Vol. 4 No. 1
July 2003
The English Patient,
the movie
Life of a Writer
Students
Faculty
Previous Newsletters
Book-in-Common for October 2003 Residency
The Spalding MFA in Writing Program is pleased to announce that fiction writer and poet Michael Ondaatje is our guest speaker for October 2003. His Booker Prize-winning novel The English Patient is the MFA Book-in-Common.
The Steven Barclay Agency says of Ondaatje, "In his landmark novel, The English Patient-later made into the Academy Award-winning film-he explores the history of people history does not explore, intersecting four diverse lives at the end of World War II. Sri-Lanka native Ondaatje is best known as a novelist, but his work also encompasses memoir, poetry, and film, and reveals a passion for defying conventional form.
"Ondaatje is himself an interesting intersection of cultures. Born in the former Ceylon of Dutch/Indian ancestry, he was raised in London, and is now a Canadian citizen. From the memoir of his childhood, Running in the Family, to his Governor-General's award-winning book of poetry, There's a Trick With a Knife I'm Learning to Do, to his classic novel, The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje casts a spell over his readers."
Ondaatje lives in Toronto, where he has taught for many years at York University. He is the author of four collections of poetry including The Cinnamon Peeler, the most recent of which is Handwriting (1999), and five books of fiction: Anil's Ghost, The English Patient, In the Skin of the Lion, Coming Through Slaughter, and The Collected Works of Billy the Kid. His visit is of special interest to screenwriting students as well. Ondaatje's most recent book is The Conversations: Walter Murch & the Art of Editing Film.
As always with the MFA book-in-common, all students and faculty are asked to read The English Patient before arriving at Spalding in October and to bring a copy of the novel to the first Friday night of the residency.(top)
Choices: Special
Events
For the October 2003 residency, students and faculty may choose to attend
a presentation by the national poet laureate Billy Collins or to view
the feature film of the October book in common The English Patient,
by Michael Ondaatje. Students and faculty indicate the preferred activity
for Wednesday evening on the residency questionnaire, which is sent out
in August.
Students in the scriptwriting workshop are asked to attend the film, while
all poetry students are expected to attend the reading by the poet laureate.
Students in all other areas may choose which event to attend as part of
their MFA experience in genres other than their own.
The Collins event is to be held on the campus of Bellarmine University
in Louisville at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, October 14. Transportation is to
be provided for those who need it. Collins's work has appeared in The
New Yorker, The Paris Review, and The American Scholar. He
is a Guggenheim fellow and a New York Public Library Literary Lion. His
last three collections of poems have broken sales records for poetry,
and his readings are usually standing room only.
The film of The English Patient, screenplay by Anthony Minghella,
is to be shown at the Seelbach the same evening, so no special transportation
is provided. The film runs almost three hours.
Group discussion led by faculty follows each of the two events at the
Seelbach. (top)
MFA
Tuition and Fees;
Residency Dates
Beginning with the October 2003 semester, tuition for the first, second,
and third semesters is $5,040 per semester. The fourth semester tuition
fee is $5,640, which includes the fifth residency. Other fees include
a $48 registration fee and a $60 graduation fee. (Housing is not included.)
After conducting a student poll and after exploring hotel possibilities
in Louisville, the decision has been made to change the dates of the residencies
for the upcoming year. The change also reflects the wishes of the faculty.
The May 2004 residency begins May 21, 2004, and the October 2004 residency
begins October 29, 2004. Housing at the Seelbach for 2004 will increase
slightly for single rooms and stay the same for double rooms. The Program
is pleased to be able to offer such elegant lodging at such reasonable
cost to MFA students. (top)
Reading
Circles Now Available
for More than Fiction
During the past few residencies, the MFA program has organized a Novel
Reading Circle for students who have complete novel manuscripts and who
wish to have them read by other students. A total of 8 student manuscripts
have been read. Now this opportunity is open to students in other areas
of concentration as well who have book-length manuscripts in writing for
children, creative nonfiction, or poetry.
