Photo: Rooftops of Bryggen, the Hanseatic buildings that line the wharf in Bergen, Norway.
PROFESSIONAL
2013- Maryland Institute College of Art
Director of Marketing and Enrollment Development, MICA Open Studies
2004-2016 CityLit Project
Founder and Director Emeritus of Nonprofit Literary Arts Organization
Publisher, CityLit Press (2010- )
2006-10 Apprentice House
Loyola University
Director and Editor-in-Chief of Campus-Based Student-Managed Imprint
2004-06 Babe Ruth Museum Foundation
Director of Communications during expansion phase from George Herman "Babe" Ruth's historic house to a major downtown attraction with two facilities (Babe Ruth Birthplace and Sports Legends at Camden Yards)
Additional Publishing Positions
Tidewater Publishers
Marketing and Production Manager for Eastern Shore of Maryland-based nautical and trade book publisher
Woodholme House Publishers
Co-Founder, Director, and Editor-in-Chief for publishing imprint affiliated with multi-location, independent bookseller Bibelot Books
Cathedral Foundation Press
Director and Editor for imprint associated with the Archdiocese of Maryland
Johns Hopkins University Press
Acquisitions Assistant for editors maintaining lists in social sciences, political science, economics, U.S. history, history of technology, and Chesapeake Bay regionalia
TEACHING POSITIONS
University of Baltimore
School of Communications Design (Creative Writing and Publishing Arts)
Special courses developed:
· The Great Zombie: The Intersection of Popular Literature and Pop Culture
· iBook, eBook, uBook: How Technology Has Changed Writing, Publishing, and Reading
Loyola University
Communication Department
Special courses developed:
· Book Publishing: From Idea to Writer, From Manuscript to Bound Book
· Book Production: History, Typography, Design, and Formats
· Book Marketing: 21st-Century Strategies for 15th-Century Artifacts
Various Universities
Continuing Studies Divisions
Creative writing, book publishing, and marketing courses within adult education divisions at Johns Hopkins University, Community College of Baltimore County, and Anne Arundel Community College
Special courses developed:
· Publishing Matrix and Self Wars: Options Beyond Legacy Publishers
· Actual Towns and Fake Burgs: Crafting a Real Sense of Place in Fiction Writing
· Prose and the Profession: Writing the Piece and Getting It Published
· Literature courses / book studies on the work of Elizabeth Strout, George Saunders, Leslie Jamison, Haruki Murakami, and Sheryl Monks
EDUCATION
MFA Creative Writing, Fiction (University of Tampa, Tampa FL, 2014)
- Thesis: “Backbeat the Waves” (novel)
- Chapbook: “Out of the Miry Clay: Poems on Foreign Turf” (poetry)
- Essay: “Off the Map: Creating a Real Sense of Place for Fictitious Towns in Strout’s Olive Kitteridge and Kenan’s Let the Dead Bury Their Dead”
- Essay: “Skunks and Armadillos: Foreign Places as Inspiration in Selections by Lowell and Bishop”
- Current Research: “On Blue Cloud-Trestles: Emulating Late 19th-Century Norwegian Poetic Voices for 21st-Century Mid-American Storytelling” and notes for addiction and fetal alcohol syndrome for novel project "CryoGirl: Thawed and Raw" (addled graphic novelist reunites with pregnant daughter who he had no idea existed)
- Mentors: Terese Svoboda (novel), Erica Dawson (poetry), Jason Ockert (short story), Tony D’Souza (novel, thesis adviser)
- Guest Lecturers: Denis Johnson, Miranda July, Peter Meinke, Heather Sellers, Chris Parris-Lamb, Michael Connelly, Arthur Flowers, Nick Flynn, Keith Gessen, Amy Hill Hearth, Eli Horowitz, John Capouya, Ben Lerner, Rebecca Wolff, Francine Prose, Karen Russell, Deborah Treisman, Tom Franklin, George Saunders, Robert Olen Butler, Tom Franklin, Beth Ann Fennelly, Sandra Beasley
MA Theology (St. Mary’s Seminary and University, Baltimore MD, 1994)
- Thesis: “Heavy with the Fruits of Violence : Christian Perspectives on Revolutionary Violence in Latin America”
- Primary Reader: Dr. Stephen Vicchio, College of Notre Dame of Maryland Secondary Reader: Dr. L. Gregory Jones, Duke University
Graduate Scholarship Year, Theology (Duke Divinity School, Durham NC, 1991)
- Studied with Stanley Hauerwas
- Audited English course by Reynolds Price
BA Communications / Minor in Fine Arts (Loyola College, Baltimore MD, 1989)
