Vol.18 No. 1
August 2010

PBIC: Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez

Buenos Aires Wrap-Up

Need Photos

Fall Cross-Genre Workshop

ENG620 BIC Essay

Call for Elevator Plays

Teaching Workshop/Practicum

Enrichment Semesters

Change in ECE/Thesis Submission

Spring 2011 Book-length Workshop

Program Book in Common Fall 2010

Faculty BIC for Fall 2010

PGRA Deadline and Info

Discussion Board and More

Alumni Assoc

Reading Trail for MFA Authors

Students

Faculty and Staff

Alumni

Reminders and Notes

Spalding MFA Home

MFA Home

Previous Newsletters

Fall 2010 Residency Program Book in Common Is Arctic Dreams
The MFA Program’s Program Book in Common area for the Fall 2010 residency is creative nonfiction and features a plenary discussion, led by Program Director Sena Jeter Naslund, of Barry Lopez’s Arctic Dreams. Lopez visits the residency later in the week.
All students and faculty, regardless of concentration, read Arctic Dreams and prepare comments to add to the plenary discussion that takes place November 12, the first Friday of residency.

During his Spalding visit, Lopez presents a talk and short reading that focuses on Arctic Dreams, a National Book Award winner for nonfiction in 1986. All MFA students and faculty attend this session. The public is also invited to this presentation.

The following morning, Lopez attends a Q & A session for the Spalding MFA community. At this session, MFA students and faculty will have the opportunity to ask questions of Lopez. After both presentations by Lopez, MFA students and faculty may have their books signed.
Lopez’s other nonfiction books include About This Life and Of Wolves and Men (a National Book Award finalist). He is also the author of several award-winning works of fiction, including Field Notes, Winter Count, and a novella-length fable, Crow and Weasel. His recent work includes Light Action in the Caribbean, a collection of stories, and Resistance, a book of interrelated stories—Lopez’s response to the recent ideological changes in American society. His books, along with his magazine work, reflect a life of travel and cultural inquiry that has taken him to nearly seventy countries.

Lopez has received numerous awards and prizes, among them the Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the John Burroughs Medal, a Guggenheim Fellowship, five National Science Foundation Fellowships, a Lannan Fellowship, and the John Hay Medal, as well as Pushcart Prizes in fiction and nonfiction. He is a regular contributor to Granta, The Paris Review, Orion, Manoa, Outside, The Georgia Review, National Geographic, and other periodicals.

Lopez, a full-time writer since leaving graduate school in 1970, occasionally teaches at universities. He has been the Welch professor of American studies at the University of Notre Dame, has taught fiction at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and travels regularly to Texas Tech University, where he is the university’s visiting distinguished scholar.
MFA students and faculty may wish to visit the website of Bill Moyer’s Journal to read more about Lopez’s work and to view video at http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04302010/profile.html. (top)

From City to Country, from Tango to Gauchos in Argentina
The Spalding MFA summer residency began on June 21, the longest day of the year in the U.S.—and the shortest day of the year in Argentina.

In a city teeming with well-appointed dogs dressed in soccer jerseys, sometimes with matching pants and hats, the MFA group of fifty-seven students, faculty, alums and guests—the largest summer residency group ever—began an intense course of study. Beneath a colorful stained-glass window in the Universidad de Belgrano’s converted mansion, Sena Naslund lectured about structure and style, asking students to consider whether their own work begins with structural or stylistic choices. Associate Program Director Kathleen Driskell explored the significance of rhythm in writing and challenged each student to write a sentence using the tango rhythm: slow, slow, quick quick slow. In a panel discussion, Sena, Kathleen, and screenwriting faculty Helena Kriel discussed their writing influences; in another panel, Sena, Helena, fiction faculty Kenny Cook, and fiction/CNF faculty Roy Hoffman told the stories of their breakthrough projects and the lessons that accompanied them—sometimes humorous, sometimes humbling, but in each case enlightening.

The residency began with a group discussion of the classic gaucho novel Don Segundo Sombra, by Ricardo Güiraldes, set on the vast, treeless plains known as the pampas. For most of the residency, the pampas seemed far away as the group traversed the concrete streets of Buenos Aires, a place of seemingly endless opportunities for shoe-shopping and dining. Twice during the residency, city life came to a halt when Argentina played matches in the World Cup, and every café, shop, and hotel became a place to watch the match. When Argentina scored, the whole city erupted in shouts, honking car horns, and the jubilant blare of vuvuzelas.

During the residency, the group twice went deeper into the heart of the city and twice emerged from the city to explore. The deeper explorations took us from our Barrio Norte neighborhood into the port area of La Boca, which served as the immigrant’s entryway into Argentina, and into San Telmo, the original home of the wealthy porteños and now the center of the tango world, where we put on our dancing shoes for a group lesson and then watched how the professionals did it at a tango show. (top)

Our first journey out of the city took us by train to Villa Ocampo, the country home of Victoria Ocampo, a leading figure among South America’s literati in the 20th century. At the end of the residency, the group traded the clangor of the great city for the quiet of the countryside on an overnight stay in the pampas and to San Antonio de Areco, the little town that provided the setting for Don Segundo Sombra. A lecture about the gaucho’s role in Argentinian history was capped by surprise appearances by the great-nephew of Ricardo Güiraldes and the grandson of Don Segundo Ramirez, the inspiration for the book’s title character. Following the lecture, the group enjoyed an asado dinner, cooked over an open bonfire, and a show of folkloric dancing. For the second time that residency, the group left their seats and took to the dance floor, this time to join together in a country-style dance. The next day, five working gauchos on horseback demonstrated their hunting and racing skills, each trying to outdo the others as their horses galloped through the morning mist.

For more photos of the residency, go to http://www.facebook.com/SpaldingMFA or http://www.flickr.com/groups/spaldingmfa. (top)

Call for Photos for Spalding’s New Flickr Group!
The MFA Program has a new Flickr group at http://www.flickr.com/groups/spaldingmfa. We encourage all students and faculty to join the group and post their MFA-related photos.
Photos from Argentina have been posted, but we hope students and faculty from that residency will add their own photos. Photos from San Antonio de Areco are particularly helpful, but other photos from the Summer residency, or any other residency, are welcomed.

The Flickr group is open to the public. Anyone interested in our program may view the pictures and join the group. (top)

Fall 2010 Cross-genre Workshop in Fiction and Creative Nonfiction
In keeping with the MFA’s emphasis on cross-genre exploration, the MFA faculty has expressed interest in offering cross-genre workshops from time to time. These workshops benefit students through cross-pollination of ideas and provide opportunities for students to further their knowledge and technique in a second area of concentration. In Fall 2010, the MFA Program offers one such workshop. Students who have been accepted in fiction or creative nonfiction may sign up to take a fiction/creative nonfiction workshop (co-led by faculty members who teach in fiction and creative nonfiction), but a student must have filled the prerequisite of ENG610 before being allowed to participate in the cross-genre workshop, and no MFA student can take more than one cross-genre workshop within the required four semesters and five residencies.

