twice-Told Children's Tales.”

John McDermott

Dr. John McDermott holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Master of Arts from Marquette University and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His areas of interest include creative writing and contemporary American literature. His book of poetry is The Idea of God in Tennessee (2015). Among his creative publications are appearances of fiction and poetry in Alaska Quarterly Review, Cream City Review, Florida Review, The Pinch, Southeast Review and Southern Humanities Review. Scholarly publications appear in The Journal of Popular Culture, The Raymond Carver Review and the American Writers series. He has read his work at the AWP conference and the University of Memphis/The Pinch, and presented scholarship at the Society for the Study of the Short Story conference in Lisbon, Portugal. As coordinator of the Bachelor of Fine Arts program in creative writing, he has directed 54 senior theses in addition to chairing 15 Master of Arts theses.

Rhanda McGee

Rhanda McGee holds a Master of Arts from SFA.

Jennifer McLaughlin

Jennifer McLaughlin holds a Master of Arts from SFA. She is currently working toward a Ph.D. at Texas Tech.

Aaron Milstead

Aaron Milstead holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in English from SFA. His work has appeared in several publications, including Nuthouse Magazine, Dark Krypt, Nocturnal Ooze, Growing Darkness and 31 Eyes Fantasy. His novel, They Don't Check Out, was published in 2015, and two other novels, Wiseman and The Monkey and the Mask, are in circulation. In 2014, he was nominated for Adjunct of the Year.

Laura Osborne

Laura Osborne joined the adjunct English faculty at SFA in 2006. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Louisiana State University and a Master of Arts in English from Texas A&M University. She is a certified training professional for online instruction at SFA.

Dylan Parkhurst

Dylan Parkhurst holds degrees in art and English, and he received his Master of Arts in English from SFA. He was a longtime adjunct faculty member before being promoted to lecturer.

Christopher Sams

Dr. Christopher Sams holds a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from Youngstown State University, a Master of Arts in linguistics from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a doctoral degree in Romance linguistics from The State University of New York at Buffalo. He holds an advanced certificate in forensic linguistics from the Forensic Linguistics Institute. His teaching and research interests include second language acquisition, Romance linguistics, translation studies, forensic linguistics, linguistic typology and universals, and historical linguistics.

Dr. Jessie Sams

Dr. Jessie Sams’ research and teaching interests include constructed languages, the interface between syntax and semantics, quotatives, English grammar and history, and the study of literature from a linguistic perspective. She holds a Bachelor of Science in English from Truman State University and a Master of Arts and a doctoral degree in linguistics from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Sams created SFA’s unique invented languages course, where students learn how to create their own languages.

Dr. Michael Sheehan Assistant Professor

Dr. Michael Sheehan holds a Bachelor of Arts from the State University of New York College at Geneseo, a Master of Arts from St. John’s College and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona. His research and teaching interests include creative writing and contemporary American literature. His short fiction has appeared in Mississippi Review, Black Warrior Review, Agni, Conjunctions, Terrain and elsewhere, and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He has also made scholarly presentations at the first annual David Foster Wallace Conference and AWP. His book is Proposals for the Recovery of the Apparently Drowned. Sheehan is also co-advisor of the student organization Subplots: Friends of Creative Writers .

Elizabeth Tasker Davis

Elizabeth Tasker Davis is Professor of English and Coordinator of Graduate Studies at Stephen F. Austin State University where she specializes in teaching eighteenth-century British literature, satire, and women’s writing.  She is the author of Wit, Virtue, and Emotion: British Women’s Enlightenment Rhetoric (Southern Illinois UP 2021), and she is co-editor of British Women Satirists in the Long Eighteenth Century: The Politics of Gender, Lampoonery, and Literary Caricature (Cambridge UP 2022).  Tasker Davis has published articles on a variety of eighteenth-century British women writers, Restoration actresses, and the history of rhetoric. She is also a past president of the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition.

Kristin Thomas Adjunct

Kristin Thomas is a graduate of SFA. She leads dual-credit coursework in English at Nacogdoches Independent School District, where she teaches full-time.

Ken Untiedt

Dr. Ken Untiedt holds a Bachelor of Arts, a Master of Arts, and a Ph.D. from Texas Tech University. His research interests include literature of the American West, Texas literature, crime and detective fiction, and folklore. Untiedt currently serves as the Interim Chair of the Department of English and Creative Writing.

Amber Wagnon

Dr. Amber Wagnon recently received her Ph.D. from Texas Tech; she received her Master of Arts from SFA. Her scholarship, Improving Writing Feedback with Options, has appeared in English in Texas, and she has presented her research at conferences of the Texas Computer Education Association, Conference on College Composition and Communication, Central Modern Language Association and Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts.

Kristi Warren

Kristi Warren received her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in English from SFA.

Dr. Kevin West holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Harding University, a Master of Arts in comparative literature from Indiana University, a Master of Arts in theology from Harding University Graduate School of Religion and a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Indiana University. His research interests include medieval European literature, apocalypticism, religion and literature and the contemporary world novel. He has published on such authors as Umberto Eco and Philip Roth, and he has presented on Dante's Commedia and other medieval visionary literature. Recent publications include Tokens of Sin, Badges of Honor: Julian Norwich and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature. His book, Literary Representations of Dangerous Reading, is forthcoming from Lexington Books.

