English & Creative Writing Alumni

Teaching and working toward her MFA in Creative Writing at Northern Arizona University
"At NAU, I have taught three different classes, worked on and eventually became Managing Editor for the graduate-run literary journal (Thin Air Magazine), published essays in places such as Columbia Journal and The Rumpus, volunteered at book festivals and conferences, and basically lived and breathed the so-called writer's lifestyle. ... My minor in English, particularly my classes with Dr. Comorau, helped to prepare me as a critical thinker willing to engage thoughtfully and deeply with the world around me."

Teaching English and head girls' soccer coach at Northland High School in Columbus
"On my best days, I maintain a rigorous discipline of reading and writing. I try to educate myself with the same dedication I had while I attended OWU. Looking back on my time at OWU, I clearly see how my courses prepared me for where I am in my career. I particularly recall the sociology courses I took with Paul Dean, the Non-Fiction classes I took with Amy Butcher, and the Native American Literature courses I took with Karen Poremski. My career goals are to coach my Girls Soccer team to a Columbus City League Championship, to teach all four grade levels, and to have a photo published in a local newspaper. I teach to redirect power and resources to the marginalized in society and to dismantle systems of oppression, including illiteracy. I teach to improve accessibility to English. I coach to improve accessibility to sports. I make positive outcomes out of challenging situations. I'm trying to make a better tomorrow, today."

Library Assistant at Stark County Law Library and working toward her MLIS at Kent State University
"I’m a firm believer that sometimes to figure out what you want to do in life, you have to figure out what you don’t want to do first. I have worked as an editor at two magazines, as a communications coordinator at a nonprofit, and as a writing tutor at Harold Washington College. I’ve also worked at a small French language library and at a public library in Chicago. While working in traditional office environments, I missed assisting others directly as I did when I was a writing and French tutor at Ohio Wesleyan. My love of learning and community building is the perfect combination for working in libraries. I have been fortunate to be able to connect with other aspiring librarians of color through the Spectrum Scholarship Program, and I look forward to working with a mentor through this program as well. I am grateful for the writing and critical thinking skills I cultivated through my literature and creative writing courses in OWU’s English Department and through my student job at the OWU Office of Communications."

Public Information Officer at the Ohio Department of Education and working toward a Master's in Strategic Communication at Bowling Green State University
"After graduating from OWU, I completed a postgraduate program at New York University designed to help young professionals start their careers in the publishing industry. Ultimately, I came to the decision that publishing wasn’t a good fit, and I found myself back in Columbus. I was able to apply skills that I had gained during my time at OWU in the retail, start-up and nonprofit sectors. Later, I applied to an administrative role at the Ohio Department of Education with a personal recommendation of a longtime friend. After landing the job, my supervisor shared that my performance on their writing test was a deciding factor in their decision to hire me. About a year later, I was promoted to Public Information Officer, and now I work on a variety of different projects that tap into my writing and editing knowledge. I’m grateful for the ways my classes and professors at Ohio Wesleyan helped expand my thinking and for the authentic connections that have lasted beyond my time as a student."

Actor and Playwright, New York
Ryan Haddad's acclaimed solo play "Hi, Are You Single?," developed in Ohio Wesleyan's creative writing workshops, earned Ohio Wesleyan's 2015 Excellence in Performance Award and has since been performed in New York and across the country to sold-out audiences, with Huffington Post calling his performance "a stirring work of theater...that should and needs to be seen." He has a recurring role on the Netflix series "The Politician" with additional television appearances in "Bull," "Madam Secretary," and "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt." He has many stage credits in New York.

Poet, New York City

Megan Pinto is a writer living in Brooklyn. Her poems can be found or are forthcoming in Guernica, Ploughshares, Lit Hub, Hyphen Magazine, and elsewhere. She has received scholarships and fellowships from Bread Loaf, the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing, the Port Townsend Writers’ Conference, and an Amy Award from Poets & Writers. Megan works in communications, and serves as a regional co-chair for Kundiman—an organization that supports Asian American writers. She holds an MFA in Poetry from Warren Wilson.

