Congrats to Sara Burge!

from second-year poetry MFA student Sara Burge:

Just thought I'd let you know (for the good of the blog) that
Backwards City Review just took my poem "The Failure of
Smell-O-Vision." It will be in issue #5.

End-of-Semester News and Notes

Congrats to third-year MFA poetry student Lis Meyer, whose paper "Making the Abstract Concrete: Teaching Creative
Writing through Critical Thinking" was accepted for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference's Pedagogy Forum.

Congrats to second-year MFA poetry student Sara Burge, whose poem "The Valley, The Shadow" appears in the new issue of River Styx as one of their annual poetry contest winners.

Congrats to second-year MFA fiction student Jason Lee Brown, whose story "Chicken Without a Head," appears in the new issue of The Journal.

Poems by current student Helena Bell, current faculty Allison Joseph, MFA grad Chad Parmenter, and former faculty members Lucia Perillo and Margot Schillpp appear in the new issue of Margie (volume 5).

Former faculty member Lucia Perillo's new book, "Ground Truth: On Disability, Poetry, and Nature" is forthcoming from Trinity University Press.

Congrats to James Miller

Third year MFA poetry student James Miller has been nominated by Arkansas Review for a Pushcart Prize for his poem "Juke: Valentine's Day, Chicago 1968."

You can find out more about Arkansas Review (but unfortunately can't see the poem) at

Arkansas Review

Grassroots Reading, December 7

Grassroots, SIUC's undergraduate journal, will be holding an open mike reading on December 7, 2006
at the Longbranch Coffeehouse (100 E. Jackson) in Carbondale.
The reading, which is free and open to all, will start at 8PM.

Come to read, listen, or both.

Congrats to Elena Pearson

Third year MFA poetry student Elena Pearson writes:

My poem "Grandparents' House, Venezuela" has been accepted for publication at Compass Rose. I will be published in both the 2006-2007 online edition and the 2007-2008 printed edition. I submitted to Compass Rose after reading about their call for submission that you posted on CRWROPPS.


NB: CRWROPPS is the Creative Writers Opportunities List--see the link for it at right on the "Links" list.

If you missed the career prep presentation...

Handouts from the Career Prep presentation are available from Allison.

This just in...

SIU grad John McNally (B.A. 1987) will be signing copies of his new novel,
AMERICA'S REPORT CARD, at the Student Center Bookstore on Thursday, November
30, from noon to 2:00.
John is the author of two novels, AMERICA'S REPORT CARD and THE BOOK OF
RALPH, both published by Free Press (Simon and Schuster), and one story
collection, TROUBLEMAKERS, winner of the John Simmons Short Fiction Award.
His recent awards include a Jenny McKean Moore fellowship from George
Washington University and a Chesterfield Writer's Film Project fellowship
sponsored by Paramount Pictures. He's also edited five anthologies,
including the forthcoming WHEN I WAS A LOSER (Free Press, 2007).
A native of Chicago's southwest side, John is presently an associate
professor at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC.

Career Day!

The Graduate Writers Forum is sponsoring a talk entitled "What Do I Do Now? : A Career Presentation for Creative Writers." This talk, hosted by Professors Benedict and Joseph of the SIUC MFA Program, will focus on such topics as resume/vitae/cover letter preparation, applying for grants for writers, and applying to writers' colonies, conferences and retreats.

This presentation will be held Wednesday, November 29 from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm in the Student Center Illinois Room. The talk is free and open to the public.

Congrats to Jacinda Townsend!

Our own Jacinda Townsend is one of the winners of the 2006-2007 Joint Women's Studies and University Professional Advancement Research, Scholarly and Creative Activity Awards!

For more about Jacinda's award, check out this news release:

UPA Awards

Devil's Kitchen Literary Festival wrap-up

Thanks to all the writers, editors, students and audience members who made the Devil's Kitchen Festival such a success!

Emerging Writers Network's Dan Wickett, our panel moderator, has written his impressions of the festival--you can read his accounts at

Festival

Panel

Upcoming "Art of Publishing" Panel, November 11, 2006

The Graduate Writers Forum is the sponsor of an upcoming panel titled "The Art of Publishing."
Four award-winning editors will be on hand during the Devil's Kitchen Literary Festival to share their expertise about today's publishing climate. The editors are:

C. Michael Curtis, Senior Editor, the Atlantic Monthly
M.M. Hayes, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Story Quarterly
Ted Genoways, Editor, Virginia Quarterly Review
Richard Newman, Editor, River Styx

This panel is made possible by funding from SIUC's Fine Arts Activity Fee, Crab Orchard Review, the Judge William Holmes Cook Endowment, and the Graduate and Professional Student Council.

The panel will be on November 11 from 11:45 to 12:45 pm in the SIUC Student Center Auditorium.

Devil's Kitchen Literary Festival begins next week!

SIUC's annual literary festival, the Devil's Kitchen Literary Festival, begins next week.
All events are free and open the the public!

