Vol. 7 No. 4
April 2005

New Faculty

Prepare for Residency

Guest Speakers for May Residency

Cross-Genre Exercise

Residency Reports/Evaluations

High Horse, Faculty Anthology

Dining Changes

Life of a Writer

     Students

     Faculty and Staff

    Alumni

Change of Address

Personals

Reminders and Notes

Spalding Home

MFA Home

Previous Newsletters

July 2003

August 2003

October 2003

November 2003

February 2004

May 2004

August 2004

September 2004

October 2004

January 2005

Febrary 2005

March 2005

April 2005

MFA Welcomes New Faculty
The MFA Program is pleased to welcome Eric Schmiedl, MFA, to the playwriting faculty. Eric is a graduate of Kent State University and the University of Hawai'i. His plays for children and family audiences have been commissioned and produced by The Cleve-land Play House the Honolulu Theatre for Youth, Karamu House, and the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati. The Alabama Shakespeare Festival commissioned and produced Eric's adaptation of Lee Smith's acclaimed novel Fair and Tender Ladies. This play was subsequently toured by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and produced at several other theatres. Most recently, Eric directed his play John Henry for The Cleveland Play House, and his adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island is scheduled to be produced by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in their 2005/2006 mainstage season. The Oregon Children's Theatre has received an NEA grant to tour Eric's adaptation of The Red Badge of Courage in 2006. Eric is a recipient of the Lisa Toishigawa Inoye Playwriting Award. He has worked on the artistic staffs of The Cleveland Play House, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the Cincin-nati Playhouse in the Park, the Denver Center Theatre Company, and Karamu House. As a director, Eric has worked on many productions, including Ten Minutes from Cleveland (Dobama Theatre), Mosquito Tales (Honolulu Theatre for Youth), Love's Labour's Lost (Cleveland Shakespeare Festival).

The MFA Program is pleased to welcome Barbara Hamby, MA, to our poetry faculty. Barbara's third book of poems, Babel, was chosen by Stephen Dunn to win the 2003 Associated Writing Programs Donald Hall Prize for Poetry and was published by the University of Pittsburgh Press in 2004. Her first book, Delirium, won the 1994 Vassar Miller Prize and two prizes for the best first book of poems published in 1995, the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and the Poetry Society of America's Norma Farber First Book Award. Her second book of poems, The Alphabet of Desire, won the 1998 New York University Prize for Poetry and was published by NYU Press in May 1999. The New York Public Library chose The Alphabet of Desire as one of the 25 best books of 1999. Rita Dove chose one of the poems in this book for inclusion in Best American Poetry 2000. A poem from this volume was also chosen for the Pushcart Prize Anthology 2001.
Barbara received a fellowship in Poetry from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1996. She has also received three fellowships from the Florida Arts Council. Her work has appeared in The Paris Review, The Southern Review, The Iowa Review, The Kenyon Review, The Yale Review, Ploughshares, Five Points, TriQuarterly and other magazines. She is Writer-in-Residence at the Creative Writing Program at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

MFA Student Preparations for May Residency
Besides reading the assigned texts for residency (workshop booklets, books-in-common, etc.), students should further prepare by giving serious thought to their May 2005 Semester Study Plans. While students remain flexible and open to mentor suggestions for reading lists for the Semester Study Plan, the Program strongly suggests that students put together a list of possible titles to consider for the reading list for next semester. Also, students should visit the Spalding website and familiarize themselves with the form "Introducing Yourself to Your Mentor." Students should begin drafting information for this form before they come to the residency. Both the form and the Suggested Reading List are available at http://www.spalding.edu/mfaforms (top)

Guest Speakers at the May Residency
Leslie Daniels, a literary agent with The Joy Harris Literary Agency, discusses writing and publishing and answers audience questions in a presentation open to all genres. Leslie has published stories in Ploughshares, The Missouri Review, The Florida Review, The Green Mountain Review, and The Louisville Review, among others. Her one-act play was produced by The Shooting Gallery in New York City. She holds an MFA from Vermont College. She has been nominated three times for the Pushcart Prize and for the Best of the Associated Writing Programs.

Film producer Jonas Goodman gives a presentation for all genres on acquiring, adapting and producing fiction and nonfiction for independent films. He has worked in the film industry since 1983. His productions include The Break Up (Miramax, 1998), Out of Line (Lion's Gate, 2001), and an adaptation of Andre Dubus's We Don't Live Here Anymore, among other films. We Don't Live Here Anymore premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004. Among his current projects in development is Ahab's Wife (Front Street Productions/Camelot Pictures), from the novel by Sena Jeter Naslund, published by William Morrow.

