Education
B.A., Beloit College
M.F.A., University of Montana
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Courses Taught
English 190: Figuring Desire; Fabulous Creatures; Readings in College Literature
English 205: Introduction to Creative Writing (poetry, fiction, nonfiction)
English 223: Ekphrasis; The Short of It; The Prose Poem
English 262: Watching the Detective
English 271: T.S. Eliot’s Long Poems
English 210: Poetry Workshop
English 310: Variations on a Theme: Linked Poems and Very Short Fiction; Ekphrastic Writing; Writing Toward Publication
Writing and FYI: Venice—The Invisible City; Grimm, Inc.; The Literature of Adolescence
Research Interests
Poetry, Craft and Theory
Modernist and Contemporary Poetry
American Women Poets, 1865-present
Ekphrasis
Publications
Books:
Troy, Unincorporated, University of Chicago, 2012.
NB, manuscript in progress.
Selected Journal Publications:
“Fata Morgana,” “Seedy Mysteries,” “Your Boat,” Prompt Journal #6, Fall, 2017. Limited Edition Book Arts Journal.
“Myths Do Furnish a Room,” Gulf Coast Online Exclusive. Spring 2015.
“You Can’t Teach a Pig to Sing.” Cincinnati Review.Summer 2014.
“Welcome to Melinoe,” “I See a Long Journey.” The Laurel Review. Summer, 2013.
“Dear (You Know I Never Rode Horses Well), ” “Psyche’s First Chili Dog.” Field.Spring 2011.
Francesca Abbate
Associate Professor of English
Pronouns: she/her/hers Email: abbatef@beloit.edu Phone: 608-363-2029 Office: 205, Morse-IngersollI’m a Beloit alum (class of ’90), who dreamed of teaching at a small liberal arts college like Beloit, and I’m grateful to be here. I teach courses in creative writing and literature. My interests include the long poem, prose poetry, and poetry by contemporary women poets, and I’m committed to making work by underrepresented poets central to my courses. I’ve taught writing courses on fairy tales, writing about adolescence, and Venice. The resources at Beloit—the Logan and Wright museums and Archives in particular—enrich my teaching.
After Beloit, I attended the University of Montana, where I earned my MFA, and The University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, where I earned a Ph.D.
My poetry has appeared in journals such as The Cincinnati Review, Field, Gulf Coast, The Iowa Review, and Poetry. My first book of poetry, Troy, Unincorporated, recast Chaucer’s long poem “Troilus and Criseyde” as a contemporary story of love and loss set in south-central Wisconsin, and was published by The University of Chicago in 2012. I’ve recently completed a manuscript of prose poems that engages with Montaigne’s essays, childhood, the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, our environmental crisis, and hell in general.
Beloit is a place where you are encouraged to live a meaningful life shaped by passion and curiosity. It challenged and fostered my love of writing and reading as a student and continues to do so as a professor.