Gisele Olson

entered graduate program: fall '13

degree & major: B.A. in English from Westminster College (2008)

favorite authors and works: Beowulf, Shakespeare, Melville, Poe, Austen, Swift, Conan Doyle, the Romantic poets, Chopin, Gilman, Nabokov, Tolkien, Heaney, Richard Adams, Philip Pullman, Aldo Leopold, Edward Abbey, Daniel Quinn, a love/hate relationship with D.H. Lawrence, and my modern mystery faves Tana French and Louise Penny.

literary areas of interest: ecocriticism; feminist theories and criticisms; British and American Romantics; Irish literature; folklore; literature of journeys and the hero archetype; lyricism and modern songwriting; the development of the novel and the mystery genre; animals in literature; literary representations of death and spirituality…and the list goes on!

about me: originally from Jackson, Wyoming; equestrian; musician; literacy, animal rescue, and conservation volunteer/advocate; celtophile. I also enjoy watercolor painting and crafting homemade gifts for people.