
Dr. Brad Modlin
Areas of Expertise
- Composition
- Creative Writing
- English
- Literature
- Pedagogy
- Poetry
Biography
Dr. Brad Aaron Modlin is The Paul and Clarice Reynolds Endowed Chair of Creative Writing and an associate professor.
His book, Everyone at This Party Has Two Names won the Cowles Poetry Prize. His Surviving in Drought (fiction stories) won the Cupboard Contest. His poetry has been the basis for orchestral scores, a Brooklyn art exhibition, and numerous speeches, reflections, meditations, and podcasts. His poetry is featured in an episode of The Slowdown with U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón (American Public Media & The Poetry Foundation) and the premier episode of Poetry Unboundwith Pádraig Ó Tuama (On Being Studios). He has been invited to read at the American School of Paris, been commissioned for poetry by the art gallery of the University of Melbourne (Australia), and given the keynote at Philsophique Poetica’s World Poetry Conference in India.
He coordinates the Reynolds Visiting Writers Series, bringing writers from across the nation to share with us. On the other side of the equation, he happily gives readings as the guest of other universities, recently including University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Monroe Community College in New York; Western Kentucky University; and Northern Arizona University.
He likes laughing with his students.
Education
PhD, Creative Writing, Ohio University
MFA, Creative Writing, Bowling Green State University
BA, English—Creative Writing | Organizational Communication, Murray State University
Research Interests
- Creative Writing Pedagogy
- Contemporary North American Poetry
- Poetry off the Page/Multimedia Art
- Poetry & Wellbeing
- Creative Nonfiction
- Fiction
- Writing & Inclusion
- Creativity & Creative Practices
Sample Publications
Everyone at This Party Has Two Names (book of poems)
“What You Missed That Day You Were Absent from Fourth Grade” (poem, many appearances)
“One Candle Now, Then Seven More” (poem with introduction from Tupelo Quarterly)
“Summit” (poem in Poetry International)
“A Brief Note on Appendices” (nonfiction in DIAGRAM)
Lyric essay and poem (carte blanche’s empathy-themed issue)
“Five Men in a Drought” (story in SmokeLong Quarterly)
UNK Courses Taught
Undergraduate:
- Introduction to Creative Writing:
- Beginning Poetry Writing
- Advanced Writing Workshop
- Poetic Strategies
- Creativity & Creative Thought (interdisciplinary)
Graduate:
- Poetic Strategies
- Poetry Writing
- Creative Nonfiction Writing
- Flash Fiction Writing
- Colloquium: Justice, Inclusion, Fascination, Entertainment, Well-being, Kindness, and Other Reasons We Write (800-level)
- Thesis hours