235 Faculty BEYOND BOOKS Professor Paulette Bane expressed creativity outside the classroom through poetry and art. Assistant professor of English Paulette Bane taught a variety of classes within the English Department, and her passion followed close behind. She found purpose and meaning through her poetry, published under her maiden name, Geurin. Much of her poetry revolved around her hometown and childhood in Arkansas. Her debut collection, “Wading Through Lethe,” was published in 2022 and caught the attention of editors. Bane was chosen to be one of nine poets from the region to be featured in “Wild Muse: Ozarks Nature Poetry.” As she stayed busy writing poetry and going on tour with fellow Ozark poets, Bane also wrote screenplays and cherished time with her daughter through drawing and painting. “My daughter likes art, so we draw and paint together a lot,” Bane said. “She’s about to be six, so it’s a great age to be creative. She’s very curious and imaginative.” While her successes happened consecutively, she encouraged others that she had been writing for years and that it was a lot of hard work. “Sometimes there’s an impression that when someone reaches a level of success especially creatively that they must possess some special talent or it must come easily, and they would get discouraged perhaps and feel like they can’t pursue it,” Bane said. “Though these successes have happened all kind of one after another, I’ve been writing for many years, and it’s a lot of hard work. It’s a lot of making connections and reading other people’s work and being kind to people and building each other up inside the community.” Sophomore Delaney Harrington, one of her students, shared her experiences with Bane. “She is an amazing professor and poet,” Harrington said. “She always works with me, and I loved hearing her insight at our Souvenirs meetings.” Bane pushed her students to be their best and tried to be an inspiration of dedication to them all. Her best advice was to “Stop worrying about talent and get to work.” Written by Alaina Wolf Pages & Poets | English professor Paulette Bane stops for a portrait in her office. Bane has been a professor at Harding since 2016. Photo by Lauren Simmons
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