English
Brandi Reissenweber
Professor of English
Education: 鈥�
M.F.A., Creative Writing, New York University
B.A., Purdue University
Courses Frequently Taught:鈥�
English 101: Introduction to Creative Writing鈥�
English 170: Exile to Expatriate: Literature From Displacement
English 201: Writing Fiction鈥�
English 220: Intricate Enchantment: On Science in Literature鈥�
English 301: Seminar in Creative Writing鈥擣iction (Interrelated Short Stories)鈥�
English 301: Seminar in Creative Writing鈥擣iction (Writer as Explorer: On Personal
Preoccupations)鈥ㄢ��
Selected Honors/Awards:鈥�
Writer-in-Residence, The Kerouac Project of Orlando, 2006鈥�
James C. McCreight Fiction Fellow, Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, University
of Wisconsin鈥擬adison, 2005-2006鈥�
Selected Publications & Presentations:
鈥� Short fiction published in Willow Springs, Los Angeles Review, The Briar Cliff Review, North Dakota Quarterly and other literary journals. 鈥�
鈥斺�淏efore the First Draft: Cultivating Inspiration and Creative Insight in the Classroom,鈥�
Creative Writing Studies Organization Conference, Black Mountain, NC, 2017.
鈥� 鈥淲riter as Explorer: On Following Personal Preoccupations in Fiction.鈥� The Creative
Writing & Innovative Pedagogies Conference, Univ. of Central Missouri, Warrensburg,
MO., 2015.
鈥� 鈥淓scape鈥� in Mind the Gap, a collaborative portfolio between writers and printmakers exhibited at SGC International
Conference, Milwaukee, Wis., 2013. 鈥�
鈥� 鈥淭he Lure and Limitations of First Person.鈥� The Writer June 2012: 13.
鈥� 鈥淐razy With Song: Discovering Story in Southern Sudan.鈥� Poets & Writers January / February 2009: 39-44.鈥�
鈥� 鈥淩evision.鈥� The New Writer's Handbook 2008: A Practical Anthology of Best Advice for Your Craft
and Career. Minneapolis: Scarletta Press, 2008. 49-51.鈥�
鈥� 鈥淐haracter: Casting Shadows.鈥� Writing Fiction. New York: Bloomsbury, 2003. 25-51.
Professional and Personal:
My fiction is often a result of my inclination to satisfy a curiosity. I find that
experience and close observation are the most direct path to genuine understanding,
and my fiction is often grounded in this kind of extensive exploration. As a teacher,
I encourage creative writing students to cultivate a willingness to experiment, to
take risks and try new techniques, and, as a result, learn through their own writing
and thoughtful investigation of the drafts they produce. Close reading and consideration鈥攁s
a writer and a reader鈥攇ive students the opportunity to practice an essential kind
of thinking. I hope students leave the classes I teach with not only a deeper understanding
of the craft of writing, but also the ability to dwell in uncertainty while sorting
through the complexities of the human experience.