Emily Bobo believes in the power of stories to transform and transport us. Good ones. Bad ones. Scary ones. Rhyming ones. She believes stories have the power to save us from all sorts of monsters–even the ones we create ourselves.

A Bloomington-based poetry and prose writer, Emily is the author of three books (Fugue, Instrumental, and Tattle Tales) and the founder and editor of Bobo Books (Hemlock Press, 2016, 2017, 2018), a local, non-profit series that turned poems into public goods: sandwiches, bus tickets, books. Additionally, Emily has published individual works in literary magazines, such as Hermeneutic Chaos, december, Seneca Review, and Redivider, and has performed her work from Nebraska to New York to Italy and back to her own local, NPR station. A sometimes lyricist, Emily also delights in collaborating with composers and has worked with Don Freund, Traci Mendel, and Kevin Bobo, and welcomes proposals for future collaborations with others through her contact page.

Emily began her college career as a pianist and earned her BA in Creative Writing with a Music Minor and her MFA in Creative Writing from Wichita State University. Emily then earned her PhD in English from the University of Kansas. Currently, Emily is Department Chair of Fine Arts & Humanities and Professor of English at Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington, where she received the President’s Award for her work teaching writing to single moms, ex-cons, military vets, and (non)traditional students. Please check her homepage to find out which class she is teaching next. She can’t wait to read your story.

You can contact Emily at ebobo1@ivytech.edu.