The Creative Writing Team

Meet Our Coordinator

Erica Cavanagh is a Professor of English. She teaches creative nonfiction, food studies, and African American Literature. She is working on two books: a memoir about the years she lived in Benin as a Peace Corps volunteer and a book-length letter to her daughter about family, country, and the power of secrets. Her writing has appeared in The Missouri Review, North American Review, The Iowa Review, Bellevue Literary Review, Gastronomica, Off Assignment, The Journal, and elsewhere. Originally from Rochester, NY, Erica grew up steeped in her city’s abolition and suffrage histories. She graduated from JMU with degrees in English and Art History and earned Master’s degrees from The University of Chicago Humanities Program and the University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program. View Erin's Profile