It is not necessary for students in the workshop to have expertise in both areas. Students submit Worksheets in their major area of concentration. Students interested in participating in the cross-genre workshop should email Karen Mann at kmann@spalding.edu by August 28. Not all eligible students may be assigned to the cross-genre workshop, as space is limited. (top)

BIC Essay Assignment for ALL Students Entering ENG620 in Fall
All students, regardless of area of concentration, who plan on enrolling in ENG620 in the Fall 2010 semester must complete a short critical essay on Barry Lopez’s book of creative nonfiction Arctic Dreams. Arctic Dreams is the Program Book in Common for the Fall 2010 residency. This essay is due to the MFA Office—not to the mentor—by midsemester, August 28.

More detailed instructions for this assignment are posted on Blackboard under Semesters>Spring2010>ENG610. (top)

Reminder to Submit Elevator Plays
Rand Harmon, artistic director of Specific Gravity Ensemble and a visiting playwright at our Spring 2010 residency, has invited all MFA students to submit their elevator plays for consideration for production by SGE. Any student who would like to do so can contact Harmon directly at rand.harmon@gmail.com. (top)

Teaching of Creative Writing Opportunity for Fall 2010
In order to give students the opportunity to gain expertise in the teaching of creative writing at the collegiate level, during the Fall 2010 residency the Spalding MFA in Writing Program is offering students the option of taking a residency workshop that focuses on the pedagogy and practice of teaching creative writing. Students who wish to take this teaching workshop may either

• continue to be mentored in their area of concentration during the at-home portion of the semester (in this way, the student does not have to take an extra semester in order to receive teaching experience but returns home to be mentored in ENG620, ENG630, or ENG640); or

• continue the coursework in teaching by enrolling in the ENG660 Teaching Practicum in Creative Writing (a 16-hour course taken in addition to the four core courses required for the Spalding MFA degree. See the MFA Student Handbook, page 21, for a description of ENG660. MFA alumni are able to enroll in this course).

Students in the cross-genre teaching workshop lead discussions on submitted Worksheets (shorter workshop submissions receive 40 minutes of discussion rather than the standard 60 minutes). Students also lead a writing exercise that they develop for the workshop participants (this session lasts 40 minutes as well). (top)

Outside workshop, teaching students attend special lectures that focus on the pedagogy and practical matters of teaching creative writing. Students also attend lectures outside their major areas of concentration in order to gain a wider view of the other genres they may be called upon to teach in introductory-level creative writing courses. Students not only benefit from lecture content, they also comment in reports on the teaching methods used during those lectures. The number of residency reports required remains the same as for students sitting in other workshops.

Once accepted to the teaching workshop, students submit their own original writing in their major concentration area or any other concentration area by the workshop submission deadline of October 1. Students choose to submit either 10-15 pages of fiction or creative nonfiction, or 3 poems, or 2 picture books, or 10-15 pages of script).

Students also need to develop a workshop exercise that they will teach in a session during the second hour of workshop. The exercise will not be submitted with the workshop submission but is presented to the workshop by the student-teacher during residency. Further information on the exercise assignment will be available by October 1.

Space in this workshop is limited to six students. Students who have already completed ENG610 will be accepted to the workshop on the basis of seniority in the program and the order in which they ask to be included.

Students who would like to sign up for this workshop or who have questions about the workshop may contact Kathleen Driskell at kdriskell@spalding.edu. (top)

Enrichment Semester: ENG650
The MFA in Writing Program offers students the opportunity to register in ENG650 for a fifth semester of mentored instruction before they finish their degrees. ENG650 may be taken by students who have completed ENG610 and ENG620. Students who are scheduled to graduate in the fall may opt to delay graduation in order to enroll in ENG650.
The enrichment semester benefits students who wish to study further in their area of concentration, work to complete a manuscript, or do additional work in a minor or another genre, provided they apply and are accepted to study in that area. By taking a fifth semester before the MFA degree is conferred, students may qualify to receive financial aid to help defray tuition costs. For more information on this opportunity, please contact Kathleen Driskell at kdriskell@spalding.edu. (top)

Changes in Submitting the ECE and Creative Thesis
The MFA Office reminds all ENG630 and ENG640 students that the submission process for both the Extended Critical Essay and the Creative Thesis has changed. This new policy does not appear in either the MFA Student Handbook or in the current ENG630 or ENG640 syllabi.

ECE Submission
ENG 630 students email (as an attachment) the final version of their ECE to Kathleen Driskell before sending it to the mentor for signature. After receiving emailed approval from Kathleen Driskell, the student forwards a paper original of the ECE to the mentor for signature (with an envelope addressed to the MFA Office). The mentor then sends the final version of the signed ECE to the MFA Office.

Creative Thesis Submission
At the time of the fifth packet mailing date, ENG 640 students email (as an attachment) the final version of their Creative Thesis to Kathleen Driskell at the same time they send copies to the mentor and student thesis readers. After receiving emailed approval from Kathleen Driskell, the student forwards the Creative Thesis, printed on the appropriate 25 percent cotton paper, to the MFA Office. The mentor signs the title page of the Creative Thesis after the Thesis Discussion at residency.

MFA students should direct their questions about either submission change to Kathleen Driskell, kdriskell@spalding.edu. (top)

Spring 2011: Book-length Manuscript Workshop
The Spring 2011 Book-length Manuscript Workshop (novels, chapter books for children, unified essay collections, memoirs, short story cycles) still has space for participants. Second-semester or higher spring students or third-semester summer or spring-stretch students who are interested should notify Karen (kmann@spalding.edu) by August 28. This workshop is limited to six students (who may be in any area of concentration). A full two hours of each day of the workshop is spent discussing each book-length manuscript.

Students are admitted on a first-come, first-served basis and by seniority. (Alumni sometimes participate and should contact Karen if interested.) See pages 27-28 of the MFA Student Handbook for complete information or email Karen with questions. This workshop is a valuable experience, one that has been praised by every participant.

Lori Reisenbichler wrote, “The feedback I received about my novel’s overall pacing and structure was crucial to my revision process. I had workshopped individual chapters before, but there’s no comparison to having a small group of fellow writers step so deliberately inside your world, get to know your characters, and tell you the truth about whether what you have on the page matches the story you are trying to tell. It’s an honor to participate. I think my work improved simply by learning how to critique a book-length work. It’s one of the unique offerings at Spalding that sets the program apart.”

Tay Berryhill wrote, “Key to the workshop was understanding how to read a novel, structurally and strategically. This workshop challenged me to think more deeply about a novel’s central concerns. The time and energy invested was well worth it.” (top)

Program Book in Common for Fall 2010
To prepare for the Fall 2010 residency, all attending students should read the Plenary Book in Common: Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez. Bring the texts to the Book in Common discussion the first evening of residency.

Faculty/Guest Books/Scripts in Common for Fall 2010
In addition to the Program Book in Common, students also read a Faculty Book/Script in Common in their area of concentration. The Faculty Books/Scripts in Common are

• Fiction: Marcia Dalton, The Ice Margin
  
• Poetry: Richard Taylor, Rail Splitter
  
• Creative Nonfiction: Robert Finch, Nature Writing: The Tradition in English (hardcover) or The Norton Book of Nature Writing (softcover); students may purchase either edition. The list of essays to be read will be posted on Blackboard.
  
