Ohio Wesleyan University professor David M. Caplan, Ph.D., has been elected to serve a five-year term on the executive committee of the Modern Language Association’s Creative Writing Forum.
With nearly 25,000 members in 100 countries, the association is an advocate for the study and teaching of languages and literatures, and a clearinghouse for professional resources for teachers and scholars. Its Creative Writing Forum supports discussions and debates of creative writing’s role in the 21st century.
“I’m excited to serve on the executive committee of the Modern Language Association’s Creative Writing Forum,” said Caplan, who joined Ohio Wesleyan’s Department of English in 2000. “The forum is working to address an important need: It brings together scholars and creative writers so members of both groups might benefit from the lively exchange of ideas and shared perspectives.”
Caplan’s term began Jan. 9 and runs through the association’s 2022 convention. He will serve as secretary and chair of the forum’s executive committee in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
“This is an outstanding opportunity for David,” said Robert M. Olmstead, M.A., director of creative writing at Ohio Wesleyan. “(It is) an acknowledgement of David’s international reputation and accomplishments as a teacher and poet-scholar, and a real feather in the hat for Ohio Wesleyan University.”
At Ohio Wesleyan, Caplan is the Charles M. Weis Chair in English as well as associate director of creative writing. He specializes in 20th- and 21st-century American literature, and his scholarly interests include verse form and contemporary poetry.
Caplan is the author of four books: “Questions of Possibility: Contemporary Poetry and Poetic Form,” “Poetic Form: An Introduction,” “In the World He Created According to His Will,” and “Rhyme’s Challenge: Poetry, Hip Hop, and Contemporary Rhyming Culture.”
He is a two-time Fulbright Lecturer, with both awards enabling him to teach and conduct research in American literature at the University of Liège in Belgium. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Hobart College, Master of Fine Arts from the University of Florida, and additional Master’s and Doctoral degrees from the University of Virginia.
Read more about the Modern Languages Association and Creative Writing Forum at www.mla.org. Read more about Caplan and Ohio Wesleyan’s Department of English, including its creative writing concentration, at www.owu.edu/english.
