Our Staff

Eric Howerton, Ph.D., Director

Dr. Eric Howerton is a Teaching Associate Professor at the Oklahoma State University English Department, where he directs the Center for Poets and Writers and the ENGL 3323 Technical Writing course.

He received his PhD from the University of Houston (Creative Writing and Literature), an MFA in Fiction from the Pennsylvania State University, and bachelor’s degrees in English/Philosophy and Psychology from the University of New Mexico. At OSU, Dr. Howerton teaches technical writing, literature, creative writing, and Honors composition courses on food studies and invented intelligences. He is also involved in teaching English reading and writing courses at the Payne County Jail, and he has worked with the Edmon Low Library to generate and edit open-source textbooks.

Dr. Howerton’s stories, flash fictions, restaurant reviews, book reviews, poems, magazine features, and editorials have been published widely in print and online. Dr. Howerton’s short story “Go Down, Diller” was recently co-adapted into a screenplay of the same name, and the film (directed by Dr. Andrew Bateman of CU Denver) will be submitted to festivals in the second half of 2024.

In addition to writing and film, Dr. Howerton’s interests include skiing, backpacking, making loud music, gardening, foraging, and culinary experimentation.

Zach Litwack, Filmmaker in Residence

Zach Litwack is an award-winning filmmaker based out of Tulsa. He has worked in the film industry and taught filmmaking in Tulsa and Chicago, IL since 2001. His fiction and documentary films have screened at numerous festivals, including The Cannes Film Festival and the Kansas City International Film Festival.

He has recently begun work as a Filmmaker in Residence at Oklahoma State University, where he teaches film courses and helps develop curriculum for the film education program. He is in post-production on the short dark comedy, "I’m Taking You Home" and the feature, "Drowned Land". He is in development on the features, "Lost and Found" and "Quiet Storm."

 Learn more about our Film Initiatives