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Deborah Burnham

Retired Staff

(she/her/hers)

1989 Ph.D. Graduate
Dissertation Advisor(s): Daniel Hoffman
"Lovely in its Bones: Form in Theodore Roethke's Poetry"

Fisher-Bennett Hall 114
215-898-3936

 

Deborah Burnham teaches courses in American and British fiction from the 19th and 20th century, in gender studies and poetry.  She also teaches the writing of non-fiction prose and poetry. "Recently, I've gotten interested in American gothic fiction, and in 19th century British novels, particularly those like Villette  and Daniel Deronda,  that in some way subvert their more traditional cousins."

She also teaches poetry and poetry writing, with a particular interest in formal poems and in the history of women's poetry. She created a freshman seminar on Philadelphia poetry to introduce the lively poetic culture of the city to new students.  She taught for many years for the College of Liberal and Professional Studies. She received her Ph.D. in Modern British and American Literature from the University of Pennsylvania. She directed the University Scholars Program and later was an Assistant Dean in the College Advising Office. For over twenty summers, she directed and taught in the creative writing program at the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts.

Texas Tech University Press published her book, Anna and the Steel Mill, as its First Book Prize winner in 1995. She also published a chapbook, Still. A volume of poems, Tart Honey, will soon be published by Wipf and Stock. as well as a chapbook, Among Our Other Dead. She is finishing a young adult novel. Raising June, set in the Viet Nam era.  She has received a National Endowment for the Arts grant in poetry.

She has lived in the Powelton neighborhood of Philadelphia for over twenty-five years and is currently a member of the executive board of the Powelton Village Civic Association. An enthusiastic gardener, she has created several small gardens on Philadelphia streets, most notably near the Irongate Theater at 37th and Chestnut Street.

Publications

Courses Taught

fall 2020

ENGL 107.001 Literature and Medicine  

spring 2020

fall 2019

ENGL 107.001 Literature and Medicine  

spring 2019

fall 2018

spring 2018

fall 2017

ENGL 210.302 Growing up in Fiction  
ENGL 455.640 The World of Work  

spring 2017

ENGL 455.640 The World of Work canceled  

fall 2016

spring 2016

ENGL 090.401 Sex and the City  
ENGL 105.601 The World of Work  

fall 2015

ENGL 010.301 Creative Writing  

spring 2015

fall 2014

ENGL 010.301 Creative Writing  

spring 2014

fall 2013

spring 2013

ENGL 103.001 The Short Story  

fall 2012

ENGL 010.301 Creative Writing  

summer 2012

spring 2012

fall 2011

ENGL 010.301 Creative Writing  

summer 2011

ENGL 135.920 Creative Writing  

spring 2011

ENGL 055.001 The 19th Century Novel  
ENGL 102.601 The Gothic  

fall 2010

summer 2010

spring 2010

fall 2009

ENGL 113.301 Poetry Writing Workshop  

summer 2009

ENGL 103.900 The Short Story  

spring 2009

fall 2008

ENGL 010.301 Creative Writing  

summer 2008

spring 2008

ENGL 069.001 Poetry and Poetics  

fall 2007

ENGL 010.301 Creative Writing  
ENGL 135.303 Creative Non-Fiction Writing canceled  

summer 2007

spring 2007

ENGL 069.001 Poetry and Poetics  

fall 2006

ENGL 010.301 Creative Writing  

summer 2006

ENGL 053.920 The Experience of Innocence  

spring 2006

ENGL 089.001 American Fiction  

summer 2005

ENGL 089.900 American Fiction  

spring 2005

ENGL 016.401 Poetry in Philadelphia  
ENGL 199.311 Independent Study  

fall 2004

ENGL 199.601 Independent Study  

summer 2004

ENGL 103.920 Literary Genres  

fall 2003

ENGL 135.303 Writing Advisors Section  

summer 2003

ENGL 103.910 The Short Story  

fall 2002

ENGL 199.304 Independent Study  
ENGL 199.601 Independent Study  

summer 2002

spring 2002

ENGL 135.601 Writers Advisors Section  
ENGL 435.601 Writers Advisors Section  

fall 2001

ENGL 135.302 Writing Advisors Section  
ENGL 199.302 Independent Study  

summer 2001

ENGL 403.910 The Short Story  

spring 2001

ENGL 113.601 Poetry Writing Workshop  
ENGL 135.301 Writing Advisors Section canceled  
ENGL 199.301 Independent Study  
ENGL 199.302 Independent Study  

fall 2000

ENGL 135.302 Writing Advisors Section  

summer 2000

ENGL 403.910 Narratives from the Margins  

spring 2000

ENGL 004.601 Writing About Poetry  
ENGL 135.303 Writing Advisors Section  
ENGL 199.307 Independent Study  

fall 1999

ENGL 135.302 Writing Advisors Section  
ENGL 199.005 Independent Study  

summer 1999

ENGL 103.910 The Short Story  

spring 1999

ENGL 113.601 Poetry Writing Workshop  

fall 1998

ENGL 403.601 The Short Story  

summer 1998

fall 1997

summer 1997

fall 1996

ENGL 299.319 Independent Study  

summer 1996

spring 1996

ENGL 103.601 The Short Story  
ENGL 199.322 Independent Study  

summer 1995

ENGL 088.910 American Poetry