Vol. 5 No. 2
February 2004
Screenwriting/PLaywriting Opportunity
Contest: Metroversity, Deadline February 26
Writing for Children Conference
Previous Newsletters
MFA Program Welcomes New Faculty Member in Playwriting
and Screenwriting
Claudia Hunter Johnson, PhD,
joins Spalding’s MFA in Writing Program as the first member of our playwriting
faculty. Claudia is the author of numerous plays, including a one-act
comedy, “Propinquity,” commissioned by Actors Theatre of Louisville and
produced in their Humana Festival of New American Plays. “Propinquity”
and a second one-act, “Paternity,” were produced by the Source Theater
in Washington, D.C., and the Provincetown Playhouse in New York. A short
drama, “Corsage,” was a finalist in Actors Theatre of Louisville’s National
Ten-Minute Play Contest.
Her full-length
plays include “Hard Up,” which received the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting
Award and the American National Theater and Academy West Award;
“Aspirations,” which received the Warner Brothers Screenwriting Award; and
“Y” (originally commissioned as a one-act by Actors Theatre of
Louisville), which won the Maud Adams Playwriting Award and was widely
produced and staged as a reading.
Claudia will also teach in the
screenwriting program. Two of her screenplays, Obscenity and
Psycho Bitch (written with Matt Stevens), were recent finalists for
the Sundance Screenwriters Lab; and Winterfort (written with Pam
Ball) won the Florida Screenwriters Award. She is the author of two
screenwriting books, Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect (Focal
Press, 2000; 2nd edition, January 2005), and Script Partners: What
Makes Film and TV Writing Teams Work (co-written with Stevens; Michael
Wiese Productions, 2003). For more information about Claudia, click the
Faculty link at http://www.spalding.edu/mfa.
(top)
MFA Program Announces New Partnership with The Spoken Word
The MFA Program in Writing at Spalding University
announces a new partnership with The Spoken Word, a public radio
series featuring talks and performances about literature, the arts, and
culture recorded throughout the Southeast. During the MFA residencies,
The Spoken Word will tape and subsequently broadcast the readings
and presentations of visiting writers to the Program and of MFA faculty
with recent book publications. Faculty readings for The Spoken Word
will be recorded during a regular residency presentation called “A
Celebration of Recently Published Books.”
The Spoken Word
is produced by Public Radio South, a division of The Camberley
Collection, and has aired on Atlanta’s WABE, one of the fifteen largest
NPR affiliates in the country, since October 2001. The Spoken Word,
syndicated in October 2003, now airs on nearly 40 public radio stations
around the Southeast United States. For more information on The Spoken
Word, visit http://www.radiosouth.net.
Opportunity for
Fifth Semester of Study Before Graduation
The MFA in
Writing Program now offers students the opportunity to register for a
fifth semester of mentored instruction before they finish their degrees.
This feature benefits students who wish to study further in their genre or
do additional work in a minor or another genre, provided they apply and
are accepted to study in that area of concentration.
By taking the
additional 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,
Associate Program Director, at kdriskell@spalding.edu.
Opportunity to Workshop in
Screenwriting/Playwriting
Students in their
fourth or fifth semester may participate in the screenwriting/playwriting
workshop during the May 2004 residency. Students are responsible for
submitting a short script to the Worksheet and reading some background
material. During the mentored portion of the semester, students will work
faculty in their major area. Any student interested in this opportunity
should Karen Mann, Admistrative Director. kmann@spalding.edu
Metroversity Competition Deadline: February 26
Postmark
All currently enrolled MFAW students are
eligible to submit fiction, nonfiction, and poetry entries to the
Kentuckiana Metroversity Creative and Expository Writing Competitions. If
you have not received an email announcement and attached entry form from
Kathleen Driskell and would like to enter, please contact her at kdriskell@spalding.edu (top)
May 2004 Graduation Information
Graduation
will take place in the late afternoon on Saturday, May 29 (exact time and
location to be determined). The dates and times for the Graduation
Reading, Graduation Lecture, and Thesis Discussion will be sent to
students about two weeks before the May residency. Graduation is followed
by dinner at the Brown Hotel, to which all are invited. For all students
and faculty, there is no additional cost for dinner. Graduating students
may invite guests to this dinner at a cost of $40 per guest. While
attendance at the dinner is not required, all students are asked to notify
the MFA office if they do not plan to attend.
