Hi, there! I’m Kelsey Castañeda — nonbinary writer, experimental poet, Latinx dryad, and lover of all things mythic and haunted.
I grew up making witch soup in the woods of southern Kentucky where I hid my letters to the fae in tree hollows and obsessively read ghost stories and world mythologies. Since then, I’ve been interested in lost language and the roots of stories — in how stories connect the seemingly disconnected. All of my studies, as well as my previous and current creative work, have focused on genre-weaving and the erasure of texts, people, and places.
BACHELOR STUDIES + FULBRIGHT EXPERIENCE
I completed my B.A. at Georgetown College and graduated with First Class Honors in English Literature and Creative Writing. I also complete studies in two secondary focus areas — Classical Latin and Medieval and Renaissance Studies. During these studies, I received a Fogle Cultural Studies Scholarship to study travel writing in Prague, as well as an Oxford Honors Scholarship that funded research at Regents Park College, Oxford University, where I studied the relationship between gender and animal imagery in the works of Ovid and Shakespeare.
As an undergraduate, I began peer tutoring for literature courses and at my college’s Writing Center — my first exposure with teaching. After being awarded a Fulbright grant, I spent a year in eastern Slovakia teaching English through creative writing practice and researching Slavic folklore.
MFA + CREATIVE WORK
When my Fulbright grant ended, I returned to the U.S. to complete my MFA at the University of Notre Dame. My thesis, supervised by Joyelle McSweeney, turned into my debut poetry collection, RAM (Damaged Goods Press, 2018) — a genderqueer, creative erasure and retelling of Vergil’s Aeneid that received nominations for Best of the Net, a Lambda Literary Award in Queer Poetry, and a Pushcart Prize. See the Publications tab for more info / links to some of my creative work.
My studies at Notre Dame included a Teaching Fellowship, which afforded me the opportunity to teach creative writing to undergraduate students. I also completed a practicum in Literary Publishing and worked as a graduate student editor for (Re)Visions, The Bend, and YIELD magazine. As the Graduate Student Coordinator of the Creative Writing Department, I organized creative readings around the campus and community. My volunteer work focused on bringing creative writing and arts practice to minority populations, including the South Bend LGBTQ center and writing groups for incarcerated young women.
professional work experience
Though I had intended to pursue a PhD after completing my MFA, a diagnosis of advanced endometriosis temporarily put that dream on hold. Utilizing skills from my Fulbright and teaching experience at Notre Dame, I spent the years immediately following my MFA working as a creative writing and English teacher. Following that, I worked as an editor and content writer at a publishing company and at one of the world’s leading sustainability service providers where I gained a deep level of understanding about our world’s ecological crises. My professional writing has been published in many major sustainability and industry-focused publications and blogs.
PHD PLANS
After recovering from procedures for my endometriosis, I moved to Germany in 2025 to join my partner and prepare for doctoral work. Since then, I’ve been writing, teaching, and taking online, self-guided courses through The Open University. I intend to apply for PhD programs in Creative Writing in Fall/Winter 2026 in hopes of completing a project focusing on disease, queerness, eco-horror, and creative erasure.
Kelsey Castañeda 