Vol. 13 No. 2
March 2008

Gifts Match

Dhawan's Monsoon Wedding

Celebration Reading

Lecture Reports

5-minute Student Readings

PW/SW ENG640 Readings

Summer Reading List

AWP Panel 2009 Deadline May 1

New Internship Opps

ENG660 for Fall

New Alumni Association

Five-Year Reunion for MFA Grads

Life of a Writer

Students

Faculty and Staff

Alumni

Pre-reading for Spring 08

Classifieds

Reminders and Notes

Apply for Passport Now for Summer 2008

Spalding Home

MFA Home

Previous Newsletters

Pathways to Success: MFA Scholarship Gifts Are Matched!
Spalding University is involved in a challenge grant with the James Graham Brown Foundation to raise endowed scholarship dollars for our students with financial needs.

The MFA Program receives a 50 percent match for each dollar donated to our own graduate creative writing scholarships by December 31. For instance, if a donor made a gift of $100 to the MFA Program for scholarships, the Brown Foundation will add $50 to that gift for a total of $150. All gifts designated for the MFA Program are used for MFA students. For more information on how to contribute to our scholarship fund, please contact Kathleen Driskell at kdriskell@spalding.edu

Spring 2008 MFA Students and Faculty to View Dhawan Film
During the Spring 2008 residency in Louisville, all students and faculty attend a plenary viewing of the film Monsoon Wedding in the ELC Lectorium on Spalding’s campus. As part of the screening, the MFA community will enjoy a special dinner featuring Indian cuisine. Later in the residency week, the MFA Program has invited Sabrina Dhawan, screenwriter of Monsoon Wedding, to give a plenary presentation on her experiences writing the screenplay.

Sabrina Dhawan has also written a series of short films for Canal Plus (directed by Mira Nair, director of Monsoon Wedding) and PBS. Her short film Saanja-As Night Falls was awarded the Best of the Festival at the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films, the Audience Award at Angelus Awards and Most Original Film by New Line Cinema at the Polo Ralph Lauren New Works Festival in 2000. She has a brief cameo in Monsoon Wedding as a passed-out wedding guest. Dhawan was born in England and now lives in New York where she teaches at New York University. (top)

Spring 2008: Celebration of Recently Published Books
On Thursday, May 29, at 5:15 p.m., the MFA Program presents the Celebration of Recently Published Books at The Brown Hotel. Bob Finch reads from The Iambics of Newfoundland: Notes from an Unknown Shore (Counterpoint, 2007); Richard Goodman reads from The Soul of Creative Writing (Transaction, 2008); Jody Lisberger reads from Remember Love (Fleur-de-Lis, 2008); and Luke Wallin reads from Conservation Writing: Essays at the Crossroads of Nature and Culture (Center for Policy Analysis, 2007).

Spring 2008 Lecture Reports: Policies and Time to Write
MFA students write four lecture reports during the residency. The Program’s current policy is that three of these reports must discuss faculty or guest lectures in the student’s area of concentration. Students do not write reports on graduating student lectures. The fourth lecture report may, at the student’s discretion, discuss a plenary session.

In response to student requests for more time to write, the Spring residency schedule provides two periods for students to write lecture and reading reports and to complete writing exercises and revisions. The first of these time periods occurs approximately midway through the residency; the second period falls near the end of the week. Students should not read from their current workshop piece. (top)

Sign-up for Residency Student Readings
All students (except graduating students) are encouraged to sign up for a five-minute reading. Because there are limited slots for these evening readings, third and fourth-semester students sign up on the first Friday. Students willing to be moderators also sign up on the reading schedule on Friday. (Moderators introduce students before the reading and time the students during the readings.)

First and second-semester students may sign up for five-minute student readings at the back of the Lectorium after Friday if slots are still available. Students who wish to read need to bring their material with them to the residency. Practicing beforehand ensures that the reading is within the five-minute limit. Students should not read from their current workshop piece.

ENG640 PW/SW Students Prepare for Professional Readings
As is our established practice, each playwriting and screenwriting student enrolling in ENG640 in Spring 2008 receives a professional reading of his or her script during the Spring residency. These readings are presented by professional actors and last approximately forty-five minutes. Afterwards, the playwriting and/or screenwriting faculty lead a 30-minute discussion of the reading and script. To prepare for these readings, rising ENG640 students should submit the latest complete draft of their thesis scripts at the time Workshop submissions are due for the Spring 2008 residency, which is April 9. Due to time constraints, most ENG640 students will not hear their entire scripts read: students should clearly designate which portion of the script they would most benefit from hearing (approximately 45-55 pages).

