English professor Jenny Sadre-Orafai has been at Kennesaw State for 16 years, teaching English Composition II, poetry writing and advanced poetry writing.
A poet with a passion for daring writing, her love of learning was sparked by her parents who were both teachers.
“I loved watching them sit and grade papers,” Sadre-Orafai said.
Other than dealing with the occasional bully, she recalled having a pleasant childhood in her hometowns of Houston, Texas, and Chattanooga, Tennessee.
As she grew older, Sadre-Orafai, like her parents, came to love the world of academia.
“I also fell in love hard with college when I was an undergrad,” Sadre-Orafai said. “The electric energy in the halls and all over campus — [the energy] of learning and curiosity has always been palpable.”
Sadre-Orafai described her college experience as a great time where she learned the skills to think critically and examine art with an editorial eye.
“It wasn’t enough to say ‘I like this poem or I like this novel,'” Sadre-Orafai said. “I had to articulate why. Finding my why’s really made me learn who I was.”
After graduating from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Sadre-Orafai decided to teach at Kennesaw State, which she found to be a great choice because it was close to her family. Sadre-Orafai said she has since seen the university evolve to become an even better school than it was upon her arrival to study English at.
“KSU is an excellent place to study English because we have professors who are outstanding scholars and, equally important, who care for their students and enjoy being mentors,” Sadre-Orafai said.
Despite her love for her co-workers and for reading and writing, Sadre-Orafai’s favorite part of the job is teaching and learning from the students.
“They’re my favorite,” Sadre-Orafai said. “I learn so much from them and love teaching almost more than I love writing, and that’s saying a lot.”
She describes her teaching style as being modeled after her favorite professors over the years, valuing class discussion over lengthy presentations and monologues.
Sadre-Orafai is the author of five chapbooks and two poetry collections. Her third poetry collection, co-written with Anne Champion, a fellow poet and author out of Boston, will be published in spring 2019.
Sadre-Orafai also founded the literary journal, Josephine Quarterly alongside fellow poet and former colleague Komal Mathew. She serves as the Executive Director of the non-profit literary organization Georgia Writers Association.
When professor Sadre-Orafai is not teaching, she’s thinking about meditation, literature, music and film.