Students who have complete manuscripts that have been substantially worked
on in the program and who would like a reader(s) for their manuscript
may inform Karen by email (kmann@spalding.edu). Include the name, length,
and genre of the manuscript. The notice will be posted in the newsletter.
Students who want to respond to a "Reader Wanted" newsletter
announcement must be in that area of concentration. They may substitute
one manuscript per semester as a book on their semester's reading list.
A short 3-5 page essay is required from each reader. This essay should
be similar to a newspaper "review" of the entire book-its strengths
and weaknesses-rather than focusing on a single technical aspect of the
book. The review essay must be sent to the reviewer's mentor (just as
an essay on any item on the individual booklist would be sent to the mentor)
and to the author. (top)
Fleur-de-Lis
Releases First Novel
Fleur-de-Lis, the press of The Louisville Review, has recently released
It Was the Goodness of the Place, a novel by Lucinda Dixon Sullivan.
All MFA participants and friends are invited to public readings by Sullivan
on Saturday, August 2, at 3 p.m., Barnes & Noble at the Summit, Louisville;
and Sunday, August 3, at 2 p.m., Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Lexington.
Sena Jeter Naslund, editor of Fleur-de-Lis Press, says, "It Was
the Goodness of the Place will break your heart and leave you glad
it is broken because you're all the more alive for the breaking. In luminous
language, Lucinda Dixon Sullivan reaffirms the flawed worlds of all our
childhoods and gives us hope as resonant as grief."
Born and raised in Kentucky, Lucinda Dixon Sullivan is the author of stories
and essays that have appeared in The Louisville Review, the anthology
Place Gives Rise to Spirit, and other publications. With her husband,
attorney Richard M. Sullivan, she lives in Louisville and Boca Grande,
Florida.
It Was the Goodness of the Place can be ordered directly from Fleur-de-Lis.
Hardcover $18; Paper $13, 283 pp. ISBN 0-9652520-6-x ISBN (pbk.) 0-9652520-7-8.
Fleur-de-Lis' main mission is to publish first books of writers whose
work has previously appeared in The Louisville Review. The press was named
to honor the life of Flora Lee Sims Jeter. (top)
Faculty Book-in-Common
Titles
for Each Genre in October
As a new feature of the MFA, the program now includes a faculty book title,
in each area of concentration, to be discussed in a residency session
for all students writing in a particular area. Students obtain and read
one of the books listed below prior to coming to the October residency.
Titles are selected by drawing lots; new titles are drawn for each residency.
The residency sessions, which are scheduled to be held simultaneously
and separately for each genre, provide an informal meeting for students
to ask questions of the author in their area. The informal discussion
may cover the book itself-subject, structure, style-as well as questions
concerning the processes of writing and publishing the book. Students
come to the session prepared to ask a question.
The faculty book in common may or may not be listed on the semester reading
list as the subject of a short essay to be sent to mentors.
Poetry: Jeanie Thompson's White for Harvest
Fiction: Connie Mae Fowler's Remembering Blue
Nonfiction: Dianne Aprile's Making a Heart for God: A Week Inside
a Catholic Monastery
Writing for Children: Luke Wallin's Ceremony of the Panther
Screenwriting: to be
announced(top)
Cynthia Allar's poem "Taking Communion" is forthcoming in the summer issue of The Underwood Review.
Roy Burkhead has helped create a new certificate in creative writing at Middle Tennessee State University. The program will begin this fall, and the target audience is anyone living in the Middle Tennessee area. Three Spalding MFA students, Linda Busby Parker, Cate McGowan ('03), and Charlotte Rains Dixon, are among the program's mentors for the first semester.
Anne Marie Fowler's poem "Drink the Bones of My Memory" has been accepted for publication in Coloring Book: An Eclectic Anthology of Fiction and Poetry by Multicultural Writers. The anthology is scheduled for release in November 2003 and was edited by boice-Terrel Allen.
