Thursday, May 3, 2018

Bio


Thank you for visiting!

I do my best to practice antiracist, antisexist, antiableist, pro-LGBTQA+, pro-human acts and practices in and out of the classroom.

Dennis Etzel Jr. lives with Carrie and the boys in Topeka, Kansas where he teaches English at Washburn University. He has an MFA from The University of Kansas, and an MA and Graduate Certificate in Women and Gender Studies from Kansas State University. He has two chapbooks, The Sum of Two Mothers (ELJ Publications 2013) and My Graphic Novel (Kattywompus Press 2015). My Secret Wars of 1984 (BlazeVOX 2015) was selected by The Kansas City Star as a Best Poetry Book of 2015, and its sequel My Grunge of 1991 was recently published (BlazeVOX 2017). Fast-Food Sonnets (Coal City Review Press 2016) is a 2017 Kansas Notables Book selected by the State of Kansas Library.  This Removed Utopia (Spartan Press 2017) was published as part of the Kaw Valley Poetry Series. His work has appeared in Denver Quarterly, Indiana Review, BlazeVOX, Fact-Simile, 1913: a journal of poetic forms, 3:AM, Tarpaulin Sky, DIAGRAM, and others. Etzel is the recipient of a 2017 Troy Scroggins Award and the 2017 Topeka ARTSConnect Arty Award in Literary Arts. He co-edited Ichabods Speak Out: Poems in the Age of Me, Too with Dr. Jericho Hockett which features poems against sexual assault from the Washburn University and Topeka Community. He is a TALK Scholar for the Kansas Humanities Council and leads poetry workshops in various Kansas spaces.

[


Community Work / Community Writing

Current Projects




2018 Voices of Freedom Poetry Book
Featuring students of USD501 and released with a reading and poetry slam at the Freedom Festival, Downtown Topeka

Just released! Ichabods Speak Out: Poems in the Age of Me, Too
featuring poems from the Washburn University and Topeka Community



High Impact Community Engagement Practices

At Washburn University, these courses work with community organizations

EN101 First-Year Writing: Harvesters and Bods Feeding Bods
EN300 Advanced Writing for Nursing Emphasis: Midland Care and Hospice
EN210 Mythologies in Literature: ARTS Connect Grantees


Community Awards