• Writing for Children & Young Adults: Joyce McDonald, Devil on My Heels
  
• Playwriting: Eric Schmiedl, Browns Rules (to be posted on BB by midsemester)
  
• Screenwriting: Helena Kriel, Ahab’s Wife (to be posted on BB by midsemester) (top)

August 28 Is PGRA Deadline for Fall 2010
Alumni who are interested in serving as a Post-Graduate Residency Assistant for the fall residency should email Kathleen Driskell by August 28.

PGRAs attend the residency, prepare for and assist in a Workshop by participating in the discussion and/or assist in the MFA Office, and/or may perform other duties such as recording lectures or hosting residency guests or prospective students. (For more information, refer to the MFA Student Handbook, p 58.)

PGRAs receive $75 in compensation and are included in residency meals and events. Meals or events not included as part of the group experience are the PGRA’s responsibility. PGRAs are provided a single room at the Spalding dormitory or $200 toward incurred housing costs. PGRAs may request up to $300 in transportation costs toward coach airfare or mileage reimbursement. (top)

Discussion Board for Contests, Deadlines, and More
The “Contests” section of the discussion board on Blackboard has much more information than contests. It includes calls for submissions or papers, information on grants and residencies, fellowships, etc. Check in from time to time to find out what opportunities are out there. Faculty, students, and alumni may also post information to this discussion board. (top)

MFA Alumni Association
The website for the MFA Alumni Association is http://www.spaldingmfaalum.com. If you have questions or are interested in working with this group, send Terry Price an email at terry@terryprice.net. Check out the Spalding MFA Alumni Facebook page. (top)

Life of a Writer

Alice L.A. Covington announces that her short story, “The Recital,” is included in Woman’s Work: The Short Stories, released by GirlChild Press on July 16. Go online to http://www.girlchildpress.com.

Vanessa Gonzales placed second in graduate fiction in the Kentuckiana Metroversity 2010 Writing Competition with her short story “Love in the Corners.” (top)

Bill Goodman has written a documentary movie review for the New Southerner, a quarterly e-zine promoting self-sufficiency, environmental stewardship and support for local economies. Deep Down: A Story from the Heart of Coal Country is a film produced by Jen Gilomen and Sally Rubin that raises questions about coal mining methods and the devastation to the land required to meet America’s growing energy demands. Goodman writes that the film is an education for all, even Kentuckians who believe they’ve heard it before. New Southerner can be found at http://www.newsoutherner.com. Goodman also has written the foreword to a new book featuring stories celebrating the lives and work of a number of Kentucky citizens. Steve Flairty is the author of Kentucky’s Everyday Heroes: Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things. Goodman’s foreword includes an overview of what the reader finds in this second volume of Kentucky profiles and highlights several of the people Flairty features. Flairty’s book is published by Wind Publications.

Amy Hanridge reported that her story, “Don’t Look Down on Me,” was published in the July 2010 issue of BorderSenses magazine. Find out more at http://www.bordersenses.com.

Jason Harmon’s essay, “Looking from A to A: Altazor and the Alphabet,” appears in issue 40 of the online periodical Jacket. (top)

Cindy Lane (on hiatus this semester and looking forward to Italy!) attended the Tinker Mountain Writer’s Workshop in June—five days of intense workshops and lectures on advanced fiction topics—at Hollins University in Virginia. She came out of it with a newly polished story to shine up a little more, then maybe submit. She wore her new Spalding MFA T-shirt, creating a lot of interest and questions, which naturally, she answered with gushing enthusiasm.

Kelly Lynn reports that her creative nonfiction essay, “Sick Sisters,” has been accepted for publication in Somebody’s Child, an anthology of stories about adoption. The book goes to press in Fall 2011.

AshleyRose Sullivan announces that her short story, “Displays of Aquatic Escape Behavior,” was recently published on Wigleaf: A Journal of [Very] Short Fiction. Find the story at http://www.wigleaf.com/201004displays.htm.

Tommy Trull announces that his play James Evans, has been awarded a $6,500 production grant from the United Arts Council and will be toured around to schools.
His full-length play The Immersibles is set for production by Guilford Technical Community College in November, and his short play Anything, Anything You Want is set to be produced by 3rd Stage Theatre in September. (top)

Faculty and Staff

Faculty member Dianne Aprile, along with alum Susan Detweiler (Spring 2010), student Kelly Martineau, and Diane Rhodes (Fall 2008) have formed a creative nonfiction writing group in Seattle called SW2 (Spalding West/Seattle Washington). Among other projects, SW2 plans to organize readings in the Seattle area. Dianne Aprile also took part in a poetry writing class in July at Seattle’s Hugo House with poet Ed Skoog.

Susan Campbell Bartoletti announces that her forthcoming nonfiction book, They Called Themselves the K.K.K., has received starred reviews in following, to date: Publisher’s Weekly, School Library Journal, Kirkus, Horn Book, and Booklist. (Booklist will also feature a full-length interview with Susan in the August issue.) The book is to be released August 23, as a print book (Houghton Mifflin) and a Brilliance/Audible audio book narrated by the amazing actor Dion Graham, whose voice Susan likes much better than her own. In early August, Susan is in Los Angeles, participating on a nonfiction panel at the national conference of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. When she is not gazing at her new grandbaby, Mia, or begging the twin grandbabies, age 15 months, to pleasepleaseplease give her a new picture book idea, she is completely frustrated with her novel-in-progress, now overdue for her editor, and wondering why anyone would ever want to write a novel when she could just buy one at Borders. (She’ll get over it. She always does.)

Richard Goodman’s new book, A New York Memoir, is published this August. His essay, “L’Inondation: Helping Them Dig Out of It in Nîmes,” appears in the forthcoming The Best Travel Writing 2010.

Helena Kriel was chosen to be part of the panel that judged the World Championships for the Performing Arts. This is an international competition with 50 countries sending teams for competition on the world stage. The finals took place in Los Angeles in July. Helena was a member of the judging committee joining other industry professionals who represented the performing arts.

Robin Lippincott announces that an excerpt from his manuscript about the American abstract expressionist painter Joan Mitchell, Joan of Art, appears in a forthcoming issue of The Lumberyard (a letterpress magazine), which Dwight Garner of The New York Times recently called “the most physically beautiful new journal I’ve seen this year.” Also, this year Robin will again be one of the judges for the Drue Heinz Literature Prize. (top)

Jody Lisberger has been invited to read her story “In the Mercy of Water” at the International Girls Conference on November 22-24, at SUNY Cortland.
She has been granted a full workshop slot (75 minutes) at the National Women’s Studies Conference in Denver on November 11 to present a craft workshop called “Writing Down the Body: Making the Invisible Visible, the Silent Spoken.” She’s also been invited to be the writer-in-residence at Lyon College, Arkansas, the first week of November.
In June she led a fiction workshop and participated in a panel, “Collection vs. Novel—What Am I Writing,” at the Ocean State Summers Writing Conference. She was honored to have faculty member Crystal Wilkinson leading a workshop and giving a craft talk at the conference, too.