Filmmaker Elliot Greenebaum grew up in Louisville and attended Amherst College, where he received a degree in Philosophy. He attended NYU's Graduate Film School and received a master's degree while completing his first feature, Assisted Living. Assisted Living won four grand jury prizes at national festivals and was released theatrically.

Elaine Hughes, co-playwright with Sena Jeter Naslund of the play Four Spirits, discusses that work, which is the Faculty/Guest Book in Common for playwriting/screenwriting students. Elaine is professor of English at the University of Montevallo, where she teaches courses in American and British literature, modern drama, and modern fiction. She earned her bachelor of arts from Alabama College in 1969 and her PhD in contemporary literature from The University of Alabama in 1979. In 1971, she was a founder of the community theatre in Montevallo and remains active today, on and off stage. She is chair of Alabama Humanities Foundation Board of Directors. (top)

Picture book author and illustrator Paul Brett Johnson is a native of Kentucky's Appalachian Mountains. He is a two-time recipient of the Kentucky Bluegrass Award and has won the North Carolina Junior Book Award and the California Young Readers' Medal. His books have been included in Noteworthy Lists by School Library Journal, the New York Public Library, and Smithsonian magazine. He has been profiled in Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market as well as Writers' Digest. He is listed in the last four editions of Who's Who in America. Since 1993, he has published more than twenty titles. He currently lives in Lexington, Kentucky.

Playwright Maryann Lesert's full-length productions include Superwoman (1998), The Music in the Mess (2001), and Natural Causes (2003), a finalist for the Princess Grace Foundation's National Playwright's Fellowship to New Dramatists, NYC. Her one-act "Bump" is forthcoming in an anthology, The Art of the One-Act, from New Issues Press. As a Michigan Council for the Arts Artist in Residence, she taught playwriting workshops and produced an annual festival of one-acts for several years. She received her MFA in fiction from Spalding in 2003. Currently, she's working on a novel, teaching creative writing at her area arts council, and participating in a production of one-acts written in response to Shakespeare's sonnets.

Karen McElmurray writes both fiction and creative nonfiction and is assistant professor in the Creative Writing Program at Georgia College and State University, where she is also creative nonfiction editor for Arts and Letters. Karen's debut novel, Strange Birds in the Tree of Heaven, was published in 1999 by Hill Street Press. The novel received the 2001 Thomas and Lillie D. Chaffin Award for Appalachian Writing. Most recently, Karen is the author of a memoir, Surrendered Child: A Birth Mother's Journey, recipient of the 2003 Associated Writing Programs Award in Creative Nonfiction. Her work has received support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Kentucky Foundation for Women, and the North Carolina Arts Council.

R. H. Miller retired from the faculty of the University of Louisville English Department in 2004 after a career of 36 years, during 11 of which he was chair. In 1968, he received the PhD from Ohio State University. His special interests include Renaissance literature and culture, modern fiction and poetry, and writing. Among his publications are five books, numerous articles and poems, and a few short stories and essays. His most recent book is his memoir, Deaf Hearing Boy, an account of his childhood and adolescence when he lived for a good part of that time on a dairy farm operated by his Deaf parents and Hearing grandparents. He is currently working on a book on teaching. (top)

Lola M. Schaefer writes narrative nonfiction picture books such as Arrowhawk (Henry Holt, 2004), What's Up, What's Down? (Greenwillow Books, 2002), and Pick, Pull, Snap! Where Once a Flower Bloomed (Green-willow Books, 2003) for the younger reader. Her fiction titles include Candlelight Service (Rigby, 1996) and Loose Tooth (HarperCollins I Can Read Book, 2004). In addition, Lola has published four books with Scholastic for teachers. Schaefer is associate faculty at Indiana-Purdue University at Ft. Wayne, teaching graduate education classes on the writing process in the elementary classroom.

Danville, Kentucky, native Frank X Walker is the first poet to graduate from Spalding's MFA program. He is the author of three collections of poetry, Affrilachia, Buffalo Dance: The Journey of York, and Black Box. He currently teaches in the English and Theatre department at Eastern Kentucky University, where he also serves as the interim director of the African/African American Studies Program.

Cross-Genre Activity: Improv
Spontaneity, collaboration, and the element of surprise all fuel the creative spark. For this residency's playwriting/screenwriting cross-genre event, the Louisville Improvisers theatre group explains and demonstrates the art of improvisation. Expect a few literary references to appear in the mix! After this performance, students have the opportunity to see improvisations on their own work, as performed by fellow students in a small-group setting. Seeing one's own writing briefly transformed in this way may deliver fresh insights and new energy to writers in every genre.

