Classes
Horror Stories: An Exploration of the Macabre, University of North Carolina-Asheville, Forthcoming, Spring 2025
In the wake of Hurricane Helene, there are many things that seem scary. Reading and writing about scary things is a way that helps many make sense of it all and move forward. This class will explore the various ways horror exists in relationships, spirituality, the environment, fairy tales, and myths, among other things. We will read Carmen Maria Machado, Mona Awad, Susan Shapiro, Ludmilla Petrushevskaya, and Sayantani Dasgupta among others. Throughout the course, students will observe the craft elements of other writers’ horror stories while crafting their own, and there will be opportunities to share work in a workshop environment.
The Beauty of the Braided Essay, University of North Carolina-Asheville, Spring 2024
We explored the shared space between experiences and obsessions. A braided essay can be about cooking pie with your mother, the science of a pumpkin harvest, and the cooking habits you hold at present; with those threads, it could be an essay about heartbreak, intimacy, jubilance, or attention, among other themes. We read braided essays by Katie Karnehm-Esh, Jo Ann Beard, Austyn Gaffney, and Daniel Elder. We spent time exploring three of the commonly used braided themes. I led in-class writing exercises, and there was always time to share at the end of class, if desired. The last two weeks of class operated as a workshop, so everyone came to class having read portions of their classmate’s essays and were prepared to discuss them. By the end of this class, everyone had a strong working draft of a braided essay.