Hi! My name is Peter Thomas Ricci, and I am a writer, editor, and teacher based in Oak Park, Illinois. Although it is silly to suggest that a mere website can adequately encompass a person’s life, I hope these pages do, at the very least, leave you with a fuller understanding of who I am as a writer, educator, and colleague.
I earned a bachelor’s in magazine journalism (with specialties in English and economics) from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, and following my graduation, I was the senior editor of Chicago Agent magazine, a trade publication that covers housing and the area's real estate markets. Currently, I am the managing editor for Meatingplace magazine, a trade publication that covers animal agriculture and meat processing; in that capacity, I oversee editorial operations and coordinate with various members of magazine staff.
In between those editing roles, I returned to school and earned my MFA in fiction writing from Columba College Chicago, a program that involved not only considerable writing and editing, but also extensive teaching – I took a special class on writing pedagogy, and taught three college-level classes in writing and rhetoric. In the meantime, I have worked as a freelance writer and editor for numerous companies, and have also reviewed many plays and concerts.
Feel free to peruse this site further, as it includes the following: some of my finest journalism; details about my teaching philosophy (complete with course syllabi); and for fun, a sampling of my street photography. Feel free to contact me and start a conversation!
Photo Credit: Meimei Yu