Rate My Professor Eric McHenry

Eric McHenry is a Professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences at Washburn University, where he has taught since 2009. A fifth-generation Topekan born on April 12, 1972, and a graduate of Topeka High School, McHenry earned a Bachelor of Arts from Beloit College and a Master of Arts in creative writing from Boston University. Based in Morgan Hall Room 113 at 1700 SW College Ave, Topeka, KS 66621, he teaches courses including EN 101B and EN 101D Introductory College Writing, EN 300HN Advanced College Writing, and EN 306A Advanced Poetry Writing. His scholarly interests include organizing readings and literary events such as Brooksfest: A Gwendolyn Brooks Centennial Celebration, as well as mentoring through the Writers to Educators program. McHenry contributes to university governance through membership on the College of Arts and Sciences Strategic Planning Committee, the Honors Advisory Board, and the Alma Mater Committee.

Eric McHenry is an acclaimed poet who served as Poet Laureate of Kansas from 2015 to 2017, appointed by the Kansas Humanities Council. His debut collection Potscrubber Lullabies (Waywiser Press, 2006) received the Kate Tufts Discovery Award from Claremont Graduate University in 2007. Other poetry books include Mommy Daddy Evan Sage (Waywiser Press, 2011), a volume of children's poems, and Odd Evening (Waywiser Press, 2016), a finalist for the 2018 Poets' Prize. He edited Peggy of the Flint Hills: A Memoir by Zula Bennington Greene (2012). McHenry's poems and essays have appeared in publications such as the New York Times Book Review, Salon, Slate, Poetry Northwest, The New Republic, Northwest Review, and The American Scholar. His honors also encompass the Academy of American Poets Prize, the Theodore Roethke Prize from Poetry Northwest (2011), and second place in the TLS Mick Imlah Poetry Prize (2017). Through his poetry, editorial work, teaching, event organization, and committee service, McHenry has made substantial contributions to contemporary American poetry and literary education in Kansas.