Professors publish or perish
English professor discusses balancing teaching, writing and life
Cecelia Martinez
Issue date: 2/13/08 Section: Entertainment
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"It is difficult to balance writing and anything else, really, but if you have to have a day job, teaching is the best one to have," said Barbara Ungar, an Associate Professor of English at Saint Rose.
Ungar is also a published poet who starting writing at the age of eight. Her most recent publication, "Origin of the Milky Way," is a collection of poetry released by Gival Press in November 2007.
"All of the poems are inspired by [my] pregnancy, the experience of labor and nursing, and later raising an infant-to-toddler during a time of war," Ungar said. "I got pregnant just after 9/11, so my personal ecstasy ran against the current of world events, and kept me buoyed up."
Her publishing history also includes another collection, "Thrift," published in 2005, and two chapbooks, "Neoclassical Barbara" and "Sequel," published in 1998 and 2004 respectively.
Other English professors at Saint Rose who've been published include Daniel Nester, Hollis Seamon, and K. A. Laity.
Nester is an Assistant Professor of English and has published three books, two of which he describes as "collections of lyrical essay-memoir-prose poem-music on my life-long obsession with the rock band Queen."
"God Save My Queen: A Tribute" and "God Save My Queen II: The Show Must Go On" were published by Soft Skull Press and the third, a collection of poetry entitled "History of My World Tonight," was published in 2006 by BlazeVOX Books.
A piece written about author James Frey was also recently featured in "The Best Creative Nonfiction, Vol. 1," published in June 2007.
"That was a big publication for me," Nester said.
Seamon had a mystery novel, "Flesh," published in Spring 2005. It centers on the character Suzanne Brown, a graduate student who renamed herself Suzanne LaFleshe. The novel is available from Avocet Press.
Laity, an Assistant Professor of English who specializes in Medieval English, has been published many times in various genres of writing including short story, novel-length fiction, essays, and plays. Her most recent novel, "Pelzmantel: A Medieval Tale," was published by Spilled Candy Books in 2003.
Despite the success of these professors, the publishing world is not always easy to navigate.
"I got my first poem, 'Rain,' published at age eight, but then I had a 10-to-30 year dry spell," Ungar said.
Ungar participated in many book contests, and was a runner-up, finalist, or semi-finalist 38 times before winning a first prize for "The Origin of the Milky Way."
"I had no trouble placing in various literary magazines, but had trouble getting a book published," Ungar said. "Basically, since so few people buy poetry there is no money in it for publishers, and it is a labor of love."
Finding time to write can be more difficult when paired with the demanding work of a college professor, but Ungar has found ways to make her teaching and writing work well together.
"I often find inspiration in the material I am teaching, which finds its way into my work," Ungar said. "My job is to read great writing, to talk about it, to turn other people on to it, and that is a great pleasure to me. Incidentally, I think it also helps my writing; sometimes I get inspired by my students."
Ungar teaches creative writing, the writing of poetry, oral interpretation of literature, and also how to teach poetry in education.
"I draw from my writing experience in all of those courses," Ungar said. Ungar received a Scholars and Artist Grant from The College of Saint Rose to do a promotional reading tour for "The Origin of the Milky Way." Upcoming readings include one on March 8 at Woodstock Town Hall at 2 P.M. with Sparrow and one on April 6 at Cafe Lena in Saratoga Springs at 2 P.M. with Naton Leslie and Nancy White.
Upcoming plans for Nester include the publication of a new book, due out in 2009. The book is entitled "How to Be Inappropriate: Essays and Confessions," and is being published by Soft Skull Press, the same publisher that released "God Save My Queen" and its sequel.
Laity is currently working on a collection of short stories based on Finnish myths and legends entitled "Unikirja."
For more information about the works of these professors, upcoming events, and how to purchase their writing, visit their websites at
barbaraungar.com,
danielnester.com,
http://members.authorsguild.net/hollis/,
& kalaity.com.
Many of the works published are also available in the Saint Rose campus bookstore.
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