Biography
Jocelyn Bartkevicius studied literary fiction and nonfiction writing at The University of Iowa, nonfiction writing at the Bennington Writing Seminars, and completed a doctoral dissertation on the essays of Virginia Woolf. Her stories and essays have appeared in anthologies and such journals as The Iowa Review, The Missouri Review, The Bellingham Review, Fourth Genre, The Hudson Review, Gulf Coast, and TriQuarterly Online. She has won several teaching awards and her essays have been awarded prizes from several literary journals. She is the former editor of The Florida Review and former director of the MFA program in creative writing. She is completing a book on the convergence of American Burlesque and Soviet deportation and prison camps.
Find her on Facebook, where she has an individual author page: www.facebook.com/JocelynBartkevicius
Education
- Ph.D. in English from University of Iowa
- M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Bennington College
- M.A. in Creative Writing from University of Iowa
Research Interests
- Literary nonfiction
- Memoir
- Personal Essay
- Ecological Criticism and Ecotheory
- Virginia Woolf
Recent Research Activities
Current research focuses on research for a memoir on Burlesque and Soviet atrocities, creative writing pedagogy, and the form and history of the personal essay. "Donna Brazile Loves Mudslinging: or Why We Need the Essay Now" is available at TriQuarterly Online (http://triquarterly.org/views/donna-brazile-loves-mud-slinging-or-why-we-need-essay-now).
Professional Activities
A reading and presentation at Stanford University for the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS) in Spring 2018.
Awards
- The Annie Dillard Award in the Essay
- The Missouri Review Editors' Prize in Nonfiction
- The Iowa Woman Essay Award
- Notable essay citations in The Best American Essays 2010, 1999, and 1990
- Barbara Deming Memorial Award
- Vogel Scholar in Nonfiction Writing, Bread Loaf Writers Conference
- Teaching Incentive Program Award, 2005 and 1999
Courses
| Course # | Course | Title | Mode | Days/Times | Syllabus | |
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| 89798 | CRW3053 | Thry & Practice Creative Wrtng | Asynchronous Online (W) | 12:00 AM - 12:00 AM | Unavailable | |
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In this entry-level course, students will read literary texts to feed their understanding of authorial decisions in contemporary writing in fiction, literary nonfiction, scriptwriting, and poetry. Students will become fluent in relevant writing terminology and concepts, gain insight into the emphases and specialties of the UCF creative writing program, identify possible career paths and “uses” of a degree in English with a specialization in creative writing; and familiarize themselves with the publishing process. |
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| Course # | Course | Title | Mode | Days/Times | Syllabus |
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| Course # | Course | Title | Mode | Days/Times | Syllabus | |
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| 20051 | LIT6076 | Studies in Cont Nonfiction | In Person (P) | Th 6:00 PM - 8:50 PM | Unavailable | |
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Given the quick turn-around time of most graduate programs, workshop classes often focus on creating short stories, personal essays, or short memoirs. While many of the elements of craft are the same—vivid characterization and settings, narrative conflict, back story, and so on—there are of course major differences between telling a story in 8 to 20 pages and telling one in a full-length book. This class will focus on exploring some of the challenges involved in writing short and long works, while also taking a close look at how several writers have transformed an initial short publication into full-length books. Our discussions will be both theoretical (craft-based) and practical (writer-centered): We’ll study the elements of craft that make a short prose work successful and compare them to those that make a book compelling. And we’ll discuss several particular short works that later became published books. While the reading focuses on how contemporary nonfiction writers have published both short and long works derived from one set of materials, this class is designed to be applicable to fiction writers and poets as well and will end with a special project in the genre of each student’s choice. There will also be opportunities to write a plan of action for turning one of your own short works into a book using strategies we explore over the course of the semester. Reading is expected to include the following books and the essays they originated from: Lucy Grealy’s Autobiography of a Face, Steven Harvey’s Book of Knowledge and Wonder, Katherine Stadefer’s Lightning Flowers, Jennifer Lunden’s American Breakdown, Mark Slouka’s Nobody’s Son, Ariel Levy’s The Rules Do Not Apply, and Sarah Vieren’s To Name the Bigger Lie. |
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