Professor of English
503-589-8103
Education
- B.A. English – Ohio State University
- M.A. English – Longwood University
- Ph.D. English – Ohio State University
Professional
Dr. Tennant began teaching at Corban in 1995, with areas of expertise that include American literature, British literature, minority authors, creative writing, and poetry.
Dr. Tennant is the founder of Corban’s poetry club, Stinky Bagels, as well as Corban’s Literary Arts Council and the annual Fusion Art Show, which showcases an eclectic blend of student poetry, painting, and photography, culminating in a book featuring their work.
Dr. Tennant’s published works include two poetry books, Eden and After (2015) and Commotion of Wings (2010), as well as two books of literary criticism, Religion in the Handmaid’s Tale (2019) and Reading the Gothic in Margaret Atwood’s First Seven Novels (2003). She has also had approximately 100 poems published in Southern Poetry Review, Rattle, Christianity and Literature, and other journals. In 2014, her poem “Smaller” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
She has served as the Vice President of Oregon State Poetry Association and is a member of Peregrine Writers of Salem, Oregon, the Christianity and Literature Conference, Oregon Christian Writers, Oregon Poets, and the Oxford Round Table.
Personal
Colette and her husband Stuart have three grown children, Shannon (married to son-in-law Matthew), Byron, and Andrew, and a grandson, Luke. She enjoys competitive Scrabble, traveling the beautiful Northwest, playing the piano, and composing music. She has written six Christmas programs for children, including the scripts and music, and has composed the music for Corban’s Theatre Camp.
A quirky thing about Colette? She loves rodeos. Here’s another: She got locked in a graveyard in Canterbury, England, when the rest of her family was 6,000+ miles away, and nobody knew she was there!
Why Corban
“As a Christian, I thought it would be wonderful to teach at a Christian university since I had taught at secular universities and colleges before. Prospective students should know that they would be hard-pressed to find a more caring college than Corban. We have an excellent English department with lots of outlets for creativity.”