Graduation
Readings: Students will be introduced by their mentors. Students have
20 minutes (total), which includes thank-yous and the reading. Students
should practice reading aloud carefully to be sure that they are within
the time limit. Once the time slots in the schedule are determined for the
Graduation Readings, individuals’ reading times will be determined by
drawing names. Graduation Readings will be in late afternoon (just before
dinner) and two sessions will be held at the same time, similar to the
format of the October residency.
Writing for Children Conference
On May
22 and 23, the MFA Program hosts a Writing for Children Conference.
Besides writing for children faculty members, guests include children’s
authors Jack Gantos, Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen, and Alexandria LaFaye;
children’s author and anthologist Lisa Rowe Fraustino, Harcourt children’s
editor Michael Stearns, and literary agent Rosemary Stimola. The
conference includes two panels, “Breaking in to the Writing for Children
Business” and “Discoveries in Journaling.”
The sessions for the
conference take place in The Brown Hotel. Spalding writing for children
students attend for free. Further information, including a schedule of
events, is forthcoming by brochure and on the website. For more
information, email Karen Mann at kmann@spalding.edu (top)
Alumni News
Registration &
Deposit Deadline: March 15
Literary Tour of Ireland 2004: July 8-July
17
Those wishing to join the Literary Tour of Ireland need to make a
deposit to reserve their place on the first Spalding MFA Alumni Trip to
Ireland, July 8 through July 17, 2004. The Spalding group visits Dublin
and then tours the heart of Ireland, visiting sites of literary
importance, including the Abbey Theatre, the Dublin Writers Museum, and
Yeats’s grave at Drumcliffe. The group also tours areas associated with
modern and contemporary writers including James Joyce, Nuala O’Faolain,
and Roddy Doyle.
The nine-day tour for Spalding alumni and guests
features round-trip airfare, first class hotel accommodations, a full
Irish breakfast daily, five dinners, luxury air-conditioned motorcoach
travel arrangements, a tour manager and driver, local guides in Dublin and
Cork, admission to various museums and monuments, porterage of luggage,
sightseeing and touring, hotel taxes and service charges, and all
gratuities to driver, guide and hotel bell staff.
The price per
person (based on double occupancy—single supplement $300) is $2999, rate
of exchange figured on the Eurodollar. A deposit of $250 is required upon
registration with the final payment due May 1, 2004. Check payments are
preferred. Add 4 percent for Visa, MC, or American Express
payments.
All deposits should be made to Clarissa Henshaw, CTC,
Group Manager, International Tours
& Cruises, 9432 Shelbyville Road, Louisville, KY 40222.
Email
questions to Clarissa Henshaw at clarissa@itcruises.com or call
her at (866) 549-TOUR.
Other questions can be directed to Kathleen
Driskell, Associate Program Director, MFA in Writing Program, Spalding
University, 851 S. Fourth Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40203 or (502)
585-9911 ext. 2231 or kdriskell@spalding.edu. (top)
MFA Alums Form Writing Group
A group of Louisville-area MFA alumni have formed an as-yet-unnamed
writing group. Group members gather at a coffee house every two weeks and
comment on the work of two members at each meeting. The shared MFA
background has resulted in a high level of commentary and an energizing,
collegial atmosphere. Participants so far include Holly Brockman, Kim
Crum, Allison Jones, Janlyn Mattingly-Weintraub, Mary Popham, Susan
Treitz, Thelma Wyland, and Katy Yocom, along with Vermont College MFA
alums Beth Adler and Nickole Brown. The group gladly welcomes other MFA
alumni who haven’t yet had the chance to participate.
In addition,
the Internet makes it possible for alums who live many miles apart to
share in online writing groups, either by email or by taking advantage of
the MFA program’s Alumni Hangout (a.k.a. chat room and bulletin board).
Since They Didn’t Get Enough Reading Done During the MFA Program . . .
The October ’03 graduating class has formed a lively and dedicated e-mail book group. In the months after graduation, classics scholar Deidre Woollard led the group through a learned discussion of Homer’s Odyssey. The readers then moved on to the Selected Stories of Anton Chekhov, with a rotating cadre of discussion leaders. Participants say the conversations have been insightful and thought-provoking and have proved a great way to keep the intellectual and creative camaraderie going. Those interested in joining should contact Katy Yocom. kyocom@spalding.edu (top)
Students
Bobbi Buchanan’s essay, “Creepy Crawlers at the Grocery Store and Life’s Other Ugly Truths Revealed,” won 2nd place in the creative nonfiction category of Green River Writers’ annual contest. Her op-ed piece, “Don’t Hang Up, That’s My Mom Calling,” ran in The New York Times on December 8, 2003.
