The Department of English and Comparative Literature is thrilled to introduce Professor Jared Lemus, the 2024-25 Kenan Visiting Writer! Prof. Lemus is the author of two works of fiction forthcoming with Ecco-HarperCollins: Guatemalan Rhapsody, a story collection that will be published in the Spring of 2025 and a novel will be published in 2027. Prof. Lemus’s works has also appeared in The Atlantic, Story, The Pinch, The Kenyon Review Online, PANK, Cleaver, and Joyland, among others, and he has work forthcoming in The Kenyon Review.
Prof. Lemus is currently working on a novel set in the fictional town of Huecotenango, Guatemala, inspired by the villages and municipalities of his childhood. In the style of There, There by Tommy Orange and Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, the novel explores the” disenfranchisement of an already displaced group of people, capturing the complex dynamics of identity and place.”
Alongside his personal creative pursuits, Prof. Lemus is also enthusiastic about sharing his love for writing with students: “Every student here wants to be here, and that makes teaching here that much more exciting.”
In his fiction writing classes, Prof. Lemus sets the tone with a fun and creative icebreaker: “On the first day of class (fiction writing), I make my students pair up and tell me what they did over the summer, but it can’t be true. These two strangers now have to work together to come up with a short 250–500-word story about their adventures that didn’t happen together.”
When speaking to current reading recommendations, Prof. Lemus said, “I’m currently obsessed with the DK Big Ideas series of books which range from art to religion to philosophy and beyond.”
For more information, visit Prof. Lemus’s website here!
