Kara Pleasants

Kara Pleasants is a full-time lecturer for the English department, and has taught at both the collegiate and secondary level throughout Maryland. She received an Excellence in Education Award from the city of Bowie, MD in 2011. A UMD alum, she holds a Master’s of Arts in English Literature, focusing on Rhetoric, Renaissance and Early Modern studies; a Master’s of Education in English Curriculum and Instruction; and a Bachelor’s in Russian Language and Literature. 

She enjoys writing fiction, fanfiction, and poetry, publishing “Disenchanted” (a Pride and Prejudice remix with magic) in 2020 with Quills and Quartos Publishing. She combines her love of poetry with music as director of the Maryland Palestrina Choir, an ensemble dedicated to performing choral music from the Renaissance. On the weekends, she sells organic produce and baked goods at the Havre de Grace Farmer’s Market, where she and her family are curators restoring an 18th century Maryland farmhouse.