Maureen Mahoney Gillis had an historical-genealogical research paper published in the 2003 edition of Ireland’s Iris Mhuinter Mhathúa (The O Mahony Journal).
Edie Hemingway is the “author in residence” on March 5 at East Wilkes Middle School in Wilkes County, North Carolina where faculty is using Broken Drum as part of the 8th grade English and Social Studies curriculum. On April 23, her co-author Jackie Shields and she speak to 8th grade classes at two middle schools in Garrett County, Maryland, about their research and writing process for both Broken Drum and Rebel Hart. The following day, April 24, they read at the Maryland Author Showcase, sponsored by the Western Maryland Library Association in Oakland, Maryland.
Erin Keane has poems forthcoming in Poems & Plays, Sou’wester, and Three-Chord Poems: an Anthology of Rock ’n Roll Poetry (Deep Cleveland Press). Her recent work in Oyez Review has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Cyn Kitchen’s work appeared on salon.com in January.
Richard Newman has poems forthcoming in Margie, Meridian, The Sun, and Three-Chord Poems: an Anthology of Rock ’n Roll Poetry (Deep Cleveland Press), and he has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. His chapbook, Tastes Like Chicken and Other Meditations, is forthcoming from Snark Press.
Mary O’Malley read at MacBack’s Paperbacks Bookstore in Cleveland in January. Her poem “Here There Be Gatekeepers” is forthcoming in Three-Chord Poems: an Anthology of Rock ’n Roll Poetry (Deep Cleveland Press). (top)
Linda Busby Parker’s novel, Seven Laurels, will be out in April. She read from the novel at the James Jones annual conference at the University of Texas (Austin) in October. Seven Laurels was reviewed by Booklist and the review will appear in the February issue of the magazine of the American Library Association. She recently published several book reviews in the Mobile Register and has reviews forthcoming on Best American Short Stories 2003 and Shannon Ravenel’s New Stories from the South, which includes a story originally published in The Louisville Review.
Jim Robertsons’ article “In Search of the Perfect Gentleman” was published in the Winter 2004 issue of Culture & Leisure Magazine.
Pam Steele’s poem, “To Townes Van Zandt,” will appear in Three-Chord Poems: an Anthology of Rock ’n Roll Poetry (Deep Cleveland Press).
K. Nicole Wilson, Pam Steele, and Erin Keane launched the InKY Reading Series, a monthly event to promote Kentuckiana writers and guests from around the region, on February 13 at the Rudyard Kipling, 422 W. Oak St. in Louisville. Readers from the MFA program included students Mark Rudolph and Michele Ruby and alumni Frank X Walker and Brenda Jones. The series is scheduled for the second Friday of every month. Information can be found online at www.sensilla.com/inky
Faculty and Staff
Kathleen Driskell’s poem “Why I Mother You the Way I Do,” is
forthcoming in New Millennium Writings. Her review of Frank X
Walker’s poetry collection Buffalo Dance: The Journey of York
appeared in The Louisville Courier-Journal in February. Her review
of Elaine Neill Orr’s memoir Gods of Noonday: A White Girl’s African
Life was reprinted in The Greensboro News & Record in
January.
Robert Finch will teach a week-long workshop in
essay writing, “First Person, Very Singular,” this summer at the
Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center on Cape Cod from August 15-20. Details
on the workshop and other courses and residencies in Provincetown can be
found at the FAWC website: http://www.fawc.org/. He will also teach a
weekend workshop on “The Memory of Place” at the Maine Writers and
Publishers Association Fall Writing Retreat, September 24-26, at the
Haystack Mountain School, Deer Isle, Maine. Details on the retreat can be
found at MWPA’s website: http://www.mainewriters.org/. (top)
Robin Lippincott has work forthcoming in The Paris Review and Fence.
Karen Mann’s essay “Tobacco and the Earth” appears in the new Kentucky Writers’ Coalition anthology, Tobacco: A Literary Anthology.
Sena Jeter Naslund’s book tour, since the October residency, with her new novel Four Spirits has included presentations in Detroit; Ann Arbor; Lansing; Iowa City; St. Paul; Madison; Milwaukee; Williamsburg, Kentucky; Frankfort; Miami; Palm Beach; Stuart, Florida; Sarasota; Chattanooga; Birmingham; Winter Park; and Asheville. Her publisher Morrow Harper-Collins has nominated Four Spirits for a Pulitizer Prize.
