Spring 2013 Program Book in Common: The Things They Carried

The Program Book in Common area for the Spring 2013 residency is fiction and features the novel in stories The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, who is the MFA Program's second Diana M. Raab Distinguished Writer in Residence. On Friday, May 17, the first day of residency, after the general welcome, Program Director Sena Jeter Naslund leads a discussion of The Things They Carried during a plenary session. On May 23, Tim O’Brien visits the Spring 2013 residency to discuss his work with Spalding MFA students and faculty and the public. A Q&A session the next morning is open to Spalding MFAers only. To prepare for the residency, all students and faculty read the book.

First published in 1990, Tim O’Brien’s best-selling work The Things They Carried won France’s prestigious Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

The National Endowment for the Arts selected The Things They Carried as a Big Read. The NEA says, “The Vietnam War still has the power to divide Americans between those for it and those against. Today it also divides us, just as surely, between those who remember its era firsthand and those not yet born when the troops came home. There may be no better bridge across these twin divides than Tim O’Brien’s novel in stories The Things They Carried. The details of warfare may have changed since Vietnam, but O’Brien’s semi-autobiographical account of a young platoon on a battlefield without a front, dodging sniper fire and their own misgivings, continues to win legions of dedicated readers, both in uniform and out.”

In addition to The Things They Carried, O’Brien has published many other works of fiction, including the novel July, July (Penguin Books, 2002) and Going After Cacciato (Doubleday, 1978), winner of the National Book Award. Other awards for O’Brien’s writing include The Texas Writer Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and The Richard C. Holbrooke Prize for Distinguished Achievement.

O’Brien earned his BA in political science from Macalester College. After being drafted and serving in the United States Army in Vietnam from 1968 to 1970, O’Brien entered graduate school at Harvard University and later was an intern for the Washington Post. O’Brien writes and lives in central Texas with his family. He teaches full-time every other year at Texas State University-San Marcos. O’Brien’s papers are housed at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

Students and faculty may wish to visit this link, which features Jim Lehrer of the PBS Newshour interviewing O'Brien in 2010: http://tinyurl.com/36z25uw
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Essay Due from MFA Students Enrolling in ENG620 in Spring 2013

All MFA students who plan to enter ENG620 in Spring 2013 are required to write and submit a short critical essay on the Spring 2013 Program Book in Common, The Things They Carried. Students submit the essay through email to the program via mfadropbox@spalding.edu, but not to faculty mentors, no later than February 28. The short critical essays will be discussed in mini workshop sessions during the Spring 2013 residency. Students were emailed details about this assignment by Associate Program Director Kathleen Driskell on January 15. Any student who plans to enroll in ENG620 for the Spring 2013 semester and has not received instructions for this Program Book in Common assignment should email Kathleen Driskell at kdriskell@spalding.edu for details.
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Teaching Workshop (with Optional Practicum) Offered during Spring 2013 Residency
Students interested in creative writing pedagogy may wish to participate in the Teaching Workshop offered during the Spring 2013 residency in Louisville. The teaching workshop, led by Kathleen Driskell, meets during the regularly scheduled workshop hours. Students take the teaching workshop in the place of their genre workshop.

Students in the Teaching Workshop submit worksheets by the submission deadline and are encouraged to experiment by submitting worksheets in a genre other than their usual area of concentration. During workshop, each student serves as a facilitator for one workshop session. Students also develop a short writing exercise that they present to their co-participants during the workshop. In addition to those teaching duties and other workshop discussions on the pedagogy of creative writing, students attend lectures outside their major areas of concentration in order to gain a wider view of the other genres they may be asked to teach in introductory-level creative writing courses. Students are also required to attend a lecture on syllabus development. Students participate in the Faculty Book in Common Discussion in their usual area of concentration. Teaching Workshop students are asked to submit the usual residency reports.

Enrollment in this workshop is limited to six students, and the workshop will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis, but seniority in the program will also be a consideration. For more information or to ask to participate in the Teaching Workshop, please email Kathleen Driskell at kdriskell@spalding.edu.