Silas House recently received the Chaffin Award for Appalachian Literature. Previous winners include Chris Offutt, Sharyn McCrumb, and our own Crystal Wilkinson. In mid-May, House's novel A Parchment of Leaves was chosen as one of three novels selected as Book of the Year by Foreword Magazine and was voted Kentucky Novel of the Year by the Kentucky Literary Awards. In June, Silas was chosen as Kentucky's favorite writer in a statewide poll conducted by KY Monthly magazine.
Erin Keane's poems recently won first place in the National Society of Arts and Letters Kentucky Chapter competition. In July, she will read her work and discuss the Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts as part of an alumni panel at the Appalachian Writers Association annual conference at Cumberland College in Williamsburg, Kentucky.
Richard Newman has work forthcoming in Meridian, Natural Bridge, and StoryQuarterly.
Mary O'Malley has been awarded a $1,500 tuition grant from College West for next semester.
Linda Busby Parker's short story, "Little Rock's Fire," which took first place in the 2003 Metroversity competition, was published in the Spring/Summer issue of Big Muddy: A Journal of the Mississippi River Valley. Linda will be a contributor in fiction at the Sewanee Writers Conference, July 15-28 at the University of the South.
Karen Patterson's nonfiction essay "Blue Yonder and Beyond" was recently selected as the winner of the 2003 Touchstone Graduate Nonfiction Award. The essay, highlighting 30 years of flying, was published in the Spring issue of Touchstone Magazine, a literary journal sponsored by Kansas State University (www.ksu.edu/english/touchstone).
Kathleen Thompson's poem "Sisters" appeared in the Birmingham Poetry Review (June 2003).
Mark Rudolph's poem "Surreal Wedding" appeared in the May issue of the online publication Strange Horizons. His creative essay "Big Nose Pride Day," which appeared in Full Unit Hookup #1, was nominated for inclusion in Clamor Magazine's 2002 'Zine Yearbook, an anthology of small press writing. His short story "Always a Bridesmaid" will be published by the online magazine Ideomancer this summer. Also, issue #3 of his small press magazine Full Unit Hookup: A Magazine of Exceptional Literature is now on sale.
Deidre Woollard's story "What I Needed to Believe" won second place in the 2003 Confluence Fiction Contest. The issue will be out in September. Her story "Facepaint" will appear in an upcoming issue of Sojourn, the literary journal of the University of Texas at Dallas. Her story "May Also Contain" will appear in Coe Review.
Katy Yocom's essay "A Mother Like No Other," which was published in the May 2002 issue of Louisville Magazine, recently won second place in the column-writing category at the annual Metro Journalism awards, given by the Louisville chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Patti Zelch's short story "Well Done, Patrick!" was awarded 2nd Honorable Mention in Children's Literature in the 2003 CNW/FFWA Writing Competition. (top)
Susan Campbell Bartoletti was interviewed by Scott Simon for NPR's Saturday Weekend Edition. The interview aired July 5 and is archived at npr.org. The subject was the 100th anniversary of Mother Jones's March of the Mill Children, which is a chapter in Susan's book, Kids on Strike.
Carolyn Crimi's manuscript Henry and the Buccaneer Bunnies (from which she read at the May residency) has been purchased by Candlewick Press.
Kirby Gann's novel-in-progress Our Napolean in Rags has been excerpted in a forthcoming issue of The Southeast Review, which has also accepted his short story "He Stared and Stared but the Doorway Remained Empty," to appear in a later issue.
Sena Jeter Naslund's readings and book tour for her new novel
Four Spirits, which will be published September 2 by Morrow-HarperCollins,
include the following locations:
Louisville, Hawley-Cooke Booksellers, Shelbyville Road Store, Thursday,
Sept. 4, 7 p.m.
Lexington, Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 161 Lexington Green Circle, Friday,
Sept. 5, 7 p.m.
Fairhope, Alabama, Eastern Shore Literary Council Reception, Eastern
Shore Arts Center, call 251-928-7272, Sunday, Sept. 7, 5- 7 p.m. Luncheon,
Grand Hotel, Fairhope 251-554-1055, Monday, Sept. 8, 11:30-2 p.m. Page
and Palette Bookstore, South Section St. 3-5, Mon., Sept. 8, 3-5 p.m.
