Alan Kelly

Dr. A. Keith Kelly comes to Georgia Gwinnett College from the big sky state of Montana, though he has done so by circuitous way of Vermont, Michigan, Missouri and Pennsylvania.

Kelly teaches and researches in the field of medieval literature at GGC, along with creative writing, linguistics and the history of the English language. The works of J.R.R. Tolkien are close to his heart and he finds every opportunity that he can to both teach and publish on this material. Another area of interest for Kelly is film studies, particularly its intersections with the Middle Ages. Kelly is fascinated by mythology and language, and it is unlikely that any student could make it through a week of classes with him without some reference to one or the other.

Outside of the classroom Kelly is an avid fly-fisherman and seeks out a good trout stream whenever he gets the time. He is an enthusiastic baseball fan (and player) and has been known to throw a mean frisbee. Although he has yet to achieve any fame or fortune doing so, Kelly also writes poetry and fiction. His current academic book project is on medieval outlaws.

• Doctorate – English – Saint Louis University
• Master’s – medieval studies – Western Michigan University
• Bachelor’s – creative writing – Middlebury College

• Old English and Old Norse philology
• Chaucer and the Pearl Poet
• Works of J.R.R. Tolkien
• Medievalism and film
• Creative writing

Academic Publications

• Power and Subversion in Game of Thrones: Critical Essays on the HBO Series. McFarland Publishing, 2021.
• “Teaching Good Manners: Civil Discourse Patterns in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” in Essays on Medieval Literary Speech Acts, edited by Eric Shane Bryan and Alexander Vaughan Ames. Tempe, AZ: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2020.
• “Truth and a Good Story:  Egil’s Saga and Brunanburh” in The Battle of Brunanburh: A Casebook, edited by Michael D. Livingston. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2011, pp. 305–314.
• Translation, “The Old Norse Texts,” in The Battle of Brunanburh: A Casebook, edited by Michael D. Livingston. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2011, pp. 68–81 & 206–212.
• Reprint of “‘A Far Green Country’: Tolkien, Paradise, and the End of All Things in Medieval Literature,” with Michael D. Livingston, in Children’s Literature Review 152 (Cengage Publishing, 2010), 65–77.
• “Beyond Historical Accuracy: A Postmodern View of Movies and Medievalism,” Perspicuitas: Internet-Periodicum für mediävistische Sprach-, Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft, 2004.

Creative Publications

• “Ghosts,” Rue Scribe February edition (Underwood Press, 2021).
• “Locked,” True Chili January edition (Underwood Press, 2021).
• “To March,” The Avocet: A Journal of Nature Poetry Winter edition (Fountain Hills, AZ: Charles Portolano Publishing, 2020), 49.
• “Living With Rattlesnakes,” Platform Review Summer edition, (Arts by the People, 2020).