Amanda Ellard
Doctoral student, concentration in Creative Writing
Education
Master of Arts in English concentrated in Folklore Studies from George Mason University, 2023 — Thesis titled "Chinese Danmei Webnovels: Translation Lockdowns, Masculinity, and Community-Building"
Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Stetson University, 2022 — Thesis titled "Reversing Fire," a fiction novel, with a critical forward titled "When the Prison Talks Back and Fire Isn't for Burning the Past: Manufacturing Characters, Painting Worlds, and Exploring Identity"
Bachelor of Arts double majored in Editing, Writing, and Media and Japanese Language and Culture from Florida State University, 2016
Scholarly Focus
- Queer and speculative fiction
- Digital folklore
- Web literature
- Fandom studies
Publications
"2170" - speculative fiction short story, appeared in Anastamos literary journal
"Sound of Too Late" - lyrical flash fiction, appeared in Storyscape Literary Journal
"Mom and Dad's Key West Photos" - flash fiction, appeared in The Walled City Journal
"Maybe Get a Cup of Coffee Together" - flash fiction, appeared in The Walled City Journal
"When Escaping Reality Helps Define Identity: Expression and Empowerment in the Cosplay Community" — article appeared in the Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage's Folklife Magazine
"Sleeping on a Bench" - fiction novella, no longer in contract
Positions
Storyteller Intern for the Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage's Folklife Magazine
Former Editorial Assistant for the Journal of American Folklore: A Global Quarterly (2021-2023)
Awards
The Margaret Yocom Folklore Prize for the best student paper in folklore studies, 2023
Courses Taught
51ÉçÇø- ENG 1510 Writing & Rhetoric I
George Mason University- INTS 249 Digital Literacy, a guest lecturer on podcast and video editing