JOHNSON CITY (Aug. 27, 2020) – Abby N. Lewis is serving as the editor of the 2020-21 edition of The Mockingbird, East Tennessee State University’s literary magazine.
Lewis is starting her third and final year as a graduate student at ETSU. She is pursuing a dual master’s degree in English and communication and storytelling studies, as well as a certificate in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL). In her first thesis, written for the Department of Communication and Performance, she discussed the impact of the pressure to publish on creative writers’ production. She is currently working on a second thesis in the Department of Literature and Language, dealing with feminism and trauma theory in contemporary dystopian novels.
Lewis graduated from ETSU in 2017 with a B.A. in English with a minor in creative writing. As an undergraduate, the Dandridge native was a Midway Honors Scholar and Honors-in-Discipline student at ETSU after graduating with an associate degree from Walters State Community College. After graduating with her bachelor’s degree, she worked in the publishing industry for a year before returning to pursue her master’s degree and has interned at numerous companies, including Agate Publishing and Dzanc Books. She has also worked as a freelance writer for the past three years.
Lewis, who plans to work as both a writer and literary agent after completing her master’s degree in May 2021, is the author of a full-length poetry collection, “Reticent,” which was published in 2016, as well as a chapbook, “This Fluid Journey,” published in 2018. Her creative writing in many genres has been published in over a dozen literary journals and magazines and has won several awards.
The Mockingbird is published annually by the ETSU Department of Literature and Language. Its staff and contributors are all students.
To see archived issues of The Mockingbird or for student literary submission guidelines for the new issue, visit etsu.edu/cas/litlang/mockingbird/.