Mackenzie Gentz

Mackenzie Gentz is a writer, circumnavigator, and linguist. She graduated summa cum laude from Northwestern University with a B.M. in oboe performance and an honors B.A. in linguistics and German. Thereafter, she moved to Munich, Germany, where she completed a M.A. with the highest marks in Deutsch als Fremdsprache (German Applied Linguistics) at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität. Mackenzie’s current position is a Dual Title Ph.D. candidate in Germanic Linguistics and Language Science at The Pennsylvania State University. Her research investigates the nature of long-term language loss—whether it is due to losing the language itself or the pathway to it. Her essay Schwierigkeit(en) was accepted for publication from Isarufer Verlag in 2024; her first academic article is under review. She is currently seeking representation for her third book.