After attending the Teaching Workshop during residency, students may go on to be mentored in their area of concentration. However, students may also opt to participate in ENG660, The Teaching of Creative Writing Practicum, a 16-hour course. During the independent study portion of ENG660, students develop syllabi, lesson plans, teaching diaries, and annotated bibliographies on pedagogical and classroom texts and submit those to the mentor in four course packets. Each student develops an online course in creative writing or arranges a teaching practicum. In the past, students have taught in university settings and continuing-education settings. Students have also convened beginning writers from their communities to meet as a class in local libraries, work environments, and community centers.
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Faculty Announced for Summer 2013 Residency in Ireland
Faculty for the MFA Program's summer residency in Ireland are as follows: Eleanor Morse and Nancy McCabe, fiction; Debra Kang Dean, poetry; Dianne Aprile, creative nonfiction; Edie Hemingway, writing for children and young adults; Eric Schmiedl, playwriting; and Charlie Schulman, screenwriting. Sena Jeter Naslund leads a Book-Length Manuscript Workshop in Ireland in addition to her usual teaching duties, and Kathleen Driskell lectures and leads additional sessions as well. For more information about the residency, which runs July 3-15, and to see if space is still available, contact Program Associate Katy Yocom at kyocom@spalding.edu.
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Sale of Painting Raises $4,000 for Scholarship Fund
The MFA Program’s Kentucky Teachers Scholarship Fund received a $4,000 donation when a plein-air oil painting titled “Peony Garden” sold at auction in December. The painting was donated to the scholarship fund by its creator, noted artist Peter Williams, who created the work at a garden party fundraiser in June at the home of MFA alumna K. Shaver (F ’06).

The Kentucky Teachers Scholarship Fund provides financial support for current Kentucky teachers of any subject and at any level, kindergarten through university, to study creative writing in the MFA Program. The scholarship is available to incoming students in any area of concentration beginning in 2013.

Sena Naslund said of the scholarship, “When teachers study creative writing themselves, they become more effective in the classroom in promoting both creative and critical thinking. By actively modeling the creative life, they also become role models and inspirations to their students.”
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Support Spalding: Donate through GoodSearch
Spalding University is now a part of GoodSearch.com, a website that allows users to designate a charity or school and donates a penny to the cause when the user employs the search engine—which is a free service. Users can track their impact with a running calculator of donations. In addition, the sister site GoodShop.com offers more than 100,000 coupons and exclusive deals that allow users to shop online at dozens of retailers such as Amazon, Expedia, Target, and Walgreens; a percentage of every purchase (usually between 1 and 6 percent) is donated to the user’s selected cause.
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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.
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Life of a Writer

Brooke Bullman (F) is heading to Wyoming next month to be a writer-in-residence at Bush Creek Foundation for the Arts.
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Jessica Caudill's (CNF) fiction piece "The Motherly Epistles" was chosen for the anthology The Writing Disorder Presents The Best Fiction and Nonfiction of 2012. The book may be purchased online. http://tinyurl.com/b2c3myx
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Shannon Cavanaugh’s (F) newest short story “Buck Snort” has won second place in the Gene Andereck Short Story Contest sponsored by the Ozark Writers League. This story was written in second person and mentored by Luke Wallin. She also received honorable mention for her short story “The Entanglement,” which was workshopped at Spalding with Crystal Wilkinson and Neela Vaswani. Both stories are part of her creative thesis collection for graduation in May.
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Kimberly Collins (P) presented on the panel “Claiming a Space in African-American Literature: A View through the Prism of the Nineties” at the 26th Annual Conference of the Middle-Atlantic Writers Association on the campus of Morgan State University. Presently, Kimberly is working with PEN New England to organize an off-site event for AWP on March 8: “In the Tradition 20th Anniversary Reunion and Reading” with special guest Sonia Sanchez. In February, Kimberly will present her paper “Trethewey: Crossing Boundaries in Native Guard” at the 25th annual Far West Popular and American Culture Associations. She will be a presenter on the panel “Beyond Morrison, Walker, and Hurston: Expanding the Canon of African American Women Writers Above and Below the Mason-Dixon Line” during the College of Language Arts Conference in Lexington, Kentucky, this spring. She published a critical essay, “Resurrection of Bessie’s Blues: A Note on Black Female Erasure in Richard Wright’s Native Son,” in The New Sound: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Art and Literature (New Haven University, Spring 2012). Another critical essay, “Pushing Forward the Canon to Expand the Writing Experience: A Look at How Sapphire Births New Space to Shape the Black Female Image Within the Tradition of Black Female Writers,” appeared in Post-Colonial Composition Pedagogy: Using the Cultures of Marginalized Students to Teach Writing, edited by Monique Leslie Akassi and published in 2011 by Robbie Dean Press.
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A new poem by Sandra Irwin (P), “Loss,” was published in the August 2012 issue of decomP, an online magazine, and subsequently nominated for the Pushcart Prize. http://decompmagazine.com/blog/?p=454
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Alice Jennings (P) is the U.S. Poets in Mexico 2013 MFA Candidate Award recipient. In exchange for her workshop entitled “The Human Space: How Philosophy, Biology, Culture, History and the Arts Converge in the Bestiaro of Juan Jose Arreola,” she had the opportunity to participate in the January U.S. Poets in Mexico Conference in Merida, Mexico. She was recommended by Spalding faculty member Molly Peacock. http://www.uspoetsinmexico.org/
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Angie Mimms (CNF) has been selected as a member of The Kentucky Enquirer’s panel of community columnists. As one of eighteen columnists, she started in December and is submitting an article once a month on a topic of her choosing. The newspaper is the Kentucky edition of The Cincinnati Enquirer and is located in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky.

