“[This] class was engaging, fun, and brought out my own potential as a poet. Dr. Hoover cares about her students and wants them to succeed.”
— Poetry Writing student, Tennessee Tech University
“Dr. Hoover provides helpful guidance and her experience in editing and publishing helped guide the class . . . She remained unbiased about class decisions for the journal and allowed students to flourish.”
— Literary Magazine Editing student, Tennessee Tech University
“I am much more confident in my ability to pursue a career in the literary field, as I better understand the market and have learned many transferable skills.”
— Literary Careers & Causes student, Hendrix College
“I wish I could take this class over again. I will use these skills in my professional life and I will stay in contact with this teacher. ”
— Advanced Writing & Editing student, Florida State University
Writing in Practice
Dr. Erin Hoover is an assistant professor of English at Tennessee Tech, teaching creative writing, literature, and academic writing, with a focus on poetry. She also teaches the Iris Review editing practicum. Previously, she taught at Hendrix College as the Murphy Visiting Fellow in Poetry. She mentored undergraduate students through the Murphy Scholars Program, a humanities cohort program for students planning advanced study in literature and language.
Hoover taught for six years at Florida State University, first as a graduate instructor, then as full-time visiting teaching faculty. As editor-in-chief of the Southeast Review from 2014-2016, she ran an editing practicum for undergraduate editors.
While she was a graduate student, Hoover’s students nominated her for an Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award through the Graduate School.
Achievements
In 2019, Erin Hoover was awarded a certificate through FSU’s Diversity and Inclusion Program, part of the Center for Leadership and Social Change, for completion of coursework and a theory-to-action project to apply research about inclusive practices in educational spaces to creative writing classrooms. She was also trained in allyship to LGBTQ+ students and colleagues through Allies & Safe Zones and her office and class registered as campus safe spaces.
Hoover served as a mentor for the Association of Writers & Writing Programs’ Writer to Writer in 2018, working with poet Romana Iorga.
Dr. Hoover’s Tennessee Tech students have won multiple prizes from the Southern Literary Festival. Hendrix College students have won the National Federation of State Poetry Societies’ Florence Kahn Memorial Award [press release] and multiple prizes from the Southern Literary Festival [press release]. They have been published (or have work forthcoming) in 30 North, the Allegheny Review, Equinox, Loomings, and other journals.
In Summer 2020, through a grant from the Associated Colleges of the South, faculty from Hendrix College and The University of the South developed a resource for instructors planning to incorporate small-group teaching in their course planning: Teach Small This Fall. For an example of an ongoing tutorial project by students, see the Hendrix Review.
Courses Taught
Tennessee Tech:
Creative Writing: Poetry
Creative Writing: Essay
Lit Mag Editing—The Iris Review
Digital Writing Practicum
Topics in American Literature: American Poetry
Introduction to Creative Writing
Composition I
Hendrix College:
Creative Nonfiction Writing
Topics: Literary Careers & Causes
Poetic Forms
Poetry Writing
Independent Study: The Poetic Line in Free-Verse Poetry
Tutorial: The Hendrix Review
Florida State University:
Editing Internship (Southeast Review)
Advanced Writing & Editing
Poetic Technique
Article & Essay Technique
Introduction to Poetry
Research, Genre, & Context
First-Year Writing: Writing About the Poet in the World
First-Year Writing I and II