Dr. M. Shelly Conner is a professor of creative writing at UCA and author of the upcoming novel “everyman,” set to be released in spring 2021. Conner’s writings are often rooted in her identity as a black queer woman. 

“It always starts with being a black queer woman, and all of the different aspects of that,” Conner said.

Conner admits, however, that she is not always the focus of her stories. 

“In ‘everyman’, the primary character is not the queer character,” she said.  

The book focuses on a young black woman in 1972 Chicago curious to discover her past. 

“I was really interested in exploring stories that are intentionally not passed down,” Conner said. “You may know names, and dates, and locations, but you don’t know stories.”

Originally from Chicago herself, Conner was raised on the Southside in Avalon Park.

Conner, who has her MA in Education and PhD in English, relocated to Central Arkansas to teach creative writing. Conner now lives in Conway with her wife Tiffany and their dog, Whiskey.

“It’s nice to be able to go to places, back to Chicago, and do those kind of big city things, but I definitely like calling a small town home,” Conner said. “I like that things are slower paced; it’s nice for this latter part of my life.”

Conner spends her spare time writing, vlogging on her YouTube channel, DappervistaDIYmore, and educating herself in various hobbies and skills such as hydroponic gardening, brewing and, more recently over the winter break, welding.

Last semester, Conner taught Queer Narratives, one of the few LGBTQ+-themed courses offered at UCA.

 “Everything that I designed in that course exceeded my expectations,” Conner said. “My only regret is not recording a lot of the things that we did in that class because it would have been additional evidence that this class is needed and appreciated.”

Also, last semester, Conner organized a group for students of color in film, theater and creative writing.

The group, which communicates via GroupMe, will be meeting again this semester with the prospect of establishing a new RSO on campus. 

“It needs a name,” Conner said. “I was thinking SOCA: Student of Color Artists.”

This semester, Conner is teaching a fiction workshop called Forms of Fiction, as well as teaching Intro to Creative Writing and assisting a student with an independent study in playwriting, all while pondering ideas for her next novel, the setting of which Conner hints is in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

“I do enjoy placing characters that I think have been omitted from the African American canon of literature, and those are black queer characters, in a setting that is also largely ignored,” Conner said. “Queer people are everywhere and have been in every time.”

Conner offers this advice to students: “Be true to yourself, but also understand that you are working in tandem with other people who are doing the same thing.”