Teaching
Professional Writing
Film & Television
About
A native Tennessean and first-generation college student, Michael Marberry earned his PhD in English - Creative Writing from Western Michigan University, where he studied Poetry & Film, Comics & Comics Theory, and Horror Literature.
In addition to his PhD work, Michael has earned an MFA from The Ohio State University, an MA from The University of Alabama, and a BA from Lipscomb University. His research interests include poetry, film, comics, video games, sports, horror, and food/beer. He has two poetry manuscripts currently under construction and revision.
Michael is the 2017-2019 Creative Writing Fellow in Poetry at Emory University.
Poetry published in journals like The New Republic, West Branch, Sycamore Review, Waxwing, and elsewhere and in anthologies like The Pushcart Prize Anthology and Best of the Net. Two-time National Poetry Series finalist.
Experienced instructor of 20+ college courses, including creative writing, comics, film, business and tech writing, American and British literature, and freshman composition. Committed to student success.
Currently reading for Nightjar Review. Former staff-member at publications like Black Warrior Review, The Journal, and Third Coast. Experience reading for several book contests and journal / anthology contests.
Former Coordinator for the Poets-in-Print Reading Series, Assistant Coordinator of WMU Creative Writing, and Curriculum Development Coordinator for the WMU Writing Center.
Writing
Selected Publications
Click here to find a full and updated list of my creative writing publications.
Blog
Director Retrospective: Jane Campion
Director Retrospective: Jane Campion Special Edition: Women Directors After a break for Summer, I thought it would be a nice time to resume my exploration of the filmographies of various important directors — but with a twist. For my previous 25 directorial retrospectives (how in the world did I watch that many movies last year?!?!), I Read more about Director Retrospective: Jane Campion[…]
Director Retrospective: Richard Linklater
Director Retrospective: Richard Linklater In my last Director Retrospective, we looked at the films of 1970s & 1980s director Hal Ashby, a director whose work I greatly enjoyed exploring (well…at least his 1970s films). But that got me to wondering if there were any contemporary directors who reminded me Ashby — i.e. his various emotional Read more about Director Retrospective: Richard Linklater[…]
Director Retrospective: Hal Ashby
Director Retrospective: Hal Ashby For my last retrospective (on director Mike Leigh), I mentioned that one of the things that I found myself increasingly drawn to about Leigh’s work was just how consistently underappreciated and underwatched it was (at least among the casual American audience). So…after a bit of a hiatus for travel, I thought Read more about Director Retrospective: Hal Ashby[…]
Director Retrospective: Mike Leigh
Director Retrospective: Mike Leigh In the previous installment of my Director Retrospective project, we took a long look at the films of Sam Peckinpah, a director very interested in exploring American mythos and masculinity (particularly in his explorations of “the West”). So I thought it might be fun to shift gears a bit — to Read more about Director Retrospective: Mike Leigh[…]
Director Retrospective: Sam Peckinpah
Director Retrospective: Sam Peckinpah For my previous director retrospective, I explored the films of Kathryn Bigelow — a female director whose works are often surprisingly interested in engaging with themes of masculinity. Following that, for this particular installment of my ongoing project, I thought it might be interesting to turn the “masculinity” up to eleven Read more about Director Retrospective: Sam Peckinpah[…]
Director Retrospective: Kathryn Bigelow
Director Retrospective: Kathryn Bigelow For the next part of my ongoing Director Retrospective project (where I watch and then review the works of directors with at least 10 films), we finally have the opportunity to consider something that I’ve been wanting to for awhile — i.e. the filmography of a female director. In this case, Read more about Director Retrospective: Kathryn Bigelow[…]
Director Retrospective: Guillermo del Toro
Director Retrospective: Guillermo del Toro After a break for traveling and visiting family and not watching many movies, it’s time for another retrospective in my ongoing project. And hot off the heels of declaring his most recent film as my favorite of 2017 (so far) and his win for “Best Director” at the Golden Globes, Read more about Director Retrospective: Guillermo del Toro[…]
Director Retrospective: Hayao Miyazaki
Director Retrospective: Hayao Miyazaki So…for this next installment of my ongoing “Director Retrospective” project, we’re doing something a bit different. Per a suggestion from a friend of mine, we’re looking at (a.) a foreign-film director, (b.) an animated-film director, & (c.) a director whose work I was totally unfamiliar with. [Actually…I’d seen one of his movies Read more about Director Retrospective: Hayao Miyazaki[…]
Director Retrospective: David Fincher
Director Retrospective: David Fincher After the mega-sized previous installment on the work of Billy Wilder, I thought that I’d try something a bit easier this time by looking at a director with a smaller filmography and one whose works I’ve seen several times before. Moreover, as it turns out, I also just recently watched the Read more about Director Retrospective: David Fincher[…]
Director Retrospective: Billy Wilder
Director Retrospective: Billy Wilder After doing a few retrospectives on talented and/or influential directors with smaller catalogs, I decided to watch and write about a very prolific director — one who created some of the best examples and most enduring films in a couple different genres and who garnered immense respect during his lifetime for Read more about Director Retrospective: Billy Wilder[…]