Dr. Cynthia Childress
Cynthia Childress holds a PhD as an English Generalist with a creative dissertation in poetry from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She graduated magna cum laude from Western Kentucky University.
Cynthia has published over 60 poems and short stories in a wide variety of journals and books, as well as scholarly articles on such subjects as ekphrastic poetry, representations of women in popular culture, women’s self-writing, and feminist postcolonial theory. She has also written and performed in six pieces of short drama. Her university teaching credits include: Introduction to Creative Writing, Advanced Expository Writing, Technical Writing, Poetry and Drama, and much more.
Cynthia lived abroad in Southeast Asia for seven years. During this time, she founded a poetry critique group at Silverfish Books in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and was a featured speaker at the International Lit Up Festival in Singapore. She developed her technical, marketing, and organizational writing skills as President of these two literary nonprofit organizations.
In Houston, she founded a communication firm to offer professional, creative writing, and editing services to local businesses, and she is currently working on a novel that she spent a month developing in Rome, Italy.
Cynthia's poem "After Seeing Georgia O'Keefe's Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art" published in Di-verse-city: Austin International Poetry Festival Anthology (2005) AIPF:
O'Keefe outlines barren mountains
topped with antlered skulls the size of the sky--
a stunning nightmare that compelled me
on the other side of the gallery--
and nearer to the painting there appear ant hills
shaded by bovine bones
showing that safety and danger
might be mere matters of interpretation,
as with the way blackness lurks
beneath the lavender petals of her iris
so that silk cradles our darkest sister
secrets kept from the canvas,
from ourselves
like the shadow I don't cast in the sun
but bury beneath lipstick smile
as though there is no ghost towering
the city, or perhaps because there is one
towering over me, touching me
in Central Park the trees whisper
of their desert twins
in the city’s montage
for which I am both painter and subject.
Excerpt from Cynthia's short story “Purple Envy” published in Women’s Work (2010):
It was the spring of 1989 and rap music had found its way into Mrs. Greene’s fourth grade class at Fairway Elementary School in Celina, Tennessee. Jimmy Hurst showcased his DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince cassette tape, “I’m the DJ, He’s the Rapper,” on his desk during class, and although Mrs. Greene took it away, her fifteen year old son convinced her it was harmless, so she returned it. On the playground we would recite the words to “Funky Cold Medina” with the same enthusiasm we sang Bon Jovi’s “Shot Through the Heart” the year before, with no more understanding of our new lyrics than the old ones.
None of this would matter if the spring of 1989 hadn’t also marked the end to my short writing career, which had begun in the third grade when, despite my spelling problems, Mrs. Copas suggested that I might have a talent for writing stories. I would turn in three pages of fiction when one was required. I was more avoiding doing my math homework than actually gifted, but her encouragement made me think I was destined to be a famous writer. Regrettably, my favorite color was purple, and by the fourth grade Lisa Frank’s purple, pink, and blue ink pens and purple notebook paper were so popular that the teachers decided not to ban the girls from using them, because at least the homework was being done. My problem was that my mother refused to pay $2.99 for a twenty five sheet notepad when she could get 500 white sheets for a dollar, but I felt that my future in writing hinged upon my use of colored paper and pens.
Jacinda Coley, the girl who sat in front of me in fourth grade, had a vast supply of Lisa Frank pens and paper although she didn't want to be a writer. She would purposefully flop her long hair on my desk, but I never told her to stop because I wished my short, mousy hair looked like hers; and I wondered what right would I have to tell her not to flip her hair when she’d been to a New Kids on the Block concert and had the best scratch-n-sniff sticker collection in the school. One day when Jacinda was not at school Mrs. Greene told us we had to be very nice to her since her parents were getting divorced. I wished my parents were getting divorced so everyone would be told to be nice to me, too…
Recommended Books for Aspiring Writers
Student Testimonials
Anonymous feedback from University of South Florida students:
Teaching Philosophy
I lead discussions, and in this manner we all learn from each other and contribute to a body of wisdom and understanding uniquely shaped by each person present. My goal is for everyone to leave each class with new insights and tools to bring to enhance your creative endeavors.
Cynthia has published over 60 poems and short stories in a wide variety of journals and books, as well as scholarly articles on such subjects as ekphrastic poetry, representations of women in popular culture, women’s self-writing, and feminist postcolonial theory. She has also written and performed in six pieces of short drama. Her university teaching credits include: Introduction to Creative Writing, Advanced Expository Writing, Technical Writing, Poetry and Drama, and much more.