“When I first encountered Anne Carson in Dr. Caplan’s Intro to Literature class, I remember wanting—so badly—to learn how to make language beautiful. My time at OWU taught me how to be an artist—to be present with language, to let language transform me. A true education teaches us how to think for ourselves, and how to go on learning after graduation. I am so grateful to all of my teachers at OWU for this gift.”

Development Writer, Ohio Environmental Council
As a former English and Politics & Government major, Katalyn Kuivila traveled to England to study Black British literature, to Puerto Rico to explore nationalism and citizenship, and to Ireland, where she examined postcolonial narratives and reproductive rights. After graduating, she worked as a legislative fellow and aide in the Ohio House of Representatives before joining the Ohio Environmental Council.

Jacob Miller earned his doctor of law degree at Northeastern University and is an associate at Harter Secrest & Emery LLP in Rochester, N.Y. He focuses his practice in the areas of general business and corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital, securities, and not-for-profit organizations.

Instructional Coach, Al-Bayan International School in Kuwait
After teaching elementary ESL in Memphis, Tenn., through Teach for America, Samantha Rammaha became a teacher and instructional coach at Al-Bayan International School in Kuwait. At OWU she studied English literature and vocal performance.

Writer and Associate Editor at Graywolf Press
"My first collection of poetry, Border Vista, was the winner of the 2021 Lexi Rudnitsky Prize from Persea Books and will be released in April 2022. My poems and translations of the poet Du Ya have been featured in places such as Poetry magazine, Ecotone, Ploughshares, and World Literature Today, and I'm the recipient of a 2022 Djanikian Scholarship from the Adroit Journal and an Undocupoets Fellowship. I earned my MFA from Indiana University in 2019, at which point I joined Graywolf Press's prose editorial team. There, I acquire fiction and nonfiction, coordinate our African Fiction Prize, Nonfiction Prize, and internship program. Supporting our editorial director, I've also worked on books such as Maggie Nelson's On Freedom and Nona Fernández's The Twilight Zone. It was at OWU, after my first introduction to poetry class with Prof. Caplan, that I first fell in love with both poetry and editorial work. Taking as many creative writing and literature courses as I could, I edited The OWL and even did some freelance copyediting for Prof. Carpenter. My time at OWU was nothing short of life-changing, and my studies emphasized a critical and creative approach that has defined my work as a writer and editor (and a person!). I came to OWU thinking I wanted to study neuroscience, lured by the unknowns we each carry in our heads, but literature turned out to be the most fitting and satisfying path to that mystery for me."

Strategic Account Manager at WalkMe
“After graduation, I moved to New York City and began a job with Indeed.com, managing a team of six people in the Client Services department. Clear communication (both written and verbal) are keys to this job, and my experiences presenting and developing a clear writing style at OWU have helped prepare me for my current role. Managing is all about communicating effectively and working to motivate others. All of the novels I read and papers I wrote at OWU investigating the human condition of different characters has paid off. This has helped me to figure out what makes my team members tick. All of my OWU English classes have helped prepare me for my current job. It's surprising how many people simply don't have quality writing skills these days — even my colleagues that I respect and look up to! The communication skills I learned — from group projects, presentations, and writing and rewriting many drafts of papers — have helped me to succeed in my company and life in general (forming strong relationships with friends and colleagues)!"

Career Coach & Marketing Coordinator, Vortechs Group
"It is hard to pick just one class or professor that influenced me, because there were so many! I would say the experience I learned the most from was serving on the English Student Board, because it gave me an opportunity to take on a leadership role in the department and work closely with so many different professors... I still stay in touch with Nancy Comorau and Karen Poremski, and they continue to be mentors and role models for me, but every single class and professor taught me something new. There is so much to be thankful for as an English major, and I know I would not be successful today without the skills I developed as a member of the Ohio Wesleyan English Department."

