John Wilson, who teaches literature in the College of Creative Studies, takes a practical approach to fiction and to his favorite subject, poetry.

"I’m most interested in getting as close as possible to what was going through the author’s mind when he or she was writing a story or poem. That’s partly an act of imagination, because you can never be entirely sure." To that end, Wilson rarely uses secondary texts in his classes, preferring to teach solely from the original work. "I want my students to learn how to read poetry and carry poems with them in their heads," he says.

Wilson appreciates the Creative Studies environment because his students "already have a passion for literature and they know how they want to spend their time.

"The college is often described as a graduate school for undergraduates because of its small class size and seminar-style instruction," he adds.

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