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Spring 2021

Faculty Featurette
Emily Wortman-Wunder
This semester we’re pleased to present an interview with Emily Wortman-Wunder—CTT Professor in the English Department.
You have an undergraduate background in anthropology and biology, but then did an MFA in Creative Writing. What influenced this shift in focus at that time?
I always kind of straddled the creative and scientific worlds as I was growing up, and I actually published a handful of stories before I graduated high school. I spent my twenties chasing owls and goshawks through the mountains of Colorado and reading novels in my tent at night, and I would have been happy to do that forever. Unfortunately, it’s hard to do things like qualify for a mortgage while doing seasonal work, so in my late twenties I got a job in a genetics lab and started feeling really stuck. That’s when I took the short story class that changed the direction of my life.
For many years, your professional activities centered on scientific and technical writing and editing—in addition to grant proposals. What prompted your return to teaching?
I had always loved teaching, and missed it desperately while working as a copyeditor of dense technical papers. I missed the creativity and interaction of teaching, and when the opportunity arose to return to the classroom, I leapt at the chance.
In addition to your instruction duties with the English Department, you’ve also recently published an award-winning short story collection. It’s unusual for expert technical writers to also produce fiction. How does that dynamic operate in your own work?
While calling me an expert technical writer is a nice piece of fiction in its own right, I’d say that for me it’s been the other way around—technical editing was a way to stay employed while writing stories. Many of my stories borrow from the world of science; sometimes literally, like my stories that mimic the format of scientific papers. Others probe the emotional lives of scientists. One of the things that has consistently surprised me is how many scientists engage in magical thinking. Many of my stories explore this contradiction (if it is a contradiction).
The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent shift to largely online instruction on our campus has had a significant impact on many course instructors. How has this environment changed the way you teach?

Probably not as much as it should have. I do a lot of lectures on Zoom, and I miss the physicality of teaching.
Do you still have opportunities to get out into the mountains, forests or plains? Is there an area in Colorado that is especially appealing for an outdoor venture?
I love hiking and backpacking and have been doing more of it recently as my kids age out of us having to drive them everywhere. My favorite parts of the state are the southwest reaches but we spend the most time closer to home. Castlewood Canyon and Roxborough State Parks are probably my two favorite places to hike when I only have a day.
Any new pandemic hobbies?
I’ve always wanted to be asked this question! The answer is “pretend I am the world’s most unqualified contestant on the Great British Baking Show.” I would be eliminated in the first round, after I had added salt instead of sugar or forgot to turn on the oven. Favorite pandemic bake: massive meringue-frosted ginger cake.






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