Marketing & Communications Coordinator, Memphis Theological Seminary
Martha Park received the Philip Roth Writer-in-Residence at Bucknell University and the Melanie Hook Rice Award for Creative Nonfiction. She earned her MFA from Hollins University. Her graphic essay, "Consolation Puppies," coproduced with Professor Amy Butcher, appeared in Granta in September 2018.

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Allen County Community College, Burlingame, Kansas
“I've been able to communicate in an effective manner with a wide variety of stakeholders, including faculty, staff, students, administrators, and many others through writing and interpersonal communication. Also, I utilize critical and analytical thinking processes when making important decisions that influence the institution I'm charged with managing... The first experience that impacted me (at OWU) was the opportunity as a sophomore to study abroad in Tanzania with Dr. Randolph Quaye. The English professor and class that impacted me the most was Dr. Michelle Disler's James Bond class. The class infused the use of James Bond novels and movies; I enjoyed that class because it incorporated a creative learning style that was foreign to me, and I will never forget it. Also, Dr. Disler was a very eccentric, yet down-to-earth, professor, and I connected with her as an English major."

Communications Specialist, PARAGON TEC, Los Angeles
Marlon Frisby earned an MFA from Columbia University. At Paragon, he has created communications products for NASA including feature articles, image features, content for infographics, blog posts, social media, websites, scripts for videos, and slide presentations. “I believe taking Dr. Hipsky's Modern and Contemporary British Literature course was one of my most impactful experiences at OWU. Our English professors taught me everything I needed to know for the next step of my education."

Trial Attorney, FEMA, Washington, D.C.
"My English degree at OWU really prepared me for the demands of writing and oral advocacy that are essential to being a litigator. I take point on many first drafts of briefs and other court documents we write, and I have OWU and the English Department to thank for my strong writing and rhetorical skills. All of my classes with the brilliant Drs. Hipsky, DeMarco, and Poremski were central to my development as a writer and as a thinker, but Dr. DeMarco's Medieval Literature was probably the class that most changed the way I thought about the world. Considering the Crusades from the point of view of Saladin and his men showed me that things can be quite different from how we may be led to believe by those who shape history and the media. Dr. Poremski's Early and Native American Literature classes similarly encouraged me to consider perspectives outside the ones presented by society as the dominant or primary perspectives. Dr. Hipsky's Modern and Contemporary British Literature classes, meanwhile, honed my writing by forcing me to make succinct points in just two pages while considering great and challenging literature in recent history."

Deputy Editor at America's Test Kitchen, Boston
"I'm now an editor at America's Test Kitchen. It's a dream come true for a writer who likes to cook. The company has two magazines, two cooking shows on public television, and a whole slew of cookbooks. Some parts of it look a lot like any office, but we also have a 2,500-square-foot test kitchen that is always full of activity. I work on the Tastings and Testings team, which is kind of like Consumer Reports for kitchen ingredients and equipment. In the past two years, I've reviewed everything from smoothie blenders and ice cream makers to beef broth and apricot jam. Although I spend about half of my time in the kitchen, no day goes by that I am not grateful for my time in the English department. ATK is very collegial, and each piece of writing goes through a rigorous editing process. My professors at OWU prepared me well by teaching me to express myself clearly and to embrace feedback instead of running from it or pushing back against it. It's incredibly valuable, whether I'm chatting about my discoveries in the kitchen or writing articles for the magazines. If I could go back to OWU and do it all over again, there's not a doubt in my mind that I'd major in English."

Poet
Maggie Smith is the author of three books of poetry: Good Bones (Tupelo Press, 2017); The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison (2015); and Lamp of the Body (Red Hen Press, 2005). Her latest book, Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change (One Signal/Simon & Schuster 2020), a collection of essays and quotes, is a national bestseller. Smith’s poems and essays are widely published and anthologized, appearing in Best American Poetry, the New York Times, The New Yorker, Tin House, POETRY, The Paris Review, Ploughshares, and elsewhere. In 2016 her poem “Good Bones” went viral internationally and has been translated into nearly a dozen languages. Public Radio International called it “the official poem of 2016.”