Dr. Michael Levan, Jr.

Bio

I am interested in modern and contemporary American and world literature classes, including courses which examine masculinity; World Literature I and II; postwar Eastern European poetry; “weird” books in which issues of form and hybridity are central; creative writing classes (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction); the history and development of the short story; introduction to poetry; poetic forms classes which discuss the history of the ode, sonnet, elegy, and pastoral traditions; narrative medicine; and medical humanities. I have served as a judge for local writing contests and run a writing workshop for teens at the Allen County Library.

Areas of Interest

• Creative Writing: Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, Fiction
• World Literature
• Contemporary American Literature
• Science Fiction
• “Weird” Books
• Narrative Medicine
• Environmental Literature

Selected Publications 

Poetry

• “No Big Deal,” Juxtaprose Magazine, Winter 2021: Volume 27. 
• “Poet’s Guide to Black-Body Radiation” & “Poet’s Guide to Rutherford and The Gold Foil Experiment,” The Offing, 13 October 2020. 
• “Solu-Medrol,” Painted Bride Quarterly, Summer 2017, Issue 96. 
• “Elegy for Memories that Come Like First Snow,” Juxtaprose Magazine, Vol. 13. 

Creative Nonfiction

• “On a New Life,” Hippocampus, forthcoming.                
• “Nursing #2,” Lost Balloon, forthcoming.
• “Teaching,” “Trained,” “Silence #2,” “Good Friday,” “Holy Saturday,” “Risen,” “Will,” and “Scattered.” Heavy Feather Review, forthcoming.
• “Otherwise,” South 85 Journal, Spring/Summer 2022.
• “The Hours,” The Waking, 12 Apr. 2022. 
• “After,” “Phone Call,” “Phone Call #2,” “Widowed #2,” & “Blurred,” Another Chicago Magazine, 4 May 2021. 
• “Danger,” “Late,” & “Escape,” Sidereal Magazine, Issue Seven, Spring 2021.
• “Crazy” & “Triage,” The Laurel Review, Vol. 53.1, Spring 2020.

Selected Presentations

• “Search, Sand, & Suburbs: History Loves Company,” Poetry Studies & Creative Poetry VIII. 2022 Popular Culture Association / American Culture Association National      Conference. Virtual, 14 Apr. 2022.
• “The Boundaries of the Lyric,” A Hui. 2021 NonFictioNow International Conference. Wellington, New Zealand, 5 Dec. 2021.
• “Family Matters: Gravidarum,” Nonfiction Writing Panel. 2021 Popular Culture Association / American Culture Association National Conference (Virtual), 5 June 2021. 
• “When A Man Loves a Woman: Gravidarum,” Poetry Studies and Creative Poetry Panel. 2018 Popular Culture Association / American Culture Association National Conference. Indianapolis, IN, March 2018.
• “Poetry in Contemporary America,” Poetry Studies and Creative Poetry Panel. 2018 Popular Culture Association / American Culture Association National Conference. Indianapolis, IN, March 2018.
• Speakeasy: A Night of Booze and Words, Part III. Don Hall’s Guesthouse Hotel & Conference Center, Fort Wayne, IN. 11 July 2016.

Courses Taught

• English 100: Introduction to College Writing 
• English 101: Rhetoric & Composition 
• English 103: College Writing
• English 104: Rhetoric of Inquiry
• English 201: Special Topics: Science Fiction
• English 201: Special Topics: Literature of War and Peace 
• English 201: Special Topics: Lit of Health and Wellness (online)   
• English 205: Literature and the Natural Environment (on-ground and online) 
• English 206: Literary Interpretation (online)
• English 207: Introduction to Writing Poetry
• English 208: Introduction to Writing Fiction
• English 231: World Literature I: Beginnings to 1660
• English 232: World Literature II: 1660 to Present (on-ground and online) 
• English 241: American Literature I: American Literature to 1865
• English 263: Science Fiction
• English 320: Poetry
• English 401: Senior Capstone
• English 463: Major American Writers: Midwestern Literature
• Honors 201: Great Books Foundation I
• Honors 300: Service Learning
• Honors 351: Great Books: Weird Lives: Identity in Contemporary Creative Nonfiction
• Honors 400: Honors Capstone