Isom Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Julie R. Enszer
About Dr. Enszer
“Every day I want to do one thing that is good for lesbians.”
Dr. Julie R. Enszer
Julie R. Enszer, Ph.D., is a scholar and a poet. Her book manuscript, A Fine Bind, is a history of lesbian-feminist presses from 1969 until 2009. Her scholarly work has appeared or is forthcoming in Southern Cultures, Journal of Lesbian Studies, American Periodicals, WSQ, and Frontiers. She is the author of four poetry collections, Avowed (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2016), Lilith’s Demons (A Midsummer Night’s Press, 2015), Sisterhood (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2013) and Handmade Love (A Midsummer Night’s Press, 2010). She is editor of The Complete Works of Pat Parker (Sinister Wisdom/A Midsummer Night’s Press, 2016), which won the 2017 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry and Milk & Honey: A Celebration of Jewish Lesbian Poetry (A Midsummer Night’s Press, 2011), which was a finalist for the 2012 Lambda Literary Award in Lesbian Poetry. She has her MFA and PhD from the University of Maryland. Enszer edits and publishes Sinister Wisdom, a multicultural lesbian literary and art journal, and a regular book reviewer for the The Rumpus and Calyx. You can read more of her work at www.JulieREnszer.com.
The following is a Q & A with our graduate assistant Kara Russell:
Where are you from and what led you to the Isom Center?
I was born in Detroit, Michigan and raised in Saginaw, a medium-sized industrial town known when I was growing up for Saginaw Steering Gear. I grew up during the 1980s, so the automobile industry was being hit hard by economic downturns. I went to the state school, the University of Michigan, for my undergraduate degree and then lived in Detroit for a number of years running the gay and lesbian community center for a spell. I’ve lived in a variety of other places. My wife and I moved to Dover, Florida, in the fall of 2016. In January of 2017, I started teaching with the Isom Center.
What is your academic background and field of study?
I’ve been involved in women’s studies my entire academic career. I majored in women’s studies at the University of Michigan and then did my PhD at the University of Maryland. I went to graduate school at the University of Maryland, where I received both my MFA in Creative Writing/Poetry and my PhD in Women’s Studies (with a long break in between!). My specialty is lesbian-feminist histories and literatures of the twentieth century. I am interested in all kinds of publishing in feminist and LGBTQ communities, and broadly interested in how creative people find work that is meaningful and are able to build their lives around doing creative work and being makers in the community.
What is your in the Isom Center and when did you start?
I am an Instructional Assistant Professor. I began in this role in January 2022. I teach Intro to Gender Studies, Intro to Queer Studies, and Gender Theories.
What’s your favorite part of your job? The most challenging?
I love talking with and meeting with students! I feel happy when my office hours are full and when I have a chance to be on the phone or zoom with students and learn more about their lives, their intellectual interests, and their passions in the world. The most challenging part of the job is not being on the Oxford campus! I love Oxford and I love the experience of being on a university campus.
What’s something you’ve accomplished or experienced, either personally or professionally, that you’re proud of?
The work that I have done in conjunction with the legacy and continuing readership of Pat Parker, an African-American lesbian-feminist poet from the 1970s and 1980s, is work that makes me very proud. I adore Parker’s poetry and seeing it reach others in the world. I have also been working on editing the poetry of another lesbian poet, Lynn Lonidier, and I am excited for readers to meet her on the page.
What are your talents of hobbies outside of work?
There is so much that interests me! I could have a million hobbies; time is the only limit. I edit and publish the independent lesbian literary magazine Sinister Wisdom, to which I give much of my time outside of work. I love reading contemporary queer fiction and poetry and understanding what is going on in those worlds. I am a prodigious letter correspondent - if you write a letter to me and send it through the mail, I will respond in kind! I love making paper to support the correspondence habit. I am also the parent to three gorgeous Saint Bernards. There is no greater feeling than a 100+ pound dog running at you with great joy and affection.
Who or what motivates you?
The primary thing that gets me out of bed every day is to do something that builds, supports, and expands lesbian communities, lesbian lives, lesbian art, and lesbian culture. Every day I want to do one thing that is good for lesbians.
What’s your idea of the perfect day?
Waking up without an alarm, usually with the sun. Hanging out with the dogs in the morning, drinking coffee, and reading a good book. Sitting down to write by 9 a.m. and writing until I am done for the day. Looking at email and the internet. Eating a lovely lunch. Taking a nap. Eating a wonderful dinner. Watching some kind of series on Netflix. Falling asleep by 9 p.m. to do it all over again.