Spring 2011 Residency Wrap-Up

For the 2011 spring residency cross-genre emphasis on fiction, Program Director Sena Jeter Naslund, having just completed a national tour with her novel Adam & Eve (Morrow-HarperCollins), discussed its treatment of the idea of sacred texts at the opening night convocation.

Leaping the Atlantic for our interrelatedness of the arts event, we screened Jean Renoir's 1939 classic Rules of the Game and discussed it, along with The 400 Blows, Manon of the Spring, and The Lives of Others, which MFAers had previously watched at home.

In addition to the usual genre workshops, special workshops included a play adaptation workshop, led by Eric Schmiedl, and a film production workshop, led by Sam Zalutsky with production assistance from Ron Schildknecht. The films produced by students in the latter workshop were screened for all MFAers on the final day of residency.

Our Celebration of Recently Published Books began with Molly Peacock's slide show/reading/extemporaneous performance of her book The Paper Garden: An Artist Begins Her Life's Work at 72. Daly Walker read from his Fleur-de-Lis Press collection, Surgeon Stories. Maureen Morehead, newly appointed Kentucky Poet Laureate, read from her latest collection, The Melancholy Teacher. And Roy Hoffman read a profile of a news photographer from his collection, Alabama Afternoons: Profiles and Conversations.

The residency saw our largest student population ever (about 130), filling fully two dozen workshops. Our group burgeoned further when alumni arrived at the end of the week for Homecoming. Homecoming attendees were invited to an alums-only lecture by Kenny Cook on such eyebrow-raising topics as creative polygamy (according to Kenny, it's a good thing). Alums also sat in on a talk and Q&A by New York agent Lisa Gallagher. The Alumni Celebration at the Brown Hotel featured readings by eight alumni authors and was followed by SPLoveFest, a book fair and exhibition. Later that night, alums gathered again for an after-party and reading at Theater Square Marketplace.

Residency ended with the sounds of traditional music provided by alum Joan Donaldson and her band, Puddingstone. Joan called a contra dance, teaching MFAers the steps of reels, polkas, waltzes and schottisches.

Residency lectures and other sessions are available on Blackboard in the MFA Resources course. Alumni who do not remember their Blackboard login can contact Karen Mann for help.
(top)

Attention: Important Policy Changes in Mentor Group Assignments/Closure Conferences

Everyone is asked to read carefully the three changes described here.

New Submission Process for the Mentor Group Anthology Essay
The mentor announces the Mentor Group Anthology for the entire group to read at the Mentor Group Conference. In playwriting or screenwriting, the mentor may choose instead to assign three or more short scripts. Students (except for ENG650 students) write a 2-4 page essay about their two favorite works from the anthology/collection. By June 16, spring and spring-stretch students post a copy of that essay on the discussion board found inside their Mentor Group on Blackboard. The Mentor Group is found under the blue Mentor Group button in the MFA in Writing Program course; students scroll down to the Mentor section and find their mentor's name and the group that lists all members of the mentor group.

As in the established practice, students should read each other's essays but now they will also post at least one comment (of approximately 100 words) in response to each essay in the discussion board thread by July 13. Students can most easily copy and paste their essays directly into a thread of the discussion board that is labeled Mentor Group Anthology Essay, or they can attach a document.

The mentor will continue to comment on the essays within the packet response.

New Submission Process for the ENG620 Creative Exchange
By August 28, ENG620 students should post one piece of creative work to the Blackboard discussion board of their Mentor Group instead of emailing the creative work to other mentees as instructed in the syllabus.

The other mentees in the group should post a 200-400 word summary of their comments on the work on that discussion board thread no later than September 4. The mentor will also post summary comments on the creative work on Blackboard after all students have posted their comments.

Students can most easily copy and paste their creative work directly into a thread of the discussion board that is labeled ENG620 Creative Work Exchange.

New Closure Conference Policies
The MFA Program has revised its closure conference policy for all students regardless of the semester they are attending. In the future, faculty mentors will now conclude the semester with a telephone closure conference of 15-20 minutes. The call should occur between the student's receipt of the fifth packet response and the end of the semester. The student initiates arranging the date and time of the call. See the MFA Student Handbook for details on the nature of the closure conference.

Because these policy changes have not been made yet to the MFA Student Handbook and are not reflected in the Spring 2011 or Spring Stretch 2011 syllabus, the MFA Office will mail reminders about these changes one week before the assignments are to be posted.
(top)

Summer 2011 Residency Program Films in Common
The MFA Program has selected two Films in Common for the Summer 2011 residency in Italy. Early in our residency in Rome, Program Director Sena Jeter Naslund, Associate Program Director Kathleen Driskell, and screenwriting faculty member Brad Riddell lead a discussion of Federico Fellini's films La Dolce Vita and 8=. All students should view these films before coming to the residency. Later in the residency, while in Tuscany, Fellini scholar Federico Pacchioni presents a lecture on this important Italian filmmaker.

Both films should be easily accessible for viewing by students. All students should list La Dolce Vita and 8= as films viewed on their cumulative bibliographies.

