English Instructors Ink Poems, Stories

In the English department, some instructors pursue a career of dualities, balancing their time between the demands of a teacher and those of an author. Instructors Ralph Sneeden, Willie Perdomo, Todd Hearon and Erica Plouffe Lazure have all recently published or completed a variety of creative works, ranging from collections of poetry to personal essays to chapbooks.

Hearon, whose poetry collection No Other Gods is slated for the fall of 2015 or spring of 2016, will come out under the Irish publisher Salmon.

He has also recently completed a book of poetry dealing with the phenomenon of the sundown town, a town or community that has been forcibly made and maintained all white. Hearon created a small, fictionalized town in Tennessee for the book and aims to find an American publisher, because "I think this is a topical and timely book and I would love to see it published in this country, because it is about this country," he said.

Hearon added that, while making time to both write and teach can be difficult, "one of the benefits of the job is that you get to read literature closely with twelve very smart minds."

He explained that, at Exeter, instead of preparing and giving lectures, the conversations are "invigorating… you’re working closely with words and that to me is a part of the writing process."

While he described the mix of writing and teaching as "wrapped up in this vortex," he said it had always been his plan. Perdomo, too, said he has always expected to pursue both careers.

Perdomo’s collection of poetry, The Essential Hits of Shorty Bon Bon, came out in April of 2014 under Penguin Poets to wide acclaim. The collection follows three voices, centered around a musician based on Perdomo’s uncle.

"I used more than one voice this time around," he said.

"I tried to use different forms and different voices, so that we get a sense that everyone interprets life experiences differently."

Perdomo explained that through his work he has discovered "[my writing and teaching careers] feed each other… and I find it a harmonious type of relationship."

While his professional work has generally been in poetry, Perdomo said that after teaching narrative-based writing, "I’m interested to see how that might affect my approach to writing down the line. The more I learn and teach narrative writing, the more interest I have in trying my hand at prose."

"I’m interested to see how that might affect my approach to writing down the line. The more I learn and teach narrative writing, the more interest I have in trying my hand at prose."

Sneeden, whose writing career has also been more focused on poetry, has begun to dabble in prose and recently published an essay in The Common.

"I’m really excited to be bouncing back and forth between my personal essays and poetry," he said.

His first book of poems was a finalist for the Walt Whitman Prize and the Yale Younger Poets Prize. His second collection of poetry was completed last year and he is currently looking for a publisher.

Sneeden also described spending time on literature in class as deepening his admiration for some of his favorite authors. However, he also explained that it can be challenging to find time for writing amidst a full time teaching job.

"It’s hard because I often have a stack of student papers and I’ll be sitting there working on my own writing… so I’ve had to work to not feel guilty about carving out a small amount of time every day and work on my writing," he said.

Lazure has carefully managed her time between her teaching and writing careers. For instance, last winter she made time each day to write a piece of flash fiction.

"I found that little flash fiction pieces have helped me to stay energized," she said, despite teaching spending "so much of my creative energy" in the classroom.

However, she explained that hearing "the freshness of opinion and interpretation of the text" from her students helps her better understand what makes a successful piece of fiction. She said that after finishing some of her own work, Lazure thinks "about what student would say or critique in my work, and that can be helpful in evaluating what works and what doesn’t."

The flash fiction pieces now largely make up a chapbook, Heard Around Town, due for publication next July, after a short story chapbook, called Dry Dock, is set to come out in early 2015.

Despite the challenges authors teaching at Exeter encounter due to scheduling difficulties and career balancing, many have found that the community of writers and the supports of the department have been very helpful.

Sneeden explained that having other authors in the department creates an encouraging community.

"We cheer each other on and commiserate and laugh at rejections together. It’s kind of unique for an independent school to have that kind of community encouraged by the school," he said.

Perdomo also felt that he has benefitted from the writing community in the English department. "To have working writers who teach and I can learn from and get feedback from almost serve as models for me," he said.

Hearon and others also voiced their appreciation with regards to the support they are given through the school.

"The Academy acknowledges your work with professional development money, sabbaticals, leaves, summer grants and supports the work you are doing on the side," Hearon said.