Dr. Stephen Dudas
EDUCATION
Miami University, Oxford OH — PhD in English (Literature)
AUGUST 2016 – AUGUST 2021
Dissertation title: “A Jug Full of Stars: The Poetry of Childhood in the 20th and 21st Centuries”
Committee: Dr. Keith Tuma (chair), Dr. Madelyn Detloff, Dr. Anita Mannur, Dr. Katherine Batchelor
Miami University, Oxford OH — MA in English (Creative Writing – Poetry)
AUGUST 2011 – AUGUST 2013
Thesis title: “Bumps in the Night”
Committee: Dr. Keith Tuma (chair), Dr. cris cheek, Margaret Luongo
Albion College, Albion MI— BA in English with Emphasis in Creative Writing, magna cum laude
AUGUST 2007 – MAY 2011
Honors Thesis title: “Ambient Noise”
Committee: Dr. Scott Hendrix (chair), Dr. Jessica Roberts, Dr. Royal Ward
EXPERIENCE
Book Reviewer
Reedsy (Discovery) – Link to Profile
NOVEMBER 2023 – PRESENT
Genres Reviewed:
• Poetry
• Memoir
• Scholarly Nonfiction
Advanced Writing Tutor
Tutor.com
SEPTEMBER 2024 – AUGUST 2026
Subjects Tutored:
• Doctoral Writing – Dissertation Editing
• Undergraduate Essay Writing
• General Essay Writing (Grades 7-12)
Visiting Assistant Professor
Albion College Department of English, Albion, MI
AUGUST 2021 – MAY 2023
Courses Taught
• British Literature 1900-Present
• Literature Matters (Topic: “Writing Community”)
• College Writing
Graduate Assistant Instructor (PhD)
Miami University Department of English, Oxford OH
AUGUST 2016 – AUGUST 2021
Courses Taught:
• Introduction to Creative Writing – Including multiple sections each of in-person, hybrid, web-based, and emergency remote teaching versions (prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic).
• Children’s Literature
• Introduction to Composition and Rhetoric
Adjunct Instructor
Miami University Department of English, Oxford OH
AUGUST 2013 – AUGUST 2016
Courses Taught:
• Introduction to Creative Writing
• Writing Studio
• Introduction to Composition and Rhetoric
• Composition and Rhetoric for Second Language Writers
• Composition and Literature
• Advanced Composition
Graduate Assistant Instructor (MA)
Miami University Department of English, Oxford OH
AUGUST 2011 – AUGUST 2013
Courses Taught:
• Introduction to Creative Writing
• Introduction to Composition and Rhetoric
• Composition and Literature
Teaching Assistant
Miami University Department of English, Oxford OH
SUMMER 2017, SUMMER 2018
Assisting in the instruction and assessment of “Rhetoric & Writing in American Academic Culture” to students from several Chinese and Austrian partner universities.
PUBLICATIONS – ARTICLES & CHAPTERS
“‘All the stars, comets, and meteors are kin—’: The 2026 Lion and the Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry” (co-authored with Katherine Wakely-Mulroney, and Krystal Howard), The Lion and the Unicorn.
Forthcoming 2027
“‘You know the way back, the way forward’: The 2025 Lion and the Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry” (co-authored with Catherine Broadwall and Krystal Howard), The Lion and the Unicorn.
Forthcoming 2026
“Hurricane Hits England: Teaching Caribbean Poetry for Younger Readers to Undergraduate Students in British Literature,” Global Children’s Literature in the College Classroom, ed. Sara Austin and Tanja Nathanael. Lexington Books.
July 2023
“A Girl Verses the World: Belonging and the Poetics of Asian American Childhood in Thanhha Lai’s Inside Out and Back Again,” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly.
November 2022
PUBLICATIONS – BOOK REVIEWS
“At Risk: Black Youth and the Creative Imperative in the Post-Civil Rights Era by Jennifer Griffiths,” The Lion and the Unicorn, March 2024.
“Caribbean Children’s Literature edited by Betsy Nies and Melissa García Vega,” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, March 2024.
“Living & Dying in America: A Daily Chronicle 2020-2022 by Steve Brodener,” Graphic Medicine, January 2023. Link.
“Intergenerational Solidarity in Children’s Literature and Film edited by Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak and Zoe Jaques,” The Lion and the Unicorn. Issue 46.1, January 2022.
“Lion’s Paw by Kathleen Peirce,” The Laurel Review, October 2022.
“When All the World is Old by John Rybicki,” Rain Taxi, 2013. Link.
PUBLICATIONS – BOOKS & CREATIVE WRITING
Scrawlings From Frozen Pond. Ope Publishing, 2026 (forthcoming)
An illustrated collection of poems.
