Jack Wang

Jack Wang

Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Writing
Faculty, School of Humanities and Sciences

Specialty:Fiction Writing
Phone:(607) 274-3493
E-mail:wang@ithaca.edu
Office:430B Smiddy Hall
Ithaca, NY 14850
Curriculum Vitae

I hail from the fair city of Vancouver, British Columbia. After earning a Bachelor of Science in biology and anthropology from the University of Toronto and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of Arizona, I spent four years teaching composition, literature, and fiction writing at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. In 2006, I received a Ph.D. in English with an emphasis in creative writing from Florida State University. I admire writers who capture reality as “a fabric of microscopic accuracies,” to borrow a phrase from John Updike. Three of my favorite novels are Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates, A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, and Enduring Love by Ian McEwan. When I’m not writing, I enjoy playing hockey, ballroom dancing with my wife, Angelina, and reading to our young daughters, Zadie and Zoe.

Areas

  • fiction writing
  • history and theory of the novel
  • Asian American fiction
  • Director, Distinguished Visiting Writers Series (2008-11)

Degrees

  • Ph.D. English (Creative Writing), Florida State University, 2006
  • M.F.A. Creative Writing, University of Arizona, 1997
  • B.Sc. Biology, Anthropology and English, University of Toronto, 1994

Short Fiction

Children's Books

Writers' Conferences

  • The Humber School for Writers Summer Workshop, Humber College, Toronto, Ont., 9-15 July 2011
  • Sewanee Writers' Conference, The University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn., 17-29 July 2007
  • Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vt., 16-27 August 2000

Select Presentations

  • "Let Us Now Not Praise: Reflections on the Jane Smiley Approach to Workshop," Canadian Creative Writers and Writing Programs Conference, Toronto, Ont., May 2012
  • "The Valkyries" (reading), Canadian Creative Writers and Writing Programs Conference, Toronto, Ont., May 2012
  • Writing About Race in the Age of Obama, Chair, Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference, Chicago, Ill., March 2012
  • The Science of Stories: What Cognitive Science Can Tell Us About Making Narratives, Chair, Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference, Chicago, Ill., March 2012
  • "Ethnic Ressentiment or Why the Chinese Kid Doesn't Like Amy Tan," Presenter, Pedagogy Forum, Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference, Washington, D.C., February 2011
  • Getting the Creative Writing Job: How We Did It and How You Can Too, Panelist, Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference, Chicago, Ill., February 2009
  • What We Need to Talk About: On Teaching Writers of Color, Panelist, Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference, Atlanta, Ga., March 2007
  • The Politics and Aesthetics of Writing About Race, Chair, Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference, Austin, Tex., March 2006
  • SAMLA Fiction Writers, Chair, South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference, Atlanta, Ga., November 2005
  • "Castrated Fathers: The Anxiety of Male Authorship in Asian American Literature," Presenter, Northeast Modern Language Association Conference, Cambridge, Mass., April 2005
  • "Analyzing Winners of the Pulitzer Prize and Other Major Fiction Prizes in the Last Decade," Presenter, Midwest Modern Language Association Conference, Kansas City, Mo., November 2000

Select Awards

  • Ben Labovitch Scholarship, Humber School for Writers Summer Workshop, 2011
  • Summer Research Grant, Office of the Provost, Ithaca College, 2011
  • Released Time, Center for Faculty Research and Development, Ithaca College, 2010
  • Humanities & Sciences Educational Grant Initiative Award, Ithaca College, 2008
  • Released Time, Center for Faculty Research and Development, Ithaca College, 2007
  • Phi Kappa Phi Artist Award, Florida State University, 2005
  • Award for Best Graduate Creative Writing, Florida State University, 2004
  • George M. Harper Award for Best Graduate Essay (English), Florida State University, 2003
  • Individual Artist Award, Central Minnesota Arts Board, 2001
  • Long-term Faculty Grant, St. Cloud State University, 2000
  • Minnie Torrance Prize (fiction), University of Arizona, 1997
  • Johnie Raye Harper Memorial Award (teaching), University of Arizona, 1995

 

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