Sadly, they weren't able to set up a tenure-track line in creative writing for next year (though if you're an African-Americanist, they do have one of those, and I encourage you to apply and write me if you have any questions about the school). There's still a slim chance Roosevelt may be able to renew my two-year appointment, if the right people can find some funds to free up, but I won't know if that's possible until Christmas at the earliest it looks like. So in the meantime -- applying for jobs.
At least this year, we've decided that I'm going to stick to a local search in the Chicago area. We're comfortably settled here, and would really like to stay. If nothing full-time turns up, I'll plan on trying to pick up some part-time teaching and combine that with writing work of some kind. And then, if it comes to that, next year, both Kevin and I will do a national search together. Oof.
What this means is that I've spent the morning looking through the English job information list, and came up with a few possibilities in Chicago. The best bet is probably a two-year visiting position at Northwestern in creative writing fiction, which seems pretty tailor-made for my background and skills, and which would be a great job to have. Another possibility would be towards the lit side -- DePaul is looking for a specialist in minority literatures, especially Asian-American lit. I'd love the chance to teach a broad-based Asian-American literature class!
And then there's one more interesting possibility -- the University of Chicago Fellows post-doc program, which would have me teaching for four years in the common core sequence. Very little creative writing (though I would have the opportunity to develop a class of my own, which might incorporate some), but there's a world lit sequence which I'd love to teach -- it's a sequence I took, as an undergraduate there, and I learned a ton. It seems like it's a bit of a stretch that they'd hire a creative writer for it, but they do say the job is open to scholars in all disciplines and areas of specialization, and I did do critical work during the Ph.D. research. I think I could do the work of teaching the class, and it'd be a fascinating challenge. I have to apply, I think.
I'll also be contacting all the local area schools directly, to ask whether there are any other possibilities for jobs that may not be advertised yet. It feels a bit awkward, but Kevin assures me that it's appropriate to do so. So, here we go again... Wish me luck!
At the very least the Roosevelt thing will look good on your resume’. All the best.
Jim
Oh, it’s been a great experience, and still is. V. glad I got the job.