Please note: this reading is in lieu of a workshop critique; that is, students who receive a reading will not be critiqued in workshop and will not be included in the Workshop Booklet. However, all ENG640 students are required to attend workshop and must be prepared to participate fully in the critiques of all other playwriting and screenwriting students. In addition, all playwriting and screenwriting students are responsible for preparing for the professional readings by reading the scripts before attending. These scripts are made available with the Workshop Booklets.(top)

Summer 2008 Pre-Reading List for London/Bath Residency
The following is a list of texts that Summer 2008 students should read before coming to the London/Bath residency in June. Students bring the appropriate texts with them to residency.

Summer 2008 Residency Book in Common
All students read this play before residency in preparation for the plenary discussion, regardless of area of concentration: Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. NY: Dover Thrift Edition, 1995 (ISBN: 0-486-28492). Also, before attending residency, all Summer 2008 students should view The Merchant of Venice, directed by Michael Radford, with Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons (2004). Summer students and faculty will attend a performance of The Merchant of Venice at Stratford upon Avon during the residency. (top)

Summer 2008 Area Books in Common

Fiction Book in Common
Only fiction students must read this novel before residency in preparation for discussion: Lawrence, D. H. Sons and Lovers.  Modern Library Classics, 1999 (ISBN: 0375753737).

Poetry Book in Common
All poetry students must read this anthology before residency in preparation for discussion: Astley, Neil, ed. Staying Alive. UK: Bloodaxe Books, 2003 (ISBN-13: 1-85224-588-3).

Creative Nonfiction Book in Common
All CNF students read this book of essays before residency in preparation for discussion: Hawkes, Jacquetta. A Land. Beacon Press, 1991 (ISBN-10: 0807085111).

Writing for Children Book in Common
All writing for children students read this children’s book before residency in preparation for discussion: Dahl, Roald. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Puffin, 2007 (ISBN-10: 0142410314).

Play, Screenplay, and Film in Common
All playwriting and screenwriting students read these scripts and view this film before residency in preparation for discussion: Shaffer, Peter. Amadeus. Harper Perennial, 2001 (ISBN-10: 0060935499). With new introduction by Peter Shaffer. The screenplay for Amadeus is posted on Blackboard and can be downloaded. Also, before coming to Summer 2008 residency, playwriting and screenwriting students must also view the film Amadeus, directed by Milos Forman (1984).

Other pre-reading assignments may be forthcoming for lecture preparations. Please check often for these notices in Blackboard. (top)

AWP Panel Proposal for 2009 Deadline Is May 1
Students are encouraged to submit proposals to the Association of Writers and Writing Programs 2009 conference in Chicago, February 11-14. Anyone interested in models for this type of panel should visit www.awpwriter.org and download the 2008 Program Schedule. Panel presentations may focus on a variety of topics and are excellent venues for presenting the Extended Critical Essay, should a student find others who have written on similar topics and are willing to present as well. To submit an idea for a panel, students need to complete the appropriate form on the AWP website (www.awpwriter.org/conference/2009proposal.php) by May 1.

The Program also encourages students to submit ECEs for presentation to other conferences. Many MFA students have been successful doing this, and it is a valuable way to make contacts with other writers, academics, and editors. (top)

New Possibilities for Internships
The MFA Program is happy to help foster internships for our students by providing letters of introduction and reference to prospective arts organizations, publishing entities, and other appropriate literary and arts venues in the student’s community. Though the Program does not award credit (nor charge a fee or tuition, etc.) for this internship, it may be advantageous for students to pursue these career opportunities and we are happy to provide help to our students in this way. For more information, contact Kathleen Driskell, Associate Program Director, kdriskell@spalding.edu. (top)

ENG660 Teaching Practicum Offered in Fall 2008
Kathleen Driskell offers the ENG660 Teaching Practicum during the Fall 2008 semester. Enrollment in this course is limited to five students and includes a teaching workshop during the Fall 2008 residency as well as special teaching lectures. ENG660 students also attend lectures in areas outside their concentration and report on these lectures with a focus on teaching instruction.

During the at-home portion of the semester, students develop and revise syllabi, lesson plans, assessment rubrics, and annotated bibiliographies on teaching texts. Students also lead online writing exercises for their cohort and keep a teaching journal. In their own commnity, students obtain a teaching position in creative writing, which can include credit courses at universities, online courses, or community non-credit courses that are arranged through continuing education programs or through local libraries, literary arts organizations, or community centers.

For a final project, ENG660 students may return to the Louisville residency to teach a 45-minute writing exercise or complete a final paper commenting on their teaching experience. In addition to developing dossier materials for teaching, students are also provided with numerous teaching evaluations and statements of direct observation on the students’ teaching.

