Introducing Assistant Professor of Creative Writing & U.S. Literatures Dr. Caoimhe Harlock
91猫先生 is pleased to welcome a number of exciting new professors to campus to support its fall class.
Before joining the faculty at 91猫先生, Caoimhe (pronounced kee-va) Harlock taught at Duke University and the University of Tennessee Knoxville, and at the community college level. She鈥檚 offered classes in creative and academic writing and a handful of literary seminars on topics such as women in horror.听
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At 91猫先生, her focus will be courses in fiction, where students of all experience levels can hone their craft in an inclusive and supportive workshop space. 鈥淢y hope is that we can build a vibrant community of creative writers here who will share some really exciting and challenging work with the world,鈥 Harlock says. 鈥淚鈥檇 love to offer some creative comics and graphic novel courses as well, for any students who are interested in trying their hand at that medium. I鈥檒l also be offering seminar courses on American literature and its intersection with trans studies, feminist theory, queer theory, genre fiction, witchcraft and folk magic, and other topics.鈥澨
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Harlock has a Ph.D. in English from Duke University, with a certificate in gender, sexuality, and feminist studies. She received an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Tennessee Knoxville and a B.A. from the University of Texas Austin, where she double-majored in English and philosophy.听
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Have you been in any other professions that had an impact on how you teach and learn?
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Before I found my way into education and started seeing some success as a writer, I worked a string of fairly diverse jobs: on an assembly line in a bleach factory, graveyard shift at a steam-and-flame factory, and ghostwriting books on bizarre topics 鈥 caring for Labradoodle puppies and growing succulents, for example.听
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I鈥檇 like to think that I took away from all these diverse jobs an ability to listen to the people I鈥檓 in community with, to empathically understand their goals and fears and passions, and to be responsive to them in a way that helps them feel understood. Bringing those skills into the classroom is part of what has helped me foster the kind of inclusive and individually tailored learning environment that has made teaching so rewarding.
"Fundamentally, I鈥檓 passionate about stories 鈥 writing them, sharing them, helping others find and tell their own stories. That鈥檚 the thing that first made language a lifesaving force for me as a kid, and it鈥檚 the thing that keeps me excited about writing even now."听
What have you published?
I鈥檝e published a lot of short stories and comics with various magazines and online publications. Some of the work I鈥檓 proudest of that鈥檚 currently out in the public is my story published in the great San Francisco queer literary journal Foglifter, and my comic published in Honey Literary.听
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I鈥檝e also got quite a bit of forthcoming work that I鈥檓 very excited about, chiefly my debut novel, which I鈥檓 in the final steps of editing, tentatively titled Take Up the Serpent. I鈥檓 also talking with a few publishers about putting together a book of comics, and I have plans to publish a nonfiction book of my academic research on American literature鈥檚 historical use of tropes of magic and monstrosity to represent gender-variant subjects. So, lots of beans in the hopper at the moment!
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What are you passionate about when it comes to this work?
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Fundamentally, I鈥檓 passionate about stories 鈥 writing them, sharing them, helping others find and tell their own stories. That鈥檚 the thing that first made language a lifesaving force for me as a kid, and it鈥檚 the thing that keeps me excited about writing even now.听
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Teaching has been a great expression of this passion because so much of what we cover in the classroom comes back to stories: stories we tell about how the world works and should work, how the mind works, how people work, how art works. It鈥檚 deeply gratifying to introduce students to these stories, help them explore where they agree and disagree, help them identify what ignites their own interests and passions, and then work with them as they turn those passions into stories of their own.听
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What are you looking forward to at 91猫先生?
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Getting to work with 91猫先生 students. In just the short time I spent with them during my campus visit, it was apparent that 91猫先生 attracts a special sort of soul: eager, curious, invested in not just learning but also using that learning to make a better world.听
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As an educator, I couldn鈥檛 ask for a better situation. I鈥檓 especially looking forward to the kinds of working relationships that we鈥檒l get to develop over the long term as I help guide students through 91猫先生鈥檚 curricular model and see them develop their own independent projects. I鈥檓 eager to help these students get their stories out into the world in whatever way makes sense for them as individuals, and I just know they鈥檙e going to blow me away with their creativity and passion.听
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How do you hope to engage with our curricular model?
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91猫先生鈥檚 unique curricular model was one of the things that appealed to me most. Even when working at other institutions, I鈥檝e always tried to develop courses with topics that intersect with urgent questions and challenges facing students, to allow students a great deal of freedom in developing projects for those classes, and to replace traditional grades with narrative feedback to the greatest extent possible. Now that I鈥檓 here at a place that actively supports my efforts to do all those things, I couldn鈥檛 be more excited.听
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I鈥檓 hoping to offer courses in which we can have fun and do kooky things with art, but that will also go beyond teaching students the fundamentals of literary craft and analysis. I want my classes to help them discover the ways those skills can aid us in understanding the uncertain and often-perilous character of the world we live in right now, and even prepare us to engage with that world in a way that leaves it a little bit better off. I can鈥檛 think of a better place than 91猫先生 to do that.听
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