Gail Folkins

Originally from the Pacific Northwest, I have worked throughout the West as a journalist, a writer in corporate and nonprofit settings, an instructor, and as a creative writer.  My two creative nonfiction books include a nature-themed memoir titled Light in the Trees (Texas Tech University Press 2016) and a work of literary journalism titled Texas Dance Halls: A Two-Step Circuit (Texas Tech University Press 2007). As a freelance writer, my essays have most recently appeared in The Common – Dispatches and Assay along with magazines such as Texas Highways and Wildflower Magazine. I have a Ph.D. from Texas Tech University in creative writing (nonfiction emphasis) and have taught writing courses at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, St. Edward’s University in Austin, Austin Community College, and Hugo House in Seattle. My publications background includes directing a small press, working as a managing editor for Iron Horse Literary Review, and leading a visiting writer series. I have served as a consultant and adviser on a variety of writing projects, from essay collections, to theses in creative nonfiction and poetry, to manuscripts on marketing and self-help.