ENG660 is a 12-hour course which includes four packet exchanges. Students must have completed ENG620 to register for this course. Those with seniority are given enrollment preference if they contact Kathleen Driskell by August 28 (midsemester Spring 2008); if more ENG640 students wish to enroll than can be accommodated in the course, then priority will be to those who express interest first. For more information or to be added to the enrollment list, please email Kathleen Driskell, kdriskell@spalding.edu, and include “ENG660” in the subject line. (top)

MFA Alumni Association
A group of MFA graduates have started the Spalding MFA Alumni Association as of March. MFA alumni may expect a newsletter by email, and the website http://www.spaldingmfaalum.com is to be up and running, also in March. Both contain details about Homecoming 2008. Many thanks to Reen Niewenhuis, Bonnie Johnson, Vickie Weaver, Lisa Marzano, Dave DeGolyer, and Terry Price for their initial work on the association. If you are interested in working with this group, send Terry an email at terry@terryprice.net

Five-Year Reunion for Program’s First Three Graduating Classes
The MFA Program encourages MFA graduates of Spring 2003, Fall 2003, and Spring 2004 to hold a joint reunion during the Spring 2009 residency. A reunion, which would likely take place on Homecoming weekend (May 29-31, 2009), would celebrate the five-year anniversary (more or less) of graduation.

Anyone from those classes interested in participating in a reunion committee should contact Karen Mann at kmann@spalding.edu. (top)

Life of a Writer

Students, faculty, and alumni: Please email writing news to mfanewsletter@spalding.edu

Students

Priscilla Atkins has poems appearing in recent journals: “Ogallala, Nebraska, 1993,” Cimarron Review (Winter 2008), and “The Crime Book,” Bayou Magazine (Issue 48, 2007).

Becky Browder’s short story “Scenes from California” has been accepted for the upcoming edition of the Clackamas Literary Review.

Glenny Brock was recently profiled in Southern, the alumni magazine of Birmingham-Southern College. The story, titled “Writing for Change,” focused on her friendship with the writer Kyle Whitmire and the duo’s collaboration at Birmingham Weekly, of which Glenny serves as the editor-in-chief. As part of the Spalding MFA program’s teaching practicum, Glenny is co-teaching an undergraduate workshop in Creative Nonfiction at BSC.

Kelly Creagh is the first-place winner of the International Academy of Middle Eastern Dance’s (IAMED) 2008 nationwide “Why I Love Bellydance” essay contest. Her essay will be posted for a limited time on the IAMED web page, www.bellydance.org. Also, Kelly is currently working with the Louisville Free Public Library system, offering special programs to teen patrons including writing workshops, dance classes, and teen book discussion groups. (top)

Andrew Darel Gates’s “After Birth,” a piece of flash fiction, will be appearing in the Spring 2008 issue of flashquake, an online journal of flash writing. The Spring 2008 issue will be available March 1 on the journal’s website, www.flashquake.org. The journal is freely viewable and includes flash nonfiction and short poetry as well.

Joan Gumbs attended the AWP Conference in New York City and met Edwidge Danticat and Walter Mosley on February 2.

Amy Hanridge’s short story, “Ladylike,” was selected as a finalist in the October 2007 Family Matters short fiction contest sponsored by Glimmer Train.

Colleen Harris’s poem “The Courtesan” will appear in the March 2008 issue of Innisfree, available at http://www.innisfreepoetry.org. She also will have two poems appearing in the inaugural issue of literary journal Quiddity, out of Benedictine University’s Springfield College. “Flagrant” and “Wavewalk” will appear in the Spring 2008 issue. In addition, her poem “Dinner for One” will appear in the Spring 2008 issue of Appalachian Heritage, the literary journal out of Berea College. (top)

Katerina Stoykova-Klemer is one of eight authors featured in the most recent “Torch” literary journal (2007, issue 4), published in Bulgaria. A series of 24 of her poems and one of her essays appear in this issue under the rubric “Poetry and Translation.” She translated her own work from English into Bulgarian.

Joe Peacock read from his novel (in manuscript), Zen-Cat’s Search for Christmas Past, at Holly Hill Inn at Midway, Kentucky, on February 26.

Dania Rajendra’s essay, “Frogging My Engagement,” has been included in the new anthology, Knitting Through It: Inspiring Stories for Times of Trouble, edited by Lela Nargi. It should be on shelves in local books and yarn stores this month.

Charles White’s short story “Graceless” was accepted by the British journal Sein und Werden and another story “Letter to a Suicide Artist” was accepted by the online journal Pequin, both to be published in April. (top)

Faculty & Staff

Dianne Aprile was a first-round judge in the 2008 Thomas Merton Poetry of the Sacred competition, for which the final judge is Billy Collins. She gave a writing workshop in February for teachers and staff at Louisville's Ursuline Campus Schools. Dianne continues to produce the monthly reading and music series, Jazz & The Spoken Word at The Jazz Factory in Louisville, where on Thursday March 13, a benefit for the Books For Patients Project will feature a roster of regional writers, including poets Frank X Walker (Spring 2003) and Maureen Morehead.