Though not required, students and faculty may be interested in viewing the other films screenwriting faculty member Brad Riddell has asked his screenwriting students to view:  Umberto D, Cinema Paradiso, Blow Up, and Rome: Open City. MFA students and faculty may also want to read excerpts from Brad's genre book in common found on Blackboard under Summer 2011: The History of Italian Cinema: A Guide to Italian Film from Its Origins to the Twenty-First Century by Gian Piero Brunetta (author), Jeremy Parzen (translator).

Other books and films in common for Summer 2011 students are listed below.

Faculty Books/Scripts in Common for Summer 2011

• Fiction: Mary Waters, The Favorites
• Poetry: Greg Pape, American Flamingo
• Creative Nonfiction: Richard Goodman, A New York Memoir
• Writing for Children and Young Adults: Leslia Newman, Hachiko Waits; please also view the film Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)
• Screenwriting: Brad Riddell, Crooked Arrows (posted on BB for download. Please read both versions.)

• Fiction: Italo Calvino, Difficult Loves
• Poetry: Eugenio Montale, Selected Poems
• Creative Nonfiction: Carlo Levi, Christ Stopped at Eboli
• Writing for Children and Young Adults: Pinocchio (Please purchase the New York Review Books Classics edition in paperback: ISBN-13: 978-1590172896). Also, please view Disney's Pinocchio (1939) before residency
• Screenwriting: The History of Italian Cinema: A Guide to Italian Film from Its Origins to the Twenty-First Century by Gian Piero Brunetta (author), Jeremy Parzen (translator). Also, preview these films before residency: Umberto D, 8 1/2, Cinema Paradiso, Blow Up, and Rome: Open City

Fall 2011 Residency Offering: Literary Journalism Workshop
Dianne Aprile and Roy Hoffman will lead a special topic Workshop at the Fall 2011 residency. It is open to all creative nonfiction students except students who will be in ENG610 in the fall. Students in other areas of concentration who have not already participated in a Workshop outside of their area may also participate in the Workshop.

While the personal essay and memoir are popular forms of creative nonfiction, there are other areas of creative nonfiction in which reportage, observation, opinion, and cultural criticism are the driving forces, too. This workshop in literary journalism invites participants to contribute travel writing, nature writing, arts criticism (not reviews), profiles, personal op/ed pieces, and narrative nonfiction grounded in research and immersion reporting.

The "I" can surely be a part of literary journalism, with memory and commentary woven into the form, but the emphasis is less on the experience of the self and more on the surrounding world. Creative nonfiction has long appropriated conventions such as scene-making, dialogue, point of view, character development, and storytelling from the fictional realm. This workshop in literary journalism encourages that kind of energetic style and colorful use of language. Participants do not have to be journalistsor have journalistic experienceto be part of this workshop, but they do have to be committed to going out and finding a good story to tell in the broader sphere outside or in addition to their own experiences.

The Workshop will include discussion on markets for literary journalism and how to go about seeking those markets. Included in the discussions will be the work of literary journalists of diverse styles, such as Joan Didion, Susan Orlean, Albert Murray, John McPhee, John D'Agata, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Marguerite Duras.

The Workshop is limited to ten students. Those interested in participating should email Karen Mann at kmann@spalding.edu before August 1.
(top)

Faculty/Guest Books/Scripts in Common for Fall 2011
In addition to the Program Book in Common (which has not been announced), students also read a Faculty Book/Script in Common in their area of concentration. Rising ENG620, ENG630, and ENG640 students who are attending the Fall 2011 residency (and students who are returning from a leave of absence in Fall 2011) write an essay on the Faculty Book/Script in Common in their area. The Faculty Books/Scripts in Common are:

• Fiction: John Pipkin, Woodsburner
• Poetry: Debra Kang Dean, Precipitates
• Creative Nonfiction: Molly Peacock, The Paper Garden: An Artist Begins Her Life's Work at 72
• Writing for Children and Young Adults: Lesléa Newman, Hachiko Waits (W4C&YA students read book and watch the movie Hachi: A Dog's Tale, starring Richard Gere.)
• Playwriting/Screenwriting: Rebecca Gilman's Spinning Into Butter (The play is available on amazon.com; also watch the movie Spinning Into Butter.)

Check Out the MFA Blog
MFA faculty and alumni are now blogging at blog.spalding.edu/mfainwriting. New posts are added weekly. The comment feature is now available.
(top)

Facebook Fanpage Contest Has Second Winner
Alum CoCo Harris won the second Facebook Fanpage contest. She won a $100 gift certificate to Hattie's Books in Brunswick, Georgia. The next drawing is July 15.

To enter the contest, take a picture of yourself with MFA items, such as T-shirts, bags, or umbrellas. Post the picture to the fanpage at http://www.facebook.com/spaldingmfa or send it to mfanewsletter@spalding.edu to be posted on the fanpage.

For each picture posted, the MFA staff enters the name of the MFAer (students, alumni, and faculty) into a drawing for a $100 gift card from the independent bookstore of the winner's choice. Winners are chosen four times a year. Amy Hanridge was the first winner.

