Theodora Ziolkowski
She/Her/Hers
- Fiction and Poetry Mentor
- MFA in Writing
Additional Information
Biography
Theodora Ziolkowski is the author of a Next Generation Indie Book Award-winning novella, On the Rocks, and the poetry collection, Ghostlit. Her work has received support from the Vermont Studio Center, the National Alumni Association (University of Alabama), and Inprint (Houston, Texas). Her fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in The Writer's Chronicle, The Normal School, Short Fiction (UK), Prairie Schooner, and Oxford Poetry (UK), among over sixty other literary journals, magazines, anthologies, and exhibits. In the past, Ziolkowski served as Poetry Editor for Gulf Coast and Fiction Editor for Big Fiction. She holds an MFA from the University of Alabama, where she was honored as a ‘30 Under 30’ alum, and a PhD in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Houston, where she was the recipient of the Inprint Marion Barthelme Prize in Creative Writing. Currently, she teaches creative writing as an assistant professor of English at the University of Nebraska at Kearney and serves on the faculty of the University of Nebraska, Omaha MFA program.
Teaching Philosophy
"I consider it a privilege to serve as a mentor for writers on their artistic journeys. As such, I aim to establish a relationship of trust with students. Each writer’s goals, process, and strengths are different; as a mentor, one of my first duties is to help each writer identify those goals, processes, and strengths. I tailor how we work together to best suit each mentee’s needs. With every packet of writing a student submits for review, I aim to respond with new challenges or ways of thinking that enable the student to deepen engagement with the material. Another objective is to instill in every writer I work with an understanding of and appreciation for the history of the genre and aesthetics they are working in, as well as an unfaltering faith that the work they are doing as writers is not only important, but necessary.
As a writer, much of my fiction and poetry deals with the gothic tradition and humor. I may be an especially strong mentor for writers who are also tapping into those veins."
Additional Information
Biography
Theodora Ziolkowski is the author of a Next Generation Indie Book Award-winning novella, On the Rocks, and the poetry collection, Ghostlit. Her work has received support from the Vermont Studio Center, the National Alumni Association (University of Alabama), and Inprint (Houston, Texas). Her fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in The Writer's Chronicle, The Normal School, Short Fiction (UK), Prairie Schooner, and Oxford Poetry (UK), among over sixty other literary journals, magazines, anthologies, and exhibits. In the past, Ziolkowski served as Poetry Editor for Gulf Coast and Fiction Editor for Big Fiction. She holds an MFA from the University of Alabama, where she was honored as a ‘30 Under 30’ alum, and a PhD in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Houston, where she was the recipient of the Inprint Marion Barthelme Prize in Creative Writing. Currently, she teaches creative writing as an assistant professor of English at the University of Nebraska at Kearney and serves on the faculty of the University of Nebraska, Omaha MFA program.
Teaching Philosophy
"I consider it a privilege to serve as a mentor for writers on their artistic journeys. As such, I aim to establish a relationship of trust with students. Each writer’s goals, process, and strengths are different; as a mentor, one of my first duties is to help each writer identify those goals, processes, and strengths. I tailor how we work together to best suit each mentee’s needs. With every packet of writing a student submits for review, I aim to respond with new challenges or ways of thinking that enable the student to deepen engagement with the material. Another objective is to instill in every writer I work with an understanding of and appreciation for the history of the genre and aesthetics they are working in, as well as an unfaltering faith that the work they are doing as writers is not only important, but necessary.
As a writer, much of my fiction and poetry deals with the gothic tradition and humor. I may be an especially strong mentor for writers who are also tapping into those veins."