Louella Bryant presented her lecture on building fictional characters to a writing instruction class at University of Vermont in February. In early March, Ellie speaks to Vermont eighth graders who are reading her novel, The Black Bonnet. She has been invited to spend ten days at Vermont Studio Center in April. Her nonfiction book, While in Darkness There Is Light, has a new release date of September with Black Lawrence Press, an imprint of Dzanc, and will be distributed by Consortium. She just learned that her essay, “The Haunting,” about breast cancer, is a finalist for a competition sponsored by Redbook magazine. Ellie’s essay “St. Philip Street” appears in the March-April online issue of Farmhouse Magazine (www.farmhousemagazine.com/satiremain.html).

K. L. Cook’s story, “The Man Who Fell from the Sky,” which appeared in the Winter 2008 issue of Glimmer Train, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. A new story, “Bonnie and Clyde in the Backyard,” has been accepted by Glimmer Train, as has an interview conducted by Spalding alum Lucrecia Guerrero (Fall 2005); both the story and interview will appear in late 2008 or 2009. His story “Costa Rica” has been selected by the Dallas Museum of Art for their Texas Unbound/Arts & Letters Live performance on April 7. His short essay “Blind” is to appear in the Fall 2008 online issue of Brevity. He is currently a reader for the Massachusetts Arts Council’s artist fellowship competition in fiction and creative nonfiction, and he wrote advance praise for CNF faculty member Richard Goodman’s wonderful new book, The Soul of Writing, forthcoming this year. (top)

Robert Finch gives a reading at 6:15 p.m. on April 2 as part of the PEN Marlowe Reading Series at the Hotel Marlowe in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He will also be one of the featured speakers at the Calvin College Festival of Faith and Writing in Grand Rapids, Michigan, April 17-19 and a featured panelist/reader at the Newburyport Literary Festival in Newburyport, Massachusetts, on April 26. His latest book, The Iambics of Newfoundland (Counterpoint Press), is to be out in paperback in May. 

By the time this newsletter is delivered to your door, Richard Goodman’s new book, The Soul of Creative Writing, should be in the bookstores, or on its way. You can always find it at amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Creative-Writing-Richard Goodman/dp/1412807468/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202152951&sr=1-1

Rachel Harper’s short story “Shades of Blue” is to appear in Carolina Quarterly’s Winter 2008 edition.

Roy Hoffman’s recent feature pieces for the Mobile Press-Register have included “Finding Words For Nazi Horror,” February 11, a profile of 85-year-old Auschwitz survivor Agnes Tennenbaum, who writes essays and stories about her concentration camp experiences; and articles about a Vietnamese fisherman in Bayou la Batre, Alabama, who threw his four children to their deaths off the Dauphin Island Bridge, including “Oddfellows Cemetery Donates Graves for Children,” January 15, and “Bayou Residents Mourn for Children,” January 16. On March 13 he will be visiting speaker at Calhoun Community College in Decatur, Alabama, where classes have been reading his fiction and nonfiction. (top)

Jody Lisberger’s story collection Remember Love has been published and is available at Fleur-de-Lis Press and Amazon (paperback $13). She read in February at the North Kingstown, Rhode Island, Library. In March she is to be featured at the URI Read/Write Series. She’s also been invited to read at Borders in Louisville on May 30.

Joyce McDonald participated in the fifth annual Pocono Poetry Retreat organized by Susan Campbell Bartoletti and held in mid January. Authors K. L. Going, Gail Carson Levine, and Elizabeth Winthrop were among the sixteen women authors of children’s literature who attended. During the four-day retreat, Kentucky poet Vivian Shipley led seven workshops, sharing her knowledge of the craft and inspiring the group to write several poems using her suggested prompts. Evenings were dedicated to readings of recent publications and work in progress. Joyce also attended this year’s AWP Conference in New York at the end of January.

Sena Jeter Naslund gave a presentation on her novels Ahab’s Wife, Four Spirits, and Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette to the San Miguel D’Allende (Mexico) Writers’ Conference February 24 and two presentations at the University of Ottawa, Kansas, at the invitation of alum Jeanne Haggard (Fall 2006) in February 27 and February 28 and to the California Association of Teachers of English, in Long Beach, on March 7. Upcoming presentations include a public workshop at the University of Alabama-Huntsville on March 29, a presentation on research to the Faculty Research Forum of the University of Louisville at the University Center on April 3, a talk to the regional Unitarian Universalist ministry on April 4 in Louisville, and a talk at Lock Haven University (Pennsylvania) on April 10. The dramatic version of Four Spirits, co-authored by Sena and Elaine W. Hughes, broke all previous attendance records for theatrical presentations during its five-show run by the theatre department of the University of Alabama in Huntsville, where Sena is currently in residence as Eminent Scholar.