To find MFA wear or gear, see http://www.cafepress.com/spaldingmfa.
(top)

Facebook Fanpage Now Posting Contest and Other Information
The MFA Program has begun posting announcements regarding contests, calls for submissions, and grants on the MFA Facebook Fanpage. If you have not already joined, please join the fanpage at http://www.facebook.com/spaldingmfa to access this information. The MFA Program will no longer post such announcements on Blackboard.

MFAers are invited to share their writerly news on the MFA fanpage (http://www.facebook.com/spaldingmfa). Send news about readings, blog entries, pictures, or other items of interest to mfanewsletter@spalding.edu.
(top)

Faculty Advisory Committee (FAC) for Spring 2011
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.

• Eleanor Morse, fiction
• Jeanie Thompson, poetry
• Roy Hoffman, creative nonfiction
• Luke Wallin, writing for children and young adults
• Charlie Schulman, playwriting/screenwriting

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

Eileen Baland's poems "An Argument" and "Not One is Missing" appear in the Spring 2011 issue of The Penwood Review. Recently she participated in "An Evening of Poetry" at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, and read her poetry at Teaspirations in Marshall. (top)

Vanessa Gonzales, a fourth-semester fiction student, announces that her short story "Underwear for Conformists" and poem "Fear" are being published in the summer issue of Parting Gifts. In addition, her poem "Jubilee" is being published in the summer issue of Whitefish Review. These are her first publications—accepted within a few weeks of each other—and were all mentored by Phil Deaver during her third semester or as part of his poetry workshop in Buenos Aires, Argentina. You can also find her quirky musings at http://www.vanessagonzales.com.
(top)

Dawn Hansen Pergakes took part in a poetry showcase titled "Death and Taxes" in April at Bound to Be Read Books in Atlanta. Dawn read four poems, including "Butter," which she workshopped in Spring 2010. (top)

Kelly R. Lynn, a creative nonfiction student graduating fall 2011, announces that her poems "Semaphore" and "Xylograph" were featured on the Red Lion Square poetry podcast on April 27. Listen here: http://www.redlionsq.com/1/post/2011/04/episode-41-kirsten-lasinski-and-kelly-r-lynn.html (top)

Cynthia C. Rand, a first semester student in fiction and poetry, has four poems in the June issue of the online Dead Mule Press at http://www.deadmule.com. Her full-length play, "Photini at the Well," is being produced at the Lamp Light Theatre in Fall Branch, Tennessee. Scheduled performance dates are June 10-12. (top)

Faculty and Staff

Dianne Aprile was recently appointed to a two-year term on the Arts Commission of Issaquah, Washington.(top)

In early May, Susan Campbell Bartoletti participated on a nonfiction panel at the International Reading Association's (IRA) annual conference, held in Orlando, Florida. She also received word that her book, The Boy Who Dared, won the William Allen White Children's Book Award. The ceremony is set to be held in Emporia, Kansas, in late September. Rumor has it that the ceremony includes a parade.(top)

Ellie Bryant was interviewed on Sheri Wright's Crescent Hill Radio show, "From the Inkwell." To listen to a podcast, click on episode #48 at http://www.crescenthillradio.com/fromtheinkwell.html. (top)

Philip F. Deaver was on a panel about "rejection" (the literary type) at the AWP conference in Washington, D.C. The panel was organized by Spalding MFA alum Diana Raab, and faculty member Molly Peacock also spoke. Spearheading the greater Orlando area's contribution to National Dzanc Day (April 9), Philip convened the largest workshop among the many held across the nation in connection with that event, with proceeds going to Dzanc Books, the new emerging writers literary press.

On April 14, he read his story "Projects" as the inaugural event for a new visiting author reading series at Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The new program is made possible by an endowment from Spalding alum Diane Himes-Sweeney, who specifically requested Philip as the author to begin the series. For more, visit his blog or website: http://longpinelimited.blogspot.com; http://philipfdeaver.com/
(top)

A collection of Robert Finch's award-winning weekly NPR radio commentary, "A Cape Cod Notebook," publishes in June by On-Cape Publications. A reading at the Wellfleet Library is scheduled for 8 p.m. July 20.

Richard Goodman's book The Bicycle Diaries: One New Yorker's Journey Through September 11th publishes in a fine press edition with original wood engravings by Gaylord Schanilec in June. (top)

Rachel Harper was a judge for the 2011 Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction, which was awarded to Katharine Beutner for her novel, Alcestis. (top)

Robin Lippincott announces that "Singer," the story he read at the fall residency, was solicited by and is set to be published in the inaugural issue of The Ocean State Review. His review of Sempre Susan, Sigrid Nunez's memoir of Susan Sontag, appeared in The Courier-Journal on May 14; a review of Bobbie Ann Mason's new novel, The Girl in the Blue Beret, appears in The Courier-Journal in June. (top)

Sena Jeter Naslund received an Govenor's Artist Award May 17 at a gala celebration at the Shakespeare Festival Theatre, Montgomery, Alabama. Also in May, Sena was a featured writer at the Alabama Writers Symposium in Monroeville. Her presentation at the Women Writers' Conference of the University of Louisville featured her new novel Adam & Eve. (top)

Lesléa Newman's middle-grade novel Hachiko Waits received the 2011 Bluestem: Illinois' Grades 3-5 Readers Choice Award, sponsored by the Illinois School Library Media Association. This award is determined by the students themselves who vote on a list of books created by librarians across the state of Illinois.

