Dawn Burns

Who I Am

I am thoroughly Midwestern, having lived my whole life in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. When I write, my characters are often Midwestern too, like Evangelina from Elkhart, Indiana, in Evangelina Everyday (2022) who may appear simple and uncomplicated but has a rich inner life.

While I’m from the Midwest, I also love to travel, especially to quirky tourist attractions around the United States. This passion has fueled the research and travel for my second book, A Green Glow on the Horizon: Tales from the National Association of Tourist Attractions Survivors (forthcoming, March 2026).

My MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Notre Dame prepared me for a lifetime of writing, creative community building, and teaching.

I am founder of the SwampFire Retreat for Writers and Artists, and a recipient of excellence awards from the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature and the Ohio Arts Council.

As an assistant professor in Michigan State University’s Writing, Rhetoric, and Cultures department, I am committed to writing and storytelling as acts of personal and social change both in and beyond my First-Year Writing classroom.

What Makes Me Tick

I am fascinated and driven by people’s stories and passions, and by life’s particularities and peculiarities.

In everything I do–writing, teaching, and creative community building–my desire is always to go deeper in some unexpected way, to observe from the corner of my eye and follow where my eye/mind/heart wanders in service of the story that needs to be told.

I never assume that the most obvious interpretation of a person, event, or environment is the most truthful one, let alone the only one, and I will always return to my core belief that there are not enough labels and categories in the world to contain even one person, least of all me.

My desire? For others to enter that space with me and explore it for themselves.