Greg Pape’s poem “Making a Great Space Small” was listed under “More Outstanding Poems” in The Pushcart Book of Poetry: Best Poems from Thirty Years of The Pushcart Prize. His poem “Elegy for Jim Welch” was published in Poems Across The Big Sky: An Anthology of Montana Poets. “Elegy for Jim Welch” as also nominated for a 2007 Pushcart Prize. “Stars,” “May Day Prayer,” and “The Rose of Sharon” are forthcoming in Great River Review.  “Thunder” has been accepted for Poetry on the Bus. As Montana Poet Laureate, Greg has been busy promoting poetry through radio and TV broadcasts, readings at The Montana Festival of the Book, the Florence Hotel, the grand opening of the Missoula County Library at Frenchtown, and The Missoula Writing Collaborative fundraiser. He is serving as judge for the Montana State Poetry Out Loud competition. (top)

Molly Peacock was honored at The Penn Club on February 6 by Binghamton University Library to celebrate the acquisition of her literary papers. Her new book of poems, The Second Blush (Norton), appears this June.

Screenwriting instructor Brad Riddell is happy to report that a project he once thought was left for dead is rapidly ramping up for April production in Vancouver. Slap Shot: The Junior League is a PG retelling of the 1979 Paul Newman classic, Slap Shot, and will feature the three goons the original film made famous—the Hanson brothers. While furiously working on that production rewrite, Brad is also beating out a first draft of Road Trip II, to star Tom Green and to be produced by Ivan Reitman’s Montecito Pictures for Paramount Famous Productions. In his spare time, he is teaching a new, experimental class at USC called Breaking the Story and caring for his lovely six-month old-daughter, Sophia.

Jeanie Thompson’s essay “Public Display of Affection/Affliction” accompanies the current Tandem Gallery exhibition featuring contemporary visual art, sculpture, and video at loft space Pullman Flats in Birmingham, Alabama (http://www.tandemgallery.com). The essay will be published in a planned catalogue of the show, which includes works from galleries and private collections. The artists presented are from Italy, Mexico, Norway, and the U.S. Jeanie’s essay on her work with the Alabama Writers’ Forum’s juvenile justice and the arts project “Writing Our Stories” appears in an upcoming issue of Thicket magazine. As previously reported, poems from Jeanie’s Helen Keller sequence are part of Theater Tuscaloosa’s Page to Stage project which has been rescheduled for April.

An excerpt from Katy Yocom’s novel-in-progress, Tiger Woman, was named a finalist in the 2007 Santa Fe Writers Project Literary Awards, judged by Robert Olen Butler. A collection of Katy’s photographs from her 2006 trip to India will be exhibited at Heine Brothers’ Coffee at the Douglass Loop in Louisville, March 27-May 11. (top)

Alumni

A large group of alums attended the AWP Conference in New York City. Rumored to be in the Big Apple were: Renee Culver, Adriena Dame, Dan DiStasio, Charlotte Dixon, Lucrecia Guerrero, Bonnie Omer Johnson, Mary Ann Lesert, Lisa Marzano, Susan Masters, Liz Nethery, Beth Newberry, Linda Busby Parker, Molly Powers, Sharon Thomson, Katy Yocom, Julia Watts, and more. Read more about the conference in the upcoming issue of SOARING, the new Spalding Alumni newsletter coming out soon!

A group of Spalding alums attended the Key West Literary Seminar in January. The gang included Dan DiStasio, Paul Hiers, Matt Jaeger, Bonnie Johnson, Lisa Marzano, Loreen Niewenhuis, Terry Price, Janelle Rodgers, K. Shaver, Vickie Weaver, and Aimee Zaring. Check out the full report in the upcoming alumni newsletter, SOARING.

Idore Anschell’s (Spring 2006) book Monsieur’s Escape to Mars on the Space Needle is to be published by Bennett & Spalding, in Seattle, and is to be released in a year. (top)

Jennifer Anthony’s (Spring 2005) embarrassing notes from her teenage years can be found among several letters/diary entries/profound poetry of similar cringe-worthiness in Mortified: Love is a Battlefield.

Albert DeGenova (May 2005) has recently had his book manuscript, On a Night Like This, accepted by the Virtual Artists Collective with a tentative publication date of Fall 2008. He has poems scheduled for publication in upcoming issues of Lips and Free Lunch. Al continues to publish and edit the literary journal After Hours, which is now up to issue #16. He has been busy leading workshops for the Chicago Public Library, and RHINO magazine. This summer he leads a weeklong workshop at the Norbert Blei Writing Workshop in Door County, Wisconsin.

