Breadcrumb
Janelle Adsit
Professor
she/her
I teach a range of undergraduate and graduate-level writing courses at Cal Poly Humboldt, including both creative writing and research writing. I also teach courses on health humanities, arts in health, and narrative medicine.
My teaching and research explore how writing, storytelling, and the arts can contribute to health, wellbeing, and social change. I am the advisor for students pursuing the minors in Writing, Literary Publishing, and Arts in Health / Narrative Medicine.
I've published books designed to support the teaching of creative writing. Another recent book, published by Routledge, examines epistemic justice and the environmental humanities.
I'm also a poet. My poetry collection, Unremitting Entrance (Spuyten Duyvil, 2015), reflects on grief, place, and the natural world.
In addition to teaching and writing, I am affiliated with the journals TEXT: Journal of Writing and Writing Courses and New Writing: The International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing, and I'm an associate editor (Language Support) for Arts & Health: International Journal for Research, Policy & Practice.
Areas of Interest
Creative Writing; Environmental Humanities; Narrative Medicine; Health Humanities, Arts in Health
- Ph.D. English, State University of New York (SUNY), Albany
- Certificate, Narrative Medicine, University of Toronto
- Certificate, Arts in Health, University of Florida
- M.A. English, Colorado State University
- English 306: Contemporary Texts
- English 307: Arts-Based Programs in Health
- English 309W: Narrative Medicine
- English 311: Creative Writing for Environmental Justice
- English 315: Creative Writing: Fiction
- English 422: Professional Research Pathways
- English 450: Tutoring Developing Writers
- English 460: Literary Editing and Publishing (Toyon)
- English 461: Professional Concerns in Writing & Editing
- Environmental Studies 470: Climate Justice Leadership (co-taught with Christina Eskridge)
- Environmental Studies 480: Health Justice and Climate Justice (co-taught with Cristian Martinez)
- English 580: Facilitated Writing Community
- English 600: Introduction to Graduate Studies
- English 612: Theories of Rhetoric and Composition
- English 670: Facilitated Writing Community
Books
Writing and Health Care (Bloomsbury, 2025).
Epistemic Justice, Mindfulness, and the Environmental Humanities (Routledge, 2021).
Writing Intersectional Identities: Keywords for Creative Writers, co-authored with Renée Byrd (Bloomsbury Academic, 2018).
Critical Creative Writing: Essential Readings on the Writer's Craft (edited collection, Bloomsbury Academic, 2017).
Toward an Inclusive Creative Writing: Threshold Concepts to Guide the Literary Writing Curriculum (Bloomsbury Academic, 2016).
Unremitting Entrance: Poems (Spuyten Duyvil, 2015).
press yourself against a mirror (Porkbelly, 2015).
