Dr. Leigh Camacho Rourks
Associate Professor
352-638-9735 Ext. 135lrourks@beaconcollege.eduEducation
- Ph.D. from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette: English and Creative Writing
- M.F.A. from Pacific University: Creative Writing
- M.A. from Southeastern Louisiana University: English
- B.A. from Southeastern Louisiana University: Humanities
Areas of Study
Creative writing, placial writing, tropes in regional fiction, contemporary Southern literature
About Dr. Leigh Camacho Rourks
Dr. Leigh Camacho Rourks serves as an associate professor of English and humanities at Beacon College. She holds a Ph.D. in English and creative writing, a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing, a Master of Arts in English, and a Bachelor of Arts in humanities. Rourks teaches creative writing and various courses, including African American Literature and Monster Literature.
Rourks has been featured in publications such as WOW! Women on Writing, InHerSight, and Entertainment Weekly. She has contributed academic articles and chapters to journals and books, focusing on topics such as podcasting and multimodal literacies in the creative writing classroom. She has received several honors and awards for her writing, including the St. Lawrence Book Prize and the Glenna Luschei Prairie Schooner Award.
Rourks is an accomplished author, with two books, “Moon Trees and Other Orphans” and “Digital Voices: Podcasting in the Creative Writing Classroom.” She has also published numerous works of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction in various literary journals and anthologies.
Honors and Awards
- CRAFT First Chapters Award, 3rd place, “When We Drowned,” 2021
- St. Lawrence Book Prize, Black Lawrence Press: Moon Trees and Other Orphans, 2018
- Glenna Luschei Prairie Schooner Award: “Moon Trees,” 2015
Publications
- Digital Voices: Podcasting in the Creative Writing Classroom, Bloomsbury Academic, 2023.
- Moon Trees and Other Orphans, Black Lawrence Press, Oct. 2019