Michael D. Sollars

Michael D. Sollars is an associate professor of English and assistant dean of research in the College of Liberal Arts & Behavioral Sciences at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri in Kansas City. His many poems, short stories, and essays have been widely published and received many excellent reviews. He has written extensively on modernism and existentialism and continues to perform research in those disciplines. He is also the editor of The Companion to the World Novel, 1900 to the Present and The Encyclopedia of Literary Characters. Prior to teaching for the past 10 years, he was a professional writer, editor, and publisher of journals. He has been guided by a simple principle: When I ventured to look inside the caterpillar to witness its actual transformation into a butterfly, I failed. And so did the butterfly. When I dared to look into myself instead, I succeeded. And so did the butterfly.