Photo: Ellah Wakatama Allfrey at Goshen (Indiana) College. Goshen College photo.

If Ellah Wakatama Allfrey had to describe herself in one word, it would be “editor.” But then she qualifies that, saying she’s a reader first, and then an editor.

Allfrey, a 1988 graduate of Goshen (Indiana) College, is an internationally recognized author, editor, publisher and literary critic, originally from Zimbabwe. Since moving to England, she has worked as an editor at Granta magazine, Random House and Penguin Press.

Allfrey has also served as a judge for a number of literary prizes, like the Man Booker Prize. These days, she works as an independent editor and publisher, occasionally holding writing workshops.This past fall Allfrey returned to her alma mater to teach as a visiting professor.

When Beth Martin Birky, professor of English at Goshen College, invited Allfrey to teach at Goshen for the semester, Allfrey was thinking strategically about the kind of publishing she wanted to do over the next five years.

Without the agenda she would normally have in a publishing house, Allfrey thought that putting a course together would be a way for her to pull her thoughts together.

Plus, Allfrey was also thinking about the classes that she wished she’d had as a student and it was a new challenge.

“Doing new things is something I do a lot,” Allfrey said in an interview on Dec. 1. “If things are difficult, that’s how you learn and improve.”

This semester, she taught two courses, an African literature course and an editing and publishing course In the African literature course, Allfrey taught books that she had either published or worked on, meaning that she knew each author personally. Students would read the books, and then either meet the author in person or through a video interview.

Allfrey chose to teach this course because she points out that there is a need for criticism of contemporary African literature. She was also curious about what it would be like teaching books that she’d either published on worked on. The books that the class read were all focused on aspects of self.

Allfrey’s editing and publishing class spent the semester functioning as a publishing house, The Occasional Press. Students compiled stories written by Goshen College alumni to produce the literary journal, “Freaky Squirrels: No Answers, Just Stories.”

Allfrey had never taught at the university level before, but Maddie Birky, a senior at Goshen College, appreciated that. Birky took the editing and publishing class with Allfrey.

“Ellah was different, but different in the best way possible,” she wrote in an email on Dec. 8. “She was firm but believed the best in each of us and pushed us to do more than we thought we could. She was always willing to answer our questions but believed, and proved, that the best learning is done by simply doing.”

Birky appreciated the “knowledge, experience, wisdom and grace” that Allfrey brought to conversations, and she cited that as one of the most rewarding parts of having Allfrey as a professor.

“Ellah embodies joy and grace,” Birky says. “Her bubbly laugh is contagious. She is always eloquent, which can be intimidating at times, but she is so personable and humble.”

Dusti Diener, a senior at Goshen College, also took the editing and publishing course. Initially, Diener was intimated by all of Allfrey’s expertise and accomplishments, but as the semester progressed, she discovered Allfrey to be extremely personable.

“In a way, her belief that you can do something makes you believe that you can do it,” said Diener.

While the course itself wasn’t typical of an undergraduate course, Diener enjoyed the opportunity to learn from an editing and publishing professional. It was also rewarding because she was pushed out of her comfort zone.

“As a professor, she doesn’t just give you the answers; you have to work for it,” she wrote in an email on Dec. 8. “I think this has been a really good change of pace for students who get comfortable and go through the motions because you don’t get to sit back and relax in her class.”

For Allfrey, it’s different teaching students that are taking a course for a grade than it is teaching professionals who attend her workshops for their livelihood. But the students were one of the best things about the semester.

“It’s quite a precious thing,” she says, “being able to spend an extended time together. The students have exceeded my expectations.”

But simply being back in Goshen has been rewarding for Allfrey as well.

“I had forgotten how beautiful Goshen is,” she says. “It’s peaceful. And that sense of being in a place where thoughtfulness is encouraged has been really wonderful to me.”

Professors that remain after they retire and community members that attend evening lectures on campus has been another highlight for Allfrey.

“In my day to day life, I know very few senior citizens, and that’s a shame,” she says. “I wish that could be a constant part of my life.”

After the semester, Allfrey will be traveling to Nigeria. She’s working on a big project that will take several months, and she would like to do a few editing workshops.

But if there were only one thing Allfrey could choose to do, it would be to read.

“I’m a reader first, then an editor,” she says. “I don’t know that I’d ever give that up.”