Lisa Veronica Pires’s (W4CYA) short story “The Portrait” was published in November with Gypsy Shadow Publishing. http://gypsyshadow.com/LVPires.html#top

Rosanna Staffa’s (F) adaptation of The Biggest Little House in the Forest by Djemma Bider will be seen on stage at the Children’s Theatre Center in Minneapolis Jan. 24-March 17. The play will be included in the Plays for Early Learning Anthology published by the University of Minnesota Press.

Patsi B. Trollinger (W4CYA) will lead a three-hour workshop on humor in writing on Saturday, March 9, at the Carnegie Center in Lexington, Kentucky. Participants will explore ways that humor can become an effective tool for telling stories that run the gamut from comedy to tragedy. Details and registration information available online (carnegiecenterlex.org/). More information about Patsi’s books and author visits to schools is available on her website: http://www.patsibtrollinger.com

Dianne Aprile (CNF) is teaching for six weeks at Seattle’s Richard Hugo House, beginning January 28 (http://hugohouse.org/classes/hugo-classes). Dianne also participated in the second installment of  “A Moveable Salon” on January 27, during which fifteen Seattle-area writers read briefly from their work.
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David-Matthew Barnes (PW/SW/W4CYA) has written and will be directing the indie female-centric film Made from Scratch (http://mfsfilm.blogspot.com/) this spring. His seventh novel, Wonderland, a young adult paranormal romance (http://tinyurl.com/b5yb3rp), will be released by publisher Bold Strokes Books in e-book on February 1 and in paperback on February 11. Monologues from DM’s stage plays Baby in the Basement and Better Places to Go have been selected by Meriwether Publishing for inclusion in their upcoming collection Young Women’s Monologues and Scenes. DM is the host of the weekday morning radio show People You Should Know. Recent and future guests include MFA faculty members Garret Freymann-Weyr, Lesléa Newman, Rachel M. Harper, Edith Hemingway, and Sam Zalutsky.
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Susan Campbell Bartoletti (W4CYA) looks forward to the publication of her seventeenth book, Down the Rabbit Hole, on March 1. The historical novel is part of the popular Dear America series published by Scholastic (New York) and has already been named a Junior Library Guild selection. In January, Susan also organized the tenth annual poetry retreat for published children’s book authors. The retreat was held at a former orphanage-turned-convent in New Jersey. The workshop leader was Kim Addonizio.
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Ellie Bryant (F/CNF/W4CYA) will have her essay titled “Blue Booties” appear in the anthology Essays from My Parents: 75 Shared Moments That Changed Our Lives, published by Familius Press and edited by Michelle Robbins. The book is thus described: “A global anthology of stories in the spirit of This I Believe, Lessons from My Parents explores in 75 unique essays the life-changing lessons that a parent shared with his or her child. Gathered from writers from across the world, this collection is meant to inspire those who, now that they are older, appreciate those who have gone before.” The anthology will be available in bookstores in May.
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K. L. Cook (F) was one of seven Arizona artists and writers awarded a 2013 Arizona Commission on the Arts Research and Development Grant. His essay “Foot Notes,” originally published in Shenandoah, was reprinted in the online journal Redux, which makes available writers’ favorite previously published poems, stories, and essays not found elsewhere on the web. It can be read online (http://tinyurl.com/bkf4qhe). Kenny also has been interviewed by Dr. Jill Talbot as part of a series devoted to contemporary authors from the American West. http://multi-interviews.com/western/?p=29
