45 15 4132 https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/810171703145a864e5b08bb128a96261.pdf 05d98eabd1fa8cd89d16ab59451e822c PDF Text Text About Wilkes Home n Graduate Academics Academics n Graduate Admission & Aid Graduate Programs n Graduate Life Master's Degree Programs About Our Students n Pay It Forward Introduced during the Creative Writing MA/MFA Revise This! Revise This! | January 2016 10th n The Arts n Archives Archives Archives Anniversary celebration of the Wilkes Creative Writing Program, Pay It Forward is a scholarship initiative for alumni and faculty to award new students entering our program. The $2,500 scholarship is credited toward the student’s first semester tuition expense. Sam Chiarelli, MFA ’16, was the first Wilkes alum to utilize Pay It Forward. “As a Graduate Assistant, I'd heard a lot about Pay It Forward and I thought it was a great idea. The Creative Writing program has been such a gift to me and I wanted to give that gift to others,” he says. “I taught a creative nonfiction workshop in the autumn of 2015 and I was fortunate to have an exceptional set of writers attend. They were a lively bunch,” says Chiarelli. "Janine [Dubik] didn't make a lot of noise during our workshop sessions, but as I read through the submitted essays and exercises, her work struck me. She tapped into some really universal themes, some transcendent fragments of reality that resonated with me. She had moments of absolute brilliance on the page, and yet I could see she had so much room to grow and become an even better writer. That's why I chose Janine for my Pay It Forward. She was ready to take the next step in her development as a writer.“ 2017 2018 Revise This! November 2019 n 2016 n n �Janine Pokrinchak Dubik, Wilkes '78, offers her perspective. “Until Sam's e-mail, I knew nothing of the Pay It Forward program, and I am honored he selected me. This was a deciding factor in why I applied for the creative writing program at this time. I have looked at the program for a number of years but hadn't applied until completing the five-week creative nonfiction workshop with Sam. If I hadn't taken the five-week workshop, I doubt I would have applied for the creative writing program now. I am grateful for the nudge from Sam to apply.” “The benefit for me will be watching Janine grow,” says Chiarelli. “Joining the Wilkes Creative Writing program was a major turning point in my life - the people, the environment, the inspiration is absolutely priceless for someone who wants to harness their creative energies and push themselves to become a better writer. What happens in our program goes beyond degrees and publications. It's about taking your passion seriously, about pushing yourself to places you didn't know you could go. It's about finding people who not only understand you, but know how to get the best out of you, and help you excel. It's about being a writer, not just saying you're one or wishing you were one -- actually doing it. “In writing, it's very easy to get down on yourself when things aren't turning out how you imagined. I think anyone who comes into the program through Pay It Forward will have some extra incentive in those difficult times. They can take solace in knowing that someone believed in them, and their work. This is a very special entryway into our community.” Photography with Jeff Talarigo How did you get into photography, and how do you view it as part of your artistic life? Is it just something you do for fun, or do you take it as seriously as you take your writing? �I have enjoyed photography on and off over the years. I had a camera with me on my research trips for my novels on Gaza, the China/North Korea border and to Nagashima Island, which was a leprosarium. I got away from taking photos mainly because of the expense of having them developed. A couple of years ago, after coming back to California from the winter Wilkes residency, I found a small digital camera waiting for me, a gift from my son. I started carrying the camera with me almost everywhere I went. Is a talent necessary to take good photos? I think a good photographer or writer sees everyday things differently, but I also believe that there must also be a great deal of passion and empathy for the project. This is what I hope comes out of my photos and sentences. Are there specific things you like to photograph? I love doing nature and wildlife photos, but also photos of people when I travel. Point Reyes National Seashore in Northern California is heaven for me, truly my favorite place on earth, a place that, when I am there, I feel that I am a better person. Do you do anything with your photos beyond taking them for your own use? At this point, I do it for the pleasure and as a way to create. I am mulling the idea of incorporating some of my photos into a memoir/family history/novel I am slowly chiseling away at. Or maybe a book of photos and writing. Do you use a lot of equipment? About five months ago I bought a 35 mm digital camera which is really sweet. I have two lenses: a standard 16-50 lens and a 55-210 lens, which has a bit of a zoom, but for wildlife photos I still need to get fairly intimate �with the animals. I think it is really good to learn on smaller lenses, much like when I began to golf when I was 12, I only carried three clubs with me: a 7-iron, a 9-iron and a putter. But photography, like golf, like writing, you always want that giant zoom lens, that new driver, to write Moby Dick. Do you wait long for the “perfect” shot? I have been known to wait quite a long time for that perfect shot, or, at least anticipating it, for it doesn’t always happen. How do you view your photography in the scope of your artistic life? For the past year or so, photography has been a savior for me, allowing me some peace of mind and a way to express myself creatively while I try and figure out how to find some time and money to do my next book project, a novel on human trafficking. How does photography affect your writing; do you think your photography brings things to your writing that you might otherwise miss? About three times a month I drive the sixty miles up to Point Reyes, leaving a little before five in the morning and coming back home well after dark. When I am there things slow down for me and I try to tell a story with the photos. But I am also writing as I trek through the forest, along the beach, atop the mountains; in fact, last weekend while walking through a field trying to photograph a Harrier Hawk, the ending of the four act play on Gaza I have been working on came to me. In both photography and writing I am patient and I don’t rush, allowing a scene to wash over me whenever it is ready. Sara Pritchard: Thurber Writer-inResidence 2016 The John E. Nance Writer-in-Residence program is an annual residency of four weeks where recipients are housed in a two-bedroom apartment in the family home of author and New Yorker cartoonist, James Thurber. The fellowship is designed to provide a writer with the gift of time to develop a work in progress. The writer-in-residence for 2016 is Sara Pritchard, faculty member in the Wilkes Creative Writing program. What does a residency like this mean to you as a writer? �Pritchard says, “A conventional residency (like the Thurber House ones) provides a writer with a respite from his/her daily routine, an opportunity to steal away, be alone, engage a bit with other writers, and just write. Residencies provide housing. Some also include meals. Many residencies provide a stipend (which varies wildly, anywhere from a few thousand dollars for a month, with some paying as much as $60,000 for a full academic year). Some stipends are without any strings attached, while others are with the agreement that a writer give a public reading and/or teach something like a weekend workshop for members of the community or for an affiliated school. Some require the writer to teach a class all semester and work one-on-one with graduate or undergraduate students. “Some residencies like VCCA (Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, vcca.com) ask their residents to contribute to their stay according to their own ability to pay. Residencies vary in length, generally, from a few weeks to a full year. The venues vary, too, from remote areas like ranches (New Mexico, Wyoming) to intercity (D.C.), to trains (AMTRAK: http://blog.amtrak.com/general-faqs/), ships and research stations, hotels (http://www.theparisreview.org/standardculture), and even shop windows (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/from-shopwindows-to-prisons-writers-in-residence-find-new-homes/article535465/). Check this out: http://www.aerogrammestudio.com/2013/10/10/9amazing-writers-residencies-from-around-the-world/” For a comprehensive list of artist residencies, see the website of the Alliance of Artist Communities at http://www.artistcommunities.org/residencies. According to the AAC website, there are: an estimated 500 artists’ communities in the US and more than 1,500 worldwide 30,000 artists are provided residencies each year (~10,000 in the U.S.) residencies in the U.S. provide an estimated $40 million in support to �artists annually 70% are multidisciplinary, serving visual artists, writers, composers, filmmakers, choreographers, and others 60% are in rural areas and small towns, while 40% are in urban areas 90% have public programs that engage the local community Do you go on writing retreats in general? No. In general, I prefer to stay home. I live a quiet life without the demands that many of my colleagues and students face, so residencies for me at this point in my life (semi-retirement) are more about earning some extra income and taking a little vacation, meeting other writers and interesting people, and spending time in a different place (walking around, visiting cemeteries and museums, etc.). I’ve done one other residency—a semester-long one in 2012 as the Thornton Writer-inResidence at Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, VA. I taught one workshop for three hours each week. I had great students, made some lifelong friends, lived in an apartment in an antebellum mansion, and loved exploring Lynchburg. Residencies are exciting, inspirational, rewarding, relaxing (for the most part), and yes, a bit stressful at first--like any adventure or travel. I’m really looking forward to spending a month in the “slightly haunted” James Thurber house in Columbus, Ohio. Stories always come to me when I’m away from home. The next one just may have a ghost (or two). Wilkes Workshops in Mesa, AZ In the spring of 2015, Austin Bennett MFA ’15, under the direction of Dr. Culver, developed a series of low-cost, four-week continuing education classes in the genres of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and screenwriting at the Wilkes University Mesa Campus. The founding instructors included: Bennett, alum Rene Allen MA ’15, and graduate assistant Mike Mortimer. These initial classes attracted beginning writers, journalists, selfpublished authors, and a New York Times bestselling children’s author. Primarily marketed through listservs, word-of-mouth, and Meetup.com, the classes averaged a 4:1 ratio which allowed for an intimate atmosphere to workshop student projects. Consistent with the graduate program goals, the classes were designed to produce a community-based atmosphere where students sharpened their craft while being encouraged. Several highly motivated and talented workshop participants have gone on to apply and enroll in the Wilkes graduate program. Children’s author Nate Evans says, “This was an incredibly helpful series �of classes. I went in with a story idea that had been stalled for months and this workshop got me thinking in new ways, gave me a lot of inspiration, and got me writing again. It also gave me a more nuanced critical lens through which to examine my own writing as well as new strategies to deal with my weaknesses and build on my strengths as a writer.” Now, with over 200 members on Meetup, Bennett notes, “We didn’t want to just be a resource, we wanted to break down those walls that divide writer from writer and writing group from writing group.” Through the program’s growing reputation, partnerships have formed with other local writing groups such as the Scottsdale Society of Women Writers where, this January, Wilkes alum Rene Allen will serve as the keynote speaker. This spring marks the program’s first anniversary and the third round of classes will feature two six-week long sessions in the most popular genres: fiction and memoir. Faculty News Faculty member Christine Gelineau has a new book in production: Crave. Gelineau's third full-length collection of poetry will be published in early February by NYQ Books. Faculty member Nancy McKinley's short story “The Dog” was selected to be included in the upcoming Dog Anthology, published by Main Street Rag.  Faculty Member Sara Pritchard will be the 2015 John E. Nance Writerin-Residence at the James Thurber House in Columbus, Ohio. Sara will be moving into the "slightly haunted" third-floor apartment of Thurber House for a month, beginning in mid-January, 2016.  Faculty member Jan Quackenbush’s short play “Attack at the PierreFontaine,” published by Blue Moon Plays, was recently produced by a newly formed senior drama group at the Perry County Opera House and Cultural Arts Center in Ohio.  Student News Amye Archer, MFA ’11 will have her memoir, Fat Girl, Skinny, published by Big Table Publishing this spring. Jennifer D. Bokal, MA ‘10 is pleased to announce the February 9 release of The Gladiator’s Temptation. It is the second book in The Champions of Rome series published by Montlake Romance. Jennifer’s novella, To Catch a Thief, a Romantic Thriller, will also be released in February as part of the Royals of Monterra Kindle World. Jennifer is also �the head of the steering committee for Lady Jane’s Salon of the Southern Tier, New York. LJSSTNY is a satellite of Lady Jane’s Salon, NYC © which brings writers of romance together with readers in a monthly reading series. LJSSTNY is held at Endicott Performing Arts Center on the second Saturday of each month. Tom Borthwick, MFA '09 has a flash fiction piece "You Belong to Me" appearing in Perihelion Science Fiction Magazine. David R. Brubaker, MA ‘14 is publishing his thesis, Liberace's Filipino Cousin, in early 2016 with ThingsAsian Press. Jim Craig, MA ’10 / James Craig Atchison officially launched his first crime novel, Blue Lines up in Arms, in Wilkes-Barre December 4-5. Published by Sunbury Press, and featuring fictional “Wavy Ray Beck” of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL hockey team, promotional events included a radio interview on WILK (Sue Henry’s AM talk show), a Jumbotron announcement during a WBS Penguins home game Friday, December 4, and a book signing at the downtown Barnes & Noble. Brian Fanelli, MFA ‘10 had his poem, "Lady Day Sings the Blues on YouTube," published in the winter issue of The Museum of Americana. Another poem, "What I Imagine My Parents Did After Dinner," was published by The Lascaux Review. Patricia Florio, MFA ‘11 is returning to the Wilkes family as a student again, this time to get her M.A. in Fiction. Gerald Gurka, MA '07 had his short play "A Christmas Card Portrait" recently produced and performed in Larksville, PA, as well as featured in various local media. Dawn Leas, MFA ‘09 will have her full-length poetry collection, Take Something When You Go, published by Winter Goose Publishing in 2016. Lori Myers, MA ‘09 short story "The Kindest Cut" will be published in the anthology Bad Neighborhood by Spooky Words Press. Christoph Paul, MA ’14 had his Bizarro Horror novel Slasher Camp for Nerd Dorks published by Eraserhead Press in November. It won the Black Book Award for best satire. The same month Social Media for AntiSocials: #HowToUseTwitter was published by Riot Forge. Christoph Paul was also featured in a Huffington Post feature about The Miami International Book Fair: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/renee-loiacono/11-secrets-on-how-to-mark_b_8626322.html Christoph has �officially started the imprint New English Press with the help of hiphop artist, bizarro author, and Navy man Grant Wamack. The press will focus on publishing Black, Hiphop and Bizarro Fiction. The two titles planned for 2016 are This Book Ain't Nuthing to Fuck With: A Wu-Tang Tribute Anthology and Booty Holocaust by Patrick Scott Barnes. Under the pen name Mandy De Sandra, Christoph published the political satire-erotica novella Fox News Fuckfest with New Kink Books, an imprint of Rooster Republic Press. It is Mandy's tenth book. MA student Ronnie K. Stephens recently had an essay published in Hippocampus Magazine and two poems published in Paper Nautilus. He has another essay forthcoming in The Good Men Project. He will part of a poetry panel/reading discussing body dysmorphia and gender at the International Annual AWP Conference and Bookfair in Los Angeles, March 30- April 2. Rachel Luann Strayer, MFA '12 is celebrating the East Coast premiere of her play, Drowning Ophelia, produced by Gaslight Theatre Company. Drowning Ophelia will be performed at the Theater at Lackawanna College in Scranton, PA, January 28-31. Quick Links Career Development Campus Safety and Internships Centers & Institutes Online Programs Programs E.S. Farley Library Human Resources Jobs