Congrats to Justin Hamm!

Justin Hamm (MFA '05, fiction) has some wonderful news:

I just wanted to pass on some good news to you all. At 5:50 Sunday morning (March 1st) Mel and I welcomed Abigail Josephine Hamm into the world. She and Mom are both healthy and -- if I may say so -- quite beautiful.

Take care,

Justin

Congratulations, Justin, to you and your family on the birth of your daughter!

Allison Joseph's sixth full-length collection of poems selected for publication

Allison Joseph, SIUC poet and professor, has had her sixth full-length collection of poetry selected for publication by Western Kentucky University's Steel Toe Books:

Details here:
Steel Toe Books

The same press will be publishing Michael Meyerhofer's (MFA '06) second collection of poems, Blue Collar Eulogies.

In-House Readings start this Tuesday

This Tuesday, March 3, is the first In-House reading of the spring semester. The reading will be held in the Student Center's Missouri Room from 4 to 5:30.

The schedule is as follows:

Mark Brewin (1st Year Poetry)
Brooks Rexroat (1st Year Fiction)
A.K. Thompson (1st Year Fiction)
Janelle Blasdel (1st Year Fiction)

The event is free and open to all.

Congrats to Lane Kareska!

Lane Kareska, first-year MFA in fiction, sends this fine news:

Hi Allison,
Wanted to pass along that my short story "They're My Arms Now" was just accepted by the online journal Poor Mojo's Almanac(k) and my short story "The Dragoon" just appeared as a graphic short online at Prick of The Spindle.
Thanks,
Lane Kareska

Congrats, Lane!

Links:
Lane's story
Lane's Graphic short

Congrats to Travis Mossotti!

The Travis Mossotti (second-year MFA, poetry) express keeps on keeping on:

Allison,

The New Delta Review out of LSU just accepted my poem "Out of the Sky" for publication. I'm going to go celebrate with a cup of coffee from Starbucks.

Thanks,
T. Mossotti

Link:

New Delta Review

Jacinda Townsend and Allison Joseph to read for Black History Month

SIUC professors Allison Joseph and Jacinda Townsend will read from their creative work on Thursday, February 26th at 4:00pm
in the SIUC Student Center's Mississippi Room.

Congrats to Travis Mossotti!

Travis Mossotti (second year-MFA in poetry) rules! Congrats on this exceptional news!

Allison,

I just found out Robert Pinsky selected my poem "The Dead Cause" as the 1st place winner of the North American Review's James Hearst Poetry Prize ($1000, publication in the NAR, and an announcement in upcoming Poets & Writers).

Thanks,

Travis

North American Review

Congrats to Melissa Scholes Young!

First-year MFA fiction writer Melissa Scholes Young writes with news of these current publications:

"An essay entitled "Sex Education Sesame Street Style" was bought by a family magazine in Tallahassee, Florida called Family Forum. It's published in this month's issue. Also, the literary journal Mused-Bella Online accepted a piece of short fiction entitled "Postpartum Exile" for this month's journal. The short story was previously published in the literary journal Literary Mama."

Congrats, Melissa!

Links:
Bella Online

Catching Up with Tim Marsh (MFA '06)

Fiction grad Tim Marsh (MFA '06) has been busy:

"In the last few months I've had pieces published in Green Hills Literary Lantern, the Oregon Literary Review, the Newfoundland Quarterly, and the Nashwaak Review (Canadian), among others. I'm very happy about it all. I've also completed my first collection.
I'm in Newfoundland now, chasing a PhD in folklore. It's interesting scholarship, but of course I'd rather be writing the stories."

Thanks for the update, Tim--and congrats on the stories!

Congrats to Justin Hamm (MFA '05)!

MFA fiction grad Justin Hamm writes with some cross-genre news:


Hi, Allison,

Just wanted to drop a line to let you know that my poem "meditations on a kiss" will appear in late spring in The Spoon River Poetry Review.

Hope all is well in C-dale.