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In 2013, former U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser will feature Kathleen Driskell’s (P) poem “Seed” in his monthly column American Life in Poetry, which issponsored by the Poetry Foundation. Kathleen reads from her work at InKY at the Bard’s Town in Louisville on February 8 at 7 p.m. In February, Kathleen will read from her work and teach a master class at Western Kentucky University. She attended a poetry writing retreat organized by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (W4CYA) at Saint Marguerite’s Retreat House in Mendham, New Jersey, in early January. The workshop facilitator was Kim Addonizio. Poems & Plays nominated Kathleen’s poem “In the Oak Room” for a 2013 Pushcart Prize.
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Edie Hemingway (W4CYA) attended the 2013 international winter conference of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators in New York City, Feb. 1-3.
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Sena Jeter Naslund has organized a monthly series titled The Inspiring Arts at Louisville’s Treyton Oaks Towers in collaboration with resident Loretta Clark. The program February 18 features Spalding President and MFA alum Tori Murden McClure (CNF ’05), author of A Pearl in the Storm.
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Lesléa Newman’s (W4CYA) book October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard was selected by Children’s Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis as the Poetry Foundation’s children’s book of the month for November 2012. Lesléa’s tour for the book has taken her to New York City and New England cities including Cambridge, Providence, and Storrs (Connecticut), as well as Las Vegas and Huntsville, Alabama. The tour continues in 2013 with stops planned in Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, Hartford, and Springfield (Massachusetts). The book also received a Nerdy Book Award in Poetry (http://tinyurl.com/a72d5pl). Lesléa’s poem “Viet Nam” was accepted for publication in Spoon River Poetry Review. Lesléa’s poems, “By the Sea,” “Half-Past Never,” “Rough and Tumble,” “I’ve Never Seen a Purple Cow,” and “Greetings” were published in The Poetry Friday Anthology: Poems for the School Year with Connections to the Common Core, K-5 Edition, edited by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong. http://poetryfridayanthology.blogspot.com/
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Eleanor Morse’s (F) third novel, White Dog Fell from the Sky, was published in early January by Penguin Books. It will be released in the United Kingdom in early April. Eleanor’s new website is up and running, with additional information (http://www.eleanormorse.com/). She sends many thanks to all the Spalding faculty members and students who were supportive while she wrote White Dog.
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Katy Yocom attended a poetry retreat organized by Susan Campbell Bartoletti and facilitated by Kim Addonizio at Saint Marguerite’s Retreat House Jan. 3-6 in Mendham, New Jersey. Her essay “Gazpacho, My Love” appeared in the December 26 issue of LEO Weekly (http://leoweekly.com/dining/locavore-lore-gazpacho-my-love). Katy continues to write for Food & Dining, a quarterly publication covering the Louisville food scene, and to work as a literacy volunteer by reading with a fourth-grade student once a week throughout the schoolyear. Katy thanks Terry Price (F ’06) for inviting her to participate in the blog-around Q&A “The Next Big Thing” and for hosting her answers on his blog. http://www.anangelsshareblog.com.
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Sam Zalutsky (SW) will be directing his new short film, How to Make it to the Promised Land, for five days in March in Los Angeles. You can find out more about it on Facebook or by following Sam on Twitter. www.facebook.com/HowToMakeItToThePromisedLand , https://twitter.com/zalutsky