Nancy McCabe has creative nonfiction in the current issues of Fourth Genre, Colorado Review, and Bellingham Review. Her essay “Threads” is forthcoming in Prairie Schooner, and her piece “Still Dancing,” published in 2009 in Gulf Coast, has been selected for the Notable List in the upcoming edition of Best American Essays. In July she attended the Highlights Foundation Writing for Children conference and served as a magazine judge for the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

Joyce McDonald was a keynote speaker at the Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Conference in July, which was coordinated by regional adviser, Spalding alum Edie Hemingway (Spring 2004). She spoke on “The Transformative Power of Fiction: How Real-Life Stories Inform and Shape Our Own.” Joyce also participated in “Steps in the Write Direction: A Panel Discussion on Writing Programs.” In June, she ran a three-day writing workshop at the 62nd annual Philadelphia Writers Conference. (top)

Sena Jeter Naslund’s book tour appearances for her latest novel, Adam & Eve, on sale September 25 include

• Live radio interview 1:45 p.m. Sept. 24 with Spalding alum Katerina Stoykova-Klemer
• Birmingham, AL, 4:00 p.m. Tues., Sept. 28, Alabama Booksmith, 2626 19th Place S
• Montgomery, AL, 7 p.m. Wed., Sept. 29, Troy University, Whitney Hall (334-265-1473)
• Louisville, KY, 6 p.m. Fri., Oct. 1, Speed Art Museum, 2035 S Third St.
• St. Paul, MN, 4:30-6 p.m. Sat., Oct. 2, MBA Trade Show, Roy Wilkins Aud, in RiverCentre
• Minneapolis, 7:30 p.m. Mon., Oct. 4, Magers and Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave S
• St. Louis, MO, 7 p.m. Tue., Oct. 5, Left Bank Books at St. Louis County Library, 1640 S Lindbergh Blvd
• Nashville, TN, Fri-Sat., Oct. 8 & 9, Southern Festival of Books, time TBA (615-770-0006 x 12)
• Lexington, KY, 7 p.m. Thur., Oct 14, Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 161 Lexington Green Circle
• Louisville, Sat, Oct 16, Spalding U. Founder’s Day Reading for Alums, time TBA
• Los Angeles, 7 p.m. Mon. Oct 18, Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA
• Laguna Beach, Tues, Oct 19, 6 p.m. Laguna Beach Books, STE 105, 1200S Coast Hwy
• Louisville, Thur. Oct 21, Louisville Free Public Library and KET, 301 York St.
• Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fri., Oct. 22, St. Petersburg Times Festival of Reading, time TBA
• Carmel, IN, 5 p.m. Wed., Oct. 27, Carmel Clay Public Library Foundation, 55 4th Ave. SE, and 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Thurs., Oct. 28, Golden Leaf Book & Author Luncheon 55 4th Ave. SE, Carmel (317-814-3905)
• Evansville, IN, 3:30-4:30 p.m. Wed., Nov. 10, University of Southern Indiana, David L. Rice Library, 8600 University Blvd
• New Orleans, LA, Wed, Nov 17, Words & Music Festival, time TBA
• Lexington, KY, 7 p.m. Tues., Feb. 15, 2011, Carnegie Center for Literacy & Learning, 251 W. 2nd St. (859-254-4175) (top)

Greg Pape gave readings at Montana Festival of the Book, Second Wind Series in Missoula, and the Missoula Public Library in Montana; Casper Writers’ Conference in Casper, Wyoming, where he also served also judge for the Wyoming Arts Council’s Poetry Fellowships; Associated Writing Programs conference in Denver, where he also served on a panel on regional writing; the State Finals of the Poetry Out Loud! competition in Helena, Montana, where he also served as a judge; Get Lit! festival in Spokane, Washington, where he also served on a panel and led a workshop; and Lewis Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. He has new work appearing or forthcoming in Northwest Review, San Joaquin Review, Lake Effect, and the anthology Poems of the American West.

Molly Peacock is gearing up for book tours for The Paper Garden: An Artist Begins Her Life’s Work at 72, which comes out this fall in Canada and Australia and on April 2, 2011, in the United States. She’s also been reading her poetry at various events in Toronto, including a new type of event: the dinner reading. Guests pay in advance for dinner at a local restaurant and a literary figure interviews a poet, who then reads between courses.

Brad Riddell and his wife, Tina, and his daughter, Sophia, welcomed Richard Clayton Riddell into the world on July 15. The young man was 8 pounds, 1 ounce, 21.5 inches long, and quite robust. His mother is doing very well. In the meantime, Brad delivered a final draft of his screenplay Crooked Arrows to film producers. It’s the PG story about members of a Native American lacrosse team on a reservation in New York reclaiming their centuries-old sport from the elite prep schools that now dominate the game. Brad performed a page-one rewrite on the original script, and his new version is out for casting and budget with plans to film this fall. He has also optioned Spalding MFA grad Katrina Kittle’s (Fall 2008) third novel, The Kindness of Strangers. Plans are to adapt the book to a screenplay and then remain attached as a producer. (top)

Jeanie Thompson continued her year of promoting The Seasons Bear Us with a reading at Rudyard Kipling’s INKY Series in Louisville in January, a reading at the Wiregrass Museum of Art in Dothan, Alabama, in February, an ekphrastic poetry writing workshop and follow up gallery talk at the Birmingham Museum of Art in March and April, participation in the Slash Pine Poetry Festival at the University of Alabama in April, a reading and teacher workshop at the Red Mountain Reading Series at Jefferson State Community College n March, and the keynote reading and poetry workshop at the Southern Literary Festival on the Campus of “The W”—Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, also in April. In May, Jeanie presented the 2010 Harper Lee Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer to Carolyn Haines at the 13th Alabama Writers Symposium in Monroeville. Jeanie has published poems in Southern Women’s Review, Vol. 2 No.2 (online at http://www.southernwomensreview.com) and the Slash Pine Poetry Festival Anthology, and has poems forthcoming in PMS (PoemMemoirStory). She was a guest blogger on the Birmingham Museum of Art’s website: http://www.artsbma.org. In Jeanie’s work with the Alabama Writers’ Forum, she and the team of Writing Our Stories participated in the MEGA conference July 20 for Alabama k-12 teachers. More than fifty teachers participated in this three-hour workshop featuring the Forum’s innovative juvenile justice and the arts creative writing program that is now in its fourteenth year with the Alabama Department of Youth Services.

Neela Vaswani announces that You Have Given Me a Country (Sarabande Books), is now available on http://www.amazon. com. For details, see http://www.neelavaswani.com.

Luke Wallin announces that his essay “Point of View and Choice in Conservation” was published July 15 in the online journal Sisyphus, at http://www.hippocketpress.org/sisyphus/luke-wallin. Luke reads his story “Monster” on September 18 in Washington, D.C., at The Black Squirrel. The reading honors the journal Moon Milk Review and is sponsored by the journal Barrelhouse. The story was published in March in Moon Milk Review and was accepted for the 2010 print anthology of MMR. His poem “The Night We Called the Owls” has been accepted by the online journal Dew on the Kudzu and was published July 22. (top)

Alumni

Cynthia Rausch Allar (Spring 2004) has had two poems accepted for fellow alum Diana Raab’s (Fall 2003) Brink anthology. The poems are “Confession” and “Tendency to Despair.” Her poems “As Always” and “Letter in Light of Recent Tragedies” have been accepted by Evening Street Review.

