Connie Ann Kirk
Encyclopedia
Connie Ann Kirk is an American
author
of over a dozen books. Specializing in biographies
of famous authors, she has also written companion references and a children's picture book.
. She received her bachelor's degree
in English
from Binghamton University
in 1985, a master's degree
in English and Creative writing
from Binghamton in 1988, and Ph.D.
in English from Binghamton in 2004. She is married with two sons, and lives in the Finger Lakes
region of New York State
.
where she taught courses in English and creative writing.
She was the first member of the department to create and run online courses for the university, and continues to run them during summer sessions.
author J. K. Rowling
which turned out to be a bestseller. The School Library Journal
reviewer wrote that "the scholarly writing style and evaluative content make this volume useful to high school students studying Rowling and her work."
It has since been translated into Japanese
, Chinese
, and Estonian
.
In 2004, Kirk published her first children's picture book
Sky Dancers with Lee & Low Books
. Sky Dancers is about the Mohawk
skyscraper builders in 1930s New York City
and was selected by The Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education
for their Best Children's Books of the Year and by Rutgers University's
EconKids program as one of their "Top 5 Books on Human Resources."
Kirk developed an interest in poet
Emily Dickinson
during her doctorate work at Binghamton. She joined the Emily Dickinson International Society and has written a number of articles for their semi-annual publication and given papers at their international conferences, including the 2010 conference at Oxford University.
Her book on Emily Dickinson grew out of her dissertation.
web site.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of over a dozen books. Specializing in biographies
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
of famous authors, she has also written companion references and a children's picture book.
Personal life
Kirk was born and raised in the village of Wellsville, New YorkWellsville (village), New York
Wellsville is a Village in Allegany County of New York State. At the top of the Eastern Triple Continental Divide, in south-central wooded and rural Allegany County, it is the largest population and business center in a 30-mile radius. The population was 5,171 at the 2000 census...
. She received her bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
from Binghamton University
Binghamton University
Binghamton University, also formally called State University of New York at Binghamton, , is a public research university in the State of New York. The University is one of the four university centers in the State University of New York system...
in 1985, a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in English and Creative writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
from Binghamton in 1988, and Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in English from Binghamton in 2004. She is married with two sons, and lives in the Finger Lakes
Finger Lakes
The Finger Lakes are a pattern of lakes in the west-central section of Upstate New York in the United States. They are a popular tourist destination. The lakes are long and thin , each oriented roughly on a north-south axis. The two longest, Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake, are among the deepest in...
region of New York State
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Pre-writing career
Beginning in 1988, Kirk became an adjunct professor in the English department at Mansfield University of PennsylvaniaMansfield University of Pennsylvania
Mansfield University of Pennsylvania is one of the fourteen state universities that are part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The University is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher...
where she taught courses in English and creative writing.
She was the first member of the department to create and run online courses for the university, and continues to run them during summer sessions.
Published works
Kirk's first published books were all nonfiction, including several titles for Greenwood Press's biography series. One of her first was a biography of BritishBritish people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
author J. K. Rowling
J. K. Rowling
Joanne "Jo" Rowling, OBE , better known as J. K. Rowling, is the British author of the Harry Potter fantasy series...
which turned out to be a bestseller. The School Library Journal
School Library Journal
The School Library Journal is a monthly magazine with articles and reviews for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with a focus on technology and multimedia. Reviews are included for preschool to 4th grade,...
reviewer wrote that "the scholarly writing style and evaluative content make this volume useful to high school students studying Rowling and her work."
It has since been translated into Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, and Estonian
Estonian language
Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...
.
In 2004, Kirk published her first children's picture book
Picture book
A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. The images in picture books use a range of media such as oil paints, acrylics, watercolor and pencil.Two of the earliest books with something like the format picture books still retain now...
Sky Dancers with Lee & Low Books
Lee & Low Books
-History:Lee & Low was founded in 1991 by Chinese Americans Tom Low and Philip Lee as a children's book publisher specializing in books featuring people of color and one of the few minority-owned publishing companies in the United States. Low says, "There was a void in children's books. Most of the...
. Sky Dancers is about the Mohawk
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
skyscraper builders in 1930s New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and was selected by The Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education
Bank Street College of Education
Bank Street College of Education is located in Manhattan, New York City.-History:Bank Street was founded in 1916 by Lucy Sprague Mitchell as the "Bureau of Educational Experiments"....
for their Best Children's Books of the Year and by Rutgers University's
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
EconKids program as one of their "Top 5 Books on Human Resources."
Kirk developed an interest in poet
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
during her doctorate work at Binghamton. She joined the Emily Dickinson International Society and has written a number of articles for their semi-annual publication and given papers at their international conferences, including the 2010 conference at Oxford University.
Her book on Emily Dickinson grew out of her dissertation.
Other works
In addition to her published writing, Kirk runs a number of online discussion groups, and contributes to the Examiner.comExaminer.com
Examiner.com is a media company based in Denver, Colorado, that operates a network of local news websites, allowing "pro–am contributors" to share their city-based knowledge on a blog-like platform, in 238 markets throughout the United States and parts of Canada with two national editions, one for...
web site.