at Wilkes Online Nursing Offices & Administration Accessibility Statement Financial Aid Adobe Acrobat® Reader Registrar's Office Finance Office Investor Relations Student Work Study Jobs Veterans Services Make A Gift �Visit Quick Links Schedule a Visit Parking Information Virtual Tour Campus Map 84 West South Street Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 1-800-WILKES-U Contact Us Wilkes University © e © d c f � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Revise This! January 2016 - Wilkes University.pdf https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/35da4df30c1966b0d3205caea73fb6de.pdf 343266765fc6e605ebf336aeba0eeb06 PDF Text Text About Wilkes Home n Graduate Academics Academics n Graduate Admission & Aid Graduate Programs n Graduate Life Master's Degree Programs About Our Students n n The Arts Creative Writing MA/MFA Revise This! n Archives n 2012 Revise This - July 2012  Revise This! Revise This! 2017 2018 Revise This! November 2019 Revise This Archives Revise This! Archives Writing Program Welcomes Dawn Leas as Associate Director | Jim Warner Roast Boosts Jennifer Diskin Memorial Scholarship | Announcements | Faculty/Staff Notes | Student/Alumni Notes Writing Program Welcomes Dawn Leas as Associate Director The Wilkes Creative Writing program is growing and with progress comes change. The position of Associate Director was recently added and in a national call for applicants, Dawn Leas rose to the top and was selected to join the Wilkes team. As a Wilkes M.F.A alum, Leas is no stranger to the program and she admits her personal experience will influence her new administrative role. “This new position will give me the opportunity to talk about the strengths of the programs,” Leas said, “to share my own personal experiences as a student and alum; to provide support in terms of navigating LIVE, our online platform; to assist Dr. Culver in building new programs as well as managing daily office operations; Related Links Calendars & Schedules Campus Map Centers for Excellence Faculty Publications Graduate Bulletin (.pdf) Graduate Bulletin Online Graduate Student Handbook Library Office of the Registrar Online Learning Professional Pharmacy Application School of Nursing - Graduate Program Student Handbook Schools, Departments, Divisions n n �and to nurture a growing writing community.” In her past lives, Leas has worked in PR and marketing, actively using social media and community events to engage audiences. Leas said, “I will take this experience and apply it to my new position working closely with University Relations on marketing and social media, and with Dr. Culver, Joyce Anzalone and the graduate admission office on admissions. I am also learning the tech side of LIVE so that I can help guide faculty and students through its terrain.” In her role as Associate Director, Leas will build on the current strengths of the Wilkes program “while also looking at other avenues to best reach these groups to bring them together as a vibrant, dynamic writing community that interacts not only within itself, but also with the larger literary world,” Leas said. “I see the Wilkes Creative Writing programs as a place where we can all communicate about craft, trends in publishing, continued learning experiences, successes and milestones to help support one another in what is otherwise a rather solitary pursuit.” Jim Warner Roast Boosts Jennifer Diskin Memorial Scholarship The summer 2012 residency kicked off with a night of celebration, memories, and philanthropy. M.F.A. Alum Amye Archer planned an evening to honor the departure of one of its admins, but the night soon became more than a simple send-off. “The roast was initially conceived as a unique way to say goodbye to Assistant Director Jim Warner,” Archer said. “It was Jim’s very generous decision to donate all funds raised to a scholarship honoring Jennifer Diskin, Jim's friend and program alum who passed away in December 2011.” News of the fundraiser garnered huge support and the party was wellattended by faculty, alums, current students, and advisory board members. In addition to straight-up donations, a number of items—such as gift baskets and signed books—were donated for a silent auction. Archer said the goal of the evening was to raise $2,000, but the event brought in well over $4,000 in honor of Jennifer Diskin. “Jennifer was a bright light in our community,” Archer said, “and with the help of those who generously donated their time and money for the roast, as well as with the support from Jennifer's family and friends, it is a light that will continue to glow.” Announcements Faculty members who included students on AWP 2013 panel discussions are eligible to apply for student funding support from the Wilkes �University Mentoring Committee. Please contact Program Director Bonnie Culver for more details. Faculty/Staff Notes Gregory Fletcher’s new play, Uploaded, was read in New York this July. The play was read by Michael Learned, June Gable, and Phil Mills. Christine M Gelineau’s poem “Sockanosset,” published by The Paterson Literary Review, has been selected for the 2012 Pushcart Prize anthology. The anthology will be available in November. William Heyen, Advisory Board member, has just released Straight’s Suite for Craig Cotter & Frank O’Hara from Mayapple Press and Hiroshima Suite from Nine Point Publishing. A third title, The Football Corporations, is available from Etruscan Press this summer. Also, The Cabin: Journal 1964-1984 will be out from H_NGM_N Press by the end of the year. Ross Klavan’s film Tigerland is being remastered on blu-ray and includes an interview with Ross. Jan Quackenbush had a play performed in Germany this summer. Student/Alumni Notes M.F.A. alum Christopher Bullard has new poems accepted by Rattle, Waccamaw, Trincaria and Slipstream. One of his poems was chosen for the anthology The Best of the Barefoot Muse, edited by Anna M. Evans. M.A. student Kait Burrier will premiere a ten-minute play this September at Dionysia 12, the second-annual Jason Miller Playwrights Project Invitational. She will also be collaborating with The Pop Up Studio this October to introduce a theatrical component to Scranton’s Harvest Festival. M.A. student Christopher J. Campion’s short story, “Angel,” was selected as a finalist for East Meets West, American Writers Review Spring/Summer 2012 contest. M.A. alum Cindy Dlugolecki was the featured speaker in May for Sunday at Museum Square in Mechanicsburg PA. She presented a series of vignettes dramatizing the town’s colorful history and just as colorful citizens. Cindy’s M.A. thesis/play SNAP! was produced as a staged reading at the Little Theatre of Mechanicsburg in July. M.F.A. alum Jaclyn Fowler won first place in the East Meets West �Spring 2012 contest for her short story, “Swing Topping and Red Shoes.” She was also invited to attend this summer’s Norman Mailer Writers Colony workshop on Historical Fiction. M.F.A. alum Wendy Garfinkles’ poem “Stronger Than You Think” was selected as a Finalist in the East Meets West, American Writers contest and will be published in the Spring/Summer 2012 issue. M.A. alum Jerry Gurka’s play The Prodigal Sons was performed at Saint John the Baptist Church, Larksville PA this past spring. He has an article forthcoming in Celebration Magazine and Scripts Works Press will be publishing a second collection of his Passion Plays in 2013. Also, his play Murder at the Pierogie Wedding will be performed this August. M.F.A. alum Matthew S. Hinton developed PLAYROOM: An Evening of One-Act Plays by Regional Authors. The program ran this June at Kings College Theater, Wilkes-Barre. M.A. student Lori A. May has new creative nonfiction in Passages North, Hippocampus Magazine, and The Smoking Poet. New poetry has been published at Lansing Online News and she has new reviews published in Rattle, Los Angeles Review, and Northern Poetry Review. M.A. alum David McDonald’s short film, Choker, was a finalist in the 2012 Beverly Hills Film Festival. This piece was inspired by his work in the Wilkes Creative Writing/Screenwriting Program. Janis Productions is currently budgeting the project and several more producers in Texas and California are reading it. M.A. alum Lori M. Myers’ play The Serpents Egg will be produced by fellow alum Matthew Hinton at Gaslight Theatre in Wilkes-Barre. Her short story “Smoke” was recently published by Sunbury Press in the anthology A Community of Writers. M.A. alum Dania Ramos’ play Frozen War was read at the Arts on Division Festival this past May at the PCNJ Pop-Up Art Gallery, Somerville NJ. This was Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey’s second round of readings for the New Jersey Emerging Women’s Playwrights Project. M.F.A. alum Jonathan Rocks’ screenplay Luke Whimsey, which was his capstone for the Wilkes program, has been optioned by Triboro Pictures, and they are currently representing it at the 2012 Cannes Film Market in France. Program Note �The Write Life blog welcomes guest posts from faculty, students, and alumni. Email lori.may1@wilkes.edu for details.   Weekly interviews and literary news are shared online at http://wilkeswritelife.wordpress.com. Quick Links Career Development Campus Safety and Internships Centers & Institutes Online Programs Programs E.S. Farley Library Human Resources Jobs at Wilkes Online Nursing Offices & Administration Accessibility Statement Financial Aid Adobe Acrobat® Reader Registrar's Office Finance Office Investor Relations Student Work Study Jobs Veterans Services Visit Quick Links Schedule a Visit Parking Information Virtual Tour Campus Map Make A Gift �84 West South Street Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 1-800-WILKES-U Contact Us Wilkes University © e © d c f � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Revise This! July 2012 - Wilkes University.pdf https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/9a0aba5e6473c45a22cd4e2490411002.pdf d954f835073bf639142e3e6adff81671 PDF Text Text About Wilkes Home n Graduate Academics Academics n Graduate Admission & Aid Graduate Programs n Graduate Life Master's Degree Programs About Our Students n n The Arts Creative Writing MA/MFA Revise This! n Archives Revise This - July 2016 Revise This! | July 2016 First Mesa Cohort Don Their Caps Archives Archives By Danie Watson   Three 2018 members of the first Revise This! - weekender November 2019 cohort of the Wilkes Graduate Creative Writing Program received their 2017 The first Mesa cohort graduates from the Wilkes degrees University Graduate Creative Writing Program on following a June 4. Left to Right: Anna Arnett, Michael ceremony Mortimer, Spencer Aubrey. held June 4 at the Mesa Center for Higher Education. These students enrolled in 2014, when the Weekender Program debuted at the Wilkes satellite campus in Mesa, Arizona. Among the M.A. recipients was 91-year-old Anna Arnett, who became the oldest Colonel to join the Wilkes Alumni Association with an M.A. in creative nonfiction. Arnett earned a B.A. in English education with a n 2016 n n �minor in history in 1970, and an M.A. in English education in 1973, both from Arizona State University. Two members of her cohort also completed their M.A. requirements: Spencer Aubrey in poetry and Michael Mortimer in screenwriting. Arnett worked with Dr. J. Michael Lennon to complete her creative nonfiction manuscript Forever Endeavor, which depicts the life and travels of her Mormon family, beginning with her grandparents, who moved out west 150 years ago. "She is a superb writer with an eye like a pair of tweezers for the telling detail," Lennon said. "She takes us through bad weather, swollen streams, Indian visitors, runaway horses, and lots of warm family stories of struggle and perseverance. She has polished and edited the story beautifully, and it will be of interest to all readers interested in the amazing pioneers of the westward movement in the midnineteenth century." Spencer Aubrey was mentored by Dr. Philip Brady to create his chapbook apokalupsis, which addresses the themes of walking through the stages of Christian life and homelessness through the eyes of someone who experiences both. Brady had nothing but praise for Aubrey's poetry. "Spencer is the real thing," he says. "He brings passion and urgency to his work, and he is in possession of an original voice that comes across on the page and through the air. His project has spirit and depth, and he brings an original perspective to age-old questions about love, God, and the power of the soul." Aubrey says that the relationships he made at Wilkes are paramount to his development as a poet and as a person. His advice to other students: "Build relationships beyond your cohort. I love my cohort, though building community with others beyond it has given me the opportunity to gain perspective on my writing and life in general from multiple angles." Michael Mortimer worked with Ross Klavan to create his screenplay An Idiot's Tale, which is a murder-mystery plot involving neo-Nazis, drug cartels, B-movie makers, illegal immigrants, and a possible war with Mexico. According to Klavan, "Mike writes like a pro and he works like one, too. He didn't hold back and he wasn't afraid of making mistakes so he trusted his own process. ... He worked draft after draft, understood the notes I gave him and made good use of that critique, and I got to watch him sculpt his story from an initial idea to a fully working narrative." Of the mentor/mentee relationship, Mortimer says, "As you work one-on-one with a mentor, the crucial thing becomes being open to constructive criticism and being willing to explore facets of your ideas that you never even thought of, as painful as that process can sometimes be." Arnett, who received a shout-out from Wilkes Provost Anne Skleder �during the May 21 commencement in Pennsylvania, said that Wilkes has kept her on target. The most important advice for anyone considering Wilkes, she said: "Know yourself. Figure out what you want to learn, find out if Wilkes offers it, and whether you can and will follow their lead, then have at it." Mortimer agrees. "This program reinvigorated me and, with the help of the awesome faculty, upped my creative abilities, while at the same time giving me a lot more confidence and opening my range of professional possibilities. On top of all that, it has introduced me to a whole community of like-minded individuals. As Wilkes Creative Writing Faculty member Sara Pritchard told me, 'You're now officially one of the creative freaks! Welcome to the tribe.'" Danie Watson is pursuing her M.A. degree in creative writing from Wilkes University. She has no idea what she wants to do when she grows up, and currently resides in Nanticoke, Pa., with her similarly named boyfriend Daniel and her two nerdy cats, Optimus Prime and Albus Dumbledore. Summer Creative Writing Workshops The Wilkes University Graduate   Creative Writing program continues to offer its writing workshop series, with three workshops this summer. Two workshops will take place on the Wilkes University Wilkes Creative Writing faculty member Kaylie Jones and her master class work on their memoirs in Spring 2016. campus, while one will be conducted online. Take a look at what we're offering this summer �and hear from the instructors themselves, all Wilkes Creative Writing alums. Adults of any age 18 or older, regardless of their education level are welcome. Registration is $60 for each series. Follow your passion, write your story, and learn to get published. Register for these summer workshops here. The Craft of Comedy 6-8 p.m. on Mondays – conducted online July 11 to Aug. 15 Instructor: Nichole Kanney M.F.A.'15 As a master's student, Nichole Kanney helped create a cooperative weekly online writing group, in which cohort members from all over the country still participate every Thursday. That activity spawned the idea of running an online workshop. "Since we're a low-res program, it makes sense to incorporate the online component students will experience, should they enroll in the program," Kanney says. To facilitate the class, Kanney says, "Every writer who signs up for the class will need a valid email, internet connection, and access to Google Hangouts. Hangouts allow us to see each other face to face, provided the users have a webcam, and has proven effective for three years with my weekly workshop. It's simple to use, and rarely has technical difficulties." Material to be workshopped will be emailed to class participants. Because her workshop will focus on comedy, Kanney will "examine the different craft elements that make comedy effective in writing: character, setting, and dialogue. Since comedy is not limited to one genre, I will pull examples from popular film/television (screenwriting), fiction, and creative nonfiction. The point is to go beyond the 'situation' and make the funny happen naturally, instead of feeling forced." Kanney disputes the notion that comedy isn't teachable. "I think that once you understand what comedy is and go below the surface jokes, it becomes easier to recognize what will make others laugh. This class is also great for the writer who may not necessarily be writing a straight comedy work, but wants to find a way to reduce tension in their story." Kanney recalls pitching a comedy script to Stephen La Rue, former creative director at 20th Century Fox TV. "I was laughing during