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Alumni

Kristen M. Becht (P ’12) will be included in the forthcoming anthology Bourbon for Blood, due out later this year from Two of Cups Press. She also has work forthcoming in The Louisville Review. 
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Roy Burkhead (F ’04) recently published Issue 2 of 2nd & Church, a literary journal by, for, and about writers and readers. Issue 3 is in production now, coming out in February 2013. Charlotte Rains Dixon (F ’03) has a column in both issues. An excerpt from Terry Price’s (F ’06) novel-in-progress An Angel’s Share appears in Issue 3. And Matt Urmy (P ’09) has a book review in Issue 2 on Don’t Forget This Song: Celebrating the Carter Family and Other Roots. 2nd & Church is considering submissions for all genres for Issue 6. Submission guidelines are available online: http://www.2ndandchurch.com/.  Recently, Roy accepted a new technical writing position with Electrolux in middle Tennessee, and he continues to teach English online for Western Kentucky University.  In addition, he is editing a memoir by astronaut Rhea Seddon as well as developing her website.
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David Carren (SW ’05) had his original play Hollyweird performed as a staged reading at the Writer’s Guild of America on November 12 as part of their ongoing Seasoned Readings program. The play will be produced in the Jeffers Theatre at the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg, Texas, April 23-28. Hollyweird, a farce based on David’s experiences as writer-producer in the film industry, is his first full-length play.
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Sheldon Lee Compton’s (F ’07) fiction collection The Same Terrible Storm (Foxhead Books) was recently nominated for the Thomas and Lillie D. Chaffin Award given annually by Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky. The award, which includes a cash prize of $1,000, recognizes outstanding Appalachian writers in all genres. In conjunction with the award ceremony, authors read from their work and may present a craft talk, teach a workshop, or speak about writing as an Appalachian. The first recipient was James Still, and recent honorees have included Spalding faculty members Crystal Wilkinson (F) and Silas House (F). Sheldon’s work has been published widely, has been nominated four times for the Pushcart Prize, and was a judge’s selection winner in 2012 for the Still Fiction Award. Visit him online. www.sheldonleecompton.net
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Amy Watkins Copeland (P ’06) was recently promoted to Course Director for English Composition Online at Full Sail University.
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Dave DeGolyer (P/W4CYA ’06), along with fellow Spalding MFA alums Terry Price (F ’06) and Cathy Shap (P ’09), is preparing for the Extraordinary Time Writer’s Retreat in New Harmony, Indiana, July 28-Aug. 2. Last year’s retreat was a big success, in part thanks to the participation of Bonnie Omer Johnson (F ’04), Gerald Stulc (F ’12) and Alayna Palmer Hanneken (F ’12). This year’s retreat includes an additional day for reflection and writing, as well as traditional and nontraditional workshops designed to help writers experience a sense of “extraordinary time” and to make the most of it while they’re at the page. A discount is available for Spalding MFA students, alums, and faculty. Visit the website (extraordinarytimeretreat.com/) or contact Dave, Terry, or Cathy for more information. Sign up before April 1 to be eligible for the Early Bird Special (an additional $100 savings). Dave and Cathy are also putting together At the Page Coaching for writers, offering mentoring and coaching services (atthepagecoaching.com/). They are preparing online courses and an e-book and are already working with clients. Dave and Terry are working on new ideas for The Round Table, a community they started on Facebook to support writers and creatives on their quests. Cristina Trapani-Scott (F/P ’09) and Dave are collaborating on a new literary magazine celebrating diverse voices, eclectic perspectives, and the artful heart, Coalescence: A Gathering of Voices. On the writing front, Dave just had a new poem accepted for publication by Cicada. Two poems originally written for his YA manuscript A Boy Called Mo will appear in the magazine sometime in 2013.
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Drema Drudge (F ’13) has a short story “There Are a Few Things” in the inaugural issue of Penumbra, a literary magazine based in Madrid. Her essay called “Our Sunshine” will be in the Chicken Soup for the Soul: Parenthood anthology to be published in March. Drema’s work also appeared in the autumn edition of Mused. Mostly recently, she was a finalist in a flash fiction contest sponsored by literary agent Janet Reid.
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Ann Eskridge (PW ’08) will be a guest speaker on February 6 for the 2013 Author Series at the Detroit Public Library Main Branch. She will read from her young adult historical novel The Raven, published by My Vision Works Publishing. The book is about two Underground Railroad conductors rescuing slaves in the 1850s in Ohio and Kentucky. She will also visit the Sherwood Forest Branch Library in February to make a similar presentation and will do brief programs for First Congregational Church of Detroit’s Underground Railroad Living Museum.
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Anne Marie Fowler (P ’04) has had two poems recently published. “Song of Berries on the Vine” was published in The Southern Poetry Anthology, Volume IV: Louisiana, and “Your Voice Is a Room I Wait to Enter” was published in Tule Review. Additional work is forthcoming in the TU Review. Anne Marie was also conferred a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Arts and Sciences and a specialization in World Literature in English and Translation in November. She earned the degree from Union Institute & University in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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In October, Thea Gavin (P ’05) hiked 24 miles across the Grand Canyon without shoes. Her essay “Rim to Rim Barefoot” was recently accepted by Adventum, a literary magazine of outdoor adventure writing. In November, she gave a presentation—using poems, stories, and photographic images—to two sections of Freshman Seminar at Chapman University, Orange, California, about the topic of sustainability. She continues her weekly posts about “Barefoot Wandering and Writing.”www.theagavin.com.
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Participants in the Orlando, Florida, MFA gathering included: Larissa Hardesty (prospective student), Patrick Berkley (F), Maria Hofman (P), and Marjetta Geerling (W4CYA '11).

On Saturday, Jan. 26, twenty-one Spalding folk--alumni, current students, prospective students, friends, family, and faculty--gathered at Urban Re-Think in Orlando, Florida, for an afternoon of writing-related fun at the Florida Alumni Regional event, coordinated by Marjetta Geerling (W4CYA '11). Robin Lippincott (F) gave a short lecture on titling, explaining why some titles work and others don't. Sadly, there is no formula for the perfect title, but Robin's thoughts on the subject got everyone talking and thinking about the importance of finding the right title for their writing projects.

     Eric Cravey (CNF ’11), Cole Bellamy (P ’10), Maria Hofman (P), and Omar Figueras (F) entertained the group with short readings of their own work. Afterwards, MFAers followed Phil Deaver (F) through the Thorton Park neighborhood in search of the perfect drink. The second annual Spalding alumni-sponsored gathering was a blast, and Marjetta hopes to see even more of you at next year’s event!

