Title: Department Chair & Associate Professor of English
Department: English
Research Fields of Interest: Nonfiction Writing; Fiction Writing; Appalachian Studies; American Literature
Degrees: B.A., Indiana University of Pennsylvania; MFA., University of Pittsburgh; Ph.D., West Virginia University
Contact Info:
Email: mferrence@allegheny.edu
Phone: (814) 332-4339
Office Location: Odd Fellows 225
Office Hours (Spring ’24): Mondays and Wednesdays 10:00-11:00am; Tuesdays and Thursdays 10:45am-12:15pm, or by appointment.
Courses (Spring ’24)
ENGL 210 – Writing Creative Nonfiction
ENGL 410 – Advanced Workshop in Fiction
Publications
Books
- Appalachia North: a memoir. WVU Press, 2019. Recognized as Book of the Year by the Writers Conference of Northern Appalachia.
- All-American Redneck: Variations on an Icon, from James Fenimore Cooper to the Dixie Chicks. Knoxville, TN: U Tennessee Press, 2014. Finalist, Weatherford Award.
Shorter Work
- Creative nonfiction and fiction in various journals, including The Fiddlehead, Gettysburg Review, Cincinnati Review, Cimmaron Review, Creative Nonfiction, North Dakota Quarterly, Colorado Review, Gulf Coast, Cut Bank, Puckerbrush Review, Blue Mesa Review.
- Anthology Reprints including Best American Travel Writing, Beautiful Flesh: a Body of Essays, Man in the Moon: Essays on Fathers and Fatherhood.
- Scholarship and cultural criticism including The Millions, Daily Yonder, Assay: a Journal of Nonfiction Studies, Journal of Appalachian Studies, Arkansas Review, Popular Culture Review.