Lesléa continues to be inspired by Hachiko, the faithful dog of Japan. Her chapbook, "I Remember (Hachiko Speaks)," has been accepted for publication by Finishing Line Press. The book is a series of poems, all written in form, in the voice of Hachiko as an old dog looking back on his life.

Along with slain gay politician Harvey Milk and transgender activist Kate Bornstein, Lesléa has been named a hero by Keshet, a grassroots national organization that works for the full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered Jews in Jewish life. She is featured in the Hineini poster project, which celebrates LGBT people who have "transformed the world through their words and their lives." http://lgbtjewishheroes.org
(top)

Greg Pape's Animal Time was published in May by Accents Publishing. He read in Lexington in the Holler Poets series May 25.

He has new poems appearing in Sugar House Review, Florida Review and Willow Springs. He's looking forward to the summer residency in Italy.
(top)

Molly Peacock's book The Paper Garden: An Artist Begins Her Life's Work at 72 was reviewed in The New York Times Sunday Book Review. The review featured a print of a collage of 17th-century artist Mary Delany's work and an excerpt of the first chapter. The review was written by Andrea Wulf, author of Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation. Go to http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/books/review/book-review-the-paper-garden-by-molly-peacock.html.

Her essay "My Real Mom, and My 311-Year-Old Mother" appears on StyleSubstanceSoul. The essay is a tribute to her mom and Mrs. Delany, the subject of her book The Paper Garden: An Artist Begins Her Life's Work at 72. Read her essay, as well as interview with her at http://stylesubstancesoul.com/2011/05/my-real-mom-and-my-311-year-old-mother-by-molly-peacock/.
(top)

Screenwriting instructor Brad Riddell is excited to announce a big move. He has accepted a position as assistant professor of creative writing at SUNY Oswego and relocates from Los Angeles this summer, where he taught at the University of Southern California for the past six years. Brad is set to be primarily be teaching screenwriting, film studies and production courses.(top)

Jeanie Thompson announces that a selection from her persona sequence in process, This Day: Poems from the Life of Helen Keller, was performed by three actors in a staged reading at Theater Tuscaloosa directed by Tina F. Turley at Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Writing Our Stories, a creative writing program for juvenile offenders that Jeanie founded in 1997 with the Alabama Department of Youth Services, is featured in an exhibit of photos and published poems from student writers at the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery.

Jeanie was a featured scholar at the Alabama Writers Symposium in Monroeville on May 5-7, where she presented the 2011 Harper Lee Award to Winston Groom and interviewed him on stage at Alabama Southern Community College, which hosted the conference. (top)

Neela Vaswani's multi-genre book, You Have Given Me a Country, was awarded a silver medal IPPY (Independent Publisher's Award) in Multicultural Fiction. It was also recently awarded Honor Book for the Asian/Pacific American Award in Literature (nonfiction category) and was named a finalist for the ForeWord Book of the Year in the essay category.

You Have Given Me a Country is featured as the June book for the Women of the World Book Club. Neela reads at Big Blue Marble in Philadelphia at 7 p.m. June 8.
(top)

Luke Wallin's performance of his song "Trust Me" appears over closing credits in the short thriller of the same name. The film was selected for the Myrtle Beach International Film Festival and was shown there in April.

His essay "The Night the Walnut Trees Exploded" appears this summer in the 75th anniversary celebratory anthology from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop.
(top)

Crystal Wilkinson and her partner Ron Davis are the owners of The Wild Fig Bookstore at 1439 Leestown Road in Lexington, Kentucky. The store offers quality used books, a smattering of new books and good coffee.

Look for announcements of the opening in mid-to-late June. Crystal presents workshops and lectures this summer at the West Virginia Writers' Conference, the Ocean State Writers' Conference in Providence, Rhode Island, and "The Power of Place, Land and Culture in Appalachia" at the University of North Carolina-Asheville.
(top)

Katy Yocom recently returned to freelance writing with two feature articles in Food & Dining: Louisville Edition. Copies of the magazine were available in Brown Hotel guestrooms during residency. Her two articles, a profile of Mozz Mozzarella Bar and Enoteca, and a feature describing a five-course spontaneous tasting menu called "Feed Me Chef" at Limestone Restaurant in Louisville, mark her first paid foray into food writing, an area of great interest to Katy, who loves to talk about food.
(top)

With fellow filmmaker Lizzie Donahue, Sam Zalutsky recently created a book trailer for Orange is the New Black, Piper Kerman's memoir of her 15 months in prison. He also shot Kerman's author photo. You can find both at www.piperkerman.com.