Dave DeGolyer (Fall 2006) has been awarded a 2008 “Crossroads Grant” by the New York State Council on the Arts and The Arts of the Southern Finger Lakes for his poetry project Can You Hear Me? which will require him to solicit feedback from local high school and college students on issues such as bullying, abuse, and suicide; to write poems based on his research; and to present public readings of those poems in non-arts venues (e.g. Salvation Army Safehouse, psych center, perhaps even a fire hall). Dave has also been asked to sit as a judge for the 2008 Friends of The Steele Memorial Library Poetry Conference and for the Colorado Independent Publisher’s Association’s annual EVVY awards. Dave’s alter-ego, Lafayette Wattles, has recently placed eight new poems with a handful of print and online journals.

Daniel DiStasio’s (Fall 2006) short story “Dark-winged Victory” was accepted for publication by The Adirondack Review. His short stories “Halong Bay,” “Skye Key,” and “All for a Good Cause” are to be reprinted in the upcoming Key West Writers Guild anthology. His feature piece “The World: Courtesy Hanns Ebensten” is in the March-April issue of The Gay & Lesbian Review. His story “Happiness” can be viewed online at www.summersetreview.org. (top)

Charlotte Rains Dixon (Fall 2003) and Terry Price (Spring 2006) have been named as Program Directors for The Writers’ Loft creative writing program at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Charlotte and Terry also serve as mentors at the non degreed writing program established in 2003 at MTSU by Roy Burkhead (Spring 2004).

Rod Dixon’s (Fall 2007) story “Westward” will appear in the Spring/Summer 2008 issue of Phantasmagoria. In March he will speak to a creative writing class at Lexington Catholic High School in Lexington, Kentucky.

Kathryn Eastburn (Fall 2006) has just completed a month’s term at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, as visiting faculty. Kathryn read from her book, Simon Says, on February 14 and will be featured on the Colorado Public Radio public affairs show Colorado Matters in March. She has been invited to give a keynote speech at Author Fest of the Rockies in Manitou Springs, Colorado, in early October, and her second book, A Sacred Feast (University of Nebraska Press) will be released in March. (top)

Stacia M. Fleegal (Fall 2006) has a poem forthcoming in Inkwell. She and Dan Nowak (Spring 2007) are also giving a reading at Crescent Moon Cafe in Lincoln, Nebraska, on March 3, to promote her poetry chapbook (A Fling with the Ground, Finishing Line Press, 2007) and his full-length manuscript (Recycle Suburbia, winner of the Quercus Review Poetry Series Annual Book Award competition and forthcoming in 2008).

Anne Marie Fowler (Spring 2004) was recently hired for two online adjunct positions in addition to her fulltime online position. She will be teaching undergraduate business writing and communication, as well as developing and teaching a master’s course on mythology and the human experience. Her poem “After a Tummy Tuck, the Body Rebels” details her experience of having a pulmonary embolism and will be published in Voices–Of Illness, Suffering, and Healing, due for release in 2008.

Tara Goldstein’s 10-minute play Seder was given a staged reading at the July 2007 Association of Theatre is Higher Education Conference in New Orleans. Seder, which is part of a series of 10-minute plays titled Global Family will be published in an anthology of 10-minute plays developed at ATHE from 2004-2007. The anthology will be out in the spring. (top)

Brian Hampton is currently in White River Junction, Vermont, as Playwright in Residence with Northern Stage Company. He is teaching and mentoring Vermont and New Hampshire fifth and sixth graders in their program, Project Playwright. His play, The Jungle Fun Room, is also a semifinalist in the HotCity Theatre New Play Festival in St. Louis.

Stephanie Horton (Spring 2006) is teaching Literature and Advanced Writing I & II at the University of the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C.

Lisa Izzi (Fall 2006) wrote and produced two TV shows, Girls Are Champions, airing on Peninsula TV 26 and Palo Alto Media Access 28 in Northern California. Go to www.GirlsAreChampions.org to click on the link and view the shows on YouTube. Lisa and the GAC media projects will be featured on ESPN 2 on March 30th in a television special, License to Thrive: Title IX at 35. Read more here, http://licensetothrive.org/story/detail/id/37. Lisa also teaches two creative writing courses in her community and recently attended the Golden Gate Conference at Asilomar for writers and illustrators in Monterey, California.

Kaylene Johnson’s (Fall 2003) book Sarah: How a Hockey-Mom Turned Alaska’s Political Establishment Upside Down will be released May 1. Her biography of Alaska’s governor, Sarah Palin, comes at a time when Palin is being considered as a possible contender for vice presidential running mate. Kaylene’s essay “Returning Home” was accepted for publication in Wildlife on the Edge, an anthology forthcoming from the University of Alaska Press. This is the third essay accepted for publication from a book-length manuscript produced during her studies at Spalding’s MFA in Writing Program. Kaylene continues to write for Alaska magazine. Her most recent article, “Strength in Low Numbers,” featured the history of Jews in Alaska. (top)

Marci Rae Johnson (Spring 2005) has poems appearing or upcoming in Perihelion (www.webdelsol.com/Perihelion/), The Minnetonka Review, The Louisville Review, After Hours, and Stonework. She has recently edited two books of poetry for WordFarm, The Gravity Soundtrack: Poems, by Erin Keane (Spring 2004) and The Roswell Poems, by Rane Arroyo. These books are available for purchase at www.wordfarm.net.

