I teach a wide array of courses at Case, ranging from fiction and non-fiction workshops to 20th century American and African-American literature classes. As a writer, people are always asking me whether I see myself primarily as a teacher or a novelist. My answer is, I'm lucky enough to not have to choose. Somedays, I feel more like a writer than a teacher. The next day, that equation changes. But I do think of writing and teaching as basically part of the same continuum and I feel like my writing informs my teaching and the other way around.
Being in the classroom fuels my creativity. So far, Ive written four novels and a memoir. The novels are The Space Between Us, If Today Be Sweet, Bombay Time and the upcoming The Weight of Heaven. The memoir is titled First Darling of the Morning. In addition to my writing, I speak regularly about writing to audiences at libraries, universities and book festivals, nationwide.
Before I joined Case in 2002, I was a reporter for seventeen years. I still contribute to the book pages of the Boston Globe and The Washington Post. I was awarded a Nieman Fellowship to Harvard in 2000 and was a finalist for the 2006 PEN/Beyond Margins award. I hold a Ph.D. from Kent State University.
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