Soon available for viewing online is a series of videos about breast cancer survivors that Sam created with his sister, plastic surgeon Diane Alexander, called The Before and the After. Sam also recently finished two new videos for Prep for Prep, a New York educational nonprofit committed to creating a new generation of diverse leaders. They are available at www.prepforprep.org.
(top)

Alumni

Jennifer Anthony (Spring 2005) wrote about a monthlong trek in Nepal for Matador, a travel webzine: http://matadornetwork.com/sports/gear-as-memoir-my-foolproof-yak-proof-boots/.
(top)

Deborah Begel (Spring 2006) graduated from Northern New Mexico College this spring with a degree to teach high school English. She also produced two five-minute features on N. Scott Momaday and Hampton Sides for KUNM 89.9 FM.
(top)

Myra Bellin's (Fall 2005) essay "Tanked" appears in The Front Range Review, May 2011. Her essay "Rosie's Blintzes" appears in the forthcoming issue of Colere.Myra has been accepted into the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop and is looking forward to a week of writing in Gambier, Ohio, next month.
(top)

Kelly Creagh (Spring 2008) recently sold translation rights of her YA novel Nevermore and the forthcoming sequel, Enshadowed, to the German publishing house Loewe. In addition, Nevermore publishes in Poland, Russia, Turkey, Israel, Hungary and Brazil.

The third novel in the Nevermore trilogy (as yet untitled) has been contracted with Simon and Schuster Atheneum Books for Young Readers. This summer, Kelly conducts writing workshops for teens at each branch of the Louisville Free Public Library in conjunction with the library's Myth, Magic and Imagination summer reading program.

The poem "Blueberry Patch" by Lafayette Wattles, alter-ego of Dave DeGolyer (Fall 2006) was featured in the May 2011 issue of Gastronomica.
(top)

Sonja deVries (Fall 2009) announces that Tattoo Highway publishes "Swans In The Red Light District" this month. "Westerbork to Dachau" and "Herbert's Little Sister" appears in the summer issue of The Ledge.
(top)

Daniel DiStasio's (Fall 2006) short story "Stone in Your Knife Stream" was accepted for publication in Quay: A Journal of Art and appears in Winter 2011.
(top)

Joan Donaldson (Spring 2008) novel On Viney's Mountain was one of three finalists for the Bronte Prize for Romantic Literature.
(top)

Kathryn Eastburn (Spring 2006) teaches creative nonfiction July 30 at the Colorado College Summer Session 2011 with a one-day seminar in "Life Writing" for adults in the community at large. Eastburn has also joined the faculty of Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver where she teaches "Intro to Narrative Nonfiction." This fall she teaches literary journalism at the Colorado College and at Lighthouse. Check out her latest (and most fun!) writing project, a weekly public radio column called "The Middle Distance," at: http://radiocoloradocollege.org/?s=kathryn+eastburn%2C+middle+distance.
(top)

Sandra Evans Falconer (Spring 2005) has recently relocated to Portland, Oregon, after some 30 years in Baltimore, Maryland. Sandra is co-facilitating a women's writing group at Rosehaven, a Portland community shelter for homeless women. Sandra would love to hear from any MFA folk who are also out on the beautiful West Coast!! (Evansfalconer@aol.com or 443-717-4397). (top)

Grace Farag (Fall 2008) is living in Pasadena, California, where she recently taught a five-week creative writing class through Fuller Seminary's Brehm Center.

Her short story "Madrones," which was part of her MFA thesis, appears soon in a Fuller publication called Offerings. She did a reading in May of "Madrones" at an event organized by the Fuller Arts Collective.

Though she got her MFA in fiction, Grace has been brushing up her journalism skills over the past six months by writing regularly for a community news website called San Marino Patch (find her articles online at http://sanmarino.patch.com/). Her work includes a weekly column on public exhibits, events and other items of interest relating to The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens (www.huntington.org). She also occasionally volunteers at the office of a new literary journal that launched in Los Angeles last summer, Slake (www.slake.la), as a submissions reader and proofreader.
(top)

Stacia M. Fleegal (Fall 2006) announces that her second full-length collection of poetry, Versus, was released in April by BlazeVOX Books. Please visit http://www.staciamfleegal.com for ordering information, reviews, and upcoming readings and events.

To promote Versus and Anatomy of a Shape-Shifter, Stacia recently gave readings at Milwaukee's Boswell Book Company and Woodland Pattern Book Center and appeared on Milwaukee Public Radio's (WUWM 89.7 FM) Lake Effect program. She also recently traveled (with Dan Nowak, Spring 2007) to the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, to speak with two creative writing classes about poetry and publishing, and to give a reading in honor of National Poetry Month.

On April 29, Stacia participated in the Great Twin Cities Poetry Read in Minneapolis, where twenty-eight poets read one poem each and raised more than $1,000 for poet Dean Young, who recently underwent a heart transplant.

Stacia has new poems forthcoming in Mud Luscious, North American Review, Anthills, and the anthology Poetry City, USA, Vol. II. Lastly, she was thrilled to be "coming home" to read in the Celebration of Recently Published Books by Alumni on May 20.
(top)

Brittany Fonte (Spring 2007) has a poem, "Mommy Diet" that is forthcoming in Breadcrumb Scabs. She has also just recently published "Cinderella: 2011" and "I am Not Fresh Produce" with Mat Black Magazine. "Bi-Cycling" and "Gidget's Unrest" are coming soon in Pemmican Journal.

