Seth McKelvey
Lecturer
Contact
Department of English
Office: Strode 311
Email: rsmckel@clemson.edu
Education
Ph.D, English, Southern Methodist University (2018); M.A., English, Southern Methodist University (2016); A.B., English; A.B.J, Magazine Journalism, University of Georgia (2009)
Research Interests
20th- & 21st century American literature; contemporary poetry; political economy
Seth McKelvey’s research considers the politics of running away, in American literature and culture broadly—in poetry, fiction, film, video games, graffiti, and elsewhere—and his peer-reviewed scholarship covers the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries. All of his reading and writing catalyzes his teaching, which remains the vital heat of his intellectual life.
He previously taught at Auburn University, and he received his Ph.D. in English from Southern Methodist University. From 2011-2021, he helped run the small indie journal of poetry and short fiction, S/WORD, and he writes poetry. Outside of that, he likes soccer, hiking, and running (though typically not away from anything in particular).
Selected Professional Works
Journal Articles & Book Chapters (Published)
“Unstate: Disarticulating State Knowledge and Joan Didion’s Democracy,” Journal of Modern Literature 43.3 (Spring 2020)
“Beyond Protest: Voice and Exit in Contemporary American Poetry,” American Literature 91.4 (December 2019)
“‘But one kind’ of Life: Thoreau’s Subjective Theory of Value in Walden,” Nineteenth-Century Literature 70.4 (March 2016)
Reviews & Interviews
Review of Contested Records: The Turn to Documents in Contemporary North American Poetry, by Michael Leong, in Resources for American Literary Study 43.1-2 (2021)
“Cry Criers: Jordan Scott’s Night & Ox and Andrew Joron’s The Absolute Letter,” Jacket2 (26 March 2018)