Thanks,


Justin Hamm

Congrats, Justin!

Link:
Spoon River Poetry Review

2009 Roxana Rivera Memorial Poetry Contest Announcement

ANNOUNCING THE 2009 ROXANA RIVERA MEMORIAL POETRY CONTEST

Join SIUC’s Creative Writing and Women’s Studies Programs as we honor the memory of a wonderful poet and celebrate Women’s History Month.

The Roxana Rivera Memorial Poetry Contest honors the memory of Roxana Rivera (1977-2003), who was a first-year creative writing graduate student from Lynwood, California. Roxana, a graduate of California State University Long Beach, earned her Bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies and English. While at SIUC, Roxana was a PROMPT Scholar and a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of English.

To remember this special woman and poet, a campus-wide poetry contest will be held, with divisions for both undergraduate and graduate students.

Gift certificates will be awarded as prizes in both divisions:
$80 for first place $40 for second place $25 for third place

This contest is open to all students currently enrolled at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Students of all majors are encouraged to participate in this contest.

This Year’s Theme: “Like a Mother, Like a Daughter”

DEADLINE: Friday, March 20, 2009

Submission Guidelines:

Submit an entry packet with:
1) A cover sheet with your name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and poem titles. Indicate on your cover sheet whether you are an undergraduate or graduate student.
2) Poem(s) on individual sheets (one poem only per page). No identifying information on the poems themselves, please. There is no entry fee, but there is a limit of three poems per entrant.

The contest theme is provided to spark your creativity, and entries that reflect upon the theme in the lives of women are particularly welcome.

Entry packets should be submitted to Prof. Allison Joseph, English Dept., Faner Hall 2380, Mail Code 4503. Entries may be sent via campus mail or dropped off at the English Department office (Faner Hall 2380) during regular campus office hours. Winners will be honored at a special awards ceremony to be held on March 26, 2009.

Congrats to Kerry James Evans!

Even more publication news, this time from third-year poet Kerry James Evans:

Allison,

Iron Horse Literary Review accepted "Sisyphus" for publication in their upcoming National Poetry Month Issue.

-KJE

Congrats, Kerry James!

Link:
Iron Horse Literary Review

You all are going to make me the proudest program director at AWP!

Congrats to Travis Mossotti!

Good news via e-mail from second-year poet Travis Mossotti:

My poem "Variations on a Political Theme" was accepted for publication at the Antioch Review.

Travis has been ill, so this was good news in the midst of his flu-fog!
Congrats and get better, Travis!

Link:
Antioch Review

SIUC at AWP Chicago 2009

SIUC will be in full effect as a sponsor at this year's annual AWP Conference at the Hilton Chicago, the nation's annual conference for creative writing students and programs. Here are some schedule highlights (SIUC folks in CAPS):

Saturday, February 14:
Joliet, 3rd Floor, 1:30 pm-2:45 pm
More Than a Collection: Imagining and Realizing Thematic Poetry Projects. (JON TRIBBLE, Oliver de la Paz, Jesse Lee Kercheval, Sean Nevin, Alison Townsend, Jake Adam York) A panel discussion featuring five Crab Orchard Series in Poetry authors who have published collections with Southern Illinois University Press that explore extended thematic concerns or ongoing poetic projects on topics including the imaginative interior life of a young boy, silent film, Alzheimer's, the Persephone myth and twenty-first-century America, and the martyrs of the Civil Rights Movement.

Lake Huron, 8th Floor, 1:30 pm-2:45 pm
In the World and of the World: The Post-Evangelical Writer. (Scott Kaukonen, PINCKNEY BENEDICT, David McGlynn, Kyle Minor, Angela Pneuman) Writing honestly about the devout of any religion, including Evangelicals, can be a delicate business, especially for those with more than an academic interest. If you appear too critical, the devout will paint you a heretic and circulate your name through the church prayer chain. If you appear too sympathetic, skeptics will view you with suspicion and recommend a good therapist. Yet in a cultural landscape where stereotypes abound on all sides, what possibilities—and challenges—exist for these writers?

