Meet the Candidates for Mac’s Newest Poetry Professor

by Jen Katz ’19

Do you want to share your opinion on who the newest Professor of Creative Writing will be? Don’t miss this month’s opportunity to help guide the future of the English Department!

For months, a committee within the department has been conducting a search for an Associate or Assistant Professor of Creative Writing – Poetry specializing in Native American, Latinx, or Asian American literature. Majors, minors, and all members of the Macalester English community have the incredible opportunity over the next few weeks to meet and give feedback on the four final candidates.

I have had the honor of serving as a student representative on the search committee. We read nearly 200 total applications, looking through cover letters and CVs before making the first of several cuts. After reading through writing samples, teaching evaluations, letters of recommendation and more from the remaining candidates, the department invited a handful of top contenders to interview with three faculty members at the MLA convention in January. These interviews yielded the four candidates who are visiting campus this month.

Throughout the search, the committee members have never lost sight of our goal: choosing a candidate who is an accomplished poet, a thoughtful scholar, and, most of all, a devoted teacher who will challenge and nurture Macalester English students. I am thrilled to meet all four final candidates, who are outstanding in their diverse areas of study and have much to offer the student body.

The next step in the process is the most exciting one because now, the community gets the chance to meet the exciting candidates we have read and heard so much about. Each candidate will be doing a morning donut drop-in and a reading of their work accompanied by lunch. These events are open to the Macalester community at large, so make sure to be there if you can. (Sadly, as you read this, the first candidate’s visit will already be over, but three more are still on their way!)

We welcome feedback on all the candidates events; please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or Bethany Catlin ’19, the other English major on the search committee, with any comments that you may have on the events. Each student’s voice matters, and we hope to hear from as many community members as possible.

We look forward to seeing your faces at these events and hearing your feedback!

Candidate 1 Feb 4-5

Feb 4 – Reading Lunch 12-1:00 in OM 4th Floor Lounge

Feb 5 – Donut Drop-In 9:00-9:15 in English Lounge

Candidate 2 Feb 6-8

Feb 7- Reading Lunch 12-1:00, Location TBD

Feb 8 – Donut Drop-In, Time TBD, English lounge

Candidate 3 Feb 14-15

Feb 14 – Donut Drop-In 10:30-10:45 in English Lounge      

Feb 15 – Reading Lunch 12-1:00 in Old Main 4th Floor Lounge