Lynchburg College: Laura Long, Ph.D.

English Faculty and Staff

Richard Burke, Ph.D. - Casey Clabough, Ph.D. - Chidsey Dickson, Ph.D. - Katherine Gray, Ph.D. - Max Guggenheimer, M.Ed. - Terese Hartman, Ph.D. - Karen Hatter, M.Ed. - James Koger, Ph.D. - Leslie Layne, Ph.D. - David Lipani, Ph.D. - Laura Long, Ph.D. - Laura Marello, M.A. - Lyndall Nairn, M.A. - Nina Salmon, M. Ed. - Elza Tiner, Ph.D.

Dr. Laura Long

Laura Long, Ph.D.

Pen Name: Laura Longsong

long_l@lynchburg.edu

223 Carnegie Hall; Phone 434/544-8553

I write and publish poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction, and occasional criticism of 20th century and contemporary literature.

I publish under the name Laura Longsong because I've been translating my imagination into verbal art for many years. My engagement with writing has shaped my identity, so my "pen name" reflects this reality. Plus, I like naming myself.

I teach a variety of creative writing and literature classes. My main interests are artistic creation, the interweavings of life and art, and borders of all sorts.

Teaching Experience

College and University Teaching

2004-05; 2006--present: Assistant Professor, Lynchburg College

2000--2004: Assistant Professor, Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas

1994--1999: Teaching Fellow, University of Houston

Additional College Teaching at University of Texas at Austin; St. Edward's University, Austin; and Austin Community College

Community Teaching

I've often taught creative writing to children in addition to my college teaching:

* Founder and Director, Borderland Writers in the Schools. Alpine, Texas, 2001-04

* Lead Teacher of Art Therapy/ Creative Writing for Children, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, 1996-98.

* Creative Writing Teacher, The Menil Art Collection and inner-city elementary classrooms, Houston, 1994-96

Degrees

Ph.D., University of Houston, English/ Creative Writing

M.A., University of Texas at Austin, English

M.A., University of Texas at Austin, Anthropology/ Folklore

B.A., Oberlin College, English/ Creative Writing

Additional study in Guatemala and Mexico, and anthropological research in Belize

Publications

Imagine a Door: Poems (Turning Point Books, forthcoming, 2009)

Books in progress

*What Will Burn: A Novel. Awards for the manuscript include a James Michener Fellowship and PEN-Texas Award for a novel-in-progress.

*The Planet of Inexperience: Stories. Awards for the stories include a Donald Barthelme Fellowship and a Texas Individual Artist Award.

*Comet Lady: The Lives of Caroline Herschel. This biography, still in the research stage, was awarded a Pforzheimer Fellowship from the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin (2008)

Magazine Publications

My poetry and prose have been published in over twenty literary magazines including Arts & Letters; Borderlands Poetry Review; Calyx; Cimarron Review; FICTION; New Millennium Writings; North American Review; The Southern Review.

See me online: two poems will appear in the online journal Kaleidowhirl in 2008.

Selected Awards

Recognition for my writing and research include

2008 Pushcart Prize Nomination in Poetry (for "A Student of the Unlikely")
2007-08 Pforzeheimer Fellowship, Harry Ransom Center, U. Texas at Austin
2007 National Humanities Center Fellow, Summer Seminar Readings in the King James Bible with critic James Wood
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Fellowship
James Michener Fellowship for Fiction
PEN-Texas Award for the Novel
Artist Fellowship for Fiction, Texas Commission on the Arts
Donald Barthelme Fellowship for Fiction
Artist Residencies: Hedgebrook Cottages; U-Cross

Personal

I grew up in West Virginia, ran off to Texas as quick as I could, and am glad to be back among blue ridge mountains.