Cynthia lived abroad in Southeast Asia for seven years. During this time, she founded a poetry critique group at Silverfish Books in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and was a featured speaker at the International Lit Up Festival in Singapore. She developed her technical, marketing, and organizational writing skills as President of these two literary nonprofit organizations.
In Houston, she founded a communication firm to offer professional, creative writing, and editing services to local businesses, and she is currently working on a novel that she spent a month developing in Rome, Italy.
Cynthia's poem "After Seeing Georgia O'Keefe's Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art" published in Di-verse-city: Austin International Poetry Festival Anthology (2005) AIPF:
O'Keefe outlines barren mountains
topped with antlered skulls the size of the sky--
a stunning nightmare that compelled me
on the other side of the gallery--
and nearer to the painting there appear ant hills
shaded by bovine bones
showing that safety and danger
might be mere matters of interpretation,
as with the way blackness lurks
beneath the lavender petals of her iris
so that silk cradles our darkest sister
secrets kept from the canvas,
from ourselves
like the shadow I don't cast in the sun
but bury beneath lipstick smile
as though there is no ghost towering
the city, or perhaps because there is one
towering over me, touching me
in Central Park the trees whisper
of their desert twins
in the city’s montage
for which I am both painter and subject.
Excerpt from Cynthia's short story “Purple Envy” published in Women’s Work (2010):
It was the spring of 1989 and rap music had found its way into Mrs. Greene’s fourth grade class at Fairway Elementary School in Celina, Tennessee. Jimmy Hurst showcased his DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince cassette tape, “I’m the DJ, He’s the Rapper,” on his desk during class, and although Mrs. Greene took it away, her fifteen year old son convinced her it was harmless, so she returned it. On the playground we would recite the words to “Funky Cold Medina” with the same enthusiasm we sang Bon Jovi’s “Shot Through the Heart” the year before, with no more understanding of our new lyrics than the old ones.
None of this would matter if the spring of 1989 hadn’t also marked the end to my short writing career, which had begun in the third grade when, despite my spelling problems, Mrs. Copas suggested that I might have a talent for writing stories. I would turn in three pages of fiction when one was required. I was more avoiding doing my math homework than actually gifted, but her encouragement made me think I was destined to be a famous writer. Regrettably, my favorite color was purple, and by the fourth grade Lisa Frank’s purple, pink, and blue ink pens and purple notebook paper were so popular that the teachers decided not to ban the girls from using them, because at least the homework was being done. My problem was that my mother refused to pay $2.99 for a twenty five sheet notepad when she could get 500 white sheets for a dollar, but I felt that my future in writing hinged upon my use of colored paper and pens.
Jacinda Coley, the girl who sat in front of me in fourth grade, had a vast supply of Lisa Frank pens and paper although she didn't want to be a writer. She would purposefully flop her long hair on my desk, but I never told her to stop because I wished my short, mousy hair looked like hers; and I wondered what right would I have to tell her not to flip her hair when she’d been to a New Kids on the Block concert and had the best scratch-n-sniff sticker collection in the school. One day when Jacinda was not at school Mrs. Greene told us we had to be very nice to her since her parents were getting divorced. I wished my parents were getting divorced so everyone would be told to be nice to me, too…
Recommended Books for Aspiring Writers
- Lady Oracle (1979) by Margaret Atwood
- The Shape of Poetry: A Practical Guide to Writing Poetry (1999) by Peter Meinke
- Mrs. Dalloway (1925) by Virginia Woolf
- The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens (1954) by Wallace Stevens
- Blood, Tin, Straw (2000) by Sharon Olds
Student Testimonials
Anonymous feedback from University of South Florida students:
- “She is the most awesome instructor ever. She is always willing to go the extra mile to help her students. She provides many different aspects form which to view the class.”
- “She gave instructions as simply as possible, which made the work easier to understand. She is always there to help you and can relate to our writing, so she understood where I was coming from.”
- “Dr. Childress was an excellent teacher because she used creative ways to get us really involved in the assignments. She made the class fun so we wanted to come.”
- “She was prepared every day and really knew her stuff. She has a passion for the English language and made her students feel the same way. Her instructions were clear and understandable. Overall, she was excellent!”
Teaching Philosophy
I lead discussions, and in this manner we all learn from each other and contribute to a body of wisdom and understanding uniquely shaped by each person present. My goal is for everyone to leave each class with new insights and tools to bring to enhance your creative endeavors.