Composition Forum 35, Spring 2017 - Kairos, Resilience, and Serendipity: An Interview with Elizabeth Flynn - Interview

Oct 15, 2026

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Composition Forum issue 35 (Spring 2017) features an interview with Elizabeth Flynn, Professor Emerita of Reading and Composition at Michigan Technological University. The conversation traces her career in rhetoric and composition, emphasizing feminist and gendered perspectives and the serendipitous nature of professional paths. Flynn reflects on the influence of her essay “Composing as a Woman,” its revisions, scholarly reception, and lasting impact, including recognition through the Elizabeth Flynn Award. The interview also explores how collaborative research and community shaped her development as a professional woman.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time12 min

AccessFree to download

Kairos, Resilience, and Serendipity: An Interview with Elizabeth Flynn

Elizabeth Flynn’s background and career

“Composing as a Woman” and its impact

Conferences, revision, and mentorship

Current Issue From the Editors Weblog Editorial Board Editorial Policy Submissions Archives Accessibility Search Composition Forum 35, Spring 2017 Kairos, Resilience, and Serendipity: An Interview with Elizabeth Flynn Tiffany Bourelle Elizabeth Flynn is Professor Emerita of Reading and Composition in the Department of Humanities at Michigan Technological University. She is the author of Feminism Beyond Modernism (2002) and co-editor, with Patsy Schweickart, of Gender and Reading (1986), with John Schilb and John Clifford of Constellations (1992; 1995), with Patsy Schweickart of Reading Sites (2004), and with Patty Sotirin and Ann Brady of Feminist Rhetorical Resilience (2012) . She is founding editor of the journal Reader, which she edited or co-edited from 1982 to 2000. Her essays“Composing as a Woman” and “Gender and Reading” have been reprinted multiple times, and the Most Outstanding Article in Feminist Rhetoric and Composition, sponsored by the Association of Teachers of Advanced Composition, was named for her. She has chaired her department, directed the department’s graduate program in Rhetoric and Technical Communication, served twice on the executive committee of the Conference on College Composition and Communication, and chaired several divisions of the Modern Language Association of America. She also served as president of the Women’s Caucus for the Modern Languages, an allied organization of the Modern Language Association. This interview started over lunch at the 2014 Conference on College Composition and Communication. We originally met to talk about a collaborative research project, but the conversation shifted to our personal lives. We started talking about how our lives and our research were intertwined, discussing the serendipitous nature of our careers and the different paths we have taken. Beth had just been to a dinner with several women the night before where the theme was very similar: they had all taken risks or made choices that weren’t always the most popular. We talked at lunch and decided to continue the conversation over email. What follows in this interview is Beth’s reflection on her writing, her career, and her experiences as a professional woman in the field of Rhetoric and Composition. Tiffany: Let’s start the interview talking about an article of yours that was influential to me, as well as numerous other scholars in composition: “Composing as a Woman.” At the time, did you know it would have such an impact on our field? Beth: I knew in the 1980s that looking at writing from a gendered perspective was important and that a feminist perspective had not yet had a significant impact on the field of rhetoric and composition. The essay was published in College Composition and Communication in 1988. I remember talking to a woman representing one of the publishers at the Cs conference shortly after the article came out, and it was clear that it had made quite an impression on her. It apparently helped clarify her own situation as a woman professional, a situation that she could now see differed in some ways from that of her male colleagues. I was trying to open up an important conversation, and I’d say the article definitely did that. It has been reprinted at least seven times, and it will be included in Landmark Essays on Rhetoric and Feminism co-edited by Cheryl Glenn and Andrea Lunsford. I’ve also had opportunities to reflect on the essay. See, for instance,“Composing ‘Composing as a Woman’: A Perspective on Research,” College Composition and Communication 41 (February 1990): 83-89 and “Contextualizing ‘Composing as a Woman,’” Feminism and Composition, eds. Kirsch et al, Boston: Bedford, 2003. 339-341. The article came out in December of 1988, three months after my daughter Kate was born. It had a longer gestation period than nine months, though. I started working on the piece in the early 80s. It originated as a conference paper that was more quantitative in emphasis than th

FAQs

Who is Elizabeth Flynn in the interview?

Elizabeth Flynn is Professor Emerita of Reading and Composition in the Department of Humanities at Michigan Technological University, and the interview highlights her career in rhetoric and composition.

Why is “Composing as a Woman” central to the discussion?

The interviewer connects the essay’s influence to major shifts in composition, and Flynn explains its origin, revisions, and broad scholarly and professional reception.

How does Flynn describe the development of her research ideas over time?

She credits conferences, drafting and revision, and guidance from editors, reviewers, and collaborators, noting that major clarity emerged after sustained revision rather than a single instant.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by jay