March 10th, 8:45 p.m. Update: Megan Kaminski’s most recent publication, Desiring Map, can be found by clicking here. 
1 p.m. Update: My Facebook Author Page now has a cover photo. Check it out here.
When I decided to attend the University of Kansas, I was really excited to meet inspiring professors and students. I knew I wanted to get my bachelor’s in English, but I was unaware I could have an emphasis on creative writing. Of course, when I learned this, I practically jumped through the ceiling with excitement (seriously—I think I hit my head), and I signed up.
Immediately, I threw myself into a fiction course, because, as many of you know, I write YA sci-fi/fantasy. But—much to my dismay at the time—the University of Kansas requires students to take two different kinds of writing. I was REALLY concerned about this, because I didn’t want to join a writing course I didn’t know anything about. I was afraid it’d affect my GPA, and, considering how much students pay at universities, this was a huge concern. But I had no choice, so I looked at what they had to offer: nonfiction, screenwriting, poetry, and playwriting.
So what did I take?
I enrolled in Poetry Writing I with Professor Megan Kaminski, and my writing life has never been the same.
She has taught me everything I know about poetry, and she has inspired me to chase knowledge beyond what classroom time allows us to explore. Through this website, I even advocate studying poetry, because the genre has taught me how to truly embrace the lyrical beauty of language in and out of fiction. For me, fiction is where I disappear into fantastical worlds I create, but poetry causes me to embrace the reality of what’s fantastical around me.
I give Kaminski all the credit for revealing this beautiful world to me.
Megan Kaminski has six chapbooks out, and through Dusie Press, you can even read directly from her chapbook, collection. This year, her most recent piece, This Place (Dusie Press, 2013), was published, and it’s available through her publisher and directly from her. She’s even on Goodreads and Directory of Poets & Writers.
Not only has she accomplished so much, but she has given opportunity to other writers. Through the University of Kansas, Kaminski sponsors The Siren, a national online literary journal for students to share their work. She also leads the Creative Writing Exchange Program and the Undergraduate Reading Series that I got to participate in.
I have the utmost joy being taught by such a talented and inspiring woman. She’s an example of all I hope to be: accomplished while striving to create opportunities for other writers and their futures.
I really encourage all of you to check her out and learn from her story. Any of the links above will send you to more information.
~SAT
Shannon A. Thompson 
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