Patricia McFadden’s (Spring 2007) picture book, Oh, No Woolly Bear is being released by Starbright Books this spring.  You can see it on their website at www.starbrightbooks.com, click books, then new titles and scroll down. It is illustrated by Michele Coxon.  Patricia is also in the process of writing five plays for the Rocky Mountain Theater for Kids. The plays are each a half-hour long and suitable for being performed by five- to eight-year-olds. Finally, Patricia has been asked be one of the writers for a new non-fiction series for seven- to ten-year-olds, which will be published by Mitchell Lane.

Jae Newman (Fall 2006) has two poems forthcoming in Perihelion: “Note to Maddox-Jolie Pitt” and “Touchdown.” Another poem, “Loran,” has been accepted for publication by Tiger’s Eye. (top)

Loreen Niewenhuis’s (Spring 2007) experimental short story “Woman, Water Tower, Man” will appear in the anthology Women. Period. due out in August. Her short story “Cameron’s Eyes” was accepted for publication by Trail of Indiscretion.

Deanna Northrup’s (Fall 2006) novel Trail of Crumbs is one of the 100 top semi-finalists for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. She welcomes all reviews. Read her excerpt in the general literature category. Her poetry is in the current issue of Copperfield Review and Kennesaw Review will publish her book reviews in their Winter 2008 issue.

Rosanne Osborne’s (Spring 2007) poem “Job’s Response” will appear in the Spring 2008 issue of The Penwood Review.

Linda Busby Parker’s short story “Time Markers” was published in the latest issue of Confluence. She recently served as a preliminary judge for the Bread Loaf Fiction Prize—the Katharine Bakeless Nason Prize. Linda was one of five preliminary judges who each read 45 novels and/or short story collections and sent the top three to final judge Antonya Nelson. In February, Linda’s novel, Seven Laurels, was selected by the Black Classics Bookclub as their novel of the month. She’ll be part of a discussion with the group in Mobile. She continues to teach courses in fiction writing at the University of South Alabama (Fairhope campus). (top)

Mary Popham (Fall 2003) published three articles in New Southerner’s Anthology 2007; a haiku in Pegasus, from the Kentucky State Poetry Society; reviewed poetry, Sister; reviewed a children’s book, The Adventures of Molly Whuppie and Other Appalachian Folktales; reviewed a memoir, Regina’s Closet; and performed a reading at The Jazz Factory with Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, an awareness raising event, “The Mountain People Speak.”

Diana M. Raab (Fall 2003) moderated a panel at AWP in NYC, called “The Personal Narrative: The Art and Health of It,” with panelists Molly Peacock, Phillip Lopate, Kyoko Mori, Michael Steinberg, and Mindy Lewis. There were 400+ attendees and, at the end, standing room only. Her essay “My Love Affair With Orchids” was published in Skyline Review (Winter 2008). Her profile (“In Her Own Words”) was published in IWWG’s Network (December 2007).  She has been touring with her book, Regina’s Closet: Finding My Grandmother’s Secret Journal, including a reading in Louisville on November 4. Book proceeds will be donated to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. For more information, check out her recently revised website, www.dianaraab.com.

Janelle H. Rodgers’s (Spring 2007) short story, “Piece for Four Hands,” has been accepted for publication in the 2008 edition of Ellipsis, the literary magazine for Westminster College in Salt Lake City. (top)

Heather Shaw’s (Fall 2004) short story, “House Rules,” is forthcoming in the Windsor Review, a literary journal associated with the University of Windsor, Ontario and edited by one of her favorite writers, Alistair MacLeod. She is grateful for the astute advice of Brad Watson in workshop to remove all “’50s-style TV sitcom dialogue,” and for other helpful suggestions from mentors Neela Vaswani and Robin Lippincott. Heather’s next column in New Southerner will appear in the spring issue this March, www.newsoutherner.com.

Judy Shearer (Spring 2006) has completed a hand-editioned book, titled brief forms, with Nicole Hand, printmaking professor at Murray State University. The collaborative project was funded in part with a grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women and will be included in some of Hand’s exhibitions.

Pamela Steele’s (Spring 2004) new poetry collection, Paper Bird, is “Top Pick” for the January/ February 2008 edition of Small Press Review.