Glenny Brock (Spring 2007), after spending almost 10 years fortunate enough to write for a living, left Birmingham Weekly, the newspaper of which she had been the editor-in-chief since 2002. Since March of this year, most of her new writing has been cover letters and most of her revision has been on minutiae in her résumé. When she’s not applying for jobs, she is working with her partner, Bradford Daly, on a food blog called “Stay Hungry” (which takes its title from the debut novel by creative nonfiction faculty member and fellow Birminghamian Charles Gaines), or on the translation of Bengali poetry by Satyapriya Mukhopadhyay. Every Saturday this summer, Glenny is running a writing booth at a farmers market in Birmingham. She is one of a dozen volunteers for the Desert Island Supply Company (DISCO), a new nonprofit organization that provides workshops, one-on-one tutoring and other creative writing opportunities for students ages 8-18. (top)

Roy Burkhead (Spring 2004) attended a Q&A session and public reading by former National Poet Laureate Billy Collins in April at Western Kentucky University. The Fall 2010 semester starts Roy’s fifth semester of teaching general education courses for WKU’s Department of English. In addition, the editor of the book Favorite Recipes of Kentucky Celebrities has selected Roy to appear in the Tennessee edition of the book, due out November 1. The cookbook has hundreds of recipes from Kentucky businesses, artist, writers, athletes, sportsmen, actors, and musicians. Tennessee contributors include such people as Trace Adkins, Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus, Jack Hannah, Ashley Judd, Martina McBride, David Sacks (founder of PayPal), and Reese Witherspoon. In addition to the recipe, each contributor has a short bio and a blurb on the story behind the recipe. The cookbooks are used for fundraising efforts for nonprofit organizations. Additional details available at the editor’s blog, http://www.celebritycookbooks.blogspot.com.

David Bennett Carren (Fall 2005), along with co-author J. Larry Carroll, won the Act I: ION TV Movie Contest for Strong Suspicion. The contest, presented by the New York Television Festival and ION Television, awards the winners $40,000 and a development deal with ION Television. Once in development, the script has the possibility to be produced as a TV movie to air on ION Television. The synopsis of the script: When a spoiled playboy’s attempt to annoy his wealthy absentee father lands him in grand jury duty for a year, he takes on a corrupt prosecuting attorney and transforms a compliant jury into the baddest game in town. The Red Queen, written and directed by David, had its world premiere at the Cine Las Americas Film Festival in April at the Regent Metropolitan 14 in Austin, Texas. The film’s stars, Valente Rodriquez and Linda Bustamante, and David were present for Q & A. Produced entirely in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas, The Red Queen has also earned an honorable mention in the Los Angeles Reel Film Festival and second place in the University Film and Video Association Screenwriting Competition. (top)

Amy Watkins Copeland (Spring 2006) discussed poetry, publishing and Red Lion Square, the poetry podcast she co-edits with Jae Newman (Fall 2006) on “The F-Bomb,” a feminist talk radio show on WPRK 91.5 FM on July 5. You can listen to the interview here: http://www.redlionsq.com/episodes/fbomb.mp3. She works in a pretty good Spalding endorsement! They are taking submissions for Red Lion Square. To subscribe (it’s free) or find more about submitting, visit http://www.redlionsq.com.

Sonja de Vries (Fall 2009) announces that her first chapbook, Planting a Garden in Baghdad, was accepted for publication by Finishing Line Press. Sonja, along with alum Barry George (Fall 2009), faculty member Debra Kang Dean, and Makalane Bandele, participated in a “Poets for Haiti” fundraiser along with singer/songwriter Shadwick Wilde. The event, which Sonja organized, raised $500.

Joan Donaldson (Spring 2008) announces that the State of Tennessee chose her young adult novel, On Viney’s Mountain, to represent Tennessee at the National Book Festival sponsored by the Library of Congress. Joan appears at the Pavilion of States, where the 52 books chosen will be displayed. (top)

Kathryn Eastburn (Spring 2006) has relocated to Colorado Springs, where she is teaching “Beginning Creative Nonfiction Writing” in The Colorado College Summer Session, and “Write Mind: A Course in Life Story Writing” to older adults at the Hancock Community Center. Kathryn’s radio column, “The Middle Distance,” can be heard every Friday online at http://www.krcc.org (click on “The Big Something”), and every Saturday at 1 p.m. Mountain Time after “This American Life” on KRCC 91.5, the Colorado Springs-based NPR affiliate station. Kathryn teaches “Introduction to Personal Narrative” at Denver’s Lighthouse Writers’ Workshop in the fall and is working on a proposal to set up a program of memoir writing workshops for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Kathryn is delighted to be included in the newly published anthology Cornbread Nation 5: The Best of Southern Food Writing (University of Georgia Press).

Lia Eastep (Spring 2008) is covering the arts and culture beat for (614) Magazine, a monthly glossy lifestyle magazine in Columbus, Ohio.

Ann Eskridge (Fall 2008) won honorable mention for her young-adult book The Raven in the http://www.Wordhustler.com Literary Contest. The contest netted almost 1,000 entries.

Darlyn Finch (Summer 2009) hosts a radio segment called Scribbler’s Corner on the show “Yo Soy Latino” from noon to 1 p.m. on the second Saturday of each month at 801 AM WEUS in Orlando, Florida. Her guests are writers, editors, poets and literacy champions. You can listen live at http://www.yosoylatino.us. Darlyn was honored to be invited to participate in “Transformations, A Creative Convergence of Poets and Artists” (http://www.411.fit.edu/transformations), sponsored by the Florida Institute of Technology. Edmund Skellings, poet laureate of Florida, is honorary chairman of the project, involving twelve pairs of collaborators. Darlyn’s partner was Melbourne painter Jerry Hooper (http://www.jerryhooper.com). The exhibition of the created works is installed at the Brevard Art Museum (http://www.brevardartmuseum.org). (top)

Stacia M. Fleegal’s (Fall 2006) second full-length collection of poetry, Versus, was recently accepted for publication and is forthcoming by BlazeVOX. Additionally, her poem, “Horoscope,” was part of the July 6 Red Lion Square podcast.

Foust (Fall 2008) announces that her story “Camera Obscura” was in Issue 4 of Moon Milk Review. Her story “Almost There” was reprinted in Volume 4 of Shalla Magazine. Her story “Missing” is in the August issue of Word Riot. In June, she gave a reading at Chop Suey Tuey Books in Richmond, Virginia. On September 18, she reads at The Black Squirrel in Washington, D.C., along with seven other Moon Milk Review contributors. Find out more at http://www.foustart.com.

