Education
MFA Vermont College of Fine Arts, Creative Writing July 2012
Creative Thesis: “The New World” (Poems)
Advisor: Mary Ruefle
Critical Thesis: “An Astronaut Jumping on a Pogo Stick:
The Physics of Poetry”
Advisor: Richard Jackson
BA Knox College, Creative Writing June 2006
Minored in English Literature
Teaching Experience
Morningside University, Sioux City, IA
Adjunct Instructor, Creative Writing August 2021-Present
- CWRT 210 – Creative Nonfiction Writing
- CWRT 244 – Creative Reviews and Evaluations
- CWRT 281 – Writing Poetry and Fiction
- CWRT 382 – Advanced Poetry and Fiction Writing
Western Iowa Tech Community College, Sioux City, IA
Adjunct Instructor, English Aug 2012 – Dec 2016
- ENG 010 – Fundamentals of English
- ENG 020 – Fundamentals of Writing
- ENG 105 – English Composition I
- ENG 106 – English Composition II
- ENG 221 – Creative Writing
- LIT 101 – Introduction to Literature
- LIT 110 – Early American Literature
- LIT 124 – American Poetry
Instructor, Lifelong Learning 2016
- Creative Writing
Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Aurora, IL 2005
Instructor, Intercession (One-Week Intensive Course)
- Beginning Poetry Writing
Knox College, Galesburg, IL 2005
Co-Leader
- First-Year Preceptorial
Honors and Awards
1st Place, 2021 Juxtaprose Literary Magazine Poetry Prize 2022
“Because I Am Human”
Semifinalist, Bayou Magazine’s Kay Murphy Prize for Poetry 2022
“Because I Am Human,” “The Freeze and the Thaw,”
“We Do Not Love Each Other Exactly”
Finalist, New Millenium Writing Awards 2021
“Because I Am Human”
Nominated, “Best of the Net” by The Ekphrastic Review 2021
“Because the Living May Be Worth Something, Too”
2nd Place, Vermillion Literary Project Short Story Contest 2019
“His Future on a Clothesline”
1st Place, Vermillion Literary Project Short Story Contest 2018
“A Ruined Bitter Rain”
Selected for Best American Non-Required Reading 2012 (ed. Dave Eggers) 2013
“At the Particle Accelerator at Krasnoyarsk”
2nd Place, Vermillion Literary Project Short Story Contest 2013
“The Brass Elephant in the Room”
Finalist, New Michigan Press/Diagram Chapbook Contest 2013
“The Idea of Leaves within the Dying Tree” (Poetry Chapbook)
1st Place, Morningside College Word Slam 2013
Poetry Reading
Finalist, New Michigan Press/Diagram Chapbook Contest 2013
“Some Kind of Memorial,” (Fiction Chapbook co-written with BJ Hollars)
Nominated, AWP Intro Award 2011
For Creative Work at Vermont College of Fine Arts
Finalist, Black River Chapbook Competition 2010
“Some Kind of Memorial,” (Fiction Chapbook co-written with BJ Hollars)
2nd Place, Davenport Literary Awards (Poetry) 2004
Prizes in creative writing of fiction, playwriting, and poetry.
Beverly K. White and Friends Creative Writing Prize 2004
Awarded annually to a beginning writer for the outstanding piece of creative writing during the year
Independent and Continued Study
“Hamlet for Now” 2021
Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Virtual Class
“Finding Clues in the First Folio” 2021
Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Virtual Class
Iowa Writer’s Workshop, University of Iowa
Three week summer workshop, Iowa City, IA 2008
“The Angle of Repose”
Honors Project in Creative Writing, Knox College, Galesburg, IL 2005-2006
“Teaching Poetry Composition”
Independent Study, Knox College, Galesburg, IL 2005
Ford Fellowship, Knox College, Galesburg, IL
Full-time research support during the summer prior to student’s senior year.
