Jennifer (Jen) Follett
Acting Associate Director, 2008-2009 M.A. in Creative Writing, Florida State University, 1999
B.A. in English, Florida State University, 1996 curriculum vitae Areas of special interest: I’m especially interested in working with faculty on designing and evaluating writing assignments. I also enjoy working with writers on personal statements and application essays. Favorite punctuation mark (which I use to excess): parentheses--I love the layering of relevance and meaning. And how kind to offer your reader an extra treat, a special gift of words nestled between two crescent moons. Favorite Authors: Sherman Alexie, Sarah Waters, David Sedaris, A.S. Byatt, Sandra Cisneros, Minette Walters Favorite places to go in Baltimore: the BMA sculpture garden, the aquarium (I know! Touristy . . . but I’m a Pisces), the Avenue in Hampden, Visionary Arts Museum, Red Emma’s, Bombay Garden on York Road for the lunch buffet, and Little Havana on half-price menu Mondays. An early reading memory: I had a series of books called “The Sweet Pickles” series about a town inhabited by animals. Each book would focus on a different animal: Accusing Alligator, Bashful Bear, Clever Camel, Doubtful Dog . . . strangely, there are 40 books but only 26 letters in the alphabet. Hmm. What I loved best about the books was that each included a map of the Sweet Pickles town; I enjoyed finding the animals houses, following the roads, imagining myself in the town. These maps, like Tolkein’s of Middle Earth or C.S. Lewis’ of Narnia, constructed a physical context for fiction that allowed me to engage with it more fully. What I enjoy about writing center work: When I’m frustrated by my own writing or feeling overwhelmed by teaching and administrative duties, I take enormous pleasure in working with another writer on his or her own writing efforts—getting excited about others’ efforts, others’ texts renews my hope about my own. | 
