Kim Peek (MA ’10) Since our blog debuted in 2017, we have published 500+ posts. While some of you may have been with us from the start (thank you, loyal readers!), others may have joined us more recently. So, we're highlighting periodically some of the posts that have garnered a lot of views or that … Continue reading From the Archive: Alumni Spotlight: Kim Peek
Angie Franson (BA ’94, MA ‘97) on the right in between her two sons, with husband Justin at the end of the table. They were joined by good friends Jana Zaudke (MA ’95) and Sean Zaudke and their family on a trip to Italy in 2025. “Our delight in the sunshine on the deep-bladed grass … Continue reading Alumni Spotlight: Angie Franson
Heather Etelamaki (BA '12, MA '15) When I started in the English graduate program for creative writing in 2013, I knew I wanted to be a writer and also have a career separate from writing to help support myself. I’d known that many authors had “day jobs” to help pay the bills. Every author had … Continue reading Alumni Spotlight: Heather Etelamaki
Lindsey Givens (MA '11) Sometimes when I tell people what I do for work, they hear the word “editor” and immediately start cracking jokes about me judging their grammar. But there are many types of editors, and I actually don’t work very closely with manuscripts. Copyediting is important, but so many other things go into … Continue reading Alumni Spotlight: Lindsey Givens
Laura Thacker (BA '12, MA '14) The most beautiful thing about studying English is the ability to step outside of yourself and experience a new perspective. In a 1964 interview, James Baldwin said, “You think your pain and heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that … Continue reading Alumni Spotlight: Laura Thacker
Jamie H. Gilson (BA '14, MA '16) Before I came to Kansas State, before I found the room for Greg Eiselein’s class on my first day, before I convinced my academic advisor to let me take “Intro to Literary Studies” as an undeclared major, before I taught Expository Writing I & II, and well before … Continue reading Alumni Spotlight: Jamie Gilson
Kinsley Searles (BA '22, MA '24) When I first started studying English in K-State, my goal was to go on to get my Ph.D. and become an English professor. I envisioned myself writing articles, presenting at conferences, and chatting with students. But in my career today, you can often find me blowing up marshmallows in … Continue reading Alumni Spotlight: Kinsley Searles
Kim Peek (MA '10) As a kid growing up on a pig farm in southern Illinois, I didn’t know much of the world outside my hometown, but that didn’t stop me from imagining it. In elementary school, I wrote chapter books about haunted houses with magical powers or girls going on solo adventures around the … Continue reading Alumni Spotlight: Kim Peek
Phil Weitl (MA '04) It was September, 2002. I was walking across campus toward my car in the lot on the other side of Denison Avenue when I met Professor Dave Smit walking in the opposite direction. He was the Director of the Expository Writing Program, and I was one of the English Department’s new … Continue reading Alumni Spotlight: Phil Weitl
Andi Schubert (MA '16) at Cambridge One or Two Things I Learned for Sure at the KSU English Department (After Dorothy Allison’s Two or Three Things I Know for Sure) There’s one or two things I learnt for sure at KSU, and one of them is that I can cry. It’s not something I … Continue reading Alumni Spotlight: Andi Schubert
