M Shelly Conner, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Creative Writing, Co-Director Arkansas Writers MFA Workshop
Thompson Hall 338
Degree:
Ph.D., English with Creative Dissertation, University of Illinois at Chicago
M.A, Teaching, Concordia University, River Forest
B.A., English, Tuskegee University
Teaching Specialties:
Creative Writing – Fiction (short and long-form) stories and novel; screenwriting; creative nonfiction
Gender & Women’s Studies – queer narratives; Black women’s writing
African American Literature – Harlem Renaissance writers
Biography:
Chicago native M Shelly Conner received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago. A multi-genre writer, she is the creator of the Quare Life web series and has published essays on dapperqueer aesthetics, black womanhood, self-sustainable living and their intersections in various publications including: the A.V. Club; the Grio; NBC News; The Root, Life & Thyme, and Crisis Magazine. Her debut novel everyman was released in July 2021 (Blackstone Publishing) and and was awarded the Silver Nautilus Award for Fiction from a Large Press.
Grants/Awards/Fellowships:
2024 Arkansas Arts Council Individual Artists Award
2024 Roots, Wounds and Words Fiction Fellow
2023 Mid-America Arts Alliance Catalyze Grant
2023 Lit 16 Inaugural Fellow
2022 Nautilus Award, Silver (fiction from large press)