Brittany has received a full professorship at Keiser University and still teaches fiction and nonfiction, as well as composition, with the University of Maryland system.

In addition, Brittany's daughter, Keaton, whose birth she never did announce in LOAW, turns one on May 29.
(top)

In April, Deborah Zarka Miller Fox (Fall 2005) served as a panel judge for the 2011 Indiana Arts Commission's Individual Artist Grant program, a state-funded initiative that awards grants up to $2000 to individuals in the fine or performing arts. On May 19, she spoke about her research process for her young adult novel, A Star for Robbins Chapel, and gave a brief reading at Madison Park Church in Anderson, Indiana. On June 5, she delivers the commencement address at Arcanum High School, her alma mater, in Arcanum, Ohio.
(top)

Thea Gavin (Spring 2005) is artist-in-residence at Grand Canyon National Park, North Rim, from June 6-27. In addition to writing there, she leads three public programs (creative writing hikes) during her residency, and then give a reading/lecture/slide show in Orange County at a local REI later in the summer.

Thea was invited to read her nature poetry April 20 at Golden West College Native Garden to help celebrate California's first Native Plant Week. Her poems about native plants are featured regularly in the newsletter of the Orange County Chapter of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS), and Thea has been asked to organize the poetry night at the triennial CNPS state conference in San Diego in January 2012. She continues to blog about her barefoot hiking and trail-running adventures for "Writing and Wandering Wild Orange County" at http://www.theagavin.com.
(top)

Karen George (Spring 2009) had poems published in Blood Lotus: An Online Literary Journal, #19, and several accepted for publication in the anthology For a Better World 2011, the Summer 2011 issue of Ontologica, and a flash fiction story in Thumbnail Magazine.

Karen was interviewed on Sheri Wright's "From the Inkwell" Crescent Hill Radio program, on WVXU's radio program "Around Cincinnati," and on Katerina Stoykova-Klemer's "Accents - A Radio Show for Literature, Art and Culture' on WRFL.

Karen presented a reading/workshop called "Writing About the Natural World" at Grailville's Third Sunday Poetry Series. Her poetry chapbook, Into the Heartland, is available from Finishing Line Press at http://www.finishinglinepress.com. Aquarius/Star Om's First Friday Reading Series features her work June 3.
(top)

Because of the German translations of his novels, Mercedes-Benz commissioned Joey Goebel (Fall 2006) to write a story for an interactive web special in its campaign for the new CLS model. The story, originally posted in November, requires the user to enter information that influences the plot (much like Goebel's favorite literary genre, Choose Your Own Adventure). Find out more at http://www3.mercedes-benz.com/mbcom_v4/de/cls/en.html
(top)

Chris Helvey (Fall 2006) had his short story "A Long Walk" published in the online journal Solstice.
(top)

Marci Rae Johnson (Spring 2005) has a poem upcoming in the fall issue of the Valparaiso Review. Her first book recently won the 2010 Powder Horn Prize and publishes later this year with Sage Hill Press. Marci teaches at Valparaiso University, where she also serves on the reading series committee.
(top)

Russ Kesler's (Spring 2009) second collection of poems As If is out from Wind Publications. It's available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and the publisher's website.
(top)

Cyn Kitchen (Spring 2005) has been busy promoting her first book, Ten Tongues, through teaching various workshops. In February, she conducted a one-day seminar on humor writing at The Midwest Writing Center in Davenport, Iowa, and in April she participated in the Sandburg Days Festival with a writing workshop at the Carl Sandburg Birthplace Historic Site in her hometown of Galesburg, Illinois. In association with the annual community festival sponsored by Carl Sandburg Community College, Cyn was named the 2011 CSC Distinguished Alumnus.

Cyn's new publications include two nonfiction pieces. "It Could Be Worse" appears in the anthology Mamas & Papas: On the Sublime and Heartbreaking Art of Parenting, published by City Works Press in December 2010, and "A Lightbulb Moment" is forthcoming in the anthology Bless Your Heart: Easy to Love but Hard to Raise from DRT Press. Also in April, Cyn traveled to Georgia College to attend the conference: "Startling Figures: A Celebration of the Legacy of Flannery O'Connor." Cyn is an assistant professor of English at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois.
(top)

Jason Lee Miller (Fall 2008) continues to saunter around the borders of the literary world and throw small look-at-me temper tantrums. Sometimes that works, though, and since graduating, various pieces have peppered the scene. His essay "Quantum Fiction," which he wrote at Spalding, was published in Ontologica in 2009; his ekphrastic poem, "Julie Shrooms the Black Doombloom," which he also wrote at Spalding, was a millimeter from winning a prize (the judge wanted a tie) and was published in the Bluegrass Accolade in 2010.

In April 2011, Jason's review of Craig Sernotti's poetry collection Forked Tongue was published in Gloom Cupboard; the volunteer staff there subsequently asked him to be a co-editor and regular book reviewer, and he happily accepted. Also in April, Jason launched Off Topic (http://offtopic.typepad.com/), a blog about the writing life in gory detail.

