Craighill Retires: Confession of ‘Graphomaniac’


by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

Messenger columnist Virginia Craighill retired from her University post as professor of English this spring. A quirk of fate brought this Sewanee grad, C’82, back to the University to teach 21 years ago. Contributions to the Tennessee Williams program, the student newspaper The Sewanee Purple, and her ready wit highlight her Sewanee career.

In the fall of 2000, Craighill had two young children and decided to take a semester off from teaching at Kennesaw State. She learned from a Sewanee classmate an English professor on emergency leave had burdened the University with a temporary vacancy. Craighill hired on as a visiting professor for the spring, and at the end of the semester, the University invited her to stay for another year.

“I had to negotiate with my husband,” Craighill said. For Chip Craighill, the family living in Sewanee meant a long commute to Atlanta, but he agreed. The Sept. 11, 2001, tragedy affirmed the decision. The family committed to staying in Sewanee. “We decided it would be a better place to raise the kids,” Craighill said.

Her first semester Craighill filled in where needed, teaching English 101, Studies in Fiction, and a Mediaeval Humanities course. When the professor on emergency leave did not return, Craighill continued as a visiting professor for several semesters. Ultimately, the University offered her full-professorship status as a teaching professor, and she began developing her own courses. “American Women Writers Writing about Women,” allowed her to draw on her favorite novels for material. The 100th anniversary of Tennessee Williams birth inspired her to develop a Tennessee Williams course. The college had received generous financial support from Williams’ estate. “No one was teaching Williams,” Craighill said. “How could we not teach him?” When asked to serve as Purple advisor, Craighill developed a desperately needed course in “American Literary Journalism,” a must for a college with a student newspaper.

Craighill’s ever-ready wit has served her well. When her college classmates crashed her Shakespeare class, chanting obnoxiously in the back of the room, Craighill called their bluff and announced, “The troupe of actors I hired to perform ‘A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream’ just arrived.” She insisted they come forward and, using the students’ texts as a guide, perform Act Five. “It’s supposed to be poorly acted.” Craighill laughed recounting the incident. “They did a great job of acting poorly.”

A humorous in-house “Sewanee Diary” Craighill penned circulated among faculty members. She stopped the practice realizing, “This is fire-able material.” But the diary resurfaced in slightly different format as the Messenger “Angel with an Attitude” column. “It’s great to have an alter ego,” Craighill said. “You never run out of material here.”

Craighill’s father’s struggle with Alzheimer’s and recent death, in part, prompted her decision to leave teaching. “I want to be able to spend time with my family without restraint and guilt,” she acknowledged. She also pointed to a change in students since the pandemic. One student said to her, “Everything feels optional.” “Students seem disconnected,” Craighill said. She has hope the phenomenon will pass and stressed her current students were “wonderful.”

Craighill’s first six weeks of retirement will take her to Maine. After that she plans to hike the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Craighill will start the journey with Sewanee colleague Deb McGrath. The final four weeks, Craighill, who does not speak Spanish, will be on her own, giving her much time for meditation and reflection.

Then, when Craighill returns, she plans to pursue her lifelong passion. She has family essays she wants to edit and envisions a chapbook or full-length poetry collection of her many poems, one recently published in Nelle, an all-women’s journal, and another forthcoming in The Colorado Review. “I have a lot of ideas” for writing projects, Craighill insisted. “I can’t wait to get back to being a graphomaniac.” Craighill will stay in Sewanee. Watch the Messenger for future “Angel” columns.

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