Karen George (F ’09) spent a week in October at the Wildacres Writers Residency in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. During November and December, she read along with other poets at the First Friday Poetry Reading series in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her poem “Crowning,” which she presented at the alumni reading in Luxembourg Gardens during the Paris Summer Residency, has been accepted for the next issue of The Louisville Review. Her poems “Forest Lawn Cemetery,” “Infusion,” “Mapping,” and “Your Roan” were accepted for the next issue of The Heartland Review. The poem “Aperture” will appear in the “Animal in the City” issue of qarrtsiluni. “Our Last Photographs Together, Alaska” and “Heading Home” were published in the Cincinnati Writers Project anthology A Few Good Words, for which she served as editor. She joined fellow Spalding alums Nancy Long (P ’12), Barbara Sabol (P ’10), and Caroline LeBlanc (P ’11) to review poetry at Poetry Matters (see link below) and posted her first review of molecular biologist Katherine Larson’s debut collection, Radial Symmetry, chosen by Louise Glück as winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets: readwritepoetry.blogspot.com/
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Colleen S. Harris (P ’09) is nominated for a Pushcart Prize for her prizewinning flash fiction piece “The Patron Saint of Easy Girls,” which won first prize in the 2012 Grey Sparrow Press Flash Fiction Competition. This is Colleen’s third Pushcart nomination (her first in fiction) since graduating from Spalding.
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Patty Houston (F ’08) has good news: her short story “The Other Ten Percent Don’t Have Arms” was published in the November issue of New Delta Review, Louisiana State University (http://ndrmag.org/). Also, her story “Beer Sponsor” will appear in the Spring 2013 issue of Witness, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Houston’s essay “The Poof Under Cadence O’Carrol’s Chemise: Reflections on Gifts, on Why We Really Write” was published in late January in Ohio Journal of English Language Arts. Her book review “Addressing the Challenges of Teaching Writing to Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder” is forthcoming in the Spring 2013 issue of the Journal of College Learning and Literacy. Additionally, in November, she presented her paper “Genre Theory in Classroom Practice: The Multi-genre Research Project” at the MMLA Conference held in Cincinnati. In February, she will present her creative nonfiction piece “The View from My Pew” at The Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture Since 1900. In April 2013, she will present her paper “Teaching the Multi-genre Research Project” at the CEA Conference in Savannah, Georgia.
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Nancy Long (P ’12) is delighted to report that several of her poems have been accepted for publication in Imitation Fruit, Big River Poetry Review, Elsewhere, and Penumbra. In September, for Poetry Matters (readwritepoetry.blogspot.com/), she interviewed poet Susanna Childress and reviewed Childress’ second poetry collection Entering the House of Awe. Also in September, Nancy attended “Writing from Nature,” a workshop with Scott Russell Sanders at the T. C. Steele State Memorial in beautiful Brown County, Indiana. As part of the Writers Guild at Bloomington, for the coming year Nancy will be organizing the 1st Sunday Readings and Open Mic, a monthly reading series for local writers, and The Lemonstone Reading Series, a quarterly event that pairs poetry and music.
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Loreen Niewenhuis (F ’07) completed her 1,000-mile Great Lakes hike in October at Niagara Falls. Forty people joined her to hike the final miles and celebrate the finale. The hike took 76 days and covered a total of 1,004 miles. The book about her adventure, A 1000-Mile Great Lakes Walk, will be published by Crickhollow Books of Milwaukee in 2013. Loreen had several speaking engagements this fall about her first hiking adventure. Two were at libraries and one was at the annual meeting of the Elk Rapids Garden Club. Loreen’s quirky short story Primal Instincts Made Manifest in Modernity was published in the most recent issue of the online journal The Smoking Poet: http://tinyurl.com/auvk9mh . In December, Loreen was part of Michigan Radio’s “Seeking Change” series (http://tinyurl.com/bb96j4n). Watch for Facebook updates on Loreen’s appearances and activism on behalf of our Great Lakes. http://www.facebook.com/LakeTrek
