Karen Hofmann’s short story, Vagina Dentata, received an honourable mention in Room magazine’s 2015 Poetry and Fiction Contest.

Karen Hofmann’s short story, Vagina Dentata, received an honourable mention in Room magazine’s 2015 Poetry and Fiction Contest.

Hofmann, an associate professor in English and Modern Languages and Creative Writing, describes Vagina Dentata as a story about an arts faculty in a small university that heads up to a mountain lake for a retreat. All authors draw upon their lived experience, she said, but she is quick to confirm that this latest work “is a piece of art, of fiction,” and is meant to be funny.

Read: Debut novel by Karen Hofmann

“It looks at the roles and perceptions of the characters through the lens of gender,” she said, explaining the rationale for submitting it to Room, Canada’s oldest literary journal by and about women.

Hofmann began work on the story about 10 years ago, and went back to complete it this past summer. Her short fiction has been published in Arc, Prairie Fire, The Malahat Review and The Fiddlehead. Her book of poetry, Water Strider, was shortlisted for the Dorothy Livesay Prize at the 2009 BC Book Awards, and The Burgess Shale was shortlisted in the 2012 CBC Short Fiction Contest. Her debut novel, After Alice, published in 2014 by NeWest Press, and she spent this past winter completing her second, yet-to-be-title novel, which is about family life in rural British Columbia. She is also in the process of putting together a collection of short stories for a book-length publication.

Study with Karen: This winter, Hofmann will teach English 3080, an advanced composition course in personal expression, giving students the opportunity to write about their own lives and interests while learning to use academic and professional writing format and style.

For information
Karen Hofmann
250-377-6016
khofmann@tru.ca