Sigma Tau Delta’s Creative Nonfiction Career Chat with Profs. Erhardt and Harlan

On Monday, November 7th, WFU’s chapter of Sigma Tau Delta—the international English honor society—hosted Prof. Susan Harlan and Prof. Marianne Erhardt in Ammons Lounge to talk about their experiences as professional creative writers in the public sphere. Prof. Erhardt is currently working on a memoir-in-essays, which explores personal and social mythologies of motherhood and caregiving, and Prof. Harlan has published academic essays, satirical pieces, and travel writing focused on feminist issues and on the relationship between place, memory, and objects. Profs. Erhard and Harlan discussed a variety of topics related to careers in writing creative nonfiction, including first-time publishing, networking, dealing with rejections, working with agents, writing for scholars vs. public audiences, creating a digital presence as an author, and the pros/cons of PhD and MFA graduate programs.