The Remembered Gate: Memoirs by Alabama Writers, edited by Jeanie Thompson and Jay Lamar, was reviewed by Sanford Pinsker in the Fall 2003 issue of The Georgia Review (also available online). Jeanie read from and discussed narrative in her work at “A Storyteller in the House” at Lurleen B. Wallace Community College (Andalusia, Alabama) in January. She will be the featured speaker, as founding editor, at the Black Warrior Review’s 30th anniversary reception at the University of Alabama on February 24. (top)
Alumni
Susan Christerson Brown’s essay, “Tobacco Yields,” is part of the newly released Tobacco: A Literary Anthology, a project of the Kentucky Writers’ Coalition, Inc. The publisher, Wind Publications, describes the book as “a collection of stories, poems, and essays which explore the role of tobacco in the economy, culture, and mythology of Kentucky and the tobacco-growing region.”
Sharon Full was hired by the University of Akron in Ohio to teach College Composition.
Kaylene Johnson’s “Moose Hollow,” published in the Spring 2002 issue of The Louisville Review, was listed as a Notable Essay in the Best American Essays 2003 anthology. (top)
Joe Schmidt has been hired to teach English in the City University of New York’s Bridge to College program.
Deidre Woollard’s short story “Echo and Narcissus” won second place in the Andre Dubus Award in Short Fiction sponsored by Words and Images magazine, and an excerpt from her novel won second place in the NLAPW Nob Hill Soul-Making Contest. She will read from it in San Francisco in March. Her short story “Mr. Quackers” will be made into a short film by students at Columbia College in Chicago.
Frank X Walker is currently on a reading tour promoting his new book of poems, Buffalo Dance: The Journey of York, an account of the Lewis and Clark Expedition told through the voice of Clark’s slave, York, the first African American to traverse the continent. His tour dates, which include appearances across the United States, can be found at http://www.frankxwalker.com/.
In
Sympathy
Our heartfelt sympathy to Ellie Bryant on the
recent loss of her mother, Margaret Bryant.
Our heartfelt sympathy to Jo Ann Rooney, President of Spalding University, on the recent loss of her father, John J. Rooney, who died February 17, 2004. (top)
Faculty Advisory Committee (FAC) Members for October 2003
Semester
• Robin Lippincott, Fiction
• Jeanie Thompson,
Poetry
• Dianne Aprile, Creative Nonfiction
• Luke Wallin, Writing
for Children
• Sam Zalutsky, Screenwriting
Both students and faculty are invited to make suggestions to the FAC
for exploration by the Program Director and larger faculty. However,
students and faculty should directly and immediately consult the Program
Director about any issues concerning specific individuals’ performance in
the program.
Faculty Books in Common for May 2004
Students order and read the book in their area of concentration before coming to the May 2004 residency. The screenplay is available from the MFA office.
• Carolyn Crimi, writing for children, Don’t Need Friends
•
Robin Lippincott, fiction, Our Arcadia
• Elaine Orr, creative
nonfiction, Gods of Noonday: A White Girl’s African Life
• Greg
Pape, poetry, Storm Patterns
• Charles Gaines, screenplay,
Indeh—the Dead (top)
Registration and Housing Reservations: Information regarding registration and housing reservations for the May 2004 residency/ semester is to be mailed the first week of March. Forms are to be accepted in the MFA Office between March 10 and 24.
Financial Aid: For help with financial aid questions, call Niki Leckrone at (800) 896-8941 ext. 2359 or (502) 585-9911, ext. 2359 or email nleckrone@spalding.edu. You may enter or update your FAFSA information online at www.fafsa.ed.gov.
MFA Scholarship Fund: Donations to the MFA in Writing Scholarship Fund may be made “in honor of” or “in memory of” a friend or loved one or organization. To make a donation, contact Theresa Raidy in the Advancement Office. Email: traidy@spalding.edu. Phone: (800) 896-8941, ext. 2601 or (502) 585-9911, ext. 2601.
Online information: MFA in Writing forms, deadlines, and other student and faculty information are available online at http://www.spalding.edu/mfaforms. Newsletters are at http://www.spalding.edu/mfanewsletter. For convenience, bookmark these two pages. Both web addresses are case sensitive. The MFA Office is happy to mail programs forms or the newsletter, if requested. Email kyocom@spalding.edu.