English Faculty Welcome Two New Members

Jack Barnes

Two new faculty members joined the Pittsburg State English Department this fall: Melody Denny, a specialist in International Student Composition, and Karen Stolz, a fiction writer who will teach creative writing on the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Denny, an Oklahoma native, received both her bachelor's and master's degrees in English from Northeastern State University, along with a certificate for teaching English as a Second Language. While earning her master's degree, Denny served as a graduate assistant teaching Composition I and Fundamentals of Reading. At the same time she also taught Grammar, Reading, Writing, Listening, Vocabulary, Research Paper, and American Culture to International Students at an intensive English school.

When asked about her initial reaction to Southeast Kansas, Denny joked, "It's so flat!" Denny said she was "really impressed with the university and the people who work here" when she came for her interview. She feels that Pittsburg State University is "above par" and has an extremely organized writing program. Being a writing instructor at Pittsburg State University makes her "feel lucky to be part of it all." Denny plans to earn a doctorate in TESOL sometime in the future.

Karen Stolz, the second new faculty member, comes from Austin, Texas, where she was teaching fiction writing, literature, and composition at St. Edward's University and Austin Community College.

Born in St. Louis, Stolz grew up in Atchison, Lawrence, and Topeka, Kansas. She earned her B.A. in English with Honors in Creative Writing at the University of Kansas. Then she earned a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop.

Stolz has published several short stories and two novels. Her first novel, World of Pies (Hyperion, 2000), is about a young girl growing up in the 1960s and 1970s in a small town in Texas. Her second novel, Fanny and Sue (Hyperion, 2003), is about identical twins growing up in St. Louis during the Great Depression.

Stolz's initial reaction to southeast Kansas was positive. She likes the fact that Pittsburg is "perhaps a cross between Atchison and Lawrence." Stolz was "very happy to return to small town Kansas life, because that's my favorite place to be." Her initial reaction to Pittsburg State University was very positive as well. When she came to PSU for her interview she felt a great "fellow feeling" among the faculty of the English Department. The students, her colleagues, and the size of the college have all made Stolz feel very welcome.