Professor plans to break hearts with "Crushes"
Alyssa Bradt
Issue date: 10/15/09 Section: Features
Lea Graham, Ph.D., is expecting to release her first poetry book in fall of 2010. It is entitled "Crushes," and contains approximately eighty-five pages of her own poems, each at varying lengths.
Prior to working at Marist College, Graham taught at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. She is originally from Northwestern Arkansas, but she attended Westminster College in Fulton, Mo. (the site where Winston Churchill delivered his Iron Curtain Speech in 1946) for her undergraduate study, and switched to English after initially planning to pursue a degree in history. She is looking forward to returning there as a writer in residence next year. Graham hoped to become both a professor and a writer, having the ability to write on her own while working at a college or university.
After graduating from Westminster, she moved to New Jersey, and gained "life experience" through her large number of jobs and volunteer work. With enough dedication and appreciation, it is often possible to draw a parallel between wanting to make a difference in the world and writing poetry. In that event, the interest and success found in her poems can be attributed to how she spent the years after college. Graham later studied at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she earned her master's and Ph.D. in English/Creative Writing.
While Graham's goal to become a professor and writer has already been accomplished, the release of "Crushes" will be a significant achievement in her life. Her work has been featured in journals such as "Notre Dame Review" and "American Letters and Commentary," among many others. Her chapbook, (miniature book) Calendar Girls, was released in 2006. She is now in the process of editing "Crushes," and is working with editors before it is published by No Tell Books.
Graham believes that working with an outside editor is both helpful and difficult. She explained that the reason it can be challenging is because, even though you may think you're an expert, people will still make changes.
Prior to working at Marist College, Graham taught at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. She is originally from Northwestern Arkansas, but she attended Westminster College in Fulton, Mo. (the site where Winston Churchill delivered his Iron Curtain Speech in 1946) for her undergraduate study, and switched to English after initially planning to pursue a degree in history. She is looking forward to returning there as a writer in residence next year. Graham hoped to become both a professor and a writer, having the ability to write on her own while working at a college or university.
After graduating from Westminster, she moved to New Jersey, and gained "life experience" through her large number of jobs and volunteer work. With enough dedication and appreciation, it is often possible to draw a parallel between wanting to make a difference in the world and writing poetry. In that event, the interest and success found in her poems can be attributed to how she spent the years after college. Graham later studied at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she earned her master's and Ph.D. in English/Creative Writing.
While Graham's goal to become a professor and writer has already been accomplished, the release of "Crushes" will be a significant achievement in her life. Her work has been featured in journals such as "Notre Dame Review" and "American Letters and Commentary," among many others. Her chapbook, (miniature book) Calendar Girls, was released in 2006. She is now in the process of editing "Crushes," and is working with editors before it is published by No Tell Books.
Graham believes that working with an outside editor is both helpful and difficult. She explained that the reason it can be challenging is because, even though you may think you're an expert, people will still make changes.
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