Mick Cochrane, Author and Professor, Visits with Literary Arts Students

December 12, 2024

On the afternoon of December 12, Mick Cochrane visited with Perpich Literary Arts students to talk about postsecondary creative writing and his professional and personal journey in the arts. Cochrane is a professor of English at Canisius University, where he teaches courses in writing and literature, co-directs the creative writing program, and coordinates the Contemporary Writers Series. He is also an author with several novels to his name.

Professor and author, Mick Cochrane (left), visited with Perpich Literary Arts students

During Mick’s visit, he spoke about the creative writing program at Canisius University and the opportunities that students have for growth in the program, including the school’s literary magazine. Perpich Literary Arts students are exploring their own literary magazine to launch this spring.

“He was very insightful and answered any questions we had about publishing and literary magazines,” said Starr Anderson (Literary Arts 2025). “He also informed the class on his University’s writing scholarship! He was so sweet and we loved having him as a guest in our classroom!”

Mick compared a literary magazine to a party versus the normally isolated work of writing. Cochrane encouraged the Perpich students to apply for the Hassett Family Creative Writing Scholarship at Canisius, a full-tuition scholarship for creative writing majors. He also encouraged them to explore their writing. “Young writers should do different things, not just poetry or short stories, etc.,” he said. “All genres have something to teach us.”

Kevin Lally, Literary Arts Instructor, welcomed Mick to the classroom. “We are so grateful for his visit! He helped us make sense of the human side of postsecondary writing life with the humor and self-deprecation typical of writers,” said Lally. “He shared some of his own work, and gave us several of his and his colleague’s books. We look forward to visiting with him again!”

Mick Cochrane was born and raised in St. Paul, MN. As a boy, he played a great deal of baseball and was a passionate fan of the Minnesota Twins. His early jobs included working for McDonald’s, mostly ineptly, and cutting grass and chalking fields for the West St. Paul Park and Recreation Department.

Cochrane signs a copy of his book “Fitz” which he donated to the Literary Arts students along with other titles.

He graduated with an English major from the University of St. Thomas and earned a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Minnesota. While a graduate student, he published his first story, “The Lenny Green Story,” in Minnesota Monthly magazine. His first novel, Flesh Wounds, was published by Nan Talese/Doubleday and named a finalist in Barnes and Noble’s Discover Great New Writers Competition. His second novel, Sport, was published by Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s and selected for the annual New York Public Library’s Books for the Teen Age List. He’s also published two books for young readers: The Girl Who Threw Butterflies and Fitz, both with Knopf Books for Young Readers.