Writerly

John E. Drabinski teaches in the Departments of English and Africana Studies at University of Maryland. He has previously taught at Amherst College, Hampshire College, Assumption College, Grand Valley State University, and University of Houston, Downtown Campus. Across all these varied institutions and appointments, I have been a consistent, ambitious writer. That has meant writing articles and books while teaching a heavy load (5/5, 4/4), a conventional load (3/3) and a research load (2/2). Each appointment had its challenges: burdensome teaching load saps writing energy, conventional load is often offset by committee work, and even research loads have challenges that come with elevated expectations for tenure and promotion, competitive cohorts, and poor mentorship from senior colleagues.

I have learned a lot about myself as a writer and researcher in each appointment, as well as from the life circumstances of each phase of my writing career. This has given me a bit of insight into the process of formulating a project, plotting its progress, planning its completion, and seeing that project through to publication. 

My long publication record, especially when matched with the appointments I held during composition and publication, says a good bit about my ability to manage shifting professional requirements in relation to writing and publishing. None of that has to do with anything special about my talents, intellect, or capacity for insight. Nor am I a particularly natural writer for whom words come easily. The opposite, really: I work hard at the craft and discipline of writing precisely because words do not come easily. If I want to accomplish my goals as a writer, and we all do, I have always known that means proceeding with intention and commitment.

This craft and discipline brought me to an incredible close of 2025, with the publication of three authored books within three months: Atlantic Theory: On the Vicissitudes of Relation (October 2025), So Unimaginable a Price: Baldwin and the Black Atlantic (November 2025), and At the Margins of Nihilism: Deconstruction and Social Death (December 2025). Read about these books and a bit about my approach to composition and publishing here, in a short interview with Jessica Weiss at University of Maryland.

Learn more here about the place of habits and time-management in my writing process – and yours!