Program designed to encourage students who are contemplating academic
teaching careers. 2005
“Modulation of Subject Response to Amphetamine by Personality Types”
IMSA Student Inquiry and Research, University of Chicago 2001-2002
Presentations and Readings
“The Idea of Leaves within the Dying Tree,” Bacon Creek Back Porch Talk, Western Iowa Tech Community College, 2016
“Mrs. What’s-Her-Phrase,” Staff Development Day Presentation, Western Iowa Tech Community College, 2015
“I Don’t Get It: Abstraction and the Art of Letting Go,” Bacon Creek Back Porch Talk, Western Iowa Tech Community College, 2015
“English Makes No Sense,” Faculty Training Presentation, Western Iowa Tech Community College, 2015
“The Geometry of Loss,” Midstream Reading Series, Minneapolis, MN, 2014
“Crossing the Line: Transgressing Genre,” Bacon Creek Back Porch Talk, Western Iowa Tech Community College, 2013
“An Astonishing Talent,” Graduate Lecture, Vermont College of Fine Arts, Montpelier, VT 2012
Graduate Reading, Vermont College of Fine Arts, Montpelier, VT, 2012
Writer’s Block Reading, Anderson University, Anderson, SC, 2011
Writer’s Forum, Knox College, Galesburg, IL, 2006
Publications
Chapbook
The Idea of Leaves within the Dying Tree, Finishing Line Press, 2016
Poems
“Because I Am Human,” forthcoming from Juxtaprose Literary Magazine, 2022
“The Freeze and the Thaw,” forthcoming from Reed Magazine, 2022
“What a Band-Aid Fixes,” Nurture, 2022
“The Watercolor,” “A Centerpiece,” and “The Dead Can Hurt, Too,” S/Word Issue 11: Winter 2021
“Call for Submission,” and “What Pains Me the Most,” The Sandy River Review Online, 2021
“The Myth of the Constancy of the Sky,” Young Ravens Literary Review, Issue 15: Winter 2021
“Second Summer,” Pithead Chapel, Volume 10, Issue 9: 2021
“Lot’s Wife” and “Because the Living May Be Worth Something, Too,” The Ekphrastic Review, 2021
“We Are All Alone,” The Virginia Normal, 2020
“If You Believe It,” Sugar House Review, No. 19, 2019
“Short Prose Piece for Two,” The Turnip Truck(s), Vol. 4, No. 2, 2019
“Christ’s Latch,” Barstow & Grand, 2018
“A Statue in the Park,” Step Away Magazine, 2015
“In the Hotel Bathroom,” “The Origins,” and “From an Automobile,” Jet Fuel Review,
Issue 9 2015
“The Best Week” and “Chinese Parsley,” Glassworks, Spring 2014
“A Brief History of the Novel,” Roanoke Review, 2013
“After Twister,” Adroit Journal Issue 7, 2013
“In Times Like These” and “I Thought It Would Be Great To Be A Man,” South Dakota Review, Volume 50, Issue 2, 2012
“He Thought It Was Certain,” Hoot Review, Issue 13, 2012
“At the Particle Accelerator at Krasnoyarsk,” Ninth Letter, Vol. 9 No. 1, 2012
“Gratuity,” Handsome, Volume 3, Number 2, 2010
“Private First Class” and “Toccoa Falls,” Muscle & Blood, Issue 1, Fall 2010
“Passing Invisible Fence in Winter” and “Leaving Him,” Pank, September 2010
“Pheasant on a Postcard from Iowa City,” Chronogram 12/09
“The Importance,” Found Poetry Project, 2009
“Oilfield Road” and “At Last,” miller’s pond poetry magazine, Volume 12, Issue 2, 2009from “What it is to Die and What is Left,” Peter Parasol, Issue 4, 2009
from “What it is to Die and What is Left,” Beeswax Magazine, Issue 5, 2009
“Waking Up ,” After Hours, Issue 17, 2008
Short Fiction
“The Toddler,” Necessary Fiction, 2021
“Earlier, and Again Since,” River and South Review, 2021
“His Future on a Clothesline,” Red Coyote, 2020
“An Anniversary,” Third Wednesday, Vol. XII, No. 2, 2019
“A Ruined Bitter Rain,” Red Coyote, Vol. 33, 2019
“Some Terrible Thing That I Did,” Pamplemousse, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2015
“The Brass Elephant in the Room,” VLP Magazine, 2014
“Stage Directions,” 5×5, Winter 2013
“You Can’t Imagine,” Potomac Review, 2013
“The Upside Down Girls,” Tin House, Flash Friday Series, 2013
“ART 262,” Nano Fiction, Vol. 5 No. 2, 2012
“What We Were I” & “What We Were II” (With B.J. Hollars), Pank, 2009
“The Cages” (With B.J. Hollars), Hayden’s Ferry Review, 2009
“Some Kind of Memorial” (With B.J. Hollars), Hobart 2009
Editorial & Professional Experience
Kiosk, Faculty Advisor, 2021-Present
Sioux City Symphony Orchestra, Staff Writer, 2021
Atlas & Alice, Founding Editor, 2013-2014
You Must Be This Tall to Ride, Poetry Editor, 2009-2010
Catch, Poetry Co-Editor, 2005-2006
Brendan Todt 