C. Wylie Lenz

Dr. C. Wylie Lenz joined the faculty of Florida Polytechnic University in 2014. He teaches courses in composition, professional and technical writing, literature, and humanities. In addition to general education courses, he has taught popular special topics classes on conspiracy theories and horror fiction and film. From 2018 to 2021, he served as the inaugural chair of the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Department.

Lenz’s publications include articles, book chapters, and the edited collections Poverty in American Popular Culture: Essays on Representations, Beliefs and Policy and Generation Zombie: Essays on the Living Dead in Modern Culture (co-edited with Stephanie Boluk). He has also delivered dozens of presentations at regional, national, and international conferences.

Education

• Ph.D. in English, University of Florida, 2013
• M.F.A in Creative Writing, University of Florida, 2007
• B.A. in English, University of Houston, 2005
• B.A. in History, University of Houston, 2003
• B.A. in Philosophy, University of Houston, 1998

Expertise

• Writing
• American literature
• Horror fiction and film
• Popular culture

Select Publications

• “Undead, with an MFA: The Post-Genre Literary Zombie.” In The Post Zombie: The Current and Future State of the Walking Dead, edited by Lenz, Kyle William Bishop, and Angela Tenga. Forthcoming.
• Co-editor, The Post Zombie: The Current and Future State of the Walking Dead. Forthcoming. Co-edited with Kyle William Bishop and Angela Tenga.
• “Introduction: Poverty, Policy, Beliefs, and Popular Culture.” In Poverty in American Popular Culture: Essays on Representations, Beliefs and Policy, edited by Lenz, 1-24. McFarland, 2020.
• Editor, Poverty in American Popular Culture: Essays on Representations, Beliefs and Policy. McFarland, 2020.
• “Toward a Genealogy of the American Zombie Novel—From Jack London to Colson Whitehead.” In The Written Dead: Essays on the Literary Zombie, edited by Kyle William Bishop and Angela Tenga, 98-119. McFarland, 2017.
• “Infection, Media, and Capitalism: From Early Modern Plagues to Postmodern Zombies.”Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies 10, no. 2 (Fall/Winter 2011): 127-148. Co-authored with Stephanie Boluk.
• “Introduction: Generation Z—The Age of Apocalypse.” In Generation Zombie: Essays on the Living Dead in Modern Culture, edited by Stephanie Boluk and Wylie Lenz, 1-17. McFarland, 2011. Co-authored with Stephanie Boluk.
• Co-editor, Generation Zombie: Essays on the Living Dead in Modern Culture. McFarland, 2011. Co-edited with Stephanie Boluk.
• “What David Knew.” Lumina5 (2006): 91-105.
• “Nineteen.” In The Zine Yearbook: An Annual Collection of the Best Zines Publishing Today, Volume Six, edited by Jen Angel and Jason Kucsma, 99-101. Become the Media, 2002.