His novel? Well, let's just say it's one of those precocious children who matures much later than everyone else. Jason supposes one can't force a tomato to ripen.
(top)

JoAnn LoVerde-Dropp (Fall 2010) was elected to the board of directors of the Georgia Writers' Association in May 2011. She serves as GWA's poetry workshop facilitator.
(top)

Loreen Niewenhuis (Spring 2007) is having a blast on her book tour for A 1000-Mile Walk on the Beach, her book about her hike around Lake Michigan. Recently, REI has booked her to lecture at eight of their stores. Her novella, Atlanta, publishes in June with Main Street Rag Publishing of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Loreen's beginning to schedule book festivals and readings with the novella. Loreen is thankful for the support and encouragement that her "Spalding family" has provided at every step to bring these two works to completion and launch them into the world. Check out her events on her website, http://LakeTrek.com, to see if she has an event near you.
(top)

Dan Nowak (Spring 2007) recently traveled (with Stacia M. Fleegal, Fall 2006) to the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, to speak with two creative writing classes about poetry and publishing, and to give a reading in honor of National Poetry Month. He has a poem forthcoming in North American Review. Please visit http://www.thedannowak.com for upcoming events and publications.

Dan was among the MFA alumni who read in the After Party Literary Reading at Theater Square Marketplace (on Broadway a few blocks from the Brown) May 20.

In other news, Dan home-brews beer now, which has nothing to do with writing except that it's a break from writing, and he's sure he will eventually write about it.
(top)

Nancy O'Connor's (Spring 2008) picture book manuscript "Bear Cub's Pizza" won first runner-up in the 2010 "Spoonful of Stories" contest sponsored by Cheerios and General Mills.
(top)

Linda Busby Parker (Fall 2003) sends in the following: "For about a year and a half I have been submerged writing, writing, writing. Coming out from under now and really enjoyed all the MFA Facebook chatter. The last residency sounded wonderful! From here: A group of my students and I did readings at the Gulf Coast Creative Writing Teachers Conference in Fairhope, Alabama, in April. On June 6, I will do an interview with Heard, a new on-line television program that began regularly programming on May 17. Heard is all about writers—all kinds of interviews and information about writers. The producer is Robin Reshard, former PBS television host. The web site is: www.heardtv.com. Meanwhile, I will teach a course on plot elements and structure at the University of South Alabama this summer and continue teaching in the low-residency program at Middle Tennessee State University."
(top)

Joe Peacock (Fall 2008) has had a second book review accepted. The first, a review of Pat Conroy's My Reading Life, was accepted by Southern Humanities Review and appears sometime before the end of this year. The second is a review of James Brown's This River, which was taken by Trajectory. It appears in the spring issue, soon to be released. In addition, Joe's short poem, "The Dying," was accepted by Accents Publishing and appears in fall 2011.
(top)

Diana Raab (Fall 2003) won the 2011 Eric Hoffer Award (Academic Press Division) for her book Writers and Their Notebooks (USC Press, 2010), the anthology she compiled and edited. She will teach a workshop at the Santa Barbara Writers' Conference (June 18-23) called, "From Journal to Memoir." Her article "What Notebooks Can Do For You" appeared in Writers' Journal (March/April 2011). Her poems "Bush Solace" and "Visiting This New Continent," appeared in Jet Fuel Review (Spring 2011).
(top)

Angie Richart-Mayfield (Fall 2009) began working on her doctorate in education at Walden University this spring, with a specialization in instruction and innovation. Her monthly column, "The Converted Cynic," debuted in April in Boomer Magazine. An article, "Copycat Coolness," was published in Boomer in March.

Her essay "Dog Days and Starlit Nights" was published on Backhandstories.com in April. In May, her essay "The Babysitter," along with a photo, appears in Mules and More Magazine.
(top)

Rosemary Royston's (Fall 2009) chapbook Splitting the Soil publishes late 2011/early 2012 with Redneck Press. She also has had a book review, "Living Above the Frost Line," accepted for publication in Prairie Schooner. Rosemary is teaching a class on humor and writing at the John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, North Carolina, this summer, and teaches creative writing at Young Harris College in fall 2011.
(top)

Michele Ruby (Spring 2005) reports delightedly that the Grasmere Writers' dramatic reading at the Bard's Town last March was a standing-room-only, some-folks-were-turned-away success, and we (Michele, Rick Neumayer, Joe Peacock, and Bob Sachs) would like to thank everyone who came.

Meanwhile, Michele's story "Sermon" appears in the most recent issue of Inkwell, and her short short "And Counting" just came out in Hayden's Ferry Review. The New Delta Review has just accepted her story "Seuss Goose."
(top)

Brian Russell (Spring 2010) has been named a Visiting Professor at DeVry University in Chicago, where he teaches "Intermediate Writing and Reading," "Advanced Composition," and "Introduction to the Humanities." He was recently awarded an Individual Artist Support Grant from the Illinois Arts Council, which helps underwrite his attendance at the July 2011 Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference in Dallas.
(top)

Julia Schuster's (Spring 2007) collection of short stories, poetry, and sketches, The Ingredients of Gumbo, is set to be released by BelleBooks at the end of June. Award-winning graphic designer Maggie Leone is doing the layout for this unique artist's and writer's journal.

