About Mike Land

Out-of-shape blogger helps remove tornado debris on a scorching summer day in the old hometown, Tuscaloosa. (Photo by my father, Charlie Land.)

Director of the Community Service Learning program at Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts, Mike Land has spent his adult life balancing a love of storytelling and a commitment to community service. Born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Land grew up in a newspaper family and was writing sports before he graduated from high school.

His love of stories, nonfiction and fiction, propelled him through a first career in newspaper journalism,  a masters and doctorate in creative writing at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and his current position teaching creative writing, journalism, film and literature at Assumption. But at the same time, he worked as a youth director in a Presbyterian mission program, helped found a Habitat for Humanity affiliate, volunteered at a wide variety of agencies, and made community service a key feature in almost every course he teaches.

Recent writing publications have included pieces in Brevity, Iron Horse Review, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and The Bark: The Modern Dog Culture.