Erin Flanagan | Photo by Caitlin Shatsby | The Wright State Guardian
Professor Erin Flanagan is an Introduction and Advanced Fiction writing professor at Wright State University (WSU) with two published short story collections, one published novel and a second published novel in the works.
Who is Professor Erin Flanagan
Flanagan looks like a normal, busy university instructor that teaches Introduction and Advanced Fiction writing and Novel writing courses. On days where she is not teaching, she spends her time with a large family while fitting in the time to become an author on the side.
When Flanagan started her Ph.D. program, she did not know what she wanted to do with her degree and teaching was not something that was at the forefront of her mind.
Flanigan says all teaching did was remind her about public speaking until she decided to give it a try.
“I was surprised how much I liked it… it wasn’t the same kind of nerve-wracking as public speaking [and] it felt more communal somehow,” Flanagan said.
With a large family of five, plus four fur children, Flanagan’s house and schedule are quite full, but she still manages to find the time to put her favorite hobby, writing, in the forefront.
Flanagan started searching for Creative Writing jobs in 2004. It seemed like fate when she ended up finding an opening at WSU after several interviews at different places.
“When I came to campus, everybody was really welcoming and down to earth and it seemed like a good fit,” Flanagan said.
Works of Professor Flanagan
When it comes to the works that Flanagan has published, it rounds up to two short story collections and one published novel. Right now, Flanagan has a second novel that was quickly picked up and will be released next year in August.
Her first collection was “The Usual Mistakes, and Other Stories” published by the University of Nebraska Press on Sept. 1, 2005. The collection “It’s Not Going to Kill You, and Other Stories” was published by Bison Books on Sept. 30, 2013.
Out of these two collections, Flanagan says that both collections took her around five years each to complete due to also writing novels at the same time. Out of the 24 stories published in both collections, only nine of them were published in literary magazines.
Although novels are significantly harder to write than short stories for most people, Flanagan has managed to write six of them. It was not until book five, “Deer Season,” which reflects her own childhood, that a publisher picked up the work and helped her get it published this year.
While writing can be a daunting task, Flanagan encourages those who want to write to not give up.
“I would say for all writers [that] perseverance is so much more important than talent. You’ve got to stick with it. And as much as possible, remember why you wanted to start writing,” Flanagan said.
