Story By: Sophia Cooper
MONTEVALLO, Ala. — Dr. Ashley Wurzbacher, an author and professor at the University of Montevallo, talks about her experience with storytelling and the ways in which creative writing shaped her life.
Born in Titusville, Pennsylvania, Ashley Wurzbacher is a self-proclaimed avid reader and storyteller. She has always had a fondness for writing, “I have memories of being a very young child and making little books out of stickers or cutting out the dolls from the American Girl catalogue and writing my own stories about them,” says Wurzbacher “so I’ve kind of always done that.”
Despite always enjoying the process of creating stories, it’s not something Wurzbacher always considered doing professionally. In her early college years, she was shy and wary of creative writing workshops.
Wurzbacher recounts her experience, “Because you know, you get critiqued and it’s kind of, you have to put yourself out there and it just seemed very intimidating to me,” she says “But I did it, I ended up having a really great experience.”
Unexpected encouragement
Wurzbacher was unsure about her skill until her creative writing professor offhandedly made a remark that changed the course of her life: “Well you’re going to go to grad school for this, right?” to which Wurzbacher replied “Well, I am now!”
“I respected her enough to think that if she felt like I was good enough to do it, then I wanted to,” Wurzbacher says “So, when I went to grad school, I became a lot more serious about writing and a lot more committed to making it a part of my life always.”
I just feel curious about different places and people, and I feel like I’m always trying to figure out what it means to be a person.
Ashley Wurzbacher
Wurzbacher received her bachelor’s degree in English Literature in 2008 from Allegheny College. Two years later, she earned a master’s degree in 2010 for creative writing from Eastern Washington University. She went back for her Ph.D. at the University of Houston and finished in 2016. Less than a year later in 2017, she joined UM’s faculty as a creative writing teacher.
Beyond storytelling, Wurzbacher prioritizes lifelong learning. “I feel like if my job could just be taking classes forever and being a student forever, I would do that because I just, I feel like there’s always more to learn. So, I guess being a college professor is the closest you can get to being a student forever,” she chuckled, adding “I just feel curious about different places and people, and I feel like I’m always trying to figure out what it means to be a person.”
Wurzbacher has written two books while working at UM: a novel entitled “How to Care for a Human Girl,” which was published in 2023, and a collection of short stories entitled “Happy Like This,” which was published in 2019.
“Happy Like This” in particular was a labor of love for Wurzbacher. “Part of it was written at Montevallo, part of it was written in graduate school, and there’s even one story that was written in the book when I was an undergraduate,” she said. “That was the result of, really about ten years of work.”
The joy of ‘crazy, wonderful stories’
Creative writing is something that has brought Wurzbacher a great deal of joy and fulfillment, especially in stories that students write. “I am always delightfully surprised by the things people come up with,” Wurzbacher said. “Sometimes the world beyond the classroom feels so dark and so bleak and I find myself tempted to feel just bad about humanity, but then I get to come in here and see [students] bring this wonderful, positive energy and support each other and build each other up and tell these crazy, wonderful stories. It really helps me want to get out of bed in the morning.”
I get to come in here and see [students] bring this wonderful, positive energy and support each other and build each other up and tell these crazy, wonderful stories. It really helps me want to get out of bed in the morning.
Ashley Wurzbacher
Dr. Wurzbacher says UM’s creative writing program can help “encourage people to feel empowered to share their work.” She maintains that anyone can benefit from pursuing a minor in creative writing, since it motivates people to become better communicators and encourages people to be better at giving and receiving feedback. Beyond that, however, is the sense of community that comes from being in the program.
“[That] is what our creative writing minor is all about, creating that space for writers and storytellers to find each other, and support each other and build relationships,” Wurzbacher said. “Those creative relationships can last potentially for your whole life. Those are people who get your work and get you and understand why you’re spending time on this crazy thing that some people don’t acknowledge as valuable or worthwhile.”
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