Leann West received her Bachelor of Science from William Carrey College in Mississippi and her Master of Arts in English from SFA.

Sue Whatley

Dr. Sue Whatley received her Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. Her research interests include Southern literature, particular Flannery O'Connor's fiction. Her scholarship has appeared in Flannery O'Connor: An Annotated Bibliography, Proceedings of the Faith and Loss: Light in Darkness Conference and Rio Grande Review, among others. She has presented at such conferences as American Association of Texas Studies, Arkansas Philological Association, Conference of College Teachers of English, Flannery O'Connor Conference, College English Association Conference and numerous others.

Dr. Courtney Wooten Assistant Professor

Dr. Courtney Wooten holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Wingate University, a Master of Arts in English from Winthrop University and a Ph.D. in English with a specialization in rhetoric and composition from University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her research interests include writing program administration, first-year composition, literacy studies and student transitions from high school to college. She is involved in national service for the Council of Writing Program Administrators and is the director of the SFA First-Year Composition Program. Wooten's recent scholarship includes a co-authored article in WPA journal and being designated as the book review editor of that journal. She also has a book forthcoming from Utah State University Press.

Gina Ajero is the administrative assistant for the Department of English and Creative Writing. She holds both a Bachelor of Arts in English from Heilongjiang University in Harbin, China and a Master of Business Administration from Temple University in Philadelphia. She has worked at SFA since 2007, and she enjoys supporting faculty and staff within the department.

Larry Bishop

Larry Bishop earned his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in English from SFA. He has served on SFA’s Technical Writing Committee, on the editorial board of R.E.A.L., and as a mentor for graduate students. He is a recipient of the Ferguson Writing Contest. Bishop has been with SFA’s English department for more than 20 years.

Annaliese Chaudhuri

Annaliese Chaudhari earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in creative writing from SFA, and she holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing and a Master of Arts in English from McNeese State University. During her time as a student at SFA, she served as the poetry editor and the editor-in-chief of HUMID . Her work has appeared in several publications, including Spirit’s Tincture, Mojave River Review, The Blue Route and HUMID.

James Clark Adjunct

James Clark received his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Arts from SFA, and now teaches freshman composition at SFA. He won the 2015 AWP Intro Award for Fiction, and his winning story was published in Iron Horse Literary Review.

Rebecca Crain

Rebecca Crain has worked for SFA for more than 20 years.

Anne Duncan

Anne Duncan holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Arkansas State University and a Master of Arts in English from SFA. Her teaching interests include young adult literature, mythology, composition and technical writing. Duncan is one of SFA’s certified online instructors.

Meta Henty earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and her Master of Arts in English from SFA. Her teaching and research interests include women’s writing, new media, gender and pop culture and composition. Her work has appeared in publications such as HUMID, Theocrit and Authorship. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in English at Texas Christian University.

Seth Wilson Adjunct

Seth Wilson teaches theater and English at SFA. He is also a winner of the TV game show Jeopardy (in 2016, he tied for fifth in all-time consecutive wins in the show’s history). In 2017, he appeared on Jeopardy’s Tournament of Champions.

Mr. Avee Chaudhuri Adjunct

Avee Chaudhuri holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing and a Master of Arts in English literature from McNeese State University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from the University of Texas at Austin. His fiction has appeared in Prairie Schooner, Necessary Fiction and Maudlin House, among others. He enjoys teaching writing and mythology classes at SFA.

Rebecca Spears

Rebecca Spears, MFA, is a poet, essayist, and instructor. She is the author of Brook the Divid e (Unsolicited Press, 2020) and The Bright Obvious: Poems (Finishing Line Press, 2009). Her work is included in TriQuarterly , Calyx , Crazyhorse , Verse Daily , and other journals and anthologies. She has received awards from the Taos Writers Workshop, Vermont Studio Center, and Dairy Hollow House, along with several Pushcart nominations. Brook the Divide was shortlisted for Best First Book of Poetry (Texas Institute of Letters).

Jason McIntosh

Dr. Jason McIntosh holds a Bachelor of Arts in English with secondary education specialization from Texas Wesleyan University, a Master of Arts in English literature from Pittsburg State University, and a doctorate in English with a focus on rhetoric and composition from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His research interests include place-based writing and teaching, journaling and other forms of low-stakes writing, and writing program administration. A forthcoming essay titled, “’Is This for a Grade?’: Understanding Assessment, Evaluation, and Low-stakes Writing Assignments” in Writing Spaces Vol. V helps students navigate the different kinds of writing feedback they receive from teachers.

Dr. Sara Parks is an Assistant Professor and the English Department’s Technical Writing Coordinator. She taught a variety of classes at Kansas State University, Iowa State University, and Minnesota State University Mankato before ending up at SFA in 2019. Dr. Parks specializes in rhetoric of science and she completed her dissertation while working as a science communicator for a biorenewable energy National Science Foundation grant in Iowa. In her research, Dr. Parks is interested in what happens when people’s communication expectations are challenged by institutional constraints. When she’s not working or lurking on social media, you can find Dr. Parks playing at Pecan Park with her dog, Sam, and exploring her newly adopted town.  

Dual Credit Faculty

Department of English and Creative Writing 936.468.2101 Dr. Liz Tasker Davis, Chair [email protected]

Dugas Liberal Arts North Room 203

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 13007, SFA Station Nacogdoches, Texas 75962