A.A. Telmesani is an Adjunct Professor of English at Connecticut State College, where he teaches Anglo-American Literature & Creative Writing, and at University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he teaches Writing in the Disciplines.
Telmesani holds a BA in English from the University of Connecticut, an MA in Religion from Claremont Graduate University and an MA and PhD in Creative Writing from Swansea University in the United Kingdom. His research focuses on twelfth/thirteenth century Andalusian Sufi literature, philosophy and metaphysics. More than any other influence on Telmesani’s writing is his primary research subject, the great Andalusian Sufi master Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi (d. 1240), whose corpus went on to shape Sufi discourse and praxis for the nearly eight-hundred years since his death in Damascus in 1240 CE.
Telmesani’s first book, House of Abbas: the Legacy of Harun al-Rashid (Claritas Books, London, UK) is a pentameter play that fictionalizes the events of a major civil war between two brothers—sons of the famous Caliph Harun al-Rashid (d. 809) vying for the Caliphal throne at Baghdad in the ninth century CE. Since 2008 Telmesani has published several poems in literary journals, including in four volumes of Tofu Ink Arts Press.
For his doctoral degree, A.A. Telmesani created a fictional ancient civilization—the Zagra Valley—a magical realist literary universe in which interactions between human, animal, and supernatural creatures and entities are normative and mundane. Everything we know about the Zagra Valley is thanks to a massive cache of codices discovered at an archaeological dig at a mountain temple at Anbur in the Upper Zagra. These codices, produced by a circle of mystic philosophers, provide us with a worldview and history of the Valley through their own unique experiences as wandering mystic polymaths with unique backgrounds and writing styles. The first major publication of writings from the Zagra Valley, Zagra Zephyrs: Volume One will be out in 2025 from Tofu Ink Press.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
| PhD in Creative Writing Swansea University, Wales, UK | November 2023 |
| MA in Creative Writing Swansea University, Wales, UK | October 2016 |
| MA in Islamic Studies Claremont Graduate University, CA, USA | May 2015 |
| BA in English University of Connecticut, CT, USA | December 2011 |
Career Experience
| University of Massachusetts at Amherst Amherst, MA – BIO 312 (Writing in Biology) | August 2023 – Present |
| Connecticut State Community College New Haven, CT Adjunct English Professor – ENG 1020 (Lit. & Comp.) – ENG 2520 (British Literature to 1798) – ENG 2540 (British Literature from 1798) – ENG 2640 (American Literature from 1865) | August 2022 – Present |
| Blackboard Course Design Workshop | August 2023 |
| Orein Arts Residency Elmira, NY – Br. Justin Fellowship Recipient – Recipient | August 2022 June 2019 |
| Swansea University Wales, UK – TA (Intro to Writing Fiction) – Moderator: Fantasy Workshop | August-December 2021 |
| Whetstone Center for the Arts Jeddah, KSA – Founder – Director | November 2017 – September 2019 |
| The Gull Magazine – Co-Founder – Co-Executive Editor – Chief Content Manager | September 2015-October 2018 |
| AMIDEAST Casablanca, Morocco – ESL Instructor – Clients included Mercedes-Bens & BOSCH North Africa | 2016-2017 |
| Writer – Poetry – Short Stories – Plays – Essays – Arabic – English Translations – Academic Articles/Theses | 2007 – Present |
Publications
| Zagra Zephyrs: Volume One Poetry Collection (Tofu Ink Press) | Expected 2025 |
| Literary Application of Akbarian Ontology and Cosmology: A Case Study Doctoral Dissertation (ProQuest) | November 2023 |
| Lo, in the Month of Dhul Qidda Poem (Tofu Ink Press Vol. 5) | March 2023 |
| The Carmina Terra of Aya Poem (Tofu Ink Press Vol. 4 | February 2022 |
| Divina Sensoria: The Greater Crisis of Aya Poem (Tofu Ink Press Vol. 2 | September 2021 |
| ‘I’, ‘Happy Birthday Heather’, ‘Two Sonnets’ Poems (Tofu Ink Press Vol. 1 | May 2021 |
| Creation, Part I: The Monad Jaipur Literary Festival Short Story | September 2021 |
| House of Abbas: The Legacy of Harun al-Rashid Claritas Books, London, UK | October 2018 |
| The Gull Magazine Swansea, UK – Issue 1 – Issue 2 | July – October 2016 |
| The Socio-Political Muwashshahat of Abu l-Hasan al-Shushtari MA Thesis, Pro-Quest | May 2015 |
| One of These Days Poem (Otto Magazine) | 2012 |
| Lost Boys of Sudan Poem (.45 Magazine) | 2010 |
Educational Technologies
| Blackboard Ultra |
| Canvas |
| SPIRE |
| Zoom |
| Microsoft Teams |
Certifications
| State of Connecticut iTeach and Best Practice in Online Pedagogy |
| State of Connecticut Blackboard Online Course Design |
| Connecticut Online AI Academy Course |
| Google AI Essentials Course |