Connie Ann Kirk

Connie Ann Kirk
Born	Connie Ann Kirk February 14, 1957 (1957-02-14) (age 54)[1] Wellsville, New York
Occupation	Writer
Nationality	American
Genres	Biography, Children's literature, Picture books
Subjects	Mohawk Nation, British and American authors
Notable work(s)	J. K. Rowling: A Biography Sky Dancers
connieannkirk.com

Connie Ann Kirk (born February 14, 1957)^[1] is an American author of over a dozen books. Specializing in biographies of famous authors, she has also written companion references and a children's picture book.

Personal life

Kirk was born and raised in the village of Wellsville, New York. She received her bachelor's degree in English from Binghamton University in 1985, a master's degree in English and Creative writing from Binghamton in 1988, and Ph.D. in English from Binghamton in 2004. She is married with two sons, and lives in the Finger Lakes region of New York State.^[2]

Career

Pre-writing career

Beginning in 1988, Kirk became an adjunct professor in the English department at Mansfield University of Pennsylvania where she taught courses in English and creative writing.^[3]

She was the first member of the department to create and run online courses for the university, and continues to run them during summer sessions.^[4]

Published works

Kirk's first published books were all nonfiction, including several titles for Greenwood Press's biography series. One of her first was a biography of British author J. K. Rowling which turned out to be a bestseller. The School Library Journal reviewer wrote that "the scholarly writing style and evaluative content make this volume useful to high school students studying Rowling and her work."^[5]

It has since been translated into Japanese, Chinese, and Estonian.

In 2004, Kirk published her first children's picture book Sky Dancers with Lee & Low Books. Sky Dancers is about the Mohawk skyscraper builders in 1930s New York City and was selected by The Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education for their Best Children's Books of the Year and by Rutgers University's EconKids program as one of their "Top 5 Books on Human Resources."^[6]

Kirk developed an interest in poet Emily Dickinson during her doctorate work at Binghamton. She joined the Emily Dickinson International Society and has written a number of articles for their semi-annual publication and given papers at their international conferences, including the 2010 conference at Oxford University.^[7] Her book on Emily Dickinson grew out of her dissertation.^[8]

Books

• Kirk, Connie Ann (2002). The Mohawks of North America. First Peoples. Minneapolis: Lerner Publishing Group. ISBN 9780822548539. 
•    (2003). "Chapter 15 - Writing Their Way Home: American Writers and Baseball". In Rielly, Edward J. Baseball and American Culture: Across the Diamond. New York: Haworth Press. pp. 173–181. ISBN 9780789014856. http://books.google.com/books?id=j84eSC3b90YC&pg=PA173. Retrieved December 28, 2009. 
•    (2003). J. K. Rowling: A Biography. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313322051. 
•    (2004). Emily Dickinson: A Biography. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313322068. 
•    (2004). Mark Twain: A Biography. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313330254. 
•    (2004). Sylvia Plath: A Biography. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313332142. 
•    (2004). Sky Dancers. illus. by Christy Hale. New York: Lee & Low Books. ISBN 9781584301622. 
•    (2005). Companion to American Children's Picture Books. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313322877. 
•    (2006). The J. K. Rowling Encyclopedia. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313335563. 
•    (2006). A Student's Guide to Robert Frost. Understanding Literature. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers. ISBN 9780766024342. 
•    (2008). A Student's Guide to Jane Austen. Understanding Literature. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers. ISBN 9780766024397. 
•    (2008). Critical Companion to Flannery O'Connor. New York: Facts on File. ISBN 9780816064175. 

Other works

In addition to her published writing, Kirk runs a number of online discussion groups, and contributes to the Examiner.com web site.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Date information sourced from Library of Congress Authorities data, via corresponding WorldCat Identities linked authority file (LAF) .
2. ^ "Connie Ann Kirk - About Connie". http://www.connieannkirk.com/4.html. Retrieved April 11, 2010. 
3. ^ "Facts On File - Critical Companion to Flannery O'Connor". Facts On File. http://factsonfile.infobasepublishing.com/BookList.asp?pageID=2&bookType2=H&ISBN=0816064172&Parent=Literature. Retrieved April 11, 2010. 
4. ^ "Summer 2010 Courses". Mansfield University. http://esd.mansfield.edu/link.cfm?lid=32297. Retrieved April 11, 2010. 
5. ^ Simonetta, Kathleen (August 2003). "Review of J. K. Rowling: A Biography". School Library Journal (New York) 49 (8). ISSN 0362-8930. OCLC 1798621. http://books.google.com/books?id=GJgbW9c9mpwC&sitesec=reviews&rf=st:ed. Retrieved December 28, 2009. 
6. ^ "Top Five Books on Human Resources". Rutgers University. http://econkids.rutgers.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=31&id=62. Retrieved December 28, 2009. 
7. ^ "Emily Dickinson International Society (EDIS) International Conference". Emily Dickinson International Society. http://www.emilydickinsoninternationalsociety.org/oxford_program.html. Retrieved September 2, 2010. 
8. ^ Fordyce, Rachel (2005). "Dissertations of Note". Children's Literature 33. ISSN 0092-8208. 

External links

• Works by or about Connie Ann Kirk in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Persondata
Name	Kirk, Connie Ann
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 14, 1957
Place of birth	Wellsville, New York
Date of death
Place of death