Lauren Tivey is an accomplished poet and professor of English and creative writing at Flagler College, where she has taught for nine years. Her full-length poetry collection, Traveler in the Sunset Clouds, was released in 2022 by Main Street Rag Publishing Company, followed by the poetry and photography collaboration Fire Carousel in 2023.
A three-time Pushcart Prize nominee and Best of the Net nominee, Tivey’s work has appeared in numerous online and print publications. She brings decades of writing and publishing experience into her classroom.
Q: What or who inspired you to pursue your field of study?
A: Sylvia Plath’s work lit a fire inside of me, plus I had some incredible mentors in college, like poets Patrick Armstrong, Mary Ruefle, and Richard Jackson, who pushed me to keep going. Most of all, though, it was this inner motivation to write. I couldn’t NOT write. It’s always been in my blood.
Q: What courses do you teach, which is your favorite, and why?
A: The Healing Power of Poetry, Intro to Poetry Writing, Advanced Poetry, Poetry of Witness, Composition, Publishing and Editing, FLARE: The Flagler Review, FlagSHIP, and ENG or CRW Selected Topics. I love all the courses I teach, especially poetry, but my favorites are the Selected Topics, such as Memento Mori: Writing About Death, Bad Girls of Literature, my Sylvia Plath class, or Epic Russian Novels (which I'll be teaching Fall 2026). On top of teaching, I also run the English Department open mics, and department social media pages, which I enjoy very much.
Q: How do you bring real-world experience into your teaching and classes?
A: Well, I’m bringing 40 years of experience in writing (both creative and academic) and publishing into the classroom. I’ve been around the block! I have a lot of personal experience, and I enjoy sharing it with students, and I believe it's helpful to them.
Q: How has your field evolved, and how do you prepare students for those changes?
A: I’ve seen so many changes in the writing and publishing field (one major example was the changeover to digital submissions). Staying on top of these shifts in the field gives me a well-rounded understanding of the landscape and allows me to share practical tips with students. Now, of course, the biggest challenge is AI, so we have lots of discussions surrounding the ethics of that, and where the field may be headed.
Q: What skills do you hope every student walks away from your classes with?
A: I hope they come away inspired to continue writing, first and foremost. Also, that they hone their critical thinking skills, and become disciplined in the intensive labor of writing and revision, whether creative or academic. Those are skills that will benefit them throughout their lives, both personally and professionally.
Q: If you could take one Flagler class outside your department, what would it be?
A: I’d love to take Kim Bradley’s COR 152 class, The Haunted South.
Q: What’s your favorite spot on campus and why?
A: The Proctor Library. It’s always bustling, and I run into many current and former students. Plus, I just like to be surrounded by books.
Q: Coffee or tea, and where’s your go-to spot in St. Augustine?
A: Coffee. I like The Modern Rose. It’s over on Cuna Street, right next to my office.
Q: What book, movie, or podcast are you currently enjoying?
A: I’m currently reading The Mind on Fire, by Robert D. Richardson Jr., a biography on the life of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Fun fact: I’m distantly related to Emerson, as we share a common ancestor who was accused during the Salem Witch Trials.
Q: What’s something your students would be surprised to learn about you?
A: That I’m a bit of an adventurer: skydiving in Slovenia, an ultralight flight around the Annapurna Range in Nepal, hiking the Himalayas in Tibet, four-wheeling across the Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia, camel trekking in Morocco, etc.
Q: What is your go-to pump-up song?
A: “War Pigs,” by Black Sabbath. RIP Ozzy.
Q: What is your favorite pair of shoes, and how do they reflect you as a faculty member?
A: Converse, or my Docs. I guess they say I’m down to earth!
