John Estes

Assistant Professor of English, Director of Creative Writing

Education:

B.A., University of Evansville
M.A., Wheaton College
Ph.D., University of Missouri

Experience

In addition to many years teaching English and other humanities at the college level, I taught middle and high school English at a classical liberal arts academy where I also directed the theater program, and founded a democratic Summerhill-style school. Outside of academia I have worked as an editor, designer, and professional writer in multiple fields, been a webmaster and executive consultant, waited many tables, painted many houses, mown many lawns.

Recent Scholarly Work

Books: 
Kingdom Come (C&R Press, 2011) 

Breakfast with Blake at the Laocoön

Poems: 
My poems, prose, and translations have appeared in more than 80 journals, including Tin House, New Orleans Review, The Journal, Southern Review, Circumference, Another Chicago Magazine, Laurel Review, Iron Horse, and AGNI. 

Essays: 
"The Unorthodox Greek Orthodoxy of Constantine Cavafy." Mother Tongue Theologies: Poets, Novelists, Non-Western Christianity.  Darren Middleton, ed. Wipf & Stock 2009. 32-47. 

"Notes toward an introduction for Charles Simic." Cream City Review. 33.2 (Fall 2009, 12-16. 
"A Space for the Marvelous and the Murderous." inscape Vol. 34(2009): 99-103. 
"The Poem as Built Environment." Caesura (Fall 2007): 55-63.

For links to poems online and more about my work, see my website. 

Teaching Assignments

I am married and the father of two sons. Some days I think I should have followed through with my dream of being an architect, or master of Mexican cooking. Many days I would rather be painting, or lost in the woods.