Teacher, Writer, and Editor | University of Chicago MA

Eric V.

Hello!

I'm a working writer and editor passionate about literature, writing, punctuation, grammar, and all things language.

I have a bachelor's degree in music from Oregon State University, a second bachelor's in English from Portland State University, and an MA in humanities (creative writing concentration) from the University of Chicago. During my time in Chicago, I was a teaching assistant for a literature class on Nabokov, an editor of academic articles by professors in Slavic Studies, and a developmental editor for a novel manuscript.

My coursework at PSU included Biblical literature, 18th and 20th century British literature, medieval literature, Shakespearean tragedy, Northern European mythology, American modernism, and creative writing. I also wrote for the campus newspaper and magazine, winning an award for one of my articles.

My Chicago coursework included the 19th century Russian novel, Soviet period literature (Bulgakov, Solzhenitsyn, Tertz, etc.), James Joyce's Ulysses, Tolstoy's late period, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Boccaccio's Decameron, Nabokov, the Polish author Witold Gombrowicz, and creative writing. I wrote for the Chicago Maroon, the campus newspaper, during my first year.

I have published in the academic journals Philip Roth Studies and The Hemingway Review.

My non-academic work has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, the Star Tribune, Chicago Review of Books, On the Seawall, The Ekphrastic Review, The Nabokovian, Open Letters Review, Willamette Week, and elsewhere.

I am most knowledgeable about Russian and Eastern European literature, French literature, and writing (creative, academic, and journalistic). I can help you improve your grasp of grammar, punctuation, usage, style, structure, argument, and all that goes into a good piece of writing.