Continental B, Lobby Level, 4:30 pm-5:45 pm
Twenty Years in Utopia: The RopeWalk Writers Retreat Aniversary Reading. (Ron Mitchell, RODNEY JONES, ALLISON JOSEPH, Michael Martone, Andrew Hudgins) RopeWalk Writers Retreat, a weeklong summer conference set in New Harmony, Indiana, the site of two 19th-century experiments in utopian living, celebrates its 20th anniversary with a poetry and prose reading by retreat faculty.

In addition:
Allison Joseph, booksigning for her new chapbook "Voice": Saturday, February 14, 10-11:30am at the Mayapple Press book table (table 653).

SIUC's Private Reception for Alums, Faculty, Current Students and Friends (not listed on the official schedule):
Friday, February 13
7:00-8:15 pm
Hilton Chicago, Private Dining Room 3

Look for Crab Orchard Review and SIU Press at the AWP Bookfair, tables 107 and 108.

Sigma Tau Delta Presentation: Beth Lordan

SIUC fiction professor Beth Lordan will speak on Monday, February 9th for SIUC's chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the international English Honor Society.

Her topic: the MFA in fiction writing

Bio:
Professor Beth Lordan is the acclaimed author of the books August Heat, And Both Shall Row, and But Come Ye Back. Her short fiction has also appeared in numerous literary journals, including the Atlantic Monthly, O. Henry Prize Stories, and Best American Short Stories. She is currently the Director of Irish and Irish Immigration Studies at SIUC.

Location:
Missouri Room, SIUC Student Center, 6-7pm

All are welcome to attend.

Congrats to JY (Jared) Sexton (MFA '08)

MFA '08 fiction grad Jared (JY) Sexton sends me good news via Facebook:

Hey Allison,

Just wanted to pass along word that my story 'Old' has been accepted for publication in the next issue of the Emerson Review.

Thanks,
-JY Sexton

Congrats, JY!

Link:
Emerson Review

More good news, via Jason Lee Brown (MFA '08)

The great news keeps pouring in! This time, there's nonfiction publication news from Jason Lee Brown (MFA '08, fiction):

"The Truth About the Fact: A Journal of Literary Nonfiction accepted my memoir “My First Time in Japan Visiting the In-Laws” for publication."

Congrats, Jason!

The Truth About the Fact

More Acceptances!

The acceptances keep rolling in for current students! This one's from third-year poet Kerry James Evans:

Allison,

Spoon River Poetry Review accepted "Operation Noble Eagle."

KJE

That Kerry's succinct, isn't he?
Congrats, Kerry James!

Link:
Spoon River Poetry Review

Catching Up With Michael Meyerhofer (MFA '06)

Here's an update from MFA poetry alum Michael Meyerhofer:

My poem, "Subatomic Redemption", was accepted by Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. Another poem, "I Christen Thee My Higgs Boson", was accepted by Strange Horizons. A third poem, "Portrait of a Midwestern Exile on Wheels" was accepted by Valparaiso Poetry Review. "A Plea for the Cessation of Fruit Metaphors" was nominated for a Pushcart by North American Review. Finally, a piece previously published in Modern Haiku is being reprinted in white lies: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2008.


Congrats, MM, on all your continued achievements!

R&D: The Return

"R&D," aka "Reading and Drinking," has returned for spring! Check out the details (thanks to Amie Whittemore for sending them):


You know you've been missing some Reading & Drinking action in your life. So join
us:

Wednesday, February 4, 2009
7:30 PM
Melange
607 S Illinois Avenue
Carbondale, IL 62901

There'll be words (of poetry, of prose, of admired work) read, activities for the
audience, trivia, games, prizes, and much, much more! Come early, come late, bring
your friends, your enemies, the disasters you have hidden in your cupboards, the
mistakes hidden under your bed. All are welcome.