Barry George (Fall 2009) was a guest lecturer at Mercerburg Academy’s Young Writers Camp, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, in July. He is writing a review of Sonia Sanchez’s new book, Morning Haiku, for the Alabama Writers’ Forum Web Site, http://www.writersforum.org/home.aspx. (top)

George Getschow (Spring 2005), principal lecturer at the University of North Texas Frank W. and Sue Mayborn School of Journalism, has been inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters. The Texas Institute of Letters is a nonprofit organization with the purpose of stimulating interest in Texas letters and recognizing distinctive literary achievement. Members, who must be Texas residents, include National Book Award winner Robert A. Caro; author Don Graham; Skip Hollandsworth, executive editor of Texas Monthly and poet and essayist Naomi Shihab Nye. Getschow has taught at UNT since 2002. At the Mayborn School of Journalism, Getschow serves as writer-in-residence for the school’s annual Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference. The conference, held each summer, has become the nation’s most acclaimed narrative nonfiction conference, bringing together authors, editors, journalists, literary agents and publishers and awarding book contracts and cash prizes for manuscripts, personal essays and reporting and research-based narratives. Getschow created and is the editor of Spurs of Inspiration, an anthology of the 10 “best of the best” submissions to the Mayborn Conference, and created and helps to produce Mayborn magazine, which showcases the work of the Mayborn School’s graduate students and the writers who are the guest speakers at each year’s conference. In addition, each year, Getschow assembles a group of students for immersion writing workshop in Archer City, the hometown of novelist and UNT alumnus Larry McMurtry. During the workshop, McMurtry usually meets with students in his home to discuss writing and the writing life. Getschow is completing a literary nonfiction book, Walled Kingdom, which grew out of a two-part narrative that he wrote for The Wall Street Journal.

Tara Goldstein (Fall 2006) announces that her play, Harriet’s House, about love, loss and adoption in a same-sex family, was produced by her production company Gailey Road Productions in early July. About 450 people saw the production during its three-day run at the University of Toronto’s Hart House Theatre. In July, Tara also became chair of the Playwrights Guild of Canada (PGC) Women’s Caucus. PGC is a national association mandated to advance the creative rights and interests of professional Canadian playwrights, promote Canadian plays nationally and internationally and foster an active, evolving community of writers for the stage. As chair of the Women’s Caucus, Tara plans to design and run a six-week cyber-playwriting challenge for PGC members in the fall. (top)

Joe Gisondi (Spring 2010) wrote “Getting Sportswriters to Play Your Game,” an article published in College Media Review that details methods for training student-journalists in both the class room and the newsroom.

Lydia Griffin (Fall 2008) has just completed her first biography for the fourth-grade level, Susan Anderson: High Country Doctor, to be published by Filter Press in September. Lydia is working on her secondary teaching certification in English through Prescott College in Prescott, Arizona. Lydia is the keynote speaker at the Girls Scouts of Montana and Wyoming conference this fall.

Lucrecia Guerrero (Fall 2005) teaches “Introduction to Fiction” at Purdue North Central in Westville, Indiana, this fall. She also teaches “Flash Fiction” at the Lubeznick Center for the Arts in Michigan City, Indiana. Her one-act play, “Look on the Bright Side,” is one of four plays to be produced in the spring at the Lubeznick Center for the Arts. Tree of Sighs, her first novel, is scheduled to be published by Bilingual Press at Arizona State University in the winter.

J.J. Gumbs (Spring 2009) announces that her book The Jamerican was launched on July 15 at the Starapples Restaurant/Stanley & Empress Boutique Gardens in Kingston, Jamaica. In attendance were present and past presidents of the Mona Lions Club, representatives of the Jamaica 4-H Clubs movement, the Book Industry Association of Jamaica (BIAJ), the media, and friends and family of the author. Emcee for the evening was Empress Mullings of NewsTalk 93 FM. Entertainment was provided by Lester Lewis and Singing Rose, along with Singer Jah—the first Magnum King in Jamaica. According to Mary Yukari Waters, author of The Favorites, The Jamerican is “a delightful tale of love in a Jamaican-American community—compulsively readable, and filled to the brim with charm, humor, and joie de vivre.” The Jamerican is available in bookstores and on http://www.amazon.com and http://www.barnesandnoble.com. (top)

Brian Hampton (Spring 2006) announces that Studio Players theater group in Lexington, Kentucky, opens its 2010-2011 season with his play, The Jungle Fun Room, from September 16-October 10. The Jungle Fun Room was the winner of the Audience Favorite Award at the Penobscot Theatre’s Northern Writes New Play Festival and received its world premiere in this summer’s New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC) at the Actors’ Playhouse. This is its regional debut. Visit http://www.studioplayers.org or http://www.brianhampton.net for more information.

Mike Hampton’s (Fall 2005) short story “The Medicine Man’s Boy” appears in the first issue of Southern Grit, and his short story “Super Hero Suicide Notes” will appear in issue 3 of The Wrong Tree Review. His essay “Subject 72” appeared in the 13th issue of Paradigm.

Colleen S. Harris (Fall 2009) reports that her poem “Confession” appears in New Verse News at http://www.newversenews.blogspot.com/2010/07/confession.html# and that her poems “These Terrible Sacraments” and “The Postscript She Doesn’t Write” appears in the winter issue of Minnetonka Review. All are pieces from her forthcoming book, These Terrible Sacraments. Her poem “Violet Petals” appears in the next issue of Hawk & Whippoorwill, and her poems “Helen,” “Midwife to Bathsheba,” and “Mary to Her Son X” appear in the July 2010 issue of Ontologica. Colleen is putting the finishing touches on her poetry book, These Terrible Sacraments, which is to be published by Bellowing Ark Press in 2011. The manuscript collects stories from her brother, who served as a Marine for three tours through Iraq and Afghanistan. (top)

Chris Helvey (Fall 2006) won second place in the Next Great Writers Contest sponsored by the Carnegie Center of Lexington, Kentucky, for his short story, “Work Gloves.”

Edie Hemingway (Spring 2004), regional adviser for Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, planned and directed the annual conference, July 17-18, in Frederick, Maryland. With her Random House editor, Michelle Poploff, Edie presented a joint session on the author/editor revision process.
Faculty member Joyce McDonald presented a keynote speech. Alum Teresa Crumpton (Fall 2003) presented a workshop on revision, and former faculty member Carolyn Crimi also presented. Patti Zelch (Fall 2003) attended the event. Following the conference, Kathleen Thompson (Fall 2003) joined Edie, Teresa, Patti, and two other writers at Blue Mountain Retreat on an organic farm in western Maryland. In the mornings, the writers were mostly writing and revising. (Teresa kept the whip cracking.) Kathleen, however, slipped away one morning to pick blackberries. The group was quick to excuse her when she baked a blackberry cobbler and concocted bruschetta with fresh tomatoes and basil from the farm. Late afternoons and evenings they critiqued a variety of manuscripts for each other—three middle-grade novels, a young adult fantasy, an adult novel, a short story, and a screenplay.

Lisa Jayne (Spring 2010) announces that her play “One Week: An Uncommon Love Story,” opened at White Mountain Regional Theater in May, with additional shows in June. Fourth semester fiction student Amy Hanridge is in the production. Find out more at http://www.whitemountainregionaltheater.com. (top)

Marci Rae Johnson (Spring 2005) has poems upcoming in The Louisville Review, Minnetonka Review, The Christian Century, and Red Lion Square. She teaches as an adjunct faculty member at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, in the fall.