the pitch. I apologized for laughing at myself, and he said, 'If you can't laugh at your own work, no one else will.'" Nonfiction Places and Spaces �Wednesdays, 6–8 p.m. July 13 to Aug. 17 Instructor: Vicki Mayk M.F.A.'13 Vicki Mayk, Director of Public Relations for Wilkes University and editor of Wilkes magazine, says she "wanted to teach a workshop that would allow writers—and me—to focus on one aspect of creative nonfiction. I actually saw a similar workshop offered online and thought a workshop that explores setting would be fun." She's excited to work on the various writing exercises with students. "Exercises involving setting, really any location, make for something that allows a writer to do something that is more physically experiential. It's a nice change of pace to do exercises that aren't just 'in our heads' or growing out of research." She's planning a field trip for one of the exercises as well. One of her goals for the class is "to see fellow writers have insights about how setting can better inform their creative nonfiction, whether they are working on memoir, a research work, or essays, and that they will think about setting in different ways." Essential Elements of Creative Nonfiction Thursdays, 6–8 p.m. July 14 to Aug. 18 Instructor: Sam Chiarelli M.F.A.'16 Workshop veteran Sam Chiarelli will be teaching his third class at Wilkes. For "Essential Elements of Creative Nonfiction," Chiarelli says, "I've taken both what I've learned, and ideas from my students, to create this new series. I want students to think of this as a six-week CNF boot camp." In this class, Chiarelli explains, "We are going to cover everything from structure and setting to dialogue and characterization. If that sounds like a lot to cover in six weeks, it is." Chiarelli notes that the class will be both enjoyable and intense because he will be assigning readings between workshops. "The concept behind this workshop is to learn to read like a writer, to take apart published works of creative nonfiction and find out how they work and why they're effective. Finally, we'll apply that knowledge to our own writing and editing," he says. Fiction and creative nonfiction use the same approaches to get different results, Chiarelli says. "The invented worlds of fiction are assembled to divulge great truths. Creative nonfiction is more about personal experience, connecting with other people through a journey that the �reader is invited to take." Nonfiction is powerful, he says, because the reader knows that the story is true. "The elements of fiction and creative nonfiction are similar, but the ultimate objectives are not the same. Whether students are working on chapters for a book-length memoir or just looking to create some essays, I think this workshop will be very beneficial to them. I'll be using a variety of sources—both essays/memoirs/books and craft materials." Chiarelli is excited about this workshop series, and looks forward to working with new students. "The students I've had in previous workshops have been so excellent. I know they are going to be up for this challenge. This is also a great workshop to take if you're new to creative nonfiction. Whether this is your first workshop or your tenth, you'll take away plenty to help with your own work," he says. Register for these summer workshops here. PWC: Catching Up with Corrigan and Parini  By Danie Watson   Designed to engage, empower, and educate the literary community, the Maureen Corrigan, book critic for NPR's Fresh Air, will host a plenary session entitled "Reviews that Mattered." Pennsylvania Writer's Conference is a two-day event held on the Wilkes University campus Friday and Saturday, Aug. 5–6. This conference will include a morning plenary session, hosted by Maureen Corrigan, book critic for NPR's Fresh Air, and feature a keynote address by Scranton native, biographer, novelist, and poet Jay Parini. Corrigan and Parini �are both   excited to return to the WilkesBarre area. Something about this area keeps him coming back again and again, Parini says. "I always feel drawn to northeast Jay Parini will deliver the keynote address following dinner on August 6. Pennsylvania, as I was born in Pittston and raised in Scranton—and I still have relatives in the Wilkes-Barre area." Because some of his work is set in the area, he believes it's important to come back to his roots. "It's important to keep in touch—physically—with this region," he says. On the other side of the coin, Corrigan is looking forward to her return to Wilkes to "speak to and hear from writers of all ages, at all stages of their careers, and from diverse backgrounds." Corrigan says that her job at Georgetown University surrounds her with students from 18 to 25, so she is enthusiastic about branching out and speaking to writers at all different stages of their lives. The Pennsylvania Writer's Conference will combine the literary communities of both Wilkes-Barre and the Wilkes University Graduate Creative Writing Program. Corrigan and Parini touched on the importance of community and competition, and how this assists the writing process. Corrigan says, "It is crucial for writers to find a community of other writers and readers that they trust, in order to brainstorm, test out drafts of works in process, and get advice about agents, editors, and fellowships, among other things." �Parini also stresses the importance of finding a literary community, and says that he likes the idea of community-based writing. Since PWC is open to a wide range of adults, Corrigan says she's excited to meet conference-goers, "get recommendations for the work of writers [she] is not familiar with, and to be exposed to new voices and small press authors." To get the most out of the Pennsylvania Writer's Conference, Corrigan advises, "Attend as many events as you possibly can, and talk to strangers." Because the Wilkes University Graduate Creative Writing Program is a community-based experience, the fun doesn't end with PWC. The Wilkes satellite campus in Mesa, Arizona, will host the Arizona Writer's Conference, Nov. 11– 12, at the Mesa Center for Higher Education. Keynote speaker will be Alberto Álvaro Ríos, who holds the Katharine C. Turner Endowed Chair in English and is a Regents' Professor at Arizona State University. Ríos' most recent book of poems, A Small Story About the Sky, was published in 2015 by Copper Canyon Press. Along with nine books of poetry and three short story collections, Ríos's memoir about growing up on the border, Capirotada, won the Latino Literary Hall of Fame Award and was the OneBookArizona choice in 2009. His honors include Guggenheim Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, PEN/Beyond Margins and Walt Whitman awards, the first Western States Book Award for fiction, selection as a National Book Award finalist, and six Pushcart Prizes in poetry and fiction. Danie Watson is pursuing her M.A. degree in Creative Writing from Wilkes University. Giving Back to the Literary Community by Danie Watson It's no secret that the Wilkes community fosters a love of literature �and the act of putting words on a Jason Carney (left) is the director of the Young page. What DFW Writers, which urges students to use their sets our writing to define themselves and their community surroundings. apart is what we do with that love and passion: share it. Two Wilkes alumni give back so often, it's become part of their jobs. Jason Carney M.F.A.'13 and John Winston M.F.A.'16 spend their time working with youth, encouraging them to read and use their skills to write about change. Carney is the founder and director of Young DFW Writers, which runs writing programs in high schools across the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, including the Dallas edition of the national Louder than a Bomb program. Young DFW Writers urges students to use their writing to define themselves and their surroundings. Winston founded the "Adopt an   Author" program to bridge the gap between authors and their young readers, and to create a John Winston (center) created the "Adopt an place Author" program, to create a place where girls where girls and boys learn to love reading and writing. and boys learn to love reading and writing. This program was born out of the first outreach �program he was ever involved in, which involved motivating middle school-aged boys to read. "The discovery of your own voice is one of the most powerful tools a person can have," Carney says. "When you define who and what you are. the world is powerless to strip those definitions from you. We live in a society where bias is the norm, the foundation, and we have to break that cycle. Writing is one tool to help break this cycle." Winston believes writing in underserved communities helps to foster "an essential and vivid imagination, something sorely missing in underserved communities. Seeds are planted in the writing process that germinate and grow through the reading process and have an immeasurable effect on the community as whole." For Carney, the most meaningful part of his outreach is the creation process. "Seeing a young person catch fire with poetry is so energizing. Watching them find belief in their abilities and who they are as people is a real gift." At the end of the process, not only have the students changed, they have changed him, he says. Winston was touched by a 15-year-old high school freshman who attended one of his workshops on poetry as lyrics and music in literature. This young man was so inspired that he attended the rest of Winston's workshops, and took his suggestion to put an element of music in his work. "He had even altered a piece of his own work by my last workshop to reflect that sentiment, and presented it to the rest of the attendees." Carney says that he believed his students had a larger impact on him than he had on them. In South Dakota, Carney worked in a juvenile detention center, where a 14-year-old boy made an impression on him. This boy had ties with the Aryan Nation, and had not been on a good path for quite some time. Carney "planted some seeds," and says that the last he heard, the young boy was improving his attitude, his grades, and his acceptance of other people. Wilkes has impacted both Winston and Carney's outreach. Carney says that Wilkes has "given him legitimacy," and he has become "an allaround better human being," who uses Wilkes as a standard in his outreach. "They set the bar high," he says. "I have to live up to those examples. Invest in other writers. Cultivate those examples. I need to give freely what was given to me." Winston agrees that he has to follow the example set by Wilkes. He says, "They lead by example and I will follow suit accordingly when it comes to my own outreach, and the various programs that present themselves." �Their advice for those who want to involve themselves in outreach: Get out there and do it. Carney comments that it is important to give on more than just Christmas and Thanksgiving. Danie Watson is pursuing her M.A. degree in Creative Writing from Wilkes University. Faculty News Faculty member J. Michael Lennon's review of Don DeLillo's new novel, Zero K, appeared in the May 6 issue of the (London) Times Literary Supplement.His review of Charles Strozier's Your Friend Forever, A. Lincoln appeared in the May 5 issue of Illinois Times. Student News Cheryl Bazzoui M.A.'14 reviewed two novels, All Waiting is Long by Barbara J. Taylor, and Tipping Point, David Poyer's new naval adventure, on the BookMark program of NPR affiliate WPSU. Under her pen name, Ann McCauley, she placed an essay, "Worse than Writer's Block," in the May/June issue of Working Writer Newsletter; reviewed Dimestore by Lee Smith in the summer issue of Writer's Advice; and reviewed All Waiting is Long on StoryCircle.org. She will be part of a panel, "Pennsylvania Fiction: What It Is and What It Does," at the Pennsylvania Writers Conference at Wilkes Aug. 5–6. Wendy Lynn Decker, M.F.A. student and author of YA novel Sweet Tea, shared writing tips at the Neptune Library in Neptune, N.J., in May, and discussed her novel with the library's young adult book club in June. Richard Fellinger, M.F.A.'10, has published a number of opinion columns on the presidential race in the Lancaster, Pa., newspaper LNP/LancasterOnline.com. Donna Ferrara, M.A.'14, saw her short story "Lucille" published in an anthology, Crack the Spine: XII. Her essay, "Snow White and the Art of Toyota Maintenance," was published in Stirring: A Literary Collection.  M.F.A. alumna Lori A. May had an essay published in Off the Shelf, the book blog of Simon & Shuster. She has jointed the masthead as a contributing writer for Panorama: The Journal of Intelligent Travel. Lori recently attended the Northwest Travel Writers Conference, and is wrapping up a series of events related to a new project supported by a creation grant from 4Culture, an arts organization in King County, Washington. Finally, Lori is quite pleased to have checked State No. 50 off the to-travel list. �Vicki Mayk, M.F.A.'13, published the personal essay "Shared History" on Literary Mama. Adrienne Pender, M.F.A.'11, reports that her play N is a finalist and will be performed in a staged reading at the Dayton Playhouse's FutureFest New Works Festival July 21-24. N is also scheduled for a staged reading at the Eugene O'Neill Festival in September in Danville, Calif., and will receive its fully staged world premiere at Theatre in the Park in Raleigh, N.C., in February 2017. Caleb Sizemore, M.F.A. student, had his dark comedy Stripped workshopped in July at Wolfbane Theatre Co.'s New Works Festival in Appomattox, Va. Donna Talarico M.F.A.'10 was published in mental_floss, The Guardian, Higher Education Network, Currents (trade journal in higher ed communications), and the Los Angeles Times, with forthcoming work in Games World of Puzzles, The Writer, and Currents. Donna appeared on ABC 27 in January and February for a social media segment, gave a writing presentation to NYU's social media group, spoke about communication planning at Leadership Lancaster's 2016 Leadership Advantage Summit, and presented at Wilkes' Tom Bigler High School Journalism Conference. She's scheduled to present twice at the Elements Web Conference at Penn State, and she had a storytelling workshop accepted for the HigherEdWeb Conference in Memphis in October. M.A. student Alan Yount created and published an adult coloring book, A Walk Around Nantucket, with his husband Scott Widmeyer. It is the first resort-centric coloring book in the United States. You can learn more about it here. Dawn D'Aries Zera, M.F.A. '13, was one of 10 finalists for the prestigious 2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize for socially engaged fiction. The award, founded by novelist Barbara Kingsolver, is presented biennially to the author of a previously unpublished novel of high literary caliber that promotes fiction that addresses issues of social justice and the impact of culture and politics on human relationships. Zera's manuscript, titled Earth Teach Me, focuses on issues concerning the environment. 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Archives Book Trailers Trending at Wilkes | Wilkes Grads Earn National Recognition Post-Grad, Post-Production: Kevin Conner and the Big Screen Fantasy Comes To Life for Alum Lauren Catron | Success with MFA Internships in Education Announcements | Faculty/Staff Notes | Student/Alumni Notes |     Book Trailers Trending with Wilkes Writers Savvy writers are taking word-ofmouth promotions to a new level and reaching wider audiences through multi-media and social platforms. To support faculty member David Poyer’s n 2013 n n �latest novel, alum Laurie Powers produced a trailer for The Whiteness of the Whale. ”She was an incredibly hard charger to get this trailer done before the book came out,” Poyer says of Powers. While no one seems to be sure yet how such media impacts book sales, with the trend too early to completely monitor, Poyer says it’s a great addition to his promotional platform. “Macmillan linked their book sites to the trailer and it has already had over a thousand hits.” Powers has twelve years experience in visual effects and read an advanced reading copy of Poyer’s book to gather ideas. “I looked for phrases and images that stood out to me, or somehow defined the characters or storyline,” she says of her process. Her familiarity with the art form was also helpful in determining what would work for the project. “I know book trailers are becoming really popular as I see them everywhere, and I can say that I personally bought a couple of books after seeing promotional videos that friends posted on Facebook.” Short videos are easy to share on social media sites, Powers says, so the portable versatility lends itself to word of mouth promotion. “You can watch a small video on your iPhone on the bus for example. You probably wouldn’t open up a website and read book reviews on your phone,” Powers says, adding that “everything these days is promoted via multi-media, why should books be any different?” Justin Kassab, whose debut novel is scheduled for publication with Kaylie Jones Books, an imprint of Akashic Books, has latched onto the trend as well. Kassab says a book trailer was appropriate for his book, Foamers, as his “target audience isn’t the group reading book reviews; they are the people surfing Youtube for the next great clip to share with all of their friends. A book trailer has the potential to spread faster, farther, and to �more audiences, than traditional promotions.” Jones says Mark Dennebaum, Jr. and Twenty Five/Eight, a Scranton company, volunteered their studio and crew to produce the trailer. While the video is in its final editing, photos of the shoot are available on the publisher website and Facebook page. “With the younger generation of readers, who often choose their books based on trailers or on on-line marketing,” Jones says, “book trailers are much more effective than for older readers who still rely on book reviews and blogs, or word of mouth, to determine what they will read.” Kassab says the production experience was positive and a part of his creative process. He wrote the trailer draft and then Dennebaum finessed the final script “into something shootable,” Kassab says. “They let me stay on set and consulted me for decisions. Overall, I felt like a kid in a candy store watching something I had written come to life.”   