Dr Sam Reese
Lecturer in Creative Writing
I currently teach on: Writing Fiction, Research for Writers, the MFA Programme.
I am also involved with: I am the course lead for Creative Writing, which means I oversee all of the undergraduate programme.
Tell us about yourself!
Where did you study? I am originally from Aotearoa New Zealand, where I studied English Literature and Classics. I completed my PHD at the University of Sydney on the short fiction and music of Paul Bowles.
What is the primary genre you write in? Short Fiction.
Which writers have influenced you the most? Katherine Mansfield, Mary McCarthy, Tanizaki Junichiro, and Alejandro Zambra.
What is so appealing about working at YSJ? I work with a brilliant group of writers, and get to teach passionate and curious students!
Any advice for Creative Writing students? Read widely; stay alert to both the things you really love and the things that prickle against you.
What have you had published?
I have published two collections of short stories – Come the Tide (2019), and on a distant ridgeline (2021), which the TSL praised as “a thoughtful and moving collection” – along with two books of criticism, and the notebooks of jazz legend Sonny Rollins, which I edited, annotated and introduced.
You can find more about Dr Sam Reese and other members of York St John’s staff on the university’s website.
Or, you can stay here and check out more of our Creative Writing Staff Profiles.