Two Sessions to Write Reports and Evaluations
In past residency evaluations, a number of students have asked for time set aside to complete lecture and reading reports, residency and workshop evaluations, and revisions. In response to these requests, this residency features two slots of otherwise unscheduled time, which students may use for this purpose. Session I falls on Thursday evening, which is open for this purpose beginning at 6 p.m. Session II occurs Saturday, May 28, during a two-hour lunch period. (top)

Please note: Workshop evaluations are masked for anonymity. Because the MFA Program wants students to feel comfortable evaluating the workshop experience with complete candor, students' workshop evaluations are masked before being sent to workshop leaders. This practice has been in place in previous semesters as well, but some students may not have been aware of this policy.

Residency Session on Shooting Scripts
During residency, film producer Jonas Goodman presents a session about shooting scripts using his recent film We Don't Live Here Anymore as an example. The MFA Office has mailed the shooting script to playwriting/ screenwriting students. Other students who would like to attend the session should contact Katy for a copy of the script. Students may also want to become familiar with the book The Devil's Wind by Richard Rayner (HarperCollins). Good-man is currently developing the script for that book and plans to discuss its development process as well.

A New Yorker review of We Don't Live Here Anymore called the script an "extraordinary adaptation" and said, "The entire production is precise, vibrant, and, for all its turmoil, extremely moving." The complete New Yorker review is available online at http://www.newyorker.com/online/filmfile/onremo_index_w (top)

High Horse Arrives!
High Horse: Contemporary Writing by the MFA Faculty at Spalding University (Fleur-de-Lis Press, 2005) can be purchased during the May residency. The anthology, edited by Sena Jeter Naslund and Kathleen Driskell, includes poems, fiction, creative nonfiction, writing for children, plays, and screenplays by many of the MFA faculty and was designed by MFA student Jonathan Weinert. High Horse sells for $14 and is available in the Spalding bookstore. It is to be sold through Amazon.com after May 20.

Changes in Dining Services
Significant changes are afoot in the MFA's dining services. This May, the cafeteria is to serve breakfast and lunch on weekdays. The three weekend lunches are to be catered in the cafeteria by an outside catering service, as are four residency dinners. Other dinners are to be held off-site at the Brown Hotel or the Jazz Factory. The MFA Program staff feels confident these changes provide a better dining experience for students and faculty.

All meals except breakfasts and Thursday dinner are included in tuition. A list of nearby restaurants is included in the Welcome Packet.

Please plan to attend dinner Friday, May 27, on campus. Friday's dinner hour is short, and featured guest author Marsha Norman makes her presentation at the Brown Hotel immediately after dinner. In addition, the MFA Office is eager to receive students' and faculty's feedback on the meal that evening, as this caterer is under consideration to provide more residency meals in the future.

Meal tickets. Students and faculty receive five vouchers for weekday lunches in the cafeteria. These vouchers are also good for $5 off the meal price at selected nearby restaurants Monday through Friday. Everyone also receives three tickets for the program's Brown Hotel dinners. Weekend meals catered at the cafeteria do not require meal tickets. (top)

Life of a Writer

Students, faculty, and alumni: Please email writing news to mfanewsletter@spalding.edu

Students

Dave DeGolyer's poem "Auschwitz: A Sonder-kom-mando's Tale" was awarded the Catherine Connelly Award as "best in show" at The Friends of the Steele Memorial Library Annual Poetry Festival in March. He performed a public reading of his poem, which is to be published in the 2005 issue of Festival, at the award presentation. A number of his poems are to appear in the 2005 issue of Callisophia, the Elmira College journal of feminist thought and ideas.

Dan DiStasio has been contracted to write a feature article on hiking the Inca Trail for Out Traveler magazine. He also participated in The Writers Institute of Miami's first festival including classes with poet Campbell McGrath, novelist Les Standiford, travel writer Lea Lane, and CLMP Executive Director Jeffrey Lependorf.

Joan Donaldson's essay "Sugaring Days" won second place in the 2005 Metroversity Writing Competition.

Carrza DuBose's story "Fly Brown" won second place in the 2005 Metroversity Writing Competition.

Alice Gorman's personal narrative "Remembering Emilio" is to be published by Vogue in September 2005.

Marci Johnson's poems "How to Live" and "America 2004" are forthcoming in the anthology New Voices and New Visions: Religious Writing from Rising Generations, published by Andover Newton Theological Seminary. She recently attended the AWP Annual Conference in Vancouver, B.C.

Brother Columba Timothy McNeill's essay "Sinews on Bones" is to be published in The American Benedictine Review.

Rick Neumayer's musical comedy "David And Bathsheba," co-written with David Sisk and Bill Corcoran, is to be performed this July on the riverfront as part of Jeffersonville, Indiana's summer ampitheatre series.

David Tipton won first place in the 2005 Metroversity Writing Competition for his poem "Femme dans l'atelier, 1956."