Wilkes Grads Earn National Recognition M.A. alum Todd McClimans and M.F.A. alum Sandee Gertz Umbach have each recently been honored with national recognition for their creative works. While in the program, McClimans worked with Lenore Hart and David Poyer on his alternate-history middle grade manuscript, Time Traitor. The manuscript has been declared one of five finalists in the 2013 National Association of Elementary School Principals Children’s Book Award competition. “I couldn’t believe that my manuscript, Time Traitor, had been named one of the finalists,” says McClimans. ”I’ve been struggling to get my manuscript noticed in the slush piles of many agencies. Becoming a finalist let me know that I had written a viable story and that I do have a chance at achieving my dream.” Sandee Gertz Umbach took 2nd place in the Working Class Studies Association’s national “Tillie Olsen” Award for Creative Writing for her published book of poetry, The Pattern Maker’s Daughter. Each year, the WCSA issues a number of awards to recognize the best new work in the field of working-class studies. The review process is organized by the past-president of the WCSA, and �submissions are judged by a panel of three readers for each of the five categories of awards. Comments from judges included this remark: “Sandra Gertz Umbach has a fresh way of seeing the everydayness of working lives.” While in the program, Gertz Umbach worked with Neil Shepard. The alum says her mentor “helped me to push to the finish line on this book when at times it seemed impossible.” McClimans also credits the Wilkes writing program for the development and success of his project. “I can’t overstate how much I learned from David Poyer and Lenore Hart,” the alum says. “Dave taught me how to take an idea from beginning to end with the dreaded outline, to hone my voice for brevity and exactness, to trust my story and myself, and to push through self-built walls. With Lenore, I learned to pull my language together and to further hone my voice to reach younger readers. I’m so grateful for their guidance, support, and friendship. I wouldn’t be here without them.”       Post-Grad, Post-Production: Kevin Conner and the Big Screen   M.A. alum Kevin Conner’s film, “Pitchfork,” is in post-production. The film began as a short film project during his time in the Screenwriting Foundations course taught by Ross Klavan. Conner says the film has a simple premise: “A no-luck farmer finds happiness again. It’s a basic love story, with just a few twists.” Since graduating, Conner has continued working with artistic directors Todd Oravic and Ryan Wood, both recent undergraduate Wilkes �students. “Working with Todd and Ryan has been great,” Conner says. “Their energy, enthusiasm, and knowledge made completion of the film possible. I learned an awful lot from them. They are two talented gentlemen.” Conner is thankful for his time in the Wilkes program for connecting him with the greater writing community. “In my opinion, this is the great intangible of the Wilkes program,” he says. “We all need help from others to keep projects moving along, and the program provides writers with the community necessary to see ideas through. It’s a very valuable resource.”   Fantasy Comes To Life for Alum Lauren Catron M.A. alum Lauren Catron says the Wilkes creative writing program has prepared her for what’s about to happen this summer: her debut novel, Changeling Eyes, will be published by indie press Booktrope Publishing. Between preparing the manuscript and planning for post-publication marketing efforts, Catron feels better educated about the publishing process thanks to her time at Wilkes. “It’s important to learn how to promote myself and do some of the work on my own,” she says, adding that contemporary publishing relies so much on the author’s efforts. Catron said David Poyer was “the most amazing mentor ever” as he helped her finesse her editing skills and make her manuscript the best possible prior to publication. “I still find myself reading books and thinking, ‘Poyer would never have let this slide’… I realized that when my book got published, it meant my books stood a better chance by comparison because I had Poyer in my corner. Thanks for getting me started, Dave.” Changeling Eyes is the first book in her series, The Aesir Chronicles, and “focuses on Lrill, her struggle with her powerful heritage, and the revelation that there is a core of truth at the center of every legend.” Catron says the series will offer an alternate history of Earth, spanning from the creation of the world to its destruction and rebirth. The alum says her favorite memory of attending the Wilkes program was “the moment when I realized any random member of the CW program was probably going to understand me better, as a person and a writer, �than anyone else I had ever known.” She is currently at work on the sequel to Changeling Eyes.   Success with MFA Internships in Education Earning real world experience is part of the Wilkes creative writing curriculum. In their final term, M.F.A. students have the option to pursue Education or Publishing internships as part of the 620 project semester. As a faculty supervisor, Nancy McKinley has seen many of her mentored students go on to secure post-graduate positions in local colleges. One college in particular, Elizabethtown College, has four Wilkes grads on their payroll: Rick Fellinger, Jeff Minton, Donna Talarico, and Tyler Grimm. ”I’m thrilled to see so many interns get hired for teaching positions,” McKinley says. “Their placement speaks to the value and professionalism of the M.F.A. Internship in Education. The interns receive training and experience in the Best Practices of Teaching that can be applied at the college level, Artists-in-the Schools, workshop groups, and secondary levels.” Alum Rick Fellinger tends to two roles at Elizabethtown College. He’s both an adjunct writing professor and a faculty fellow in The Writing Wing. “In the latter, I oversee the college’s writing tutors, mentor advanced writers, and hold writing workshops for faculty and community members,” he says. Fellinger credits his Wilkes internship for equipping him with the experience and practical tools to serve his students needs. “From the start, I was able to teach with a firm grasp of the writing process and I felt completely comfortable leading a classroom.” Such comfort and confidence is something alum Jeff Minton says not everyone possesses, which is why the internship experience is so valuable. “If your goal is to teach, take 620. There is just too much to know,” Minton says. “You need experience. Many applicants don’t have it, and given the extreme competitiveness in academia for English teachers, this will give you a crucial leg-up—not to mention a world of connections.” Many of those connections begin in the Wilkes program, and Nancy McKinley says the internships offer not only professional guidance, but also skills in balancing the creative success of graduates. “Throughout the internship semester,” she says, “the M.F.A. students have regular �online discussions that foster a community of writers-as-teachers wherein they share ideas, garner support, and remind one another about the importance of making time for their own writing.” Alum Donna Talarico combines her creative and professional skills in a position outside of the classroom. Talarico chose the Internship in Publishing and worked with Phil Brady to offer social media and website support for Etruscan authors. Now Talarico applies her combined skills as the integrated marketing manager in the Office of Marketing and Communications at Elizabethtown College. “Today, marketing writing is more about story-telling and less about selling,” she says. “I was able to contribute to establishing a new voice and personality for the college, and completely revamp our messaging and style. The craft portion of the M.F.A. program no doubt played a big role in this transition.” Talarico says her work day encompasses creative writing in every aspect. “I think the M.F.A., coupled with my communications background, gives me such a unique perspective on marketing—so much so that it has allowed me to innovate and, often, allow my institution to stand out from others.” The internship experience provided through Wilkes offers students concrete skills for the workplace—and a supportive learning environment that often translates to confident and compassionate instruction. After only two semesters of teaching, alum Tyler Grimm was recognized for his classroom presence when he was nominated for the Richard Crocker Outstanding Service to Students Award. Grimm says the annual award is decided by the students. “It is so important to me that these nominations come from the students and not from other faculty,” Grimm says. “It tells me I’m doing something right and making a positive impact even as I’m still honing my classes and teaching methodology.” Grimm credits his success to the Wilkes residency and internship, while giving a nod to faculty members Nancy McKinley, Lenore Hart, and Kaylie Jones. “Both Nancy and Lenore provided such insight and knowledge during 616 that I did not feel that overwhelmed when beginning my internship,” he says, adding that the development of syllabi, lesson plans, rubrics, and his pedagogical practices were also supported by Jones. “Throughout the program, she taught me how to provide feedback on students’ writing, which is obviously invaluable. The rest, though, came from working through questions and concerns with Nancy. Her approach to the internship is as individualized as possible.” An important part of the internship experience is encouraging M.F.A. students to balance their professional obligations with their creative ambitions. After all, our students are writers who came, first and foremost, to our program to explore their craft and pursue their personal writing dreams. “Our interns learn how to navigate time constraints whereby they find ways to balance writing with working as a teacher-ofwriting,” says McKinley, arguing that fulfilled writers create fulfilled �instructors. “Thus the interns bring a level of enthusiasm to the teaching environment that heightens their instructional delivery. I think that’s a key aspect of our success and why so many of our graduates get hired for teaching jobs.”   Announcements New Program Tracks: Ever thought you wanted to start your own press, e-zine, or literary journal? Thanks to the initiative of Akashic Books editor Johnny Temple and Etruscan’s founding editor Phil Brady, alums and current students now have the option of pursuing a Master of Arts in Publishing! This new track will open at the June 2013 residency. Wilkes alums will take only an additional 18 credits to earn the M.A. in publishing. Have you found the world of documentary film fascinating? The Wilkes low residency program has also added a Master of Arts in documentary film, which will begin in January, 2014. Like the new publishing degree, alums need only take an additional 18 credits to earn this degree. The curriculum is being developed now working with Robert May and SenArt Films and other to be named companies. Other program updates: Due to student requests, all M.A. graduates will have their area of study on their diploma, beginning with the fall graduation. For example, if you complete a screenplay for your thesis, your diploma will now read: “Master of Arts in Creative Writing specializing in screenwriting.” Beforehand, all diplomas simply read, “Master of Arts in Creative Writing.” Should you wish to return to Wilkes and specialize in another area of study, you need only take the last 18 credit hours to earn a second M.A. For more information on any of these new possibilities or to apply to any of the newly revised program tracks, please email or call Dr. Culver or Ms. Dawn Leas. Deadline to apply is May 31, 2013. Etruscan Press is delighted to announce that Dr. Jaclyn Fowler has agreed to accept the position of Managing Editor of Etruscan Press. Jackie received her M.F.A. and M.A. from Wilkes University’s Creative Writing program. Prior to coming to Etruscan Press, Dr. Fowler taught English, Creative Writing, and Education to K-12, undergraduate, graduate, and adult learners in both the traditional ground and asynchronous online classrooms. She also served several independent schools as head of their academic programs and sits on the PA State Board of Private �Schools. Dr. Fowler received her doctorate in Education and Second Language Acquisition from The Pennsylvania State University.   Faculty/Staff Notes Bob Arthur is heading up The Edge Theater, a new theater on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. His first show included two short-shorts: “GPS” by Bonnie Culver and “LifeSwap” by Jean Klein. Susan Cartsonis, faculty and advisory board member, was recently honored for her accomplishments in film by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America at their 6th Annual Women of Distinction luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The speech she gave is shared online on The Write Life. Susan also attended the Forbes’ Women’s Summit in NYC. Bonnie Culver has an essay in an upcoming anthology, Writing on the Water: Words on the Allegheny River, which is scheduled for publication with Mayapple Press. The anthology will include a CD with poetry and music from Jerome Rothenberg and Pete Seeger. Her essay, “Moon on the Water,” is about a month-long canoe trip Bonnie took in 1969 on the river. Gregory Fletcher’s short play, “The Moon Alone,” was produced in March by Artistic New Directions at the Shetler Studio Theatre, Off-OffBroadway. Jean Klein is coordinating HaveScripts.com, an e-catalog of plays available for stage, readings, and classrooms. Current Wilkes faculty plays available with HaveScripts include selections from Bonnie Culver, Jan Quakenbush, Robert P. Arthur, and Jean Klein. Dawn Leas has a poem, “Bonfire,” forthcoming in the 2013 issue of Connecticut River Review and two poems, “A Winter Conversation” and “The 6:45 Train,” forthcoming in the upcoming issue of Word Fountain. Her review of Water-Rites by Ann E. Michael appears in the April 2013 issue of Poets’ Quarterly, and she has work included in the forthcoming anthology, A Commonplace Book: A Community Memoir Project edited by Jennifer Hill. Dawn also wrote a feature article about the Wilkes Creative Writing Program for The IndependentNEPA magazine, owned and published by alum John Plucenik. She will also have a poem, “Seaside Heights, 2011,” in the Harbors and Harbor Towns-themed issue of San Pedro River Review, scheduled to be released in June. �J. Michael Lennon has a number of events planned for the summer and fall, leading up to the October release of his Mailer biography, A Double Life. Lennon also has a new website. Nancy McKinley’s short story, “No Matter Where,” received an Honorable Mention in the Westmoreland Arts & Heritage 2013 Poetry and Short Story Contest. Dave Poyer debuted two new books this spring: a novel, The Whiteness of the Whale, for which he was touring on Cape Cod and Nantucket recently, and an oral history, Happier Than This Day and Time, which he will be reading from on Hatteras Island, Kitty Hawk, and Manteo Island next month. M. Kilburg Reedy, our frequent visiting entertainment lawyer, is coproducing a new Broadway play, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, starring Sigourney Weaver and David Hyde Pierce. The show has been honored with six Tony nominations, including Best Play, as well as Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics’ Circle nominations for Best Play. Juanita Rockwell was granted a writer’s residency at Wildacres Retreat, NC, and is directing Jordan Harrison’s Act A Lady for Iron Crow Theatre, playing May 25-June 8 at Baltimore Theatre Project. Neil Shepard’s new e-book, Scavenging the Country for a Heartbeat, is available from Northampton House Press.   