Blackmon will receive an honorable mention for the Outstanding Dissertation Award in Technical Communication on Friday, March 6, during the 2026 Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Annual Convention. The honor is for her dissertation, 鈥淯nveiling Racial Dynamics: BLAIWOC Technical Communication within White-Dominated Online Recovery Spaces.鈥�

The CCCC is a public voice for teaching and learning of writing, composition, rhetoric, and literacy in higher education contexts. The CCCC Outstanding Dissertation Award is evaluated according to five criteria: originality of research, contribution the research makes to the field, methodological soundness of the approach used, awareness of existing research in the area studied, and overall quality of the writing.

Blackmon hopes her dissertation will influence the field of technical communication by providing an ethical approach to engaging with online discourse communities. She believes bringing a critical race and trauma-informed perspective to the field can increase belonging and make online spaces more valuable and effective for the people they are designed to serve.

Humbled and grateful for this recognition, Blackmon said she looks forward to applying this achievement and her research in her teaching at Johns Hopkins University. Her hope is to bring greater confidence and insight to the classroom while helping her students prepare for the future.

Blackmon plans to continue her research and further implement this ethical framework by assessing its value across different contexts and audiences. Ultimately, she hopes her work will make a difference for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and other marginalized communities.

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Originally from Hot Springs, Wood lives in Little Rock where she has built a multifaceted career around words, stories, and helping other writers find their voices.

鈥淚鈥檓 a creative nonfiction writer,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 am the author of Women Make Arkansas: Conversations with 50 Creatives (winner of Best Nonfiction South from the Independent Publisher Book Awards) and editor of, and a contributor to, Scars: An Anthology.鈥�

Her recent work has appeared in The Sun, HuffPost Personal, The Rumpus, and on the Article Club podcast. Her essays have been named notable in The Best American Essays and nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Wood is the owner and publisher of Et Alia Press, 鈥渁 small press for big voices,鈥� where she publishes nonfiction and children鈥檚 books by Arkansas authors. She also does freelance editing of essays, nonfiction manuscripts, and children鈥檚 books, and advises writers about the publishing process.

Wood earned an English degree from Duke University and a juris doctor from the Georgia State University College of Law. She was working as a lawyer when her father died, a moment that forced her to reevaluate what she truly wanted.

鈥淚 was practicing law in Atlanta, and my dad passed away at 58, so it sent me into some existential questioning,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 had always loved to write and edit, and I decided I wanted to move back to Arkansas.鈥�

Once home, Wood began researching writing programs and discovered the professional and technical writing program at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock.

鈥淚 found a program that I thought would give me both creative skills and practical skills,鈥� she said.

Shortly after graduate school, she began piecing together a varied workload.

鈥淚 was cobbling together a bunch of different jobs. I had learned grant writing and editing, which I could do to pay the bills while I did more creative writing,鈥� she said. 鈥淒uring grad school, I taught composition, and I continued to do that after I graduated. I was an adjunct professor. I was also a managing editor for an academic journal that is published by Johns Hopkins University Press called Literature and Medicine.鈥�

She credits 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock faculty with opening doors. One of those mentors was Chuck Anderson, now retired, whose Writing and Healing class led her to work with the academic journal, where he was editor.

鈥淚 also worked with him as a grad student on Quills and Pixels, the literary magazine at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, which I edited,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd my thesis chair and former department head, George Jensen, asked if I would be interested in joining him in starting a small press. We started Et Alia in 2010, and I鈥檝e been running it by myself for about eight years.鈥�

Wood said much of her career growth has come from building relationships and showing up.

鈥淚 feel like I鈥檝e just really stayed busy by word of mouth,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檝e never really had to seek out work. I think the connections I made helped me put down roots in a new city and develop a new community around writing.鈥�

For years after graduate school, she and several classmates continued to meet every few months to catch up 鈥� a reflection of how meaningful the experience had been.

Wood said she is grateful she chose to pursue her graduate studies at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock.

鈥淚t reinforced the major career change that I had made, and I never looked back,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t grounded me in this new direction and made me realize I was doing exactly what I intended to do.鈥�

One class that deeply influenced her was Writing for Adolescents and Families, taught by retired professor Toran Isom.

鈥淚t was pivotal for me,鈥� Wood recalled. 鈥淪he was such a positive mentor. I now edit and publish children鈥檚 books, and that class really helped me understand the serious types of children鈥檚 books I could take on. When I think about the books I want to publish for children, they are books about health or mental health issues that children deal with.鈥�

Wood was recently selected as a 2025 Catalyze Fellow and awarded a $10,000 artist grant.

