Richard Sonnenmoser

Professor

Education

• M.F.A. Creative Writing, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• B.A., University of Missouri

Courses Taught

• ENGL 313 Creative Writing: Fiction
• ENGL 210 Introduction to Creative Writing
• ENGL 314 Creative Writing: Nonfiction
• ENGL 560 Advanced Creative Writing: Reading and Writing Novellas
• ENGL 414 Structure and Theory of Creative Writing
  • Villainy and Bad Behavior in Fiction
  • “The Dark Underside of Love”: Infidelity, Jealousy and Obsession in Fiction.
  • The Art of Subtext
• ENGL 111 Composition I: Academic Literacies
• ENGL 112 Composition II: Writing as Engagement
• ENGL 220 Introduction to Literature
• ENGL 110 Intro to College Writing                                            
• ENGL 512 Publications Skills
• ENGL 698 Problems in Teaching Literature and Composition

Academic Interests

• Creative Writing
• Modern and Contemporary Fiction
• Writing Pedagogy
• Memoir

Scholarly Activity

• Science-Magic School, winner of the 2010 Midnight Sun Poetry Chapbook Contest.
• Short stories, poems, and essays in magazines such as Harvard Review, West Branch, Crab Orchard Review, Permafrost, Quarter After Eight and others.
• Academic articles in Assessing Writing and Teaching Creative Writing and Occasional Papers on the Essay: Practice & Form

Other Professional Experiences

• Presentation at AWP 2011 in Washington, D.C.: "Writers of Experiment."
• Presentation at AWP 2012 in Chicago, Illinois: "Why We Should Be Teaching Novella Workshops to Undergraduates"
• Presentation at AWP 2014 in Seattle, Washington: “Billionaires’ Book Club and the Intentional Experience Essay”
• Presentation at AWP 2015 in Minneapolis, Minnesota: “Rocks and Hard Places”

Other

Richard Sonnenmoser has taught writing, literature, and publishing courses at Northwest since 2008, the same year he earned an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He’s published fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction in Harvard Review, Permafrost, Crab Orchard Review, West Branch, and others. He’s currently working on a nonfiction book, Sugarblind, about the birth of children, sick and well, and becoming a father. Beyond creative writing, his academic interests include writing pedagogy—how and why writing is practiced, learned, and taught. When he’s not writing or teaching, he’s usually thinking about training for a half marathon (which is easier than actually training for one!). He currently serves as the assistant chair of the Department of Language, Literature, and Writing.