Heather L. Jones (Spring 2008) reports that her play, The Waitress Play, received a three-performance run as a staged reading at American Stage Theatre in St. Petersburg, Florida. The show was the debut of Blue Scarf Collective, a theatre-making group that also includes St. Petersburg writer/actors Aleshea Harris and Roxanne Faye. (Find the fan page on Facebook.) Heather has just completed her first school year as a composition instructor at the University of Tampa and continues to teach this coming school year. Also, this fall she teaches a creative writing workshop at the new Aging Well Center in Clearwater, Florida. Heather’s one-act play, What Remains, was presented along with Aleshea’s Big Trick and Roxanne’s Aftermath in a show titled Triage: The Mortality Plays, which ran for six days in July—three at the Palladium in St. Petersburg and three at the Creative Loafing Event Space in Tampa. Heather has also negotiated with the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg to write a one-woman play about Gala Dali, and Roxanne performs in it this coming spring, when the new building opens.

René Ketterer (Fall 2007) attended the “Computers and Writing 2010: Virtual Worlds” Conference at Purdue University in May. See http://www.digitalparlor.org/cw2010/ (top)

Cyn Kitchen (Spring 2005) announces that “Prosthesis,” a flash fiction piece, appears in the August 2010 issue of You Must Be This Tall to Ride (http://www.youmustbethistalltoride.net). Cyn is anxiously awaiting the birth of her first book, a collection of short stories called Ten Tongues, in October 2010 from MotesBooks. In anticipation of its arrival, she’s launched a new website, http://www.cynkitchen.com.

Katrina Kittle (Fall 2008) announces that her fourth novel is set to be released from Harper Perennial on August 3. The Blessings of the Animals, from which she read at her graduate reading, is an Indie Next pick for August 2010. She is on book tour in the Midwest/Great Lakes region for much of August. A list of events can be found at her website, http://www.katrinakittle.com.

Amina S. McIntyre (Fall 2009) participated in the Tip My Cup Productions’ 24 Hour Theater Festival at the Roy Arias Theater in New York on June 11. Her play, NO THANKS! Math Genius Turns Down $1M Prize, or A Poincarious Situation, was performed.

Mindy Beth Miller (Spring 2009) recently gave her first interview as an emerging Appalachian writer to Sheldon Lee Compton (Fall 2007), which appeared on his Bent Country blog. Also, her short story “Entangled Roots” is featured in the June issue of Still: The Journal. Still is an online journal, and Miller’s story can be accessed at http://www.stilljournal.net.

Nicole Moro (Spring 2009) announces that her chapbook of poetry, Almost, was released this July from Finishing Line Press. Kentuckiana folks should be on the lookout for forthcoming readings. Additionally, Nicole is delighted to note that she has recently accepted a full-time faculty position at Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana. She observes, “Life is good!” (top)

Richard Newman (Fall 2004) has poems appearing in Boulevard and the anthologies Seriously Funny (University of Georgia Press) and Flood Watch (Walrus Press). Garrison Keillor recently read another poem from his first book, Borrowed Towns, on The Writer’s Almanac.

Frances Nicholson (Spring 2004) announces that her poem “Serenade for a Red Planet” is included in Fearless Books’ second poetry anthology, TOUCHING: Poems of Love, Longing, and Desire. She also led another six-week workshop on poetry and the sacred, through Pasadena Presbyterian Church in the weeks following Lent. In her capacity as an area theatrical critic for a string of Los Angeles suburban daily newspapers, she was amused to discover the artistic director of The Theatre at Boston Court, an award-winning Los Angeles-area theater company, has set up a Facebook page praising her work and trying to “Betty White” her onto the staff of the Los Angeles Times.

Loreen Niewenhuis (Spring 2007) announces that her short story “A Little Piece of Me” was accepted for publication at River Oak Review. An excerpt from her book about her 1,000-mile hike around Lake Michigan appears in this summer’s Ontologica (http://www.warriorpoetgroup.com/Ontologica). (top)

Rosanne Osborne (Spring 2007) has two poems, “Printer’s Devil” and “Sam Clemens Dreams of Laura,” in the Summer 2010 issue of The Village Pariah.

Mary Popham (Fall 2003) published book reviews in Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky: July 10: The Blue Hour, by Frederick Smock; June 19: When the Bough Breaks: An Anthology by members of KaBooM Writing Collective; and book reviews published in New Southerner magazine, edited by Bobbi Buchanan: Summer 2010, Eli the Good, by Silas House; and Nothing Like an Ocean by Jim Tomlinson; and Spring 2010, What Comes Down to Us: 25 Contemporary Kentucky Poets, edited by Jeff Worley; and for ForeWord Reviews: May/June: I Am Here and Not Not-There, by Margaret Avison; and Mar/Apr, Empire for Liberty, by Richard H. Immerman.

Molly Power (Spring 2007) has had her story, “Parity,” published in The Briar Cliff Review, Volume 22, 2010. This is an annual publication of Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa. (top)

Diana Raab (Fall 2003) announces the release of her memoir/self-help book, Healing With Words: A Writer’s Cancer Journey (Loving Healing Press, June 2010), which she began while in Spalding’s charter class, just after recovering from breast cancer. The book was a part of her creative thesis in nonfiction. The book has already received stellar reviews, including one from our esteemed director, Sena Jeter Naslund: “Though I am a professional writer, it’s hard to find words for the admiration I feel for Diana Raab and her inspiring true story: Healing With Words. Time after time, Diana articulates incisively the thoughts and feelings that convey hoped-for meaning and encouragement. She is a woman who knows what it is to live fully in the face of mortality. She will add value to the life of every person who reads this book. That she includes the creative impulse to write and the solace offered by contemplating the beautiful as a vital part of human existence resonates at a spiritual level for me.”

Diana Noasconi Rhodes (Fall 2008) announces that her essay “Swimming Upstream” is to be published in the September issue of Seattle Woman Magazine. The essay sums up, in 500 words, the experience of being an expatriate in Germany for five years (two of which were spent in Spalding’s MFA program). The online version of the magazine can be found at http://www.seattlewomanmagazine.com.

Rosemary Royston (Fall 2009) is teaching “The Many Faces of Tone” at the Institute for Continuing Learning, Young Harris College. Royston’s poem “Igneous or ‘of fire’” won the 2010 Literal Latte Food Verse Award (New York), and her poem “Propagation” has been accepted for publication in Alehouse.

Clayton Scott (Spring 2007) has an article titled, “Slamming Arkansas Schools,” being published in the April issue of Teaching Artist Journal, a national publication that can be found online at TAJournal.com. In the article, Clayton writes about his work in public schools throughout Arkansas, where he continues to thunder across his state, inspiring students (fourth-12th grade) to write and perform poetry. He also remains a true writer/teacher with the world premiere of his one-person play, Down in Littletown. The play has received resounding standing ovations, and he is now taking his play on the road, performing in towns throughout his state. His play, which has already received attention in New York City, began as his creative thesis at Spalding. (top)

Dawn Shamp (Spring 2005) is on the faculty of the Table Rock Writers Workshop (formerly Duke University Writers Workshop), September 20-24, at Wildacres Retreat in Little Switzerland, North Carolina. Other faculty members include Abigail DeWitt, Zelda Lockhart, Darnell Arnoult and Judy Goldman. Details are at http://www.tablerockwriters.com.

