Michael S. Ramos

Michael Ramos is an Iraq war veteran, a writer, teacher, book designer, editor, and the art director for Ecotone magazine. His work focuses on dispelling myths about war, warriors, and veterans, and bringing military and civilian communities together through the power of art. You can find his work in Fourth Genre, Slice, PANK Daily, and other places. His essay collection The After: A Veteran's Notes on Coming Home (UNC Press 2024) received a starred Kirkus review and is available now from UNC Press. He currently teaches creative nonfiction and publishing in UNCW's Department of Creative Writing.

Education

BFA in Creative Writing, UNCW
MFA in Creative Writing, UNCW

Specialization in Teaching

I have taught courses in book design, an introduction to the publishing industry, research for creative writers, the lyric essay, flash essays, introduction to creative writing, forms of creative writing, reading creative nonfiction for craft, and creative nonfiction workshops.

Research Interests

I write essays, primarily in short and/or lyric, hybrid or strange forms while paying attention to sequencing and language at the micro and macro level.

As a teacher of writing I am interested in flash and lyric essay, hybrid forms and pushing the boundaries of creative nonfiction. I believe it is important to read historical texts as well as contemporary writers and to find connections between our dead, our living, and ourselves as writers. As I research historical cnf, I find that what we think is new, has in some way, shape, or form, been experimented with by our writerly ancestors. I am interested in exploring those experiments and taking them to the next level in my own work while encouraging my students to do the same.

As the art director of Ecotone and a teacher of publishing I am interested in the intersection of culture and commodification of books. I think about access and privilege as they interact with publishing. I am interested how technology and society's innovations drive changes in the publishing world and how the publishing world shapes tech and society.

I hope to unlock the doors to the mysterious world of getting published for students.

As a teacher or writing and publishing I am interested in the question "can we" followed by the answer "why not" or "let's find out." Students can expect an atmosphere of permissiveness as they seek to make art.

Community Engagement

I am a faculty member for Centro Hispano's Mi Casa Program and teach creative writing to veterans in the local, national, and international communities.