When asked for two words to describe 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, Wood said 鈥減ractical鈥� and 鈥渇ormative.鈥�

鈥淧ractical because I was able to get right to work after grad school using the skills I鈥檇 gained and the relationships I鈥檇 built. And formative because the insight, methods, and teaching and editing experience I gained prepared me to lead a career that is entrepreneurial and creative, and work alongside authors to bring their stories to the page.鈥�

She has had an impact on the state鈥檚 literary landscape, and her contributions reach beyond the books she creates.

鈥淓rin has built an incredible and vibrant independent press in Arkansas,鈥� 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock professor Barb L’Eplattenier said. 鈥淪he has produced a wide variety of gorgeous books that highlight the beauty, culture, and people of Arkansas. She is a fabulous mentor to authors and others involved in the Arkansas publishing industry.鈥�

Wood鈥檚 advice to students is: connect and participate.

鈥淏e sure to connect with your professors because they are experts in their field and you can learn so much from them beyond the classroom,鈥� she said. 鈥淭ake the opportunity to get involved in activities on campus that are related to your program. For me, that was Quills and Pixels, and it gave me a lot of practical experience in editing and writing. That鈥檚 what I needed to use in my everyday publishing career.鈥�

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Michelle Keithley, a native of Springfield, Missouri, earned her bachelor鈥檚 degree in professional and technical writing from 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock in December 2024 and is now pursuing her master鈥檚 degree in professional and technical writing. She expects to graduate in May 2026 and plans to pursue a career as a medical technical writer.

During her internship, Keithley worked remotely with Siemens Healthineers鈥� Molecular Imaging SPECT Customer Service team, which provides support for software application engineers and service technicians who set up and maintain imaging machines.

鈥淚鈥檓 a technical writer intern, and I write documentation for users,鈥� Keithley said. 鈥淚 work closely with the team to develop documentation on workarounds, problems, procedures, and protocols. I鈥檓 not filing papers or making coffee. I am actually using the skills that I went to school for.鈥�

Keithley initially joined Siemens Healthineers as part of the company鈥檚 competitive summer internship program, which included more than 150 interns from across the country. She said working alongside peers from top universities like Harvard, Yale, and UCLA was a rewarding challenge.

鈥淚 came across the company during my undergraduate studies while looking for technical writing roles,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen I saw they had an internship program, I thought I could do this. Seeing the list of interns from top schools from across the country, it felt like I had arrived.鈥�

Over the course of the internship, Keithley gained valuable experience applying her technical writing and editing skills in a global corporate environment. She also learned the importance of collaboration with subject matter experts.

鈥淚 have definitely learned how a global corporation works,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his internship has given me confidence in my skill set and knowledge. Prior to me being on the team, they did not have a technical writer. They had engineers and other team members writing these protocols and procedures. While they are very smart people, writing is not their primary skill set. I think they appreciated my work ethic and skill set and found me to be a valuable part of the team, which is why they extended the internship.鈥�

For Keithley, the experience has been both career-affirming and personally meaningful.

鈥淚f you would have asked me when I started school if I鈥檇 be working on a molecular imaging team, I鈥檇 have said you were crazy,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut this has been a great internship. I would recommend this company to anyone. It鈥檚 been an opportunity to use the skills I learned in my undergraduate education in real life, and that鈥檚 been gratifying.鈥�

Keithley now continues her Siemens internship part-time while pursuing her graduate studies and working as a graduate assistant with 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 Online Writing Lab. She hopes the experience will open doors to a full-time technical writing role after graduation.

鈥淚 feel really blessed to have been given all the opportunities that I鈥檝e been given,鈥� she said. 

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Michelle Keithley, a graduate student in the Professional and Technical Writing program, has been awarded a 2025 Love of Learning Award from the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. Keithley, a native of Springfield, Missouri, is one of only 155 recipients nationwide to receive the $1,000 award this year.

The supports post-baccalaureate professional development for active Phi Kappa Phi members, funding opportunities such as graduate studies, research travel, career advancement, and more. Keithley plans to use the award to help purchase a new computer, which she will use for both her graduate coursework and future writing and design projects after graduation.

鈥淚 was surprised and excited to learn I had been awarded the Love of Learning Award,鈥� Keithley said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to be recognized for the effort I鈥檝e put into pursuing my education. Receiving this award is truly an honor, and I鈥檓 proud to have been selected.鈥�

Keithley, who also earned her bachelor鈥檚 degree in professional and technical writing from 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock in 2024, is on track to graduate in May 2026 and plans to pursue a career as a technical writer in the healthcare field.

Initiated into Phi Kappa Phi earlier this year, Keithley joins a long tradition of scholars recognized by the honor society for their academic achievements. Since 1932, Phi Kappa Phi鈥檚 award programs have recognized members and students for excellence, distributing more than $1 million annually through fellowships, study abroad grants, and literacy initiatives.

Founded in 1897, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation鈥檚 oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines, inducting about 20,000 students, faculty, staff, and alumni each year. Membership is by invitation only to the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students and the top 7.5 percent of juniors.

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