2006 Devil’s Kitchen Literary Festival
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Thursday, Friday, & Saturday - November 9 – 11


THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9

8:00 – 9:00 p.m. Readings by Donald Platt & Lamar Herrin
Student Center Auditorium

9:00 – 10:00 p.m. Festival Reception (sponsored by the SIUC Dept. of English)
Student Center J.W. Corker Lounge


FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10

— panel discussions, Student Center Auditorium —

11:00 – 11:50 a.m. Poetry Panel featuring Susanna Childress, Jennifer Maier,
Donald Platt, & Crystal Williams

1:00 – 1:50 p.m. Fiction Panel featuring Kevin Brockmeier, Amanda Filipacchi,
Lamar Herrin, & Roxana Robinson

2:15 – 3:30 p.m. Reception and Booksigning featuring all festival readers
Student Center Old Main Lounge

4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Readings by Jennifer Maier & Kevin Brockmeier
Student Center Auditorium

5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Readings by Susanna Childress & Amanda Filipacchi
Student Center Auditorium


SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11

1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Readings by Crystal Williams & Roxana Robinson
Student Center Auditorium


The festival is sponsored by GRASSROOTS, SIUC's undergraduate literary magazine.
The Devil’s Kitchen Fall Literary Festival is made possible through funding from
the SIUC Fine Arts Activity Fee, the SIUC Creative Writing Program’s Visiting Writers
Series, and CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW.

from Curtis Crisler (MFA '04):

I will be getting married at the end of January to Arana McCall. She’s an RN, and she’s paying off her school bills by working for one of the hospitals here. We plan on going to the Bahamas and doing it on the beach (that is, getting married on the beach. Get your mind out of the gutter, Rodney). So that’s still coming together. In September I went to Soul Mountain Retreat with Marilyn Nelson and Tonya Hegamin. I met this cool brother, Carl Dean, Jr. (up and coming poet and musician). I recently went to New York. My first time, and it was nice. I really enjoyed it. I had a ball! And this past week, I went to the Gwendolyn Brooks Conference in Chi-town. I got to see Adrian, but only for a minute because I was back on the road to The Fort (Fort Wayne, IN).

So I’ll be grading papers all weekend. Yea! Kevin and I were going to come to the Devil’s Kitchen, but he is doing catch up, and I am doing a balancing act (both, for academia).

I am currently working on a manuscript for helping incoming freshmen (Summer Bridge) make that transition from high school to college. For some reason I realized that they go from teenagers to adults in a small span of time (May/June –August). After reading the Freedom Writers Diary we came up with our own, tentatively titled: Our Last Summer: Six Weeks of Writing to Independence. Through journaling they are able to address their fears, concerns, weaknesses, strengths, and discoveries of their goals and dreams. I plan on using this as a learning tool for future Summer Bridge students, in conjunction with IPFW’s Sociology Department, the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Services, and the Writing Center. They have all been instrumental in the project, and in the development of the students.

(Note: Curtis teaches at his undergraduate alma mater, IPFW (Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne). His first book of poems, Tough Boy Sonatas, is forthcoming.)

A note from Steve Leek, aka Steven Trebellas (MFA '05)

Note: Steve's poems appear on such sites as Poemelon, Cezanne's Carrot, and Boxcar Poetry Review. CRWROPPS is the Creative Writers Opportunites List (link at right).

From Steve:

I have totally used CRWROPPS to get my journal pubs. They have all been in E-Zines, and, per Rodney's suggestion, I have used my Mother's maiden name 'Trebellas' as my writer's name. My father always resisted, while my Mother assisted, so I think that's fair. After getting into some electronic journals, I decided to stick with them, mainly because they were interesting to me and a little strange (to my generation). It surprised me how astute some of the editors are--especially the ones who liked my poems ;). If I didn't take the E's seriously before, I do now. A few of them even struck up conversations and I was delighted to have some clever new friends. The transition to print journals seems intimidating. After the MFA, I just wanted to write more poems while I had the momentum. The E-Journals seemed friendly and it was less trouble to click "send" than lick stamps.

I have been taking jobs here and there--doing most anything. I own my old gas station, so I don't need much money, and my health is holding up. I have tried to keep a high level of involvement in writing. I spent two semesters as a kind of guest coach at WIU where I worked with grad students who submitted a creative thesis. This allowed me to get some of my own new poems critiqued. A high point for me was a visit to the CCCC convention in Chicago where I saw Teresa Kramer, and my old subversive friend Dr. Strickland. For now, I want to start entering contests. I have a chapbook ready and have about a third of the poems in it taken. When I get around half of them taken, I'll be ready to send it out along with many dollars.

Hi to everyone! Allison, Jon, Rodney, Judy, and Mag. To my workshop peers, you know I miss you all. Hopefully, I'll see some of you at this years Devil's Kitchen. Ta, you Speedsters! Steve

Recent MFA grad and current English Dept. lecturer Michael Meyerhofer has won the 2006 Laureate Prize from the National Poetry Review for his poem "Diagnosing God."
Congrats!
National Poetry Review

a little sunshine

Allison Joseph's poem "The Poem Your Mother Warned You About" won first place in the 2006 Florida State Poetry Association Contest, formal verse category. Her poem "Future Writer" won first place in the 2006 FSPA's Alkoff Memorial Award.
2007 FSPA Contest Guidelines

Ben Percy news

Great news from Benjamin Percy (MFA '04). His story "Obsidian Junior High" has been accepted for publication in Esquire--it will appear in January! Another story, "Where to Begin," received a $1000 Tamarack Award from Minnesota Monthly and will appear in the December 2006 issue. Congrats, Ben!
You can visit Ben at his web site:
Ben's site

Upcoming Reading--10/25

This week's in-house reading sponsored by the Graduate Writers Forum features
Martin Call, poet
Jason Brown, fiction writer
and
Jon Tribble, poet

The reading will be in the SIUC Student Center Illinois Room from 3:30 to 4:30 pm.
All are invited.

Forthcoming Poem

Third-year poetry MFA student Lis Meyer's poem "My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pies" has been accepted by PMS (Poem/Memoir/Story)!
Congrats, LIs!

PMS

Meyerhofer on Verse Daily

Recent MFA grad and current lecturer in the department appears today on Verse Daily:
Verse Daily