Pamela Steele (Spring 2004) has two poems in the newly released anthology New Poets of the American West. She recently taught a writing workshop at Summer Fishtrap and was interviewed on Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Think Out Loud program on July 21. Pamela has also finished the first draft of a novel, written while participating in a year-long novel workshop taught by Jane Vandenburgh.

Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen (Spring 2003) announces that her new young adult novel, The Gardener, was featured on Good Morning America in the segment “Best Summer Books for Kids.” The book has been nominated for Young Adult Library Services Association’s Best Books for Young Adults.

Gretchen Tremoulet (Fall 2007) has had a short story titled “Going Downhill” published in Natural Bridge, No. 23 (Spring 2010). (top)

Christamar Varicella (Fall 2007) placed two humor pieces recently. “An Open Letter to Jack Kerouac” appeared in the July issue of Pig in a Poke and can be viewed at http://www.piginpoke.com/07-2010cvaricella.html. “An Open Letter to Tom Wolfe” found a home with A River & Sound Review (http://www.riverandsoundreview.org/Humor/Issue3/Varicella.htm).

Jonathan Weinert (Fall 2005) announces that his manuscript Strange Equations was a finalist for the Green Rose and Colorado prizes this year. His chapbook, Charged Particles, was a finalist for the Center of Book Arts chapbook competition. You can hear Jonathan read three poems from the chapbook at Red Lion Square (http://www.redlionsq.com), the fabulous new online literary venture from fellow Spaldingites Amy Watkins Copeland (Spring 2006) and Jae Newman (Fall 2006).

Aimee Zaring (Spring 2005) announces that her short story, “Cruise,” is forthcoming in the fall issue of Adirondack Review. Her book review on Paul Harding’s Pulitzer-winning Tinkers and Elizabeth Hardwick’s short story collection, The New York Stories of Elizabeth Hardwick, appeared in the June 12 and July 3 editions, respectively, of The Courier-Journal. She also went on a writer’s retreat to a cabin at Cedars of Peace, affiliated with the Sisters of Loretto Motherhouse near Bardstown, Kentucky, in July. (top)

Calls for Submissions

Accents Publishing, an independent press for brilliant voices, seeks poems of up to 50 words for an anthology of very short poems, edited by Katerina Stoykova-Klemer (Fall 2009). Previously published work is accepted if credited. Send submissions, along with short bio, in the body of an e-mail to accents.publishing@gmail.com

The 2010 New Southerner Literary Contest is open to previously unpublished poetry, fiction and nonfiction from April 1 through October 1. Although the contest theme is open, editors are especially interested in work that relates to our mission, which is promoting self-sufficiency, environmental stewardship and local economies. We are also interested in works by writers with a Southern connection, and works written with a Southern slant or that focus on Southern issues, people and places. First-place prizes of $200 are awarded in fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Final judges are Program Director Sena Jeter Naslund (fiction), Jason Howard (nonfiction) and Jeff Worley (James Baker Hall Memorial Prize in Poetry). Easy online submissions. To enter, or for more information, go to http://www.newsoutherner.com/?page_id=263.many. (top)

Spalding’s MFA in Writing Reading Trail for MFA Authors
When one of our faculty, students, or alumni publishes a book, thew MFA Program celebrates that success. In keeping with the community spirit fostered by the Spalding MFA Program, the Program wants to support actively those authors when they travel to promote their books. Please send information to Karen Mann to help create a Reading Trail of possible reading opportunities.

Spalding students and faculty hail from all over the United States and beyond. Many participants live in communities that offer reading series, which are affiliated with a local independent bookstore or university or are run on their own, such as Louisville’s own InKY (founded by Spalding alums).

MFAers can support Spalding authors by providing an introduction to reading series organizers or simply passing along information about reading opportunities in your area. Providing this information does not commit anyone to anything he/she is unable to do. The Program simply hopes to put together a list of possibilities that will help authors market their books successfully.

Anyone who has ideas to share should email Karen Mann at kmann@spalding.edu to request the Reading Trail form to complete and return.

Thank you for being an active part of our Spalding MFA community!

Anyone who has a new book our may request a copy of the Reading Trail from Karen Mann at kmann@spalding.edu. (top)

Reminders and Notes

Financial Aid: The MFA Program offers scholarships to students entering their first semester in the program. Returning students who desire financial assistance other than student loans should apply for graduate assistantships. Applications for scholarships and assistantships should be directed to the MFA Office. Information for assistantships is on Blackboard under SEMESTERS/ [your semester]/ DOCUMENTS: GENERAL INTEREST.

Federal student loans are available to all eligible graduate students and are available for the fall, spring, or summer semesters. For help with financial aid questions, call Vickie Montgomery at (800) 896-8941, ext. 2731 or email vmontgomery@spalding.edu. Students may enter or update their FAFSA information online at fafsa.ed.gov.

All Fall 2010 students: Fill out the FAFSA for the 10-11 school year, using 2009 tax information. (top)

Classifieds in the newsletter: Submissions of writing-related advertisements, such as calls for submission, services for writers, etc., may be made to mfanewsletter@spalding.edu

Online information: Newsletters are archived online at spalding.edu/mfanewsletter. For convenience, bookmark this page. The web address is case sensitive. (top)

Life of a Writer: Please remember to email Life of a Writer news to the program at mfanewsletter@spalding.edu because this is a vital part of our community—to sharing writing successes. The Program wants to share good news with everyone and compiles records of publications, presentations, readings, employment, and other related information on faculty, students, and alums.

Life of a Writer pieces should be written as a paragraph in third person. If you are an alum, please alum include your graduation semester, such as Jake Doe (Fall 2003). Spell out month and state names. Include title(s) of the work, publishers, date of publication, and web site addresses when appropriate.

Examples of kinds of activities that might be included in the Life of a Writer column are publishing in journals or magazines or in book form, winning awards or other prizes, giving a public reading, visiting a classroom to talk about writing, judging a writing competition, attending a writers conference, serving on a panel about writing, or volunteering in a project about writing or literacy. (top)

About The Masthead: The image in our masthead is a photograph of a Louisville fountain, “River Horse,” by Louisville sculptor Barney Bright. The sculpture references both the location of Louisville as a river city on the banks of the Ohio and as the host, for more than 125 years, of the Kentucky Derby. The winged horse Pegasus, of Greek mythology, has long been associated with the literary arts and the wings of poesy. (top)

Sena Jeter Naslund, Program Director
Karen J. Mann, Administrative Director
Kathleen Driskell, Associate Program Director
Katy Yocom, Program Associate
Gayle Hanratty, Administrative Assistant
Carolyn Flynn, Newsletter Editor

Master of Fine Arts in Writing •Spalding University
851 S. Fourth St. • Louisville, KY 40203
(800) 896-8941, ext. 2423 or (502) 585-9911, ext. 2423
mfa@spalding.edu • www.spalding.edu/mfa

On Extended Wings archives: To see previous issues of the newsletter, click here

Sena Jeter Naslund, Program Director
Karen Mann, Administrative Director
Kathleen Driskell, Associate Program Director
Katy Yocom, Program Associate
Gayle Hanratty, Administrative Assistant

Email Life of a Writer information, Because You Asked questions, or classifieds to Carolyn Flynn at mfanewsletter@spalding.edu

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