Callanan is a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where he serves as the Chair of the English Department, teaches creative writing and coordinates the Ph.D. in Creative Writing program there. He also conducts workshops in creative writing for graduate students at other universities.
Callanan is the creator and co-executive producer of the Poetry Everywhereanimated film series.
The Cloud Atlas and Cloud Atlas
With the worldwide success of the book and the filmCloud Atlas by David Mitchell, some confusion has arisen between that work of science fiction and Callanan's unrelated 2004 novel, The Cloud Atlas (set in Alaska during World War II and the 21st century). He has written on the topic in an essay titled "Ways In Which The Movie Cloud Atlas Has Changed My Life."[6]