- Studied with Karen Fish, David Dobler, Jack Stephens, Paul Lukacs
SELECT AFFILIATIONS AND PANELS
Resident in Poetry, Minnesota Northwoods Writers Conference (Bemidji State University, 2017, Elizabeth Bradfield)
Mentor and Judge, Baldwin Prize, Student Essay Contest on Theme of Empowerment (City College High School, Baltimore, 2017 and 2018)
Finalist, Submitted RFP “Every Terminus a Beginning” for Purple Line station visual art/narrative installations along 21 stops in D.C. suburbs (Maryland Transit Administration, 2017)
Participant, “Undoing Racism” three-day workshop facilitated by The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond (Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, 2017)
Honoree, Dambach Award for Service to the Literary Arts (CityLit Project, 2016)
Recipient, Literary Arts, Individual Artist Award, Maryland State Arts Council (Fiction, 2016)
Member, First-Ever U.S. Publishers Delegation to Cuba (Publishers Weekly, 2016)
Resident in Fiction, DISQUIET International Literary Program (Lisbon, 2015, Stefan Kiesbye)
Resident in Fiction, Sewanee Writers’ Conference (University of the South, 2014, Tony Earley and Alice McDermott)
Recipient, Literary Arts, Rubys Artist Project Grant, Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance (Fiction, 2014)
Panelist, Literature: Audience Development, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
* Panel awarded $1.4 million to 56 organizations for FY14
Member, Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP)
Member, Maryland Citizens for the Arts (MCA)
Member, Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations (MANO)
Director, Poe Baltimore (2012–2016) Vice-President and Chair, Education Committee
Director, Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance (2012–2014)
Advisory Committee, Maryland Humanities Council, Maryland Center for the Book
Advisory Committee, Maryland State Arts Council, “Imagine Maryland” Strategic Plan
Past President, MidAtlantic Book Publishers Association
“40 Under 40” Profile, Baltimore Business Journal
“Best of Baltimore” Arts MVP, Baltimore Magazine
“Lit and the City: Challenges and Advantages of Urban Literary Centers,” Gregg Wilhelm proposal moderated by Carla Du Pree, executive director, CityLit Project; Reginal Harris, director of library and outreach services, Poets House; and Michael Khandelwal, executive director, The Muse Writers Center (AWP 2017, Washington, D.C.)
“The Lifecycle of a Literary Center: Evolutions in Programming and Fundraising” panel with Michael Khandelwal, The Muse Writers Center, moderator (AWP 2017, Washington, D.C.)
“Conversations” Podcast Episode 11: Interview with Gregg Wilhelm (Bmore Art, 2016)
“Lo-fi Poetry: Poets Cover Your Record Collection” panel on music-inspired poetry anthologies at “Other Words” conference, with Gerry LaFemina, Richard Peabody, and Marty Williams (Florida Literary Arts Coalition, Flagler College, 2015)
“Starting Your Book” with various panelists and “Princes and Paupers?: The Real Deal Behind an Ideal Publisher-Author Relationship” with Jason Tinney, Mid-Atlantic Fiction Writers Institute (Hagerstown Community College, 2015)
“Tech and the Center: How Literary Centers Can Leverage Technology on Behalf of Mission and Operations,” Gregg Wilhelm moderator with panelists Michael Henry, co-executive director, The Lighthouse; Beth Schoeppler, managing director, Loft literary Center; and Andrew Proctor, executive director, Literary Arts (AWP 2015, Minneapolis)
“From the Ground Up: Creating and Sustaining Literary Centers That Thrive,” panelist with Beth Schoeppler, Loft Literary Center, moderator (AWP 2015, Minneapolis)
“Town and Gown: Partnerships Between Literary Centers and University Creative Writing Programs,” Gregg Wilhelm moderator with panelists Thea Temple, The Writer’s Garret Literary Center; Linda Ketchum, 49 Alaska Writing Center; Kendra Kopelke, University of Baltimore MFA program; Ellen Waterston The Nature of Words and Oregon State University-Cascades Low Residency MFA program (AWP 2013, Boston)
“Creating a Literary Center,” panelist with Lisa Hartz, The Muse Writers Center, moderator (AWP 2013, Boston)
“How to Start a Literary Center and Thrive Through the Decades,” panelist with Jocelyn Hale, Loft Literary Center, moderator (AWP 2011, Washington, D.C.)
