Dr. Eric J Pitman
They/Them
Lecturer,
English & Creative Writing
Biography
Eric Pitman completed both their Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Creative Writing at Illinois State University’s English Studies Program and worked as a graduate teaching assistant, instructing various composition courses, English Honors, LGBTQ+ Literature, Poetry, Fiction, and Introduction to Creative Writing. Additionally, they earned a graduate studies certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies, and this forthcoming Spring they will teach a Special Topics Creative Writing course in science fiction. Their work has been published in Last Leaves Mag and is forthcoming from Sweet Tooth, Issue #2: “Body Politic.” When not teaching, Eric enjoys going on hikes, exploring new coffee shops, pizza, and reading or writing fantasy.
RESEARCH INTERESTS: Prose and poetry experiments that highlight the daily struggles in queer life for non-binary folks navigating psychic dysphoria, generational trauma, and chronic illness. Queer literatures—sci-fi and fantasy in particular— that bear themes of environmental collapse, resistances to commodification, and surreal landscapes that blend queer ecologies with memory and notions of found-family.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
- Ph.D., Creative Writing, Illinois State University, 2022
- M.S., Creative Writing, Illinois State University, 2016
- Women's and Gender Studies Graduate Certificate, Illinois State University, 2016
- B.A., Creative Writing, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2014
Expertise
- Gender Studies
- Non-Binary Identities
- Queer Theory
- LGBTQ Literatures
- Creative Non-Fiction
- Fiction
- Poetry
- Hybrid Writing
- Science Fiction
- Fantasy
Recent Publications
“We’re Storage Bins and They Don’t Know Where to Put Us,” Sweet Tooth Magazine, Issue #2, “Body Politics,” (forthcoming).
“Hermeneutics of Despair,” “It Arrives,” & “When the Blaze Comes Again,” Last Leaves Magazine, Issue #3, Fall 2021.