Sarah Ahrens
Writer, Teacher, Arranger of Disorder
Sarah Ahrens
Writer & Teacher
Sarah Ahrens
Bio
Sarah Ahrens received her PhD in literature from Cornell University. She has taught literature, creative writing, and expository writing at Auburn Maximum Security Prison, the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University.
Her creative nonfiction and academic essays have been published in The Longridge Review, Modern Loss, The Washington Post, Avidly (a Los Angeles Review of Books channel), and Romantic Circles. Her poetic memoir, Mother Minotaur, is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press (2026).
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Writing
"A Mother, Learning to Walk the Food Allergy Line,"
The Washington Post, 3/14/2016
"Learning, and Teaching, How to Say Goodbye,"
The Washington Post, 6/16/2015
"Books You Should Read: Tinkers, by Paul Harding,"
Avidly, 5/16/2013
"Bloomsday," Avidly, 6/16/2018
"Dressing the Dead," Modern Loss, 1/31/20
"The Red Thread," Poetose, January 2025
"Wonder Woman and The Wolf," Longridge Review, #16 Spring 2020
"'Points of Contact': Blake and Whitman,"
Sullen Fires Across the Atlantic: Essays in
Transatlantic Romanticism, Eds. Lance Newman, Chris Koenig-Woodyard, and Joel Pace. November 2006. Romantic Circles: Praxis Series. August 8, 2007.
Teachingading
Sarah has taught literature and writing to university students for twenty years. The course she teaches most often focuses on academic writing and critical reading through the lens of poetry, fiction and film.
"Professor Ahrens is great at guiding me to my own answers instead of giving me the answers. Her comments in writing and in person are always so helpful to push me to that next level of writing. She is so friendly and approachable, I never felt nervous about asking her for anything." (Harvard Extension School Student Evaluation)
"Sarah has an ability to explain concepts in various ways, allowing every student who is willing to work an opportunity to understand her message. She is always accessible and truly puts in the effort to ensure the success of every student." (Harvard Extension School Student Evaluation)