Julia also just received word that she has been nominated for the national Facing History and Ourselves "Choosing to Participate Upstander Award" for her work to build relationships between her students and the students of a school in Zimbabwe and for her dedication to global citizenship. On May 6, former Washington Post religion editor, David Waters, showcased Julia's efforts in an article for the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
(top)

Alums Cathy Shap (Spring 2009) and Dave DeGolyer (Fall 2006) have started a new business called Living the Best Me Now. Cathy is a certified holistic health and wellness coach. Both alums recently completed their yoga teacher training and are certified yoga instructors. The business is an eclectic endeavor that offers holistic health & wellness coaching, as well as creativity coaching (for artists and wannabe artists and people simply looking to tap into or to reconnect with their creativity). Check them out online and, if you like what you see, become a fan of their Facebook page—www.facebook.com/LivingTheBestMeNow.
(top)

Bob Shayne (Spring 2007) has been named visiting professor in the Colorado Western University short residency MFA screenwriting program. He joins Spalding MFA alum John Steele (Spring 2006), who teaches at Colorado Western. Bob also continues as adjunct professor at the Chapman University film school in Los Angeles.
(top)

Graham Shelby (Fall 2010) completed a Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Grant from the Kentucky Arts Council, where he studied Appalachian storytelling with a master storyteller (in this case, his mother, author Anne Shelby). They created a 30-minute storytelling presentation, "Jack and the Cave of Anywhere," in which Jack, the hero of many traditional English and American folk tales (such as Jack and the Beanstalk) finds a magical cave that takes him through time and space, allows him to enter other folk tales from around the world, and meet characters like Anansi the Spider, Hercules and Japan's Inch-High Samurai. They plan to market the presentation to schools in the fall.
(top)

Cristina Trapani-Scott's (Spring 2009) poem "The Art of Capturing a Waterfall on Film" was published in the Spring 2011 water-themed issue of Driftwood. Her poem also was excerpted by the editors in the introduction.

Her poem "A Day at the Chemo Spa" publishes in the forthcoming in the anthology Bigger Than They Appear: Anthology of Very Short Poems. In addition, her poem "Free" appears in the fall 2011 issue of the Paterson Literary Review.
(top)

Tommy Trull's (Fall 2010) musical "Silent Pictures" (based on a short story by Spalding alum Ashley Rose Sullivan, Fall 2010) receives its second production at The Broach Theatre in Greensboro, NC in mid-July. He has also been commissioned by Wake Forest University to adapt D.T. Niane's "Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali" for the stage.
(top)

The Southern Kentucky Book Festival in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in April was great fun for Vickie Weaver (Fall 2005), who sold books and participated in a panel about historical fiction. She was happy to have dear friend Bonnie Johnson (Fall 2004) with her! Diana McQuady, current Spalding student, stopped by Vickie's booth for a chat.
(top)

Jonathan Weinert (Fall 2005) is co-editor, with Kevin Prufer, of Until Everything Is Continuous Again: American Poets on the Recent Work of W.S. Merwin, forthcoming in April 2012. The book publishes with WordFarm, where Spalding MFA poetry alum Marci Johnson (Spring 2005) serves as poetry editor, and includes new essays by Spalding MFA poetry faculty members Jeanie Thompson and Debra Kang Dean. The book also reprints the interview that Jonathan and Jeanie conducted with Merwin at Spalding in the fall of 2006, originally published in The Louisville Review. Jonathan has new poems forthcoming in 32 Poems and Rock & Sling. For more, check out his website at www.jonathanweinert.net.
(top)

Corrections

Helen Jones’ book of essays, Waiting and Being, was published in 2010, not 2011.
(top)

Personals

Our heartfelt sympathy to Holly Jensen on the death of her mother Frances "Bunny" Jensen on March 31.

. (top)

Classifieds

This announcement was recently received in the MFA Office: Bom Bias Books, a new press started by MFA students (not Spalding students) for MFA students, will be launching in the next 6 months and is taking submissions from MFA students. The publishing model is based around using the new trend in e-publishing (kindle, ibooks, etc.) as a way to offset traditional publishing costs. This press intends to bring out four titles in the next year. Seeking fiction, and nonfiction titles from students who are interested in e-publishing.

Contact Paul McLean at bombiasbooks@gmail.com.
(top)

Spalding's Flickr Group

The MFA Program has a Flickr group at http://www.flickr.com/groups/spaldingmfa/. The MFA staff encourages all students and faculty to join the group and post their MFA-related photos. (Photos may also be posted, or linked to, on the MFA Facebook Fanpage by emailing the information to mfafacebook@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 (mfa@spalding.edu). 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 www.fafsa.ed.gov.
(top)

All Summer and Fall 2011 students: Fill out the FAFSA for the 11-12 school year, using 2010 tax information.

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.
(top)

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. 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 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.
(top)

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.
(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
Nancy Long, Web 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 mfanewsletter@spalding.edu

(top)