I’m Lauren.
First things first: My pronouns are she/her or they/them, and I identify as queer.
I live in the middle of nowhere on a small farm. I like to say I’m a gardener. I’m currently obsessed with hiking and backpacking — I’m collecting survival gear like some kind of doomsday prepper. I’m a vegetarian. I collect rocks, seashells and beach glass. I love flowers. I love tiny things. I am an expert crocheter, a competent seamstress, and a novice knitter. I’m teaching myself to play the ukulele.
I have three children — one child in the Navy, one attending a small liberal arts college, and one in high school, still at home. I have an incredible partner named Molly. We’ve got two bully-breed dogs, a bunch of cats, a duck, some chickens, and a ball python snake.
I earned an M.F.A. in creative writing in 2013. I teach LGBTQ Studies at Kent State University. Professionally, I’m growing into my roles as professor, writer, activist, advocate. I write prose poems, memoir pieces, and short stories; I’m working, at snail’s pace, on a novel titled Glow.