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.)