Kelly Daniels

Professor of English

• Phone: 309-794-7603
• Email: KellyDaniels@augustana.edu
• Office: Old Main 128

Kelly Daniels first stood at the head of a class in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where he taught English as a Second Language for a shoestring operation called The USA School. 

His teaching philosophy, in a sentence, is that we learn by supervised practice, and so students in his classes can expect to read a lot, write a lot, and discuss reading and writing, a lot.  

His debut memoir, Cloudbreak, California, was one of BuzzFeed’s “13 favorite works of nonfiction in 2013," and his literary thriller novel, A Candle for San Simón, was released in 2021. He’s a former MacDowell Fellow, and a regular contributor to the Sun magazine. 

Otherwise, his stories and essays have appeared in many literary journals and reviews, including Hotel Amerika, Puerto del Sol, Cimarron Review, Third Coast, and the Sonora Review. 

A professor at Augustana since 2007, he teaches fiction, creative nonfiction, literature, and LSFY. Additionally, he is active in all aspects of creative writing at Augustana.

Specializations: Contemporary literature, American literature, Creative writing, Fiction, Creative nonfiction