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Tom Pierce (F ’05) has had a short story accepted for publication by the Bellevue Literary Review, published by the New York University Langone Medical Center. The story, titled “I Am at Peace in This Eternal Moment,” will appear in the Spring 2013 issue.
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An excerpt from Terry Price’s (F ’06) novel-in-progress, An Angel’s Share, appears in Issue 3 of 2nd & Church literary journal. This summer, Terry will be leading the second annual Extraordinary Time Writer’s Retreat along with fellow Spalding MFA alumni Dave DeGolyer (P/W4CYA ’06) and Cathy Shap (P ’09). The retreat is set for July 28-Aug. 2 at the New Harmony Inn in New Harmony, Indiana. In addition to time and space to write, there will be yoga, meditation, and writing and holistic health presentations. For more information go to extraordinarytimeretreat.com/ or email to ask about the discount for Spalding students, alumni, staff and faculty: coaches@extraordinarytimeretreat.com.
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Diana Raab (CNF ’03) did a reading and book signing for Healing With Words and Listening to Africa at Bank of Books in Malibu, California, in honor of Health and Fitness Day in November. She also appeared on a memoir panel at the Ventura County Writer’s Weekend. She was interviewed by Sylvia Browder on the “Blog for Women Entrepreneurs.” Diana’s poem, “Chaotic Feet,” was published in the December issue of The Boiler Journal. In the fall she participated in a poetry workshop with Thomas Lux in Santa Barbara. She is a regular blogger for The Huffington Post. Her latest piece, “Public Libraries—Then and Now,” and all previous posts can be found at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diana-m-raab/.
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Brian Russell (CNF ’10) is pleased to announce that his essay “Ramon” has been published in the inaugural Fall/Winter 2012 issue of Penumbra, an international print and online literary journal that debuted December 25. The online edition and details of how to purchase print copies may be found at penumbramagazine.wordpress.com/.
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LaEsha Sanders (F ’12) performed her short monologue “Skin of the Bride” at a Chattanooga, Tennessee, women’s conference in September. The monologue was adapted from her short story “Free with the Telling,” written during LaEsha’s two years at Spalding. In addition, her short story “Winter Garden” was selected for the inaugural issue of As/Us: A Journal for Indigenous Women (asusjournal.org/), released December 31. The journal will be an online and print publication. This is LaEsha’s debut fiction publication. “Winter Garden” was written at Spalding under the superb guidance of Julie Brickman, Eleanor Morse, and Robin Lippincott. LaEsha had a short piece accepted to the “I Write Because...” project (see link below). LaEsha also is happy to be getting her sea legs in the teaching world. She spent the fall semester teaching freshman composition at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, and currently is teaching composition and rhetoric at Georgia Northwestern Technical College in Rock Springs. LaEsha says she can hardly believe the number of wonderful happenings in her writing life. http://www.iwritebecause.com/
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Graham Shelby (CNF ’10) won the Louisville edition of The Moth StorySLAM in November with a story he originally wrote under the tutelage of CNF mentor Ellie Bryant. Graham will compete in The Moth’s GrandSLAM event. He also performed Japanese ghost stories for a crowd of over 1,000 people at the University of Louisville as part of the 2012 Corn Island Storytelling Festival.
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Amanda Sledz’s (CNF ’04) first novel, Psychopomp Volume One: Cracked Plate, has been available for several weeks in softcover perfect bound format. In January, it also became available in e-book format and limited-edition hardcover. The softcover is available from booksellers including Powell’s, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble online, as well as the One Eye Two Crows Press website.
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Katerina Stoykova-Klemer (P/CNF ’09) invites you to read her blog, In My Own Accent, which features her weekly essays on writing and publishing. http://katerinaklemer.com/ownaccent/

