Faculty Member

Kara Van De Graaf

Biography

Dr. van de Graaf is the author of Spitting Image (Southern Illinois University Press, 2018), winner of the Crab Orchard First Book Prize in Poetry. Her individual poems appear widely in national literary journals, including Poetry, The Southern Review, AGNI, New England Review, Missouri Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, and the anthology Best New Poets. Other honors include the Hoepfner Award from Southern Humanities Review, an Academy of American Poets Prize, a fellowship from Vermont Studio Center, and scholarships from the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, The New York State Summer Writers Institute, and Sewanee Writers' Conference.

A former poetry editor for Cream City Review, she is currently an editor for Lightbox Poetry, an online educational resource for poetry in the classroom, which she co-founded in 2015.

Teaching

ENGL 4440

Advanced Poetry Writing, Fall 2025

ENGL 2250

Introduction to Creative Writing, Fall 2025

ENGL 2250

Introduction to Creative Writing, Fall 2025

ENGL 3470R

Popular Genre Writing, Fall 2025

ENGL 1010

Introduction to Academic Writing CC, Summer 2025

ENGL 4490

Creative Writing Capstone, Spring 2025

ENGL 3450

Intermediate Creative Nonfiction Writing, Spring 2025

ENGL 1010

Introduction to Academic Writing CC, Spring 2025

ENGL 1010

Introduction to Academic Writing CC, Spring 2025