Jackson, Mississippi, Millsaps College, Gertrude Ford Academic
Comples Recital Hall, 1701 North State Street, Tues., Sept 9, 7:30 p.m.
Jackson, MS, Lemuria Books, 202 Banner Hall, Wed., Sept 10, 6 p.m.
Oxford, MS, Square Books, 160 Courthouse Square, Live Radio Reading,
Thurs., Sept. 11, 5:30 p.m.
Memphis, TN, Davis-Kidd, 387 Perkins Road Extended, Fri., Sept.
12, 7 p.m.
Little Rock, AK, B&N Presents at Central High, 1500 S. Park
Street, Sat., Sept. 13, 3 p.m.
Birmingham, AL, Alabama Booksmith, 2626 19th Place, Homewood, Mon.,
Sept. 15, 4 p.m.
Birmingham, Reading/Signing/Reception, Birmingham Civil Rights
Institute, 520 Sixteenth St. N. Wed., Sept. 17, 6-8 p.m.
Montgomery, AL, Alabama State University, Thurs., Sept. 18, noon-1
p.m. Call switchboard for building.
Montgomery, Reading/Signing/Discussion Capitol Books, 1140 E. Fairview,
Thurs., Sept. 18, 4-6 p.m.
Montgomery, Rosa Parks Museum, 252 Montgomery St., Thurs., Sept.
18, 7 p.m.
Jekyl Island, GA, Keynote, Southeast Bookseller Association, Fri.,
Sept. 19, 7 p.m.
New York City, Barnes & Noble #1979, 2289 Broadway at 82nd,
Mon., Sept. 22, 7:30.
Washington, D.C., Borders Bailey's Crossroads, 5871 Crossroads
Center Way, VA, Tues., Sept. 23, 7:30 p.m.
Atlanta, GA, Featured Speaker, Atlanta Literary Festival, Margaret
Mitchell House, 999 Peachtree Street, NE, Wed., Sept. 24, 6 p.m.
Denver, CO, Tattered Cover, Cherry Creek Location, Thurs., Sept.
25, 7:30 p.m.
Boulder, CO, Boulder Bookstore, 1107 Pearl Street, Fri., Sept.
26, 7:30 p.m.
Seattle, WA, University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, Mon.,
Sept. 29, 7 p.m.
Pasadena, CA, Vroman's Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Tues.,
Sept. 30, 7 p.m.
Redlands, CA, FRUGAL FRIGATE, owned by Katherine Thomerson, 9 North
6th St., Wed., Oct. 1, 7 p.m.
San Francisco, A Clean Well Lighted Place, 601 Van Ness Ave., Thurs.,
Oct. 2, 7 p.m.
San Francisco, Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd, Corte Madera,
CA, Fri., Oct. 3, 7 p.m.
San Francisco, Copperfield's Books (for location
email: events@copperfields.net), Mon., Oct. 6, 7 p.m.
Boston, MA, Boston Globe Book Festival at Boston Public Library,
700 Boyleston Street, Wed., Oct. 8 (time TBA, call 617-929-2641).
Book tour locations following the residency to be announced, including
Detroit; Iowa City; Miami; Milwaukee; St. Paul; Frankfort, KY; and Madison,
WI.
Elaine Orr has an essay with photos, "Southern Nigerian,"
forthcoming in the Fall issue of Southern Cultures. Her memoir,
Gods of Noonday: A White Girl's African Life, will be out from
University Press of Virginia on August 12.
Melissa Pritchard's story collection, Disappearing Ingenue, is newly out in Vintage/Anchor paperback. An interview with Melissa appeared in Glimmertrain, Issue 47, and METRO, a new Phoenix arts and culture magazine. Reviews of Disappearing Ingenue most recently appeared in Library Journal, The Indiana Review, and Mid-America Review. Melissa will be giving readings around the Phoenix area in conjunction with Borders bookstores and METRO magazine, as well as a signing at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel as part of the Biltmore's new authors program. Excerpts of Melissa's forthcoming novel Late Bloomer can be found in Washington Square and Blackbird, Virginia Commonwealth University's online literary journal.