Matt Urmy (P ’09) has a book review in Issue 2 of 2nd & Church literary magazine.
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Editor’s note: To accommodate layout and design needs for On Extended Wings, some especially long hyperlinks have been shortened to the “tiny URL” format.
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Personals

Our heartfelt sympathy to Charlotte Cain (F) on the death of her husband, Bill, on January 19.

Stacia M. Fleegal (P ’06) and her fiancé, Jonathan Moore, welcomed Jackson “Jax” Harrison Moore into the world on October 29, nearly three months early. Jax is a strong, healthy, and determined little guy, and doctors are optimistic about his progress. Prayer, positive thoughts, written affirmations, candles, distance Reiki, wishing on stars—any and all light and love would be most appreciated. Jax came home from the hospital on January 23. Online information is available with the full story, photos, updates on Jax’s progress, and a guest book for messages of support.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jacksonmoore102912
 
Our heartfelt sympathy to Janlyn Mattingly-Weintraub (F ’03) on the death of her father, Joseph Mattingly, on January 5.
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Classifieds

Online Poetry Workshop for Spalding Alumni
Are you looking for a place to workshop your poems after graduation? An online poetry workshop for Spalding alumni is being formed. To join, contact Nancy Long (nlong@spalding.edu).
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Find Your Extraordinary Time at Historic New Harmony: July 28-Aug. 2
Interested in developing a consistent writing practice? Need help slowing down? Curious about how to spark your own inspiration, even on days when you just don't feel like there's any to be found? At the Extraordinary Time Writer's Retreat you'll learn dependable, proven techniques for calming your mind, reducing stress, hushing your inner critic, feeling grounded, and sharpening your focus. You'll also learn how to use your body as a way into your writing. If you love to write and are aching for someone to show you how to get on track; if you're curious about the mind-body connection or about how your health and lifestyle impact your creativity; if you need a nurturing getaway that offers a dynamic blend of craft and mind-body workshops, holistic health talks, gentle yoga, peaceful natural settings for reflection, solitude for writing; not to mention three award-winning, supportive, quirky coaches, then Extraordinary Time Writer's Retreat in New Harmony, Indiana, is for you. To learn more, visit http://extraordinarytimeretreat.com. Check out the Early Bird Special available through April 1. Contact Dave DeGolyer, 37 N. Holcomb Rd., Clarkston, MI 48346. coaches@extraordinarytimeretreat.com
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Reminders and Notes

Spalding Email Accounts
The MFA staff use student and faculty Spalding email accounts to communicate. Please check your account regularly. To forward your Spalding email to your home email account: spalding.edu/about/technology/portal/. To receive your Spalding email account on your phone (or iPod or iPad): spalding.edu/about/technology/spalding-mobile-access/.
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Check Out the MFA Blog
MFA faculty and alumni blog at blog.spalding.edu/mfainwriting. New posts are added weekly. The comment feature is now available.
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Alumni Access to MFA News and Residency Lectures
MFA alumni may access the MFA portal page to listen to residency lectures and to see the latest in MFA news. Go to my.spalding.edu. Username: MFAportal and Password: MFAportal! (Note: the password is case sensitive and there is an exclamation mark at the end of it.) The portal works best in Firefox or Chrome. IE sometimes presents problems with the lecture pop-ups. Safari often has problems. Tech support is available at techsupport@spalding.edu.
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Faculty Advisory Committee FAC) for Spring 2012
FAC members are announced by the MFA Office at the beginning of each semester. The Program Directors consult with the FAC about recommendations for admissions and about programmatic and administrative development and changes. Both faculty and students 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 Associate Program Director about any issues concerning specific individuals’ performance in the program.

• Phil Deaver, fiction
• Maureen Morehead , poetry
• Nancy McCabe, creative nonfiction
• Susan Campbell Bartoletti, writing for children and young adults:
• Larry Brenner, playwriting/screenwriting

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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 (mfa@spalding.edu). Information for assistantships is on the MFA portal page.

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. 4330 or 502-873-4330 or email vmontgomery@spalding.edu. Students may enter or update their FAFSA information online at www.fafsa.ed.gov.
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For Spring 2013 semester: Fill out the FAFSA for the 2012-13 school year, using 2011 tax information. Refer to MFA Financial Aid FAQs on the MFA portal page.
 
For Summer 2013 semester: Fill out the FAFSA for the 2013-14 school year, using 2012 tax information. Refer to MFA Financial Aid FAQs on the MFA portal page.

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 www.spalding.edu/mfanewsletter.
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Life of a Writer: Please remember to email Life of a Writer news to the program because this is a vital part of our community—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. Include area of concentration in parenthesis after name. For example, (F) for fiction, (P) for poetry, (CNF) for creative nonfiction; (W4C) for writing for children and young adults, (SW) for screenwriting, and (PW) for playwriting. For alumni, please include the year of graduation, such as Jake Doe (SW ’08). Spell out month and state names. Include title(s) of the work, publishers, date of publication, and complete web site addresses when appropriate. Send to mfanewsletter@spalding.edu.

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.
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About The Masthead: The image in our masthead is the emblem of 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.
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Sena Jeter Naslund, Program Director
Karen J. Mann, Administrative Director
Kathleen Driskell, Associate Program Director
Katy Yocom, Program Associate
Ellyn Lichvar, Administrative Assistant
Gayle Hanratty, Administrative Assistant

Patsi Trollinger, Newsletter Editor
Nancy Long, Web Editor
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Direct No.	Person	Toll Free Ext. 800-896-8941
502-873-4400	Katy Yocom	4400
502-873-4396	Kathleen Driskell	4396
502-873-4397	Gayle Hanratty	4397
502-873-4398	Ellyn Lichvar	4398
502-873-4399	Karen Mann	4399
502-873-4330	Vickie Montgomery	4330

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 mfanewsletter@spalding.edu
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