Education

Spalding University, Louisville, KY
M.F.A. in Creative Writing, November 2011

Hollins College, Roanoke, VA
M.A. in English and Creative Writing, May 1997

Emory & Henry College, Emory, VA
B.A. in English, May 1996
Honors Thesis: critical perspectives on Shakespeare

Post-Graduate Classes and Workshops

  • Appalachian Writers Workshop, Hindman Settlement School, 2006, 2017-2023
  • Highland Summer Conference, Radford University, Summer 2005, 2009, 2011, 2019
  • Post-Graduate Residence Assistant, Spalding University, Spring 2017

Honors

  • Sigma Tau Delta, international English honor society
  • Phi Kappa Phi, honor society
  • Advisory Excellence Award, Radford University, 2013-2014
  • First Place for Poetry and Short Story in the Chautauqua Writing Contest, 2006
  • Second Place in the Sherwood Anderson Short Story Contest, 2005
  • Finalist in the Hollins Literary Festival Fiction Prize, 1996
  • Winner of the Hollins Literary Festival Fiction Prize, 1995              
  • First Place in Short-Short Story in Abingdon Highland Festival, 1995

Organizations

  • Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP)
  • Alpha Delta Kappa: International Honorary Organization for Women Educators
  • National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
  • The Poetry Society of Virginia (PSOV)
  • English Club at Radford University, faculty advisor, 2007-2014
  • Cardinal Key Honor Society and Sigma Mu Scholarship Society

Work Experience

English Instructor, Radford University, 1997-2014, 2017-present

  • Founded and organized annual Highlander Literary Festival
  • Brought guest writers to events, clubs, and classes
  • Advised senior theses, independent studies, and honors projects
  • Faculty advisor for the English Club and Whim online magazine
  • Classes taught include the following:
    • Introduction to Expository Writing
    • Written and Oral Communication
    • Research Writing
    • Business and Professional Writing
    • Poetry Writing
    • Fiction Writing
    • Literature, including American, British and Commonwealth, and World

Visiting Assistant Professor of English, Hollins University, 2012-2016

  • Advised senior honors theses, both creative and critical
  • Mentored graduate teaching assistants
  • Taught the following writing-intensive and literary courses:
    • Dante
    • Medieval Literature
    • Shakespeare’s Women
    • Literature of the English Renaissance
    • Gothic Novel
    • Literature of the 17th-18th Century
    • 18th-century Novel
    • Wit and Wisdom in the 18th Century
    • Romantic Poetry
    • British Literature II
    • U.S. Literature to 1860
    • Appalachian Literature
    • World Literature II
    • Folk and Fairy Tales
    • Literature of the Fantastic
    • Advanced Expository Writing

Additional Experience

  • Instructor, Governor’s School at Radford University, 2013-2014, 2022
  • Instructor, English Department of Hollins University, 2009-2010
  • Staff Writer, The Southwest Times, 2000-2001
  • Associate Editor, Yomu Corporation, 2000
  • Instructor, English Department of Virginia Tech, 1998-1999
  • Editor, The Ampersand literary arts magazine, Emory & Henry College, 1994-1996