Kim Stinson-Hawn (Fall 2007) is a contributor to the newly released book 365 Low or No Cost Workplace Teambuilding Activities by John N. Peragine, Jr. Kim’s proffered ideas on teambuilding, based on her theatrical perspective, can be found as quotes throughout the book. The book is available through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or through the publisher via Kim’s website at www.kimstinson.com.

Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen (May 2003) is pleased to report that audio book rights to her forthcoming YA novel The Compound (writing as S.A. Bodeen) sold at auction to Brilliance Audio. And recently she attended the Flyway Festival on Mare Island in the Bay Area, where she signed copies of her picture book A Home for Salty. An environmental nonprofit commissioned her to write the book, all proceeds of which go to activities related to maintaining habitat for the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse. (top)

Kathleen Thompson (Fall 2003) was invited to kick off the new year (January 12-19) with three other alums, Teresa Crumpton (Fall 2003), Edie Hemingway (Spring 2004), and Patti Zelch (Fall 2003) at their fourth annual writing retreat at Patti’s home in Key Largo, Florida. Besides a little kayaking, a trip to Key West, and a tour of the HG home at Islamorada, they actually worked very hard writing! Each day they held a reading/critique session—sometimes twice a day. Teresa wrote an ending to her YA novel and a new poem; Edie worked on a revision of her thesis novel, Road to Tater Hill, for her editor Michelle Poploff at Delacorte Press; Patti put the final touches on a children’s picture book manuscript to submit to Sylvan Dell; and Kathleen revised two picture book manuscripts and led the group in a poetry workshop. Although Teresa cracked the proverbial whip about keeping the designated work schedule, the 5:30 p.m. slot always read the same: Sunset (Libation as desired).

Leslie Smith Townsend’s essay, “The Danger Zone: In Louisville, the Fifth-worst American City for Asthma, a Mother Ponders the Connection between Coal-Burning Plants and her Daughter’s Illness,” was published in the March 13 issue of LEO (the Louisville Eccentric Observer) and can be found online at www.leoweekly.com. “The Whites of His Eyes,” a composite excerpt from her book in progress, Body Beautiful: A Memoir of Alcoholism can be found in Voices of Alcoholism, an anthology edited by The Healing Project (March 2008).

Gretchen Tremoulet (Fall 2007) attended a workshop on February 21 at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning in Lexington, Kentucky, led by Greg Downs, whose short story collection Spit Baths won a Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction in 2005. (top)

Jonathan Weinert (Fall 2005) has been named a poetry editor of the online journal Perihelion, which will re-launch shortly with Jonathan’s new design. He recently designed and launched websites for Sarabande poets Cate Marvin (www.catemarvin.com) and Steven Cramer (www.stevencramer.net). With the poet Mike Perrow, Jonathan taught a course, “Six Movements in 20th Century Poetry,” at the Concord Poetry Center in Concord, Massachusetts, this past fall. Jonathan has had poems accepted by AGNI Online (www.bu.edu/agni), Measure: An Annual Review of Formal Poetry, and The Modern Review.

Aimee Zaring (Spring 2005) has a new website featuring motivational information to inspire fellow artists and a journal page specifically dedicated to faith and art issues. Please visit  www.aimeezaring.com. (top)

Books/Scripts in Common for Spring 2008
All students and faculty read the Book in Common, Pico Iyer’s Sun After Dark: Flights Into the Foreign, in preparation for a book discussion led by Sena Jeter Naslund on the first night of residency. (Bring the book to this session.)

Faculty Books/Scripts in Common
Students read the Faculty Book/Script in Common in the area of concentration they are to study in the Spring 2008 semester in preparation for a discussion with authors at the Spring 2008 residency. (Bring the book to the residency session.)

During the fall semester, students also write a 2-4 page short critical essay on the Faculty Book in Common. In one of their packets, students submit the essay to their mentors as one of the 8-10 critical essays required during ENG610 and ENG620. ENG 630 and ENG640 should add this requirement to their semester plan and send it to the mentor during the semester. All MFA students add the book/script to their cumulative bibliographies. (top)

Fiction: Kirby Gann’s Our Napoleon in Rags
Poetry: Maureen Morehead’s A Sense of Time Left (order from Spalding Bookstore by calling 800-896-8941, ext. 2284)
Creative Nonfiction: Robert Finch’s The Iambics of Newfoundland: Notes from an Unknown Shore
Writing for Children: Joyce McDonald’s Shades of Simon Gray
Playwriting: Charlie Schulman’s The Kitchen (posted on BB)
Screenwriting: Sam Zalutsky’s You Belong to Me (posted on BB)

Students should check Blackboard for a complete list of pre-reading assignments. (top)

Faculty Advisory Committee (FAC) for Fall 2007
FAC members are announced by the MFA Office at the beginning of each semester. The Program Director consults 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.