Luke Wallin read his essay "Stories Along a Stream" and discussed the role of nature writing in conservation work at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Earth Day Program in the Library in April. In August 2002, he read "John Muir's Conservation Writing" at James Cook University, Australia, at an Environmental Miniconference held by the Humanities Program and the Law School with Australian nature writer Bill Lines.
Brad Watson's novel The Heaven of Mercury has received the 2003 prize in fiction from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters. (top)
Personals
A Warm Good-bye to Callie Hausman
Callie Hausman, our Assistant to the Directors, is leaving her position
soon to begin her Ph.D. studies in Humanities at the University of Louisville.
She has accepted a joint position at U of L, working both with Dr. Annette
Allen, Director of the Humanities Program, and Dr. Tom Byers, Director
of the Commonwealth Center for the Humanities and Society at the University
of Louisville.
We thank Callie for the wonderful job she has done for us, and for her
friendship and support. It goes without saying that we will miss her very
much, but we also want the best for her and send her warm wishes for her
future success! (top)
MFA Student Email: All students need to create a Spalding student
email account so that we may communicate with you throughout the semester.
To create the email acount, go to www.spalding.edu. Click on Current Students,
then Spalding Student Email. Click on "setup your email account"
and follow the directions. User ID on Spalding accounts should follow
the form of first initial, last name, i.e. jsmith@student.spalding.edu.
For the student number, use your SS#. After login, students may select
"Settings," and have their Spalding email forwarded to a preferred
email address by entering their preferred email address after the line
which says "Forward Address." If these steps are not working,
email webguys@spalding.edu
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.
Financial Aid: You may enter or update your FAFSA information for
2002 online at www.fafsa.ed.gov. To contact the Financial Aid Office,
call (800) 896-8941 ext. 2359 or (502) 585-9911, ext. 2359.
Travel Arrangements: Faculty and students who wish help in booking
an airline ticket to Louisville for the residency may call our travel
agent. Ask for Debbie Lay at (800) 928-8888, ext. 208 or (502) 425-4464,
ext. 208 or email her at debbie@itcruises.com or fax (502) 423-0540. Website:
www.itcruises.com.
Newsletter News: Email Erin Keane, Newsletter Editor, of your news
or address changes at keane@iglou.com. (top)
2004 AWP Conference:
Register Now
Registration is now open for AWP's 2004 Annual Conference & Bookfair
(March 24-27, 2004) in Chicago. Register online at http://awpwriter.org
to take advantage of low early-bird rates ($35/students, $135/members,
$155/non-members). Registration may take place by phone at 703-993-4301
or by filling out and returning the downloadable PDF registration form
available on the AWP Web site. The MFA Program will reimburse the registration
fee for up to twenty AWP attendees at the early-bird rates-students and
faculty. Reimbursements will be made in the order received. All students
and faculty are AWP members.
This year's AWP conference includes a record-setting number of conference
event proposals, which ensures a diverse and exciting slate of panels,
roundtables, workshops, caucuses, and readings.
Several MFA students and faculty attended the 2003 conference. One of the attendees, Charlotte Rains Dixon, fourth semester fiction student, says, AWP is a mid-winter tonic between residencies, a chance to reconnect with fellow students and refresh the mind with panels about writing, readings, and lectures. But beyond all that, the best thing about it for me was the bookfair and the opportunity to see all those literary journals, poetry books, and offerings from small presses in one place. In this age of inane reality TV, it did my heart good to see how many people are devoted to writing, teaching, and reading fine literature, and to feel a part of that great tradition myself.
The 2004 conference will be held at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago.
Rooms are $129 for singles and doubles. To receive this special rate,
mention the AWP conference. All reservations must be guaranteed with a
refundable one-night deposit (applicable towards your hotel bill) and
a major credit card. To make reservations, please contact the Palmer House
directly at (312) 726-7500. Rooms are limited, so please make reservations
early. (top)