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Poet, Stand-Up Comedian, Professor—Proving an Alum Can Have it All
Poet, Stand-Up Comedian, Professor—Proving an Alum Can Have it All
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  • 150th Alumni Stories
  • 150th Anniversary
Alum, poet, instructor Michael Kroesche is a wonderful example of graduates who have gone on to pursue writing long past their days as Rowland Hall literary magazine editors. Fine Print asked him to tell us about his recent participation (for the third time) in the annual Far West Pop Culture Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Alum, poet, instructor Michael Kroesche is a wonderful example of graduates who have gone on to pursue writing long past their days as Rowland Hall literary magazine editors. Fine Print asked him to tell us about his recent participation (for the third time) in the annual Far West Pop Culture Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the conference, he sat on a panel on the Nature of Performance and Celebrity and presented his paper, "Punchline," which explored author responsibility and intent regarding the writing and performing of poetry and comedy. In addition, Michael read selections from his new series of poems titled "Aokigahara" that explore elements of ecopoetics and magical realism against the backdrop of the eponymous Suicide Forest of Japan.

Michael began his writing career with English teacher Chris Arigo at Rowland Hall and worked as a contributor to and editor of the school's award-winning literary magazine Pick One: (currently Tesserae) for two years. He then completed his BA in English with a focus in creative writing at USC, with a minor in French in 2008. He subsequently earned his Masters of Fine Arts from UNLV in 2011. After spending a year teaching English as a Second Language in Guangzhou, China, Michael returned to Las Vegas where he currently works as an instructor at UNLV and is an active member of the local creative writing and university communities.

Since graduating, Michael has published poetry, short fiction, and academic work in a variety of magazines including Interim, the Chiron Review, Foliate Oak, and Cactus Heart. He received the Virginia Middleton Scholarship for excellence in creative writing and academics from USC in 2008 and was a Pushcart Prize nominee in 2014. He has also been a reader at various reading series such as Salt Lake City Art and Neon Lit in Las Vegas.

Currently, Michael is enjoying his life in Las Vegas where (aside from his teaching) he hikes, cooks, and performs stand-up comedy, at least when he isn't grading papers or working on expanding"Aokigahara" into a book-length collection of poems.

See Michael at the Far West Pop Culture Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada