Marlene Hobel

Marlene Hobel began her professional life teaching English to first generation college students at an open admissions college in South Carolina. Next, she taught reading to youthful offenders in a prison, where she felt like she was incarcerated daily. She escaped into the corporate world, and had a long career in marketing and business communication, culminating in many years as vice president of corporate communications for a global environmental engineering firm. She has a B.A and an M.A in English Literature and an Ed.S. in Counseling. She joined BOLLI in Spring 2017. Marlene has led many study groups exploring the short stories of contemporary writers, including Lorrie Moore, Lauren Groff, Nancy Hale, Edith Pearlman, Hilma Wolitzer, Thomas McGuane, and Maile Meloy. She chairs BOLLI's Study Group Support Committee.