Kurt Caswell

Kurt Caswell is a Professor and Director of Honors Arts and Letters at Texas Tech University's Honors College. He teaches writing and literature, leads a study abroad course on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route in Spain, and has taught in the MFA program at Vermont College of Fine Arts.

• Education:
  • M.A. in English, Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College
  • M.F.A. in Literature and Creative Writing, Bennington College

His research and creative work spans travel writing, environmental literature, and nonfiction narrative, often blending personal journeys with literary and cultural analysis. Caswell's books explore topics ranging from the first animal in space (Laika's Window) to life on the Navajo Reservation (In the Sun's House), and Icelandic landscapes (Iceland Summer).

He has received prestigious honors including the 2008 River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Book Prize, a Foreword Indie Silver Medal for Science Writing, fellowships at Fishtrap Writers' Conference and the MacDowell Colony, and the Lucy Grealy Memorial Scholarship.

Caswell's teaching emphasizes immersive experiences, including field courses on writing and leadership. He has lived and worked across diverse environments, from Hokkaido, Japan, to Lubbock, Texas, and his writing has appeared in publications such as High Country News, Orion, and River Teeth.