FAQ: AUTHOR INFO
Who is "Rowena" in Rowena's World?
"Rowena" is me, Rufel F. Ramos, the sole author of Rowena's World. The name "Rowena" comes from a role-playing game character of mine, back in 1995.
In the offline world, I'm an English professor, with many years experience teaching college-level freshman Composition and sophomore Literature. For more details of that experience, here is my curriculum vitae .
What is Rowena's World?
Being a writer, a student, and a teacher, I've written and read many things in many places. Rowena's World: a Literary Locus is exactly what the subtitle says: a place where I can find the things that I write and read on a regular basis.
FOR THE READER:
The Free Stuff: I blog more than once a week on I Am the Lizard Queen!, where I range anywhere from everyday stuff in my professional and personal life to op-ed/ advice column pieces on society and culture. Also, as a long-term graduate student, I had written many class essays which aren't "professional journal"-grade stuff: not enough footnotes and recent-enough scholarship. But they would be useful nevertheless as study guides and introductions to any upper-level undergrad or grad student who's struggling with these works and themes. The same goes for my MA thesis, a collection of short stories, which I intend to revise one of these days, but until then is free for anybody to peruse.
The Published: I've self-published some stuff that, I think, are worth it but I'm too impatient to play the "find the editor who judges that I 'fit' his/her sales needs" game. If you're interested and can spare a few bucks, check out my poem and short story collection and my collection of personal finance articles. Also, once I get word if an academic press accepts my manuscript, you can find information about my dissertation, including how to buy a copy of your own, if you're interested.
FOR THE WRITER:
The Polidori Society's Submission Blog is both a free place where you can find my and others' uncollected, unpublished poems, short stories, literary essays, and plays AND where you can post your own creative written work by submitting your work to me, the blog's administrator. Why, you may ask, would anybody do such a thing, especially if he/she plans to publish someday? In two words: free publicity.
But, as both a contributor and the administrator of the Polidori Society's Submissions Blog, I understand wanting to keep your copyright, which is always the author's. Thus, anytime the author wishes to delete his/her work from the blog (including mine, when they're published in a book), I'll remove his/her works, no problem.
FOR THE TEACHER AND STUDENT:
You can find for free lesson plans for various teaching disciplines and English syllabi (my teaching discipline) also on Rowena's World. The English syllabi are updated by the semester that I currently teach and are primarily there for my current students. But anybody, like a beginning English instructor, may use my syllabi as a model for his/her own.
FINAL NOTE:
Except for my official published stuff, everything on Rowena's World is free and open for anybody to read and write. It is both a literary locus not only for me but also for you as well. However, if you are willing and able, a small donation is greatly appreciated. I'll use any donation for the upkeep of this site.
I want to use Rowena's World as a source in my research paper. Do I need to ask for your permission?
You don't need to ask for permission to use my work on Rowena's World. Feel free to use this site as a reference. However, if you use any of my works as part of your own research, please cite me and Rowena's World according to standard research documentation styles (MLA, APA, or Chicago Manual of Style). I like getting credit for my work -- it makes me happy and gets the word out that this site exists.
As for other writers' work, in the Polidori Society and by student essayists in the "For Students" section, you will need to ask for permission from them; just email me, and I will forward your request to the author.
updated: 5/31/2007