Vickie Weaver won second place in the 2005 Metroversity Expository Writing Competition for her extended critical essay "Barbara Kingsolver: Ecologist as Author." (top)

Faculty & Staff

Mary Clyde was invited to speak at Anderson University by Deborah Miller, Anderson professor and Spalding MFA student. Her presentation was part of the University's Vision Revision week, and during her March 28-29 visit, she spoke on the relationship between artistic and spiritual faith. She also met with students to discuss her writing and to lead a craft workshop. Deborah, Zola Noble (also Anderson faculty), the students, and faculty were generously welcoming.

Kathleen Driskell's work is to be included in the upcoming Kentucky Anthology: Two Hundred Years of Writing in the Bluegrass State, forthcoming in the fall of 2005 by the University Press of Kentucky. Kathleen also presented work recently at Elizabethtown Community College and Northern Kentucky University. A reprint of "Why I Mother You the Way I Do" appeared in The Heartland Review. (top)

Alumni

Betsy Woods Atkinson (May 2004) is the Writer-in-Residence at a small school in New Orleans this semester. She delivered a lecture during the spring residency of The Writer's Loft of MTSU titled, "Inevitable Grace: Beauty, Writing and the Arts" at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville. In March, she was invited to participate in a colloquium "Discovering the Language that Bridges Spiritual Tradition and the World of Sport" at Neumann College in Aston, Penn. In April, she presented a lecture and workshop at a SCBWI writer's conference with Farrar, Straus and Giroux editor Robbie Mayes; Walker and Company Books editor Tim Travaglini; and author/artist Pat Cassels. (top)

Sharon Full (October 2003) was approached by teachers who wanted a profile written on their principal, Sr. Charlotte Italiano, to nominate her for the Beeghly College of Education Alumni Award at Youngstown State University. The profile focused on the woman's tireless fifty-two years of service within the Youngstown area. Beeghly responded favorably by creating their first Lifetime Achievement Award to honor her amazing leadership style and accomplishments.

Steve Halvonik (May 2004) won first place for Business and Labor Reporting in the Society of Professional Journalists Spotlight Contest for his feature article, "Bronner Tries to Salvage Airline," on US Airways' chairman David Bronner.

Erin Keane (May 2004) has poems in the Spring 2005 issue of Open 24 Hours and an essay forthcoming in the May issue of Louisville Magazine. She read in the Third Tuesday Writers Coffeehouse at Owensboro's RiverPark Center on April 19. (top)

Diana M. Raab's (October 2003) essay "Another Day Another Blessing" was accepted for inclusion in an upcoming anthology titled A Secret Turning in Us: Birth Stories. Her essay "A Memory Web" is to be published in the next issue of Frostproof Review. Diana is teaching a "How to Write Your Own Memoir" class at the Winter Park Public Library near Orlando. Her personal essay "Tough Decisions" was accepted for publication in The Palo Alto Review. She has also recently signed a contract with a New York literary agent for her memoir, Regina's Closet.

Heather Shaw (October 2004) teaches a writing course in July through the adult education program, Southcoast Learning Network, in New Bedlam, Mass., titled "Write Through It: Journal Writing for Women in Transition," the class is designed to help women who are dealing with career changes or experiencing divorce, widowhood, or the loss of a loved one. She has also started working with women individually and in small groups using therapeutic art and writing techniques.

Pam Steele (May 2004) has three poems forthcoming in Talking River Review. She was a finalist in the Joy Bale Boone Poetry Prize and she received an honorable mention at Awake at the Wheel Poetry Competition, sponsored by louderARTS of New York City, for her poem "The Disappeared," forthcoming in Rattapallax magazine. "Chelsea Star" is to be published in Open 24 Hours.

Kathleen Thompson (October 2003) has been named the Alabama State Poetry Society 2005 Poet of the Year. On April 22, she participated with other anthology authors in a reading/book signing (Climbing Mt. Cheaha: Emerging Alabama Writers) at the Black Belt Symposium, University of West Alabama. She was part of a similar reading/signing on April 30 at Capitol Books in Montgomery, Ala.

Leslie Townsend (May 2004) won the Betty Gabehart prize in creative nonfiction awarded by the Kentucky Women Writers Conference. She received a free pass to the conference and a hundred dollar honorarium and read during the conference (on the same podium as the author of Sex and the City and other important figures such as the poet laureate of the United States).(top)

Change of Address

Diana M. Raab's address as of June 1 is 2692 Sycamore Canyon Road; Montecito, CA 93108

Personals

Our heartfelt sympathy to Greg Pape on the death of his mother, Irene Pape, on March 18.

Our heartfelt sympathy to Deirdre Woollard on the recent death of her stepfather, Russell Young.

Reminders and Notes