Sketches of a Modern Square. Ope Publishing, 2025
An illustrated collection of poems.
An August Nightmare. Prolific Press, 2018
A chapbook of poems.
“My New Pet,” The Caterpillar, 2022
from “Sketches of a Modern Square,” Trilobite, 2022
“The Cardinal,” Martin Lake Journal, 2020
“Key” and “The Accursed,” BALLOONS Literary Journal, 2020
“Moth, Still Life,” Ohio’s Best Emerging Poets, 2017
“Revelation, Draft #2,” Drupe Fruits, 2015
“Wolf Hunt,” The Great Lakes Book Project (creative nonfiction), 2012
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
“Hurricane Hits England: Teaching Caribbean Poetry for Younger Readers to Undergraduate Students in British Literature,” – Children’s Literature Association, 2022
On the panel “Teaching Global Children’s Literature in the College Classroom.”
“Lots of Ways to Be: Adult-Child Collaboration in Literary Magazines & Poetry Anthologies,” – Children’s Literature Association, 2021
On the panel “Cultural Production and Creative Agency.”
“Comics: Literature and Invention,” — Association of Writers & Writing Programs, 2018
Panel presentation.
“Treasures of the Silver Pool: Archives of Irish National Tradition and Identity in the Work of Ella Young,” — Midwest Modern Language Association, 2017
On the panel “Decentering Empire: The Nationalist Question, Literary Activism, and Women Writers from East to West.”
AWARDS & FELLOWSHIPS
Eggtooth Editions Chapbook Contest (Runner-Up), April 2024
Judith Plotz Emerging Scholar Award (Honorable Mention), Children’s Literature Association, April 2024
Children’s Literature Association Graduate Essay Award (PhD-Level), May 2020
Sinclair Scholarship, Miami University English Department, Fall 2019
Gildart Prize (Drama), Albion College English Department, Spring 2011
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Reedsy (Discovery)—Book Reviewer
November 2023-Present
Writing reviews of new and upcoming indie books for online publication.
Keepsake Tales—Editorial Consultant
2019-2023
Advising the founder of a start-up children’s publishing company
Drafting content for presentations and grant proposals
Communicating editorial and research advice to writers and designers
Offering revision feedback and copy-editing drafts of books-in-progress
Miami University Press Novella Contest — Reader
2012-Present
Reading and recommending manuscript submissions to the annual Miami University Press contest
Threadcount Magazine—Founding Co-Editor
2013-2016
Reading and selecting creative writing submissions for publication
General admin (e-mails, website maintenance, etc.)
Miami University Humanities Center, Oxford OH—Graduate Student Assistant to the Humanities Center
JUNE 2016- JUNE 2018
Creating web content for publicity and the social media presence for university humanities center and lecture series
Assisting with event planning
Miami University Department of English, Oxford Ohio—Portfolio Reader
SUMMERS 2012-2017
Assessing writing portfolios from incoming first-year students
Determining placement out of or into English 111 and/or English 112 (first-year composition classes)
RELATED EXPERIENCE
Jackson District Library’s Young Poets Contest —Judge
March 2024-Present
Reading poems by Jackson County high school students and selecting winners for awards and publication in the annual Young Poets anthology.
Albion College Department of English, Charles Crupi Memorial Poetry Prize — First Round Judge
February 2022, February 2023
Reading approximately 900 poems by Michigan high school students and selecting the top 80 to submit to a panel of second-round judges.
Miami University Department of English, ENG 607: “English 226 & Pedagogy” — Invited Speaker
March 2019, March 2020
Sharing materials and participating in discussion about teaching Intro to Creative Writing class.
Hosting graduate student observers in my sections of Intro to Creative Writing.
Miami University Department of English, Graduate Student Q&A: Comprehensive Exams — Invited Speaker
April 2019
Sharing materials and participating in discussion about preparing for comprehensive exams for the PhD in Literature.
Miami University Department of English, ENG 108 and ACE Courses — Invited Speaker
October 2018, February 2019
Sharing my creative writing presentation and lecture “From Memory to Meaning” with students in Dr. Irena Kola’s writing classes for International Students.
Leading creative writing prompts and essay pre-writing strategies in each class to which I was invited.
Town Hall Theatre, Centerville, OH — Instructor
Spring 2016-Spring 2017
Acting Level One (core acting course for child actors grades 2-8)
Tell a Story (playwriting workshop for students grades 2-8)
Writing and content creation for Town Hall Theatre’s promotional publications
Substitute Teacher, Southwest Ohio Council of Government
Fall 2013-Spring 2015
Filling short-term substitute teaching positions in public schools (primarily Talawanda School District in Oxford, OH) K-12
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Children’s Literature Association — Member
Modern Language Association — Member
Association of Writers & Writing Programs — Member
