New to The Fifth Floor

Ellen Smith, Editor

Ellen McGrath Smith is a lecturer in the Department of English. She holds an MFA in poetry writing from Pitt and a PhD in literature from Duquesne University. Since 2001, she's been teaching full-time at Pitt in the Composition, Writing, and Literature programs; she coordinates the Writing Center Writers' Café program. Her new role as editor of The Fifth Floor brings back memories of her first career, before she re-entered academia, in public relations and journalism. During those years, she was a public relations officer for Seton Hill University and the City of Pittsburgh Department of Parks and Recreation (Citiparks), and she also did work for agencies such as Marc Advertising and The Carson Group; her feature writing appeared in the Sunday magazines of The Pittsburgh Press and The Greensburg Tribune-Review, and her news and human interest stories appeared in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pitt Magazine, The Pittsburgh Business Times, and Pittsburgh Preview magazine. "All of that was about two decades ago," Smith says, "so doing this now in my later career is a way of going back to a time when I was, um, younger—for better and for worse. In doing this work, I am constantly struck, though, by how many amazing minds and talents have passed through Pitt's English Department, which deepens my appreciation for being part of this big community."

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