Deirdre Fagan, DA

Deirdre Fagan, DA

Professor
Assistant Department Chair, Creative Writing and Literature in Person Coordinator
English, Literature, and World Languages
Phone: (231) 591-3031
Email: [email protected]

Education

• DA, University at Albany, English, Philosophy
• MA, University at Albany, English
• BA, University at Buffalo, English Literature

Biography

Dr. Deirdre Fagan has been at Ferris since 2015 and was the recipient of the Ferris Distinguished Teaching Award in 2025. Fagan has been teaching college writing and literature courses for nearly three decades and is also an award-winning multi-genre author of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and literary criticism. Featured on ABC, CBS, and NPR television and radio, as well as in Newsweek and HuffPost, Fagan is a Best of the Net finalist and Pushcart-nominated author of a National Indie Excellence finalist poetry collection, Phantom Limbs (Finishing Line Press, 2023) and a chapbook of poetry, Have Love (Finishing Line Press, 2019); a Booklist recommended reference book, Critical Companion to Robert Frost (Facts on File, 2007); a Shelf Unbound Indie Notable 100, National Indie Excellence, Living Now (IPPY), and Readers’ Favorite award-winning memoir, Find a Place for Me: Embracing Love and Life in the Face of Death (Regal House Publishing, 2022); and an Eric Hoffer and Next Generation Indie Book award finalist short story collection, The Grief Eater (Adelaide Books, 2020). Described by Kirkus Reviews as a “sharply descriptive writer,” Fagan’s poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, and critical essays on poetry, memoir, and pedagogy have appeared widely in literary and scholarly journals and anthologies, popular newspaper and magazines, and encyclopedias. Notably, Fagan’s essay on Emily Dickinson’s “unutterable word” was included in foremost literary critic Harold Bloom’s Modern Critical Views. Fagan is the editor of the Florida College English Association (FCEA) literary journal Orange Blossom Review and is an FCEA board member. She is a reviewer for the College English Association's Critic. Fagan has completed writing residencies at The Golden Apple Art Residency in Maine and The Writers' Colony at Dairy Hollow in Arkansas. She regularly attends and presents at national and regional conferences as well as offering workshops, presentations, book readings, and signings. Visit Fagan's personal website, deirdrefagan.com, to read her creative and scholarly work, learn more about her activities, and book her for events.

Publications and Intellectual Contributions

• Book
  Fagan, D. (2023). "Phantom Limbs," Georgetown, Kentucky: Finishing Line Press. https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/phantom-limbs-by-deirdre-fagan/
• Book
  Fagan, D. (2022). "Find a Place for Me," Raleigh, NC: Pact Press, Regal House Publishing. https://regalhousepublishing.com/product/find-a-place-for-me/
• Book
  Fagan, D. J. (2020). "The Grief Eater," New York, NY: Adelaide Books. https://adelaidebooks.org/collections/latest-releases/products/the-grief-eater
• Book
  Fagan, D. (2019). "Have Love," Georgetown, KY: Finishing Line Press. https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/have-love-by-deirdre-fagan/
• Journal Article
  Fagan, D. (2017). "Kay Ryan and Poetic Play," CEA Critic. 79 (3). pp. 267-274. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/678890/summary
• Book Chapter
  Fagan, D. (2012). "Creative Writing Creating Community: The Power of the Personal," In P. Perry (Ed.), Beyond the Workshop. London: Kingston University Press. https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Workshop-Paul-Perry/dp/1899999523
• Journal Article
  Fagan, D., Seltzer, R. (2010). "The Logic of Frost's Design," The Explicator. 68 (1). pp. 48-50. Routledge. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00144940903423170
• Contributor
  Fagan, D. (2008). "Composing Inquiry, Projects and Methods for Investigation and Writing," In M. Marshall (Ed.), Prentice Hall. https://www.pearson.com/us/higher-education/program/Marshall-Composing-Inquiry-Methods-and-Readings-for-Investigation-and-Writing/PGM241603.html?tab=features
• Book Chapter
  Fagan, D. (2008). "Emily Dickinson's Unutterable Word," In H. Bloom (Ed.), Bloom's Modern Critical Views: Emily Dickinson. pp. 191-196. Langhorne, Pennsylvania: Chelsea House Publishers. https://www.amazon.com/Dickinson-Blooms-Modern-Critical-Hardcover/dp/0791096130
• Book
  Fagan, D. (2007). "Critical Companion to Robert Frost: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work," New York, NY: Facts on File. http://www.infobasepublishing.com/Bookdetail.aspx?ISBN=0816061823&eBooks=0

Presentations

• Oral Presentation
  Fagan, D., Michigan College English Association Annual Conference, “Part Elegy, Part Celebration,” Michigan College English Association, Virtual, (October 5, 2024).
• Reading of Creative Work/Performance
  Fagan, D., Abroad Writers' Conference, "Poetry from Phantom Limbs," https://abroadwritersconference.com/, Athens to Rome yacht cruise, (July 15, 2024).
• Oral Presentation
  Fagan, D., Regal House 10th Anniversary Celebration, "Shifting Gears: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction/Memoir, Essays, and More,” Regal House Publishing, Raleigh, NC, (April 12, 2024).
• Reading of Creative Work/Performance
  Fagan, D., Off-Site Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Event, "Phantom Limbs Poetry Reading," Wednesday Night Poetry, Kansas City, MO, (February 7, 2024).
• Oral Presentation
  Fagan, D., Midwest Modern Language Association Conference, “Caregiver Conundrum: Writing Illness and Disability in Nonfiction,” Midwest Modern Language Association, (November 3, 2023).
• Oral Presentation
  Fagan, D. (Author & Presenter), Courtright-Nash, D. (Author & Presenter), Michigan College English Association Conference, "A Poetic Dialogue on Grief, Survival, and Hope,” Michigan College English Association, Virtual, (September 14, 2023).
• Oral Presentation
  Fagan, D. (Author & Presenter), Popular Culture/American Culture Assoc. Conference, “Find a Place for Me: Embracing Love and Life in the Face of Death,” Popular Culture/American Culture Assoc, Virtual, (April 14, 2022).
• Oral Presentation
  Fagan, D. (Author & Presenter), Midwest Modern Language Association Convention, "Universal and Individual Grief: How Unshared Experiences Unite Through Fiction," Midwest Modern Language Association, Milwaukee, WI, (November 2021).
• Reading of Creative Work/Performance
  Fagan, D. (Author & Presenter), Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference, "Heavy Lifting," Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association, Virtual, (June 2021).
• Oral Presentation
  Fagan, D. (Author), Michigan College English Association Conference, “Love, Loss, Love: Poetry of Change and Survival,” Michigan College English Association, Virtual, (September 17, 2020).