by Miranda Mullings

Jo Van Arkel, professor of English and the chair of the languages and literature department, is about to publish a book, titled The Life of Birds.

Van Arkel has been a Drury faculty member since 1984, and a professor since 2004. She teaches courses in creative writing and poetry.

She described her newest book, which is a compilation of her work over a long course of time: “[The Life of Birds] is a collection of short stories and flash fiction which were written and published in literary magazines over the last ten years.”

The Life of Birds will be Van Arkel’s third book. She published a collection of short stories, called The Things I’ve Got Growing Deep Down Inside, in 1994. She later published a collection of poetry, titled Give Me a Hat to Wear, three years later in 1997. She says she has also published several chapbooks over the years.

The Life of Birds is set to be available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble after the first of the year. “But will be pre-released through Drury’s bookstore this semester,” said Van Arkel.

Van Arkel stated, “I am excited to complete this writing project and look forward to new projects in the coming year.”