Student/Alumni Notes M.F. A. alum Amye Archer was a featured reader at KGB in New York, as part of the At The Inkwell series. M.A. student Cheryl Bazzoui’s essay, “On Becoming Unplugged,” was published under her pen name, Ann Mccauley, in the February 2013 issue of Working Writer. M.F.A. alum Chris Bullard has had his chapbook, Dear Leatherface, accepted for publication by Kattywompus Press later this year. His fulllength collection, Back, is also scheduled for publication this year with WordTech Communications. M.F.A. student Kait Burrier’s monologue, “Gin on the Rocks,” was �produced by the Jason Miller Playwrights Project in Rock Bottom: Monologues About Starting Over at the Scranton Public Theatre. Her one act play “Spill” will be produced by Gaslight Theatre Company in their Playroom series during the last two weeks of June at Downtown Arts. Kait also had an article about The Office wrap-up party published in The Weekender. M.F.A. alum Tara Caimi’s memoir excerpt, “Without Words,” was published in Outside In Literary & Travel Magazine. M.A. alum Chris Campion, along with many other Wilkes creative writing alum, read the opening chapter from his new novel in progress, Office Fire, at New Visions Art Gallery for its bi-monthly writers and poets showcase. M.F.A. alum Jason Carney has three poems in the latest issue of Union Station Magazine. He is also now a contributing editor at Poets’ Quarterly. M.A. alum Erin Delaney was recently featured at the April Faculty Poetry Feature at Misericordia University’s Speaker Series, “From Mouth to Mic: Waxing Poetic II,” and was a Poetry Feature at New Visions Monthly Writers Showcase and Poetry Reading. She is currently working at Misericordia University teaching African American Literature, American Immigrant Literature, and Modern World Literature. She is currently teaching Sophomore Seminar at Southern New Hampshire University. M.F.A. alum Brian Fanelli’s poem, “Writing the Last Word,” has been accepted for the June issue of Spillway, and his poem, “Temp Worker,” has been accepted by The Oklahoma Review. A third poem, “Goodbyes in a Blackout,” was accepted by North Chicago Review. In addition, Brian recently enrolled in SUNY Binghamton’s Ph.D. program and completed his first semester in May. M.F.A. alum Patricia Florio’s short story, “Golden Boy,” was published in the summer issue of Newtown Literary. M.F.A. alum Jenn Freed recently published her young adult historical fiction novel, The Last Encampment, with Northampton Press. M.F.A. alum Sandee Gertz Umbach’s book, The Pattern Maker’s Daughter, received 2nd place in the national Tillie Olsen Award competition for Creative Writing given by the Working Class Studies Association. M.F.A. alum Virginia Grove published an excerpt of Break in the latest issue of Survivor’s Review. She was also a reader at Misericordia �University’s series, “From Mouth to Mic: Waxing Poetic II,” in celebration of National Poetry Month. M.A. student April Line’s column “Understanding Henry” will come out in the maiden issue of West Branch Life, a new publication of The Williamsport Sun-Gazette. She has also recently accepted a position as staff editor at Evolved Publications. M.F.A. alum Bill Lowenburg’s monograph, “Crash Burn Love,” was recently featured with a 14 picture spread on Slate.com’s photo blog, Behold. M.A. alum Laurie Loewenstein had a short story published in the Mondays Are Murder series from Akashic Books. M.F.A. alum Carol MacAllister was recently accepted in the Horror Writers Association. Alum Monique Lewis also conducted an author interview with Carol and wrote a review of her e-book, Mayan Calendar Reveal, which can be found at attheinkwell.com. M.F.A. alum Ginger Marcinkowski is now a regular column contributor to Book Fun Magazine. M.A. alum Gale Martin was featured at the Annual Book and Author Luncheon of the Willingboro chapter of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) on April 26, where she gave an author talk, followed by a book signing. She will appear at the fourth annual BookFest PA, part of the 2013 Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, on Saturday, July 13, 2013, sponsored by the Schlow Centre Region Library. M.A. alum Lori A. May was featured in an interview at r.kv.ry Quarterly Literary Journal, where she has new poetry in the latest issue. She also has an essay in a recent issue of Northern Cardinal Review. M.A. alum Todd McClimans’s alternate-history middle grade manuscript, Time Traitor, was declared one of five finalists in the 2013 National Association of Elementary School Principals Children’s Book Award competition. M.F.A. alum Chad Mullen’s book, The Mirror of Aberrantine, is scheduled to be published by Northampton House Press. M.A. alum Lori M. Myers had her short story, “Dante’s Window,” published in the inaugural issue of Rock Bottom Journal. She also recently interviewed singer Helen Reddy for an article in B Magazine. �M.F.A. alum Adrienne Pender’s thesis play, “Somewhere in Between,” will be produced at Theatre in the Park in Raleigh this September as part of their 2013-14 mainstage season. M.F.A. alum Sarah Pugh’s original series, “Killjoy,” made the Top 25 Semi-Final round of the Austin Television Festival’s Pitch Competition. M.F.A. alum Carrie Reilly will be teaching and writing in South Africa for two years while serving in the Peace Corps. M.A. student Bill Schneider has traded his surfboard for the Stylebook. He accepted a graduate assistantship with the Wilkes University Marketing and Communications Department beginning in late May. M.F.A. alum Joseph Schwartzburt reports that Amelia Gray, recent PEN/Faulkner finalist for her novel Threats, will be the headliner for Seersucker Live: A Literary Performance, Episode 7. M.F.A. student Michael J. Soloway will have an excerpt from his memoir, Share the Chameleon, published by Split Lip magazine in September 2013. Also, his latest essay, “I Submit to You,” is online at The Write Life. M.F.A. alum Rachel Luann Strayer has entered into an official agreement with Ellery Schaar of Repurposed Theatre in San Francisco, California, for the production of her play, Drowning Ophelia. Performances will be scheduled for the fall of 2013. M.F.A. student Edith Ajoke Morenike Trenou will provide editing, writing, and translation services at Saahelia.com. Edith, who is fluent in six languages, holds a master’s degree from the Sorbonne Nouvelle as well as an advanced translating and interpreting degree from Georgetown University. M.A. alum Kevin Voglino’s second book, Tea Time Boys, is now available from Rogue Phoenix Press. M.F. A. alum Jim Warner was a featured reader at KGB in New York, as part of the At The Inkwell series. M.F.A student Barry Wolborsky wrote an article for EW.com about The Office wrap-up party in Scranton. M.F.A. alum Morowa Yejidé joined University of Maryland University College (UMUC) as an online Adjunct Professor. She is teaching Advanced Technical Writing. �M.F.A. student Dawn D’Aries Zera had her work, “Disillusionment,” presented in May as part of a production of monologues at The Olde Brick Theater in Scranton. Also, her short story “Cuffs,” initially prepared for an oral presentation class during a residency, is in the summer 2013 edition of Big Pulp magazine. She also offered a reading in April at KGB bar, NYC, as part of alum Monique Lewis’s reading series At the Inkwell.     Quick Links Career Development Campus Safety and Internships Centers & Institutes Online Programs Programs E.S. Farley Library Human Resources Jobs at Wilkes Online Nursing Offices & Administration Accessibility Statement Financial Aid Adobe Acrobat® Reader Registrar's Office Finance Office Investor Relations Student Work Study Jobs Veterans Services Visit Quick Links Schedule a Visit Parking Information Virtual Tour Campus Map Make A Gift �84 West South Street Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 1-800-WILKES-U Contact Us Wilkes University © e © d c f � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Revise This! June 2013 - Wilkes University.pdf https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/06ac23a5b711ee9fedbe116ac83d178c.pdf e4b4ac879b6cd17dd692e8118b38e249 PDF Text Text About Wilkes Home n Graduate Academics Academics n Graduate Admission & Aid Graduate Programs n Graduate Life Master's Degree Programs About Our Students n n The Arts Creative Writing MA/MFA Revise This! n Archives Revise This! June 2017 Archives Pennsylvania Writers Conference Returns, July 30-August 5 Five and a Half Questions for M. Kilburg Reedy Here's to the Graduates! Archives News From Faculty, Students, And Alums Pennsylvania Writers Conference: Bigger and Better Than Ever 2017 2018 Revise This! November 2019 n 2017 n n �  Registration is open for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey. Pennsylvania Writers Conference! For the first time, four-day intensive workshops will be held before the weekend conference, offering participants small-group instruction and critiques. Spend a summer week in Wilkes-Barre honing your craft with expert teachers and motivated peers. Sign up now – space for the preconference workshops is limited! Register Now The weekend PWC event on the Wilkes University campus, August 4-5, will offer �craft classes in creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and National Slam Champ Jason Carney. screenwriting, pitch sessions with agents, a keynote reading by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey, the annual open mic and poetry slam hosted by Def Poetry star and National Slam Champ Jason Carney, and literary panels with editors, film producers, literary agents, publishers, and writers, including a plenary session with Fresh Air reviewer Maureen Corrigan. Sign up at wilkes.edu/pwc by June 30 for the $116 early-bird registration rate for the two-day pass, which covers all conference events including the open mic/poetry slam and keynote reading. Regular price (after June 30) is $145, $75 for students 18 or older with a valid college I.D. The $395 PWC all-access pass includes the kickoff reception July 30, one four-day workshop July 31-Aug. 3, plus all conference events Aug. 45. Learn more about the four-day workshops and register here.  Preconference Workshops Ofer Four-Day Intensives Four-day pre-conference workshops will make the PWC experience richer and more personal for participants. Each workshop runs from July 31 to Aug. 3 and is open to adults of any age. Putting Together a Poetry �NPR Fresh Air reviewer Maureen Corrigan. Chapbook with Rashidah Ismaili Abubakr Participants will discuss and organize poems for a chapbook, begin a narrative poem to be completed and read on the final day of class, and read poets who may not be known to them. Each day will consist of homework, readings, personal work and guided instruction to increase each participant's ability to conceive a chapbook. Rashidah Ismaili Abubakr is a poet, playwright and writer of fiction and nonfiction. Her latest work is Autobiography of the Lower East Side, a novel in linked stories (Northampton House Press). Keeping Them Up All Night: Crafting the Thriller, Adventure, and Military Action Genres with David Poyer This four-day master class focuses on exciting stories told in an accessible way. Participants will learn the requirements and vocabulary of the genre, and craft an elevator pitch, scene outline, short chapter outline and the opening pages of a novel or novella, the basic tools to work on a full-length project of their own. David Poyer is the USA Today bestselling author of more than 40 books, including the Tiller Galloway diving adventures, the Dan Lenson novels of the modern Navy and Marine Corps, and sailing adventures such as �Ghosting and The Whiteness of the Whale. His military career included service in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Pacific, Pentagon, Arctic, and Middle East. Screenwriting: 5 Films/4 Days with Ross Klavan A deep reading and lasting look at five films that concentrate on structure to help you put together a film of your own. Screenwriting is about three things: "Structure, structure, and structure." Find out what that means, learn to use it, and get to see some terrific films. Ross Klavan wrote the film Tigerland (starring Colin Farrell) and the novel Schmuck (Greenpoint Press). He has been a voice actor, journalist, and screenplay writer for New Regency, Paramount and Miramax, among others. Creative Nonfction: Types and Techniques with J. Michael Lennon Understand varieties of creative nonfiction while learning about the key elements of craft: imagery, voice/point of view, character, setting, and story. Each participant should bring six copies of a nonfiction piece for discussion and a private critique with the instructor. J. Michael Lennon is the late Norman Mailer's archivist and editor, and author of the biography Norman Mailer: A Double Life. His work has appeared in Paris Review, The New Yorker, Times Literary Supplement and Creative Nonfiction, among others. He co-founded the Wilkes University Graduate Creative Writing Program and has taught in it since 2005. Creating the World of Your Memoir with Judy Mandel You have a story to tell, a unique journey that can illuminate a path for others. In this workshop, we will discuss and write about issues for memoir writers, including choosing structure, events and scenes, narrative and commentary, theme, details, and perspective. When to tell and when to show, and what's the difference? What will your family say, and should you care? Judy Mandel is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Replacement Child (Seal Press, 2013). She is a writing coach, teacher and editor whose essays, articles and short stories have appeared in Kveller.com, Tishman Review, ASJA Monthly, The Southampton Review and elsewhere. Wonder, Disbelief and Fantastic Fiction: Writing the �New Supernatural, Dark Fantasy, and Fabulist Genres with Lenore Hart Forget the old tropes of shambling zombies and evil demons with bad manicures. More and more writers are creating deep, powerful stories with supernatural or magical elements, suspending disbelief and evoking wonder and unease, in realistic settings inhabited by well-crafted characters. Participants will create a project pitch, step sheet, complete synopsis, and the opening pages of a short story or first chapter while participating in brief readings and critiques. Lenore Hart is the author of seven novels, including Becky and The Raven's Bride, plus YA and children's books, short stories, poetry and nonfiction. She's the editor of the 2017 fiction anthology The Night Bazaar. People and Place with Nicole Dennis-Benn Setting provides a world for the story to take place. But more than that, setting reveals character—who they are, their culture and the social circumstances that shape them and affective the decisions they make. Through reading, writing, and discussion, we will explore how to use the physical environment as a characterization tool. Each student will write at least 10 short poems and two longer narratives, be critiqued twice in class, and have an individual conference with the instructor. Nicole Dennis-Benn is the author of Here Comes the Sun, a New York Times Notable Book and NPR Best Book of 2016. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Elle Magazine, Electric Literature, and others, and she teaches as visiting faculty in the M.F.A. Fiction program at Sarah Lawrence College. �Certifcate Workshops For an additional fee, two workshops offer university-granted certificates in either noncredit or graduate credit (3 credit hours) options. Each program runs four days (July 31-Aug. 3) and includes PWC registration. Certifcate in Literary Publishing with Philip Brady ($675 noncredit, $1,500 graduate credit) The certificate offers an in-depth, intensive immersion into the world of literary publishing, from large to small presses and various business models. Participants will have the unique opportunity to see two literary presses in operation, Etruscan Press and Akashic Books, and hear from professionals working in all areas of the publishing world. Philip Brady's latest book is To Banquet With the Ethiopians: A Memoir of Life Before the Alphabet (Broadstone, 2015). He is a distinguished professor at Youngstown State University and executive director of Etruscan Press. Certifcate in Arts Education with Barbara Taylor ($475 noncredit, $1,500 graduate credit) Invigorate your classroom and engage your students through creative writing. Learn to establish a writers' workshop or take your workshop model to the next level. Generate ways to manage grading, and leave with practical lesson plans to incorporate into your district's curriculum. Writers and nonwriters welcome. Barbara Taylor has taught English for 30 years in the Pocono Mountain School District. Her most recent novel, All Waiting Is Long (Akashic/Kaylie Jones Books, 2014), is the sequel to Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night, named a "Best Book of Summer 2014" by Publishers Weekly. Five and a Half Questions for M. Kilburg Reedy By Lisa Greim One of the special advantages of studying �for an M.A. or M.F.A. in the Wilkes University Creative Writing Graduate Program is the access the program gives to creative Attorney M. Kilburg Reedy teaches a legal issues seminar at each residency and makes herself available to answer questions one-on-one for students in the program. professionals. These people, involved in the marketplace for creative work, can give students realistic feedback on their projects. Each M.A. candidate's thesis draft is read by an outside reader—an agent, editor, theatrical or film producer—who also participates in pitch panels, question-and-answer sessions, and seminars. Attorney M. Kilburg Reedy teaches a legal issues seminar at each residency and makes herself available to answer questions one-on-one for students in the program. Along with expertise in entertainment law as a partner in the New York law firm of Feldman, Golinski, Reedy + Ben-Zvi PLLC, Reedy is a published playwright, songwriter, and theatrical producer with three shows in production in New York: the Broadway premiere of the new musical Come From Away; Nevermore—The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe; and Shear Madness. Somehow, she found the time to answer five and a half questions. 1) Attorney, producer, playwright, songwriter. What's the common thread? What makes you good at all these things? �I started off wanting to be a playwright, and moved to New York after college to pursue that goal. I was able to get a play produced when I was 25, for which I got a great New York Times review calling me a "promising playwright," and that play was successfully produced all around the U.S. and internationally, but I wasn't able to get the next few plays produced, so because I had to earn a living I went to law school and became an entertainment lawyer. I later became a producer because I love the business of theater and wanted to expand my role to including choosing and managing shows (elements that just being the lawyer doesn't offer). And I've continued to write, as and when I've found the time. I have a new play I'm trying to launch now called The Daughter of Time, based on a well-known British mystery novel that I got the rights to adapt.  2) Tell us about your three 2017 productions. What appealed to you about Come From Away, Shear Madness and Nevermore? They're all such different projects, but if there's a common thread in shows I choose to produce or co-produce, it's that they have to be unique in some way. My motto is, "Show me something I haven't seen before." Come From Away is a beautiful and uplifting story about the small town in Canada that welcomed 7,500 stranded travelers on 9/11, where the locals and the "Come From Aways" cared for and comforted each other during a dark time. Nevermore is a gorgeously designed, beautifully composed and written gothic opera about the tormented and transcendent life of Edgar Allan Poe. And Shear Madness is a one-of-akind theater experience in which the audience solves the show's murder mystery. 3) How does the role of a theatrical producer differ from a film or television producer? The two businesses are very different. My legal practice includes film production counsel work, but I've yet to produce a film. There is a filmed version of Nevermore in the pipeline that, if all goes according to plan, will be screened in cinemas in October 2018. 3.5) Come from Away has 40 producer credits, Nevermore 12. Do these producer roles mostly represent a financial investment, or are you involved in the creative or business development of a show? On Come From Away, my producing partner and I are co-producers of the show, not lead producers. Even though we were involved with the show starting in 2013, through its pre-Broadway development, up until it opened in March 2017, our creative and business input was not extensive. On the other hand, for Nevermore, we were the lead �producers, so we made virtually all the creative and business decisions on the project, and were responsible for raising all the money. You can tell our relationship to each project by the positioning of our credit— on Nevermore, our production company name (Radio Mouse Entertainment) is first, whereas on Come From Away we're somewhere in the middle of the pack.   4) As a playwright, what comes first to you in the creative process: characters or story? I think as a playwright I tend to be very story- and message-driven. I write when I have something I want to say, which I think sometimes means my characters suffer, because I don't do what some writers do and start by listening to the characters and letting them do what they want to do naturally.  In fact, the last two projects I wrote are based on pre-existing stories. One is a musical based on a Greek myth, and The Daughter of Time is based on a novel published in the 1950s about a 20th century Scotland Yard inspector who investigates whether Richard III really killed the Princes in the Tower or if he was framed by the Tudors, who succeeded him as rulers of England. It's a timely tale because it's about how a falsehood, if repeated often enough and loudly enough, without contradiction, can become accepted as fact. They say history is written by the victors. 5) What legal issues should rookie writers be paying the closest attention to?  It depends on what the rookie writer is writing. If it's something entirely original, there are very few issues that a writer has to worry about—the main advice I could offer there is, don't plagiarize. If a writer wants to do what I did and adapt an existing literary property that's still in copyright, the writer needs to hire a lawyer to negotiate and draft a license or purchase agreement with the owner of the property, to obtain the necessary rights. And of course, if a writer is writing a memoir or something else based on true events and living people, there are a host of legal issues that the writer should be aware of. All of these are issues that I cover in my presentation for Wilkes during the residency two times a year. After this interview was conducted, Ms. Reedy's Broadway musical Come From Away was nominated for 9 Academy Awards, including Best Original Musical. It was awarded one for "Best Director for an Original Musical." Lisa Greim is an M.A. student in Creative Nonfiction at Wilkes University. She lives in Colorado. �Here's to the Graduates We congratulate the graduates of the Wilkes University Graduate Creative Writing Program, who were awarded their diplomas at the spring graduation ceremony on Saturday morning, May 20, in Wilkes-Barre! M.A. Darcy Breault  Joseph Bryan Melody Breyer-Grell Deborah Canon Jeffrey Ford Allison Foulke Donald Granza Carol MacAllister Maura Maros Luke Morris Robert Peck Donald Roe Joseph San George Ora Smith Michael Soloway Ronnie Stephens Brian Thomas M.F.A. Anna Arnett Molly Barari Renee Butts Patrick Charsky Gabrielle D'Amico Robert Holly Suzanne Ohlmann Christopher Purita Martha Rallison Caleb Sizemore Hillary Transue Faculty News Kaylie Jones had three personal essays from "a series of essays on my bad mothering" published this spring. The Rumpus published "The Day the FBI Tapped Our Phones," Hippocampus ran "Bad Mother" in its June issue, and The Southampton Review's 10-year anniversary issue features "One True Friend."     �Dr. J. Michael Lennon is editing Norman Mailer's works for the Library of America, an anticipated 8- to 10-volume collection. The first two volumes, covering the 1960s, will be released in early 2018.  Before Harry Turtledove and Cherie Priest, there was The Shiloh David Poyer's latest book, The Shiloh Project. Project. David Poyer's alternate history begins with the victory of the South at Gettysburg in 1863. Today the Mason-Dixon Wall divides Union and Confederacy ... and many other things are different from the world we know. Available again in a new trade paperback edition from Northampton House Press, $12.95. Student and Alumni News Molly Barari (M.F.A. '17) has published her first book, Dakota Heirlooms: Stories from the Past. The book was published in April by Jean Klein's Script Works Press, a division of Blue Moon Plays. The book started as Molly's M.F.A. publishing project, mentored by Dr. Phil Brady. �Writing as Ann McCauley, Cheryl Bazzoui (M.A. '14) produces a monthly blog at www.annmccauley.com. She had two reviews published this month: Shame, Shame, I Know Your Name by Heather Harlan was posted on Story Circle, and The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah was posted on Writer Advice  (click Hooked on Books and scroll to the review).  Cheryl also recorded four book reviews for BookMark at WPSU, her regional NPR station: Time to Heal, American Epochs, Vol. 3, by Todd McClimans; Shame, Shame, I Know Your Name, by Heather Harlan; To the Stars Through Difficulty by Romalyn Tilghman; and Mom, Mania and Me, by Diane Dweller. Randee Bretherick (M.F.A. '13) signed a three-book deal with Camel Press. The first Carrie Shatner Mystery novel, Criminal Misdeeds, will be released in Fall 2018 under the name Randee Green. You can follow Randee at www.randeegreen.com and www.facebook.com/RandeeGreenAuthor. Last fall, Randee also worked as the script supervisor/PA/clapboard extraordinaire on the set of the Blue Iron TV pilot. Wendy Decker (M.A. '15) and her young-adult novel Sweet Tea were the subject of a feature story in The Link News, covering Monmouth County, N.J. Richard Fellinger's (M.F.A. '10) debut novel, Made to Break Your Heart, has been published by Open Books.  Brian Fanelli (M.F.A. '10) participated in two panel discussions at "Celebrating the Poetic Legacy of Whitman, Williams, and Patricia Florio's (M.F.A. '11) picture book, Puppy in Ginsberg: A My Pocket, will be published in June. Literary Festival and Conference," which was held at the beginning of June in Paterson, N.J. The panels were "Building Literary Citizenship and Expanding Poetry's Audience in Unlikely Places," which he moderated, and "Democratic Vistas: Whitman, Ginsberg, and Williams Among the Poets." In addition, he recently had poems published in Freshwater Literary Journal, Gravel, and Connecticut River Review. There was also a review of his latest book �of poems, Waiting for the Dead to Speak (NYQ Books), in the spring/summer issue of The Paterson Literary Review. Patricia Florio's (M.F.A. '11) picture book, Puppy in My Pocket, will be published in June. Pat Florio and D Ferrara (M.F.A. "13) edited Jewels of San Fedele, an anthology of work created at a memoir retreat in Chianti, Italy, led by Kaylie Jones and Judy Pat Florio and D Ferrara (M.F.A. "13) edited Jewels of San Fedele, an anthology of work created at a memoir retreat in Chianti, Italy, led by Kaylie Jones and Judy Mandel.  Mandel. Wendy Decker's Serenity Books was the publisher. Alums whose work appears in Jewels of San Fedele include Margaret McCaffrey (M.A. '15), Vicki Mayk (M.F.A. '13), Joanne Biles (M.A. '14), Carol McAllister (M.A. '17) and Beverly Major Schwartz (M.A. '09), who also designed the cover.  In July, M.A. student Lisa Greim has been invited to attend the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley's 2017 Writers' Workshop in memoir/nonfiction.  Gerald Gurka (M.A. '07) wrote and directed the play Portraits of the Passion, which was presented on April 7. Redemption, a collection of his Easter plays, was recently reissued by WordsOnStage,  and he's working on a Young Readers story for Northampton Press. Jerry adds: "My �greetings to all in the program which is an awesome part of my life!" Maureen O'Neill Hooker (M.F.A. '09) reports: "I am happy to announce the birth of my new book, Shelly's Heart, which weighs 8 ounces, and contains at least 50,000+ multi-syllable bon mots. It is a memoir of my heart transplant adventure that includes humor, horror, and useful information. It is a page-turner, perfect for a plane trip or afternoon on a porch. The profit will help the Shelly Whitman Endowed Scholarship for the child of an organ donor. To read it may inspire someone to become an organ donor (i.e. Hero!) and it will definitely help a deserving student at East Carolina University. My M.F.A. from Wilkes in 2009 and my post degree mentoring from Dr. J. Michael Lennon are the reason I persisted until now." Shelly's Heart is available on Amazon. Since graduating, Kamron Klitgaard (M.A. '11) has published 23 plays. The latest, Complaint Department and Lemonade, was the most produced play for the publisher, Pioneer Drama Services, with 178 productions in its first year (Sept. 2016 to April 2017). Mark Levy (M.A. '08), a registered patent attorney and member of the New York and Florida bars, has moved to Evergreen, Colo., and been admitted to the Colorado bar.  Dan MacArthur (M.F.A. '12) has started The Cookie Dude business, specializing in handmade, gourmet cookies. With funky names and descriptions for his creations, the business fuses his love of cooking and ridiculous word play. Check out www.thecookiedude.com.  M.A. student Tara Lynn Marta published a short story in The Humor Times, "A Day in the Life of a Would-Be Writer." Tara is also a contributing blogger for the American Writer's M.A. student Tara Lynn Marta published a short story in The Humor Times, "A Day in the Life of a Would-Be Writer." �Museum, and will do a reading for the Writer's Showcase at the Olde Brick Theatre in Scranton. Lori A. May (M.F.A.'13) spoke on a panel, "Don't Forget the Day Job: Preparing Creative Writing Graduates for Lifelong Careers," at the annual AWP Conference in D.C. That discussion is now online as part of AWP's Podcast Series. She has additional podcasts on the writing life available at SoundCloud, as part of her project grant with King County 4Culture. Lori recently led a workshop at Book Publishers Northwest and, as a board member of CCWWP, will be attending their national writing conference in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Vicki Mayk (M.F.A. '13) is teaching a memoir retreat, "Healing Through Our Stories," June 23-25 at the Farmhouse at Kirkridge Retreat and Study Center in Bangor, Pa. More info: vickimayk.com/healing-throughour-stories/ Linda Nguyen (M.F.A.'14) taught a workshop earlier this year about Cinematic Writing in Video Games for Montreal's Pixelles Game Writing Incubator. She recently sold reprint and anthology rights to her short story "Pre-Elementary, My Dear Monkey," which first appeared in RicepaperMagazine. She also became a Scriptwriter this year at Ubisoft Montreal. It's been a long-kept secret, but not anymore: she's working on Far Cry 5. Here's the official announcement trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kdaoe4hbMso     Christoph Paul (M.F.A '16) edited and published the anthology This Book Ain't Nuttin to Fuck With: A Wu-Tang Tribute Anthology for CLASH Books. His nonfiction story "The Boy From Military School" was published in Civil Coping Mechanism's anthology, A Shadow Map: An Anthology by Survivors of Sexual Assault and he is now a columnist for the writing and teaching site LitReactor.  Josh �Maureen O'Neill Hooker (M.F.A. '09) reports: "I am happy to announce the birth of my new book, Shelly's Heart, which weighs 8 ounces, and contains at least 50,000+ multi-syllable bon mots." Penzone's (M.A. '13) short story "The Storyteller" will appear in an upcoming issue of Junto Magazine. Lynne Reeder (M.A. '08) will have her poems appearing in three anthologies: The Soapbox Official Vol. 2, The Howl of the Wild by Winterwolf Press, and [Insert Yourself Here] by The Paragon Journal. Her book, Found Between the Lines, is available now on Amazon, featuring erasure poetry paired with short stories and personal essays. Bill Schneider's (M.F.A. '14) short story "The Funicular" was accepted for publication by Hamline University's HamLitJournal.  Ahrend Torrey (M.F.A. '16) is currently working on a collection of poems titled City Monk, which he plans to complete by the end of this year, and hopes to have published sometime in 2018. In April, his poems "Walking the Dog," "City Monk," and "Feeding Ducks at Lafreniere Park" were published in Anti-Heroin Chic. His poem "Tiny Dancer" was also published in April by The Ravens Perch. Forthcoming in June. His poems will appear in One Person's Trash, The Seethingographer, Edify Fiction, Clear Poetry, and Young Ravens Literary Review. �Quick Links Career Development Campus Safety and Internships Centers & Institutes Online Programs Programs E.S. Farley Library Human Resources Jobs at Wilkes Make A Gift Online Nursing Offices & Administration Accessibility Statement Financial Aid Adobe Acrobat® Reader Registrar's Office Finance Office Investor Relations Student Work Study Jobs Veterans Services Visit Quick Links Schedule a Visit Parking Information Virtual Tour Campus Map 84 West South Street �Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 1-800-WILKES-U Contact Us Wilkes University © e © d c f � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Revise This! June 2017 - Wilkes University.pdf https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/b09375459fbdfc62a55fc7a4e08ee878.pdf 0a0b4e425e17abf0ba4fcca76bc51c12 PDF Text Text About Wilkes Home n Graduate Academics Academics n Graduate Admission & Aid Graduate Programs n Graduate Life Master's Degree Programs About Our Students n n The Arts Creative Writing MA/MFA Revise This! n Archives Revise This - March 2013 Revise This! Revise This! 2017 2018 Revise This! November 2019 Revise This!   |   March 2013                                                                  Revise This Archives Revise This! Archives Astonished: A New Memoir by Beverly Donofrio | Kaylie Jones Launches New Imprint Thom Ward on Tour with Etcetera’s Mistress | Faculty and Alum Work With Northampton House Press Announcements | Faculty & Staff Notes | Student and Alumni Notes   Astonished: A New Memoir by Beverly Donofrio Attendees of recent Wilkes residencies have had the pleasure of hearing excerpts of Beverly Donofio’s then workin-progress memoir. Now, readers around the world will be able to see the final result in print. The hardcover edition of Astonished: A Story of Evil, Blessings, Grace, and Solace has a release date of n 2013 n n �March 7, 2013. “It’s all so exciting,” Donofrio said of her reading tour. “There’s often a flurry of activity surrounding a book’s release, interviews and invitations to read or give talks. It’s a time of angst—am I doing enough?—and also the excitement of great possibility. Not only that the book catches on and sells like gangbusters but that my experience of discover and healing will illuminate, help, resonate with, encourage others on their own journeys.” Donofrio will be going to Washington State, California, Colorado, Texas, New York, and Connecticut on her book tour. “I’ll be seeing many dear old friends and even staying with a few of them along the way—even the little cat I had to give to my friend when I left my life to join a monastery. I tear up every time I think of the reunion,” she said. “It’s always so interesting to meet the people at the events and to hear a bit of their stories. In the past, and I suspect it will happen this time too, I am dumbstruck by how much we all have in common and I end up with a delicious familial feeling that I can carry with me for a while.” Donofrio’s Astonished is featured in the March issue of O Magazine in the list of must-read books for International Women’s Day. Kirkus Reviews has called this latest memoir “Honest, engaging, and cathartic.” As for the cover design, Donofrio said, “This book possesses, by far, the most gorgeous book jacket of any I’ve written, and it’s in the top ten of any book jacket I’ve ever seen. It’s the color of sunrise and has milagros sprinkled on it. Milagros are the little metal charms you find all over Mexico—of a lung, a foot, an arm, a head, a car, a pig, a key, a girl praying on her knees, you name it, whatever a person might pray for. It’s thought that the milagros, or miracles, bring miracles. On my book they are raised up so that they look like you can almost lift them off and put them in your pocket.” Astonished follows Donofrio’s spiritual path and how, during her continued search to strengthen her faith, she comes face to face with a rapist holding a knife to her throat. The journey that follows includes time spent at five very different monasteries. Readers are guided through the author’s experience of healing and learning to love life again. �Beverly Donofrio’s first memoir, Riding in Cars with Boys, has been translated into 16 languages and made into a popular motion picture. Her second memoir, Looking for Mary, began as a documentary on NPR and was chosen as a Discover Book at Barnes & Noble.     Kaylie Jones Launches New Imprint Wilkes faculty member Kaylie Jones has launched a new imprint with Akashic Books. Kaylie Jones Books aims to work with a cooperative of dedicated emerging and established writers who will play an integral part in the publishing process, from reading manuscripts, editing, offering advice, to advertising the upcoming publications. “Our first release will be Laurie Loewenstein’s Unmentionables, which is slotted for January of 2014, and will be a traditional publication with an ebook option,” Jones said. “However, we are currently hard at work developing an effective e-book strategy, which could speed up the process and allow us more publications.” In addition to Loewenstein’s book, other publications include Wilkes alum Barb Taylor’s The Sawdust Trail and alum Jason Carney’s Starve the Vulture. Also scheduled for release is J. Patrick Redmond’s Feeding the Christians. “No one will ever be able to pigeonhole KJB into one genre,” Jones said. “Our focus is to publish quality books that have a message that needs to be heard. We are a collective of dedicated writers taking a stand toward helping one another achieve our literary goals and dreams without answering to mainstream, ‘big business’ publishing.” For more news and information about the press, visit kayliejonesbooks.com.   �  Thom Ward on Tour with Etcetera’s Mistress Advisory Board member Thom Ward has been busy touring with his latest poetry book, Etcetera’s Mistress (Accents Publishing). On February 7, 2013, Ward read and recited poems at Georgia Tech’s McEver Poetry reading series at Kress Auditorium in downtown Atlanta. Ward said it was “a great crowd of students and the general public. It was the largest of the year with 318 people in attendance.” An AV of the event and Ward’s reading is available online here. The event began with an introduction by Thomas Lux. Our Wilkes advisory board member read with Georgia poets Laura Newbern and Dan Veach to a standing room only crowd. Ward sold more than forty copies of Etcetera’s Mistress, though he says he “did not have enough time this time around to rap Robert Frost’s ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.’” Thom Ward is also the author of Small Boat with Oars of Different Size, The Matter of the Casket, and Various Orbits.     Faculty and Alum Work With Northampton House Press New titles from Northampton House Press LLC, a company founded in 2011, includes Blood & Honor by Wilkes alum Chelle Ang, Ordinary Angels by Joan La Blanc, and Empyres: Bloodblind by Wilkes alum John Koloski. “It’s thrilling to see my book become a reality,” Koloski said. “I thought nothing could compare to seeing the ebook online, but then I held my first galley copy! That beautiful glossy paperback came with a note from Dave Poyer stating that there’s nothing like a new book in one’s hand. He was absolutely right!” Koloski has also taken on the role of Science Fiction and Horror �acquisitions editor, while Joan La Blanc acquires Romance, Wilkes faculty member Bob Arthur manages Poetry acquisitions, and David Poyer acquires all other genres. The Wilkes connection to Northampton House Press doesn’t end there. Poyer said, “Works are in production from Neil Shepard, Rashidah AbuBakr, and Ken Vose, along with several books by graduated program members.” This semester, Wilkes student William Horn is interning with the publishing house. “Northampton House publishes carefully selected fiction—historical, romance, thrillers, fantasy—and lifestyle nonfiction, memoir, and poetry,” Poyer said. “Its mission is to discover great new writers, especially those graduated from accredited MA/MFA programs who have not yet achieved commercial recognition, and give them a chance to springboard into fame.” The publisher aims to bring something new to the marketplace and to readers, particularly the kind of works that may be overlooked by large trade houses. “Watch the Northampton House list at www.northamptonhouse.com,” Poyer said, “and Like us on Facebook to discover more innovative works of high quality from brilliant new writers.”     Announcements Watch for an important new program announcement in the next issue! If you plan on attending the annual AWP Conference and Bookfair, taking place in Boston MA, March 6-9, 2013, you’ll find ample Wilkes representation. Faculty Gregory Fletcher and Jean Klein, and alum Laurie Powers are on the panel “The Ten-Minute Play: the Essential Ingredients,” Nancy McKinley is presenting on the panel “International Women’s Day Reading from Becoming: What Makes a Woman,” and Christine Gelineau will present on the panel “Second Sex, Second Shelf? Women, Writing, and the Literary Marketplace.” Jim Warner, alum and former assistant program director, will once again host the All-Collegiate Poetry Slam and Open Mic every night of the conference. Bonnie Culver, program director, is on the AWP national Board of Trustees and was a member of the Boston Conference committee. She noted, “There are more presentations this year than any other year in AWP history. It promises to be another fantastic conference.” For more information about AWP and the conference schedule, visit awpwriter.org. Don’t forget to stop by Wilkes/ Etruscan Press booth in the Bookfair! �    Faculty/Staff Notes Philip Brady took part in “The Next Big Thing” project and his interview is available at The Write Life. Bev Donofrio’s new memoir, Astonished: A Story of Evil, Blessings, Grace, and Solace, is now available. Christine Gelineau has a poem about Wilkes-Barre in North American Review. Jean Klein had a production of a 10-minute play, Life Swap, at the annual Short Shorts at The Venue on 35th in Norfolk VA. Dawn Leas has two poems, “Current” and “A Lesson on Resilience,” included in the special flood edition of Word Fountain. Her review of Ghosts in a Red Hat by Rosanna Warren appears in the January 2013 issue of Poets’ Quarterly, and her essay, “A Running List,” was recently featured on the blog, and i ran. J. Michael Lennon reports that Simon and Schuster announced a publication date of November 1, 2013 for his next release, Norman Mailer: A Double Life. The official biography of Mailer (who died in 2007), the founding chair of the Advisory Board of the Wilkes MA/MFA Creative Writing Program, took six years to write, and is approximately 340,000 words in length. Mailer was the keynote speaker at the June 2005 writing conference that kicked off the Program. His wife, Norris Church Mailer (also a distinguished novelist) succeeded him on the Advisory Board, and regularly attended graduation ceremonies for the Program until her untimely death in November 2010. Lennon’s biography is the first to use Mailer’s extensive correspondence (45,000 letters) and unpublished manuscripts, as well as interviews with his nine children and ex-wives. Mailer was married six times. His longest marriage was to Norris, from 1980 to his death. The Mailers established a scholarship in her name shortly after the Program was founded. Lennon co-founded the Program with current Director, Dr. Bonnie Culver. Nancy McKinley’s short story, “Sweet the Sound,” was published in Blue Lake Review. Kevin Oderman’s essay, “Trips Not Taken,” has been published in �shadowbox. David Poyer’s new book, The Whiteness of the Whale, was reviewed in Publishers Weekly. The book will be officially released April 3, but is available for pre-order now and David would like to remind everyone that pre-orders are a great way to help an author. Juanita Rockwell contributed a piece, “A minute comes and goes with all its possibility,” to OneMinutePlays.wordpress.com. Neil Shepard was interviewed in Delphi Quarterly. Thom Ward’s poetry book, Etcetera’s Mistress, was reviewed by George Wallace in BigCityLit. Student/Alumni Notes M.A. alum Jennifer Bokal worked as the managing editor for Paddlewheel, a literary anthology. Jennifer’s short story, “Infinity Plus One,” also appeared in the book and had its beginnings as an exercise in the Fiction Foundation course at Wilkes University. M.F.A. student Kait Burrier co-founded “Sixteenhundred,” a collaborative column that covers concerts and festivals across the country. “Sixteenhundred” features an event review by Kait and photos by Jason Riedmiller. It is currently published online and in print via The Weekender. M.A. alum Bobbi Button is hosting a series of “Write With Your Child” evenings for her 7th and 8th grade students and their parents. The first evening was a success with 26 people in attendance. M.F.A. alum Tara Caimi’s personal essay, “Lucky Teeth,” is forthcoming in the March issue of Fire & Knives. M.F.A. student Chris Campion has an essay, “Back to the Start: Reclaiming Your Voice and Confidence in Writing,” in The Write Life. M.A. alum Joe Cetta’s episodic novel, Parade Day: A Wholly Remarkable and 33% Non-Fictional Account of Scranton and its St. Patrick’s Day Parade, is now available on Amazon, published under the pseudonym Joe Goats. M.A. alum Kevin Conner recently had a short film produced; Pitchfork is �currently in post-production. Also, his poem “Translating” was featured in Naugatuck River Review, and another poem, “Skinny,” was featured in The New Guard Review. M.F.A. alum Craig Czury was a featured poet at the 2012 Semana de las Letras y las Lecturas, International Poetry Festival in Rosario, Argentina. His poems appear in the online anthology ¡Ríoparaná! and Aldebaran Review. His book, Kitchen of Conflict Resolution, was published as La Cocina de Resolución de Conflictos, translated into Spanish by Esteban Charpentier y Griselda García, ArbolAnimal Ediciones, Buenos Aires, Argentina. M.F.A. alum Brian Fanelli has poems forthcoming in the spring/summer issues of Poetry Quarterly, Popshot, and Eunoia Review. M.F.A. alum Patricia Florio is working with publisher Sue Richter on a literary journal. They recently worked on a special Valentine’s Days Issue of East Meets West, American Writers Review, available from Sera Publishing. M.F.A. alum Rachael J. Goetzke is working with The Osterhout Free Library on an in-house literary magazine. Word Fountain has just released a special full-color issue to benefit local flood victims. Copies of the magazine can be obtained from the Osterhout Free Library for a donation of at least $5 per copy. All proceeds will go to an account via the Luzerne Foundation to help still-recovering flood victims. M.F.A. alum Michelle Henriques-Wilson’s debut martial arts fantasy novel, Blood & Honor, has been e-published by Northampton House Press under the pseudonym Chelle Ang. The book is available on Kindle, Nook, and Kobo. The author has recently been interviewed by Monique Lewis for At The Inkwell. M.A. student Paul Jackson was interviewed by Monique Antonette Lewis for At The Inkwell, about his novel A Servant’s Story and the sequel which he is writing now. The sequel is called: A Servant’s Story: The War Years. M.F.A. alum John Koloski has e-published his first novel, Empyres: Bloodblind. It is the first book in the Empyres trilogy, with the next two books to follow in 2013 and 2014. The book is available for Kindle, Nook, and Kobo readers. M.F.A. alum Ginger Marcinkowski is now a monthly health columnist for Bookfun.org, whose readership is over 30,000. Her first novel, Run, River Currents, was a semi-finalist in the ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) Genesis Contest and received an Honorable Mention at �the New England Book Festival. M.A. alum Lori A. May wrote new book reviews for Los Angeles Review, Northern Poetry Review, and The Review Review. M.F.A. alum Jeff Minton was a finalist in Glimmer Train’s November 2012 Short Story Contest. His story, “Fake Rubber,” was written in his Fiction Foundations course. M.A. alum Lori M. Myers has a short story, “Cooking in a Room with Strangers,” included in the anthology Forever Families published by Mandinam Press. Also, her play Eleanor and the Christmas Carol, a modern comedic twist on the Dickens’ classic, premiered at the Grace Milliman Pollack Performing Arts Center in Camp Hill PA. M.A. student Linda M.C. Nguyen’s short story, “The Blind Side of Control,” has been accepted for publication by Notes from the Underground Magazine for March 2013. She was also the recipient of the Bergman Foundation Scholarship. M.A. alum John Plucenik’s quarterly magazine, IndependentNEPA, will top the $1 million mark in subscription/advertising revenue by the May 2013 issue. He credits his time in the Wilkes program for his continued success. M.F.A. alum William Prystauk’s short film Too Many Predators won Third Place at MoviePoet.com. The short will be entered in upcoming festivals. His quirky drama short film, Go Blue! A Post-Apocalyptic After School Special, is in production. His crime thriller, Bloodletting, will be shot by LGG Digital Films later this year. M.A. alum Dania Ramos’ play Hielo received public readings at Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey’s FORUM Reading Series at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison NJ and the Arts on Division Festival in Somerville NJ. Mi Casa Tu Casa, a bilingual holiday show she cocreated, had its second production at Luna Stage in December 2012. M.A. student Nisha Sharma’s poems “Synesthesia” and “Perfect You” were accepted for publication by YA Review Network, an award winning literary magazine for teens. M.F.A. student Michael J. Soloway’s most recent essay, “Sticks and Stones,” will be published by Split Lip magazine in March 2013. M.F.A. alum Donna Talarico, founding editor of Hippocampus Magazine, reports that Hippo has received great media coverage recently, including coverage in Wood Stove House. �M.A. alum Barb Taylor recently sold her first novel, The Sawdust Trail, to Kaylie Jones Books and Akashic Books. Her novel will be released in May of 2014. M.A. alum Kevin Voglino’s second book, Times Square Kiss, is now available from Rogue Phoenix Press.   Quick Links Career Development Campus Safety and Internships Centers & Institutes Online Programs Programs E.S. Farley Library Human Resources Jobs at Wilkes Online Nursing Offices & Administration Accessibility Statement Financial Aid Adobe Acrobat® Reader Registrar's Office Finance Office Investor Relations Student Work Study Jobs Veterans Services Visit Quick Links Schedule a Visit Parking Information Virtual Tour Campus Map Make A Gift �84 West South Street Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 1-800-WILKES-U Contact Us Wilkes University © e © d c f � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Revise This! March 2013 - Wilkes University.pdf https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/9ccfdb0bbf60d0fd45bd85fcb8ffef47.pdf 106ccffca0ddb9eefa886303f56fa666 PDF Text Text About Wilkes Home n Graduate Academics Academics n Graduate Admission & Aid Graduate Programs n Graduate Life Master's Degree Programs About Our Students n n The Arts Creative Writing MA/MFA Revise This! n Archives n Revise This - March 2015 Revise This!   |   March 2015 Revise This! Revise This Archives Archives Marlon James Continues to Knock ‘em Dead with Seven Killings Cracking Open Nesting Dolls More and More Alums Migrating “Home” to Wilkes Gaia: A Story of How Human Gardens Can Make for a Successful Screenplay 2017 2018 A Talk with Gregory Fletcher about his Shorts Revise This! - Guidance by Mentorship by Austin Bennett November 2019 Faculty/Staff Notes Student/Alum Notes Revise This! Archives Marlon James Continues to Knock ‘em Dead with Seven Killings  UPDATE Oct. 13, 2015: Creative Writing grad Marlon James '06 has won the 2015 Related Links Calendars & Schedules Campus Map Centers for Excellence 2015 n n �Man Booker Prize for A Brief History of Seven Killings. He is the first Jamaican author to win the Man Booker Prize, considered one of the most prestigious prizes in literature. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Faculty Publications Graduate Bulletin (.pdf) Graduate Bulletin Online Graduate Student Handbook Library Office of the Registrar ------------ Online Learning Recently, Wilkes alum Marlon James has been making international Application news in the literary world with the release of his latest novel A Brief History of Seven Killings, which has been featured in numerous media outlets from The New York Times to BuzzFeed. The novel takes readers from the violent streets of West Kingston to New York, and then within the scope of a 30-year span, back to a drastically changed Jamaica. The story reveals the perspectives of a wide range of characters including gunmen, drug dealers, CIA agents, and spectral beings. The “briefness” insinuated in the title as well as its specificity of body count are belied by its near 700-page length and abundant body count, which immediately signals the reader to the novel’s weight, both metaphorical and literal. Even though James was born and raised in Jamaica, he has stated that his fiction is only minimally related to his own life story. In an interview with Biographile, he detailed how he (along with four other researchers) did extensive studies on the time period of the book, from the history of the CIA and The Cold War to back issues of High Times and Bob Marley books. Not incidentally, A Brief History of Seven Killings begins with the attempted assassination of Bob Marley and his family. James made an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, on March 3rd, and spoke candidly about the inspiration for the novel: “I was writing a story about this sexually-conflicted gay man in Chicago trying to kill this Jamaican guy.” He tells about how he “kept running into dead ends,” not only with this character but another, and he thought they were simply failed attempts at novellas until his friend Rachel told him, “You know this is one story,” which helped him bring it all together. Additionally, he relates that there are actually eight killings in the novel, but he retained its title because A Brief History of Eight Killings would be “so unsexy.” A Brief History of Seven Killings has been named one of the best books of 2014 by The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Newsweek, The Huffington Post, The Seattle Times, The Houston Chronicle, Publisher’s Weekly, and many more. It also brought in the New Year by placing on the BBC’s list “The Top Ten Books of 2014.” Additionally, it was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction, the second time he has been nominated for this award. The Book of Night Women, his Professional Pharmacy School of Nursing - Graduate Program Student Handbook Schools, Departments, Divisions �second novel, was also a finalist. James received his master’s in creative writing from Wilkes University in 2006, as a member of the first cohort and joined Macalester College’s English faculty in 2007. His writing has since earned an impressive list of accolades. John Crow’s Devil, his debut novel, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and The Commonwealth Writers Prize. It was also a New York Times Editors’ Choice. His later novel, The Book of Night Women won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and the Minnesota Book Award. Considering his continually growing array of success that is bolstered with each new release, Marlon has evolved from a student into a beacon of the program’s excellence. Cracking Open Nesting Dolls Salena Fehnel’s novel, Nesting Dolls, recently received the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award and has served as a platform to talk about the cyclical nature of domestic abuse. Her novel starkly illustrates the patterns of behavior caused by parental influence through the narrated accounts of three generations of women and further highlights the struggles of the younger generations to forge a new path against the tide of those patterns. Fehnel explains, “domestic abuse is one of those imprints that seems to stick from generation to generation, with primarily the women choosing abusive partners. I wanted to write a story about breaking that cycle.” Nesting Dolls does just that by demonstrating the connection between mothers and daughters, and the trials they face. Fehnel continues, “since Nesting Dolls came out, I have had so many women come up to me at events and tell me that they are the first generation to break the cycle of abuse, which is incredibly gratifying to hear, since the book was inspired by such stories.” When Fehnel first started writing this story in 2004, Valentine’s perspective was dominant, but as she continued the story, issues of Valentine’s past left Fehnel with so many unanswered questions, other points of view began to emerge. Valentine, one of three main characters in Nesting Dolls, comes from a long line of dysfunctional relationships and neglect. In caring for her sixyear-old brother for the entirety of his young life, she comes to realize �how devastating and dysfunctional her family’s behaviors have been and commits to making change. The story shifts back to her mother Theresa, a pregnant thirteen-year-old and shifts again to her grandmother Caroline, who herself is in the midst of an abusive marriage. Each character’s narrative takes place in a similar age bracket, which helps to depict the divergent characteristic of the various time periods. Fehnel said her biggest challenge was “separating them enough that they felt like individuals.”  As the plot formed and their circumstances became more vivid, their voices evolved in riveting dialogue and subtext. “We all have family ‘stuff’ that we don’t share with other people that lies deeply hidden and is sometimes never spoken about,” Fehnel says. “Valentine’s is more visible to the outside world, but who she chooses to become, how she chooses to break the cycle, and ultimately what she does for the generation that will follow her and her brother, is done through love, a lot of bravery, and heart.” Fehnel’s second novel, The Payment Plan, is in the final stages of editing and will be released this summer. Her third novel Fortunemaker is in progress. When Fehnel isn’t writing, she is teaching fiction and aiding her students in finding their voices. Fehnel is also proud to be working on a project called A New Day, which is a GoFundMe campaign that finances domestic abuse kits for women in difficult and potentially dangerous situations. “It’s just getting started,” she says, “but I am dedicated to making it work because, like Valentine, Theresa, and Caroline, it could make the difference in entire generations to come.” More and More Alums Migrating “Home” to Wilkes “Attending Wilkes is my No.1 hobby!” says Florida native Michael Soloway, who has returned to the program to study fiction writing. While many alums stay both active and vocal in the Wilkes community beyond graduation, Soloway is a part of a trend of alums returning to the program to pursue additional degrees in either different genres or the recently added track in publishing. Alums are awarded for returning with a reduced tuition �rate and the advantage of knowing the ins and outs of the program and its substantial successes. For Michael, writing is no hobby; it’s a profession (though he does list among his hobbies a proclivity to the infamous Talarigo naps). He is the editor of Georgia Southern Magazine at Georgia Southern university as well as their assistant director of University publications. Among his current works in progress are a full-length play, two 10-minute plays, and a novel to boot. He also maintains a healthy habit of reading most recently with Gregory Fletcher’s new craft book, Shorts & Briefs, among others. Soloway was originally inspired to apply to Wilkes University after researching Beverly Donofrio. When he saw that she “teaches at the lowres writing program” at Wilkes, he “instantly applied.” Now he “can’t seem to stay away.” He compares it to a family like in the Godfather that keeps pulling him back in and challenging him in new ways.  As an ambitious student, Soloway originally studied creative nonfiction/memoir, which led to his own memoir, Share the Chameleon, about his attempt to liberate himself from the previous patterns of family abuse after he became a father for the first time at 41. He continued to explore this theme in his M.F.A. analytical paper, which examined the “masks [both literal and figurative] that people wear to hide fear, shame and guilt growing up in an abusive household.” Soloway was also fortunate and driven enough to have received a double concentration in playwriting with Greg Fletcher, who was instrumental in helping Soloway shape his memoir. He had a love for both genres, and, after writing the first draft of his memoir, he “wanted to let it sit, take a break from prose, and explore more of [his] love for the stage.” Soloway then developed, as the final piece of his M.F.A. creative work, a full-length play titled, “The Flower Rules,” which he composed under the tutelage of Jean Klein.  �Soloway notes that the Wilkes creative writing program has fulfilled all of his expectations so far, and though he has participated in other lowresidency writing programs at both Hollins University and Lesley University, which have been ranked as the “best,” Soloway believes, “Wilkes supersedes them in every way. This is one case in which numbers do lie. Rankings are nice to look at and brag about and refer to, but ultimately it’s all about comfort, structure and guidance.” He continues saying that “the ‘top’ programs are only tops if they’re the best fit for you.”  Beyond the curriculum, he stresses the importance of finding the right mentor (or mentors) to guide student writers. He also praises the cohort model, saying “lifelong friendships are made that way; it’s what gives Wilkes that family feeling.” Soloway admits to being a bit of workaholic having originally drafted his memoir in three months, and he has written in several genres. He says, “ultimately, I decided to return because I trust the people at Wilkes. It’s home. And I needed help in finishing a novel, something with a longer narrative arc.” He hopes to one day teach, and he knows that a M.A. in fiction will better his resume. If you are you a Wilkes alum, and you are toying with the idea of returning to Wilkes to pursue an additional degree, Soloway says, “I’m not a Nike guy; I like Adidas. But I say, ‘Just do it!’” “With the wide variety of mentors, genres, and experience Wilkes never runs out of skills to add to a writer’s toolbox and that makes it well worth the tuition.” Soloway knows that his time at Wilkes has been a cornerstone to his goals of publishing, producing, and teaching. He has been on the journey to becoming an author and full-time writer since the third grade, and he concludes with “even on those days when I’m not following my dream, I know it’s still following me.” Gaia: A Story of How Human Gardens Can Make for a Successful Screenplay Over the past year, Autumn Stapleton-Laskey’s science-fiction screen play Gaia has been the recipient of numerous awards such as first place in the Science Fiction category at the World Series of Screenwriting and first place in The Indie Gathering’s Sci-fi Feature Contest. Currently, it is publicly available to read, free of charge, on the Screen Writer’s Showcase and The Black List. The screenplay is set in a near-future world where human clones are grown in gardens to provide organs for non-clone citizens. The �very first clone, Gaia, “wakes up” at the beginning of a harvest season and head scientist Cecillia Roden, who happens to be Gaia’s creator, endeavors ceaselessly to understand how. Stapleton-Laskey worked on Gaia, which was originally her thesis at Wilkes, for about a year to a year and a half. During that time she lived on steady flow of Monster beverages. She ate, drank, and breathed the story as she fostered its evolution into what it is today.   Her original inspiration for Gaia came from an image while completing her screenwriting course. This image consisted of a body, lying in an incubator, and generating organs like a plant in a greenhouse. This became the basis of her “human garden” concept and the screenplay quickly grew from that image. According to Stapleton-Laskey, she outlined, wrote, edited, revised the outline, wrote, edited, revised the outline again, wrote, edited and repeated- again and again and again until Gaia was completed. She struggled with every aspect of this initial foray into screenwriting. She fought the expansive urges of the text and her own anxieties to limit her scope, though the world of the text invited so many other areas of exploration Additionally, crafting natural dialogue was an unfamiliar enterprise. However, despite the difficulties, she found that the process itself was a font of excitement. Supplementing its awards, Gaia also became a quarter-finalist for Shore Scripts, and when it took its initial top placement in the Science Fiction portion of the World Series of Screenwriting Competition, it garnered her screenplay further recognition which put it in the quarter-finals of both Shore Scripts and Story Pros International’s 2014 screenplay contests. She added, “I'm extremely proud that Gaia is appreciated by these separate groups, and the recognition gives me an extra grain of confidence that's so beneficial to the writing process.” Stapleton-Laskey advises novice screenwriters to stay true to themselves because “writing a screenplay that you hope others will enjoy is much like a relationship. You have to lean into preferences and expectations of others, but you also have to stay true to yourself, and you can't do that unless you know yourself.”  While writing Gaia, which is a sci-fi screenplay on the surface, many elements of horror found their way into �the script.  When faced with whether or not to cut these so that it would better fit the genre, Stapelton-Laskey, herself inclined toward themes of horror genres, decided to keep them. Her instinct helped distinguish her screenplay from others in the genre and shape Gaia’s success. Stapleton-Laskey hopes to one day see Gaia on a 20x50 foot screen in theaters, but she is currently working on several other projects, including an experimental film about a woman who accidently runs over her own son. Aside from that, Stapleton-Laskey is serving as the secretary for the board of the Dallas Screenwriters Association, which is a non-profit organization that serves the needs of the Dallas/Fort Worth screenwriting community. A Talk with Gregory Fletcher about his Shorts Recently released by Northampton House Press, Gregory Fletcher’s new craft book, Shorts and Briefs, highlights various concepts and tools for the aspiring playwright’s toolbox. He discusses “tips for story structure, building a character, discovering an individual’s vocabulary, and creating action within dialogue” within the framework of “short” plays. These kinds of plays are “a great place to begin as a playwright,” he says. “[They’re] the perfect learning tool before taking on a one-act or fulllength play.” Raised in Texas, Fletcher’s New Yorker parents brought with them their love of theater, and that love was quickly instilled in young Gregory. Such was his early fervor for the stage, that he was writing scripts while attending elementary school. This devotion, however, was merely a candlelight in comparison to the fire that would be ignited when he connected with his great aunt and uncle, Matilde and Theodore Ferro. Both incredibly successful screenwriters, they wrote for “such series as Peyton Place, The Patty Duke Show, Dr. Kildaire, Guiding Light, etc.” They also had a radio serial that ran for 14 years and wrote many teleplays for live television. At 10, Fletcher “discovered gold” in finding one of their actual scripts for Leave it to Beaver. He has been driven to write ever since. Conceptually, Shorts and Briefs is a craft book in two parts. First, �Fletcher uses nine of his own short plays as examples, not only for writers, but also beginning directors and actors to hone their own skills. He uses the term “short” as opposed to the more traditional “10-minute play,” because, while the traditional term relies on a stopwatch, a “short” play is limited to 10 