Carole Firstman

Carole Firstman is a Lecturer in the Department of English at California State University, Fresno, within the College of Arts and Humanities. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and an MA in Education from the same institution, alongside a BA and AA in Liberal Studies.

• Award-winning essayist, memoirist, and journalist
• Author of Origins of the Universe and What It All Means: A Memoir (Paris Review Staff Pick, New York Times praised)
• Published in Colorado Review, South Dakota Review, Watershed Review, Defunct Magazine, Reed Magazine, and anthologies

Her research and teaching focus on creative writing, literature, and interdisciplinary narratives. Awards include the 2015 Dzanc Nonfiction Book Prize and Pushcart Prize Special Mention.

Firstman previously taught elementary school for 20 years and served as executive director of non-profit arts organizations like First Arts and the Tulare County Symphony.