Traci Connor

Traci Connor is a writer and teacher from many places. She earned an M.F.A. in Fiction and a Ph.D. in Literature and Writing with a focus on Monster Theory from the University of Utah and played basketball as an undergraduate at both Brigham Young University and California State University Los Angeles.

Traci is author of the short story collection, Recipes for Endangered Species (Tarpaulin Sky, 2010), contributor to the multi-authored chapbook, Mother Horse (Sidebrow Press, 2012), and has published short fiction, poetry, and non-fiction in a variety of anthologies and journals including Mid-American Review, DIAGRAM, Superstition Review, Storyscape Journal, Versal, LIT Magazine, PANK Magazine, The Pinch, Redivider, Devil’s Lake, Green Mountains Review, Contemporary Verse 2, Poet Lore, and others.

Traci has presented nationally on a variety of topics—from strengths-based teaching and advising to Steel Magnolias to Gertrude Stein to zombies, and has taught many classes in her career, including YA Literature with a focus on empathy, Monsters and Film, Post-Modern and Contemporary Literature, Creative Writing, Professional Writing, Business/Tech Writing, and Writing and Rhetoric. She is thrilled to be teaching in the Composition Program at the University of Pittsburgh and can’t wait to meet each new student to her classroom.

Before coming to Pitt, Traci worked as—among other things—a radio and TV show host, a home designer and builder, and a Student Success Advisor where she discovered a strong and continuing commitment to student support, satisfaction, and success. She’s currently working on a novel and yet another house.