A Teaching Award

Yesterday this article appeared on the UMSL Daily website. It contains a lot of nice words about me, and a piece of good news: I won a teaching award. I’m deeply honored by the award because of why I won it: my colleagues and my students wrote letters on my behalf. (Writing teachers have an advantage in such circumstances, because their students can write.)

I love to teach–it is a dynamic process of discovery and discipline, just like writing. The academic job market–at least in English and creative writing–is laughably difficult, as anyone knows who has braved it, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to practice the craft. And incredibly fortunate to have peers and students who would vouch for my work in it.