Nancy McCabe ’84 is making her mark in the writing world.
After earning her bachelor’s degree in creative writing at WSU, she pursued a master’s degree at the University of Arkansas, founded the Arkansas Writers in the Schools program and completed a doctorate — all the while focusing her talents on a wide range of creative endeavors. “I worked on novels, was a semi-finalist in three national novel-in-progress contests and published short fiction, poetry and critical articles,” she says.
In 1996, she began concentrating on creative nonfiction — and her career has taken off. She’s had numerous essays published, including two in Best American Essays, and “The Flashlight Man” won the Pushcart prize, a national recognition given each year to the best short work published by a small press.
That essay is now the first chapter in a memoir being published by Purdue University in the fall. McCabe is the director of the writing program for the Bradford branch of the University of Pittsburgh. “I’m teaching creative writing and journalism,” she says. “I’m also working on a memoir about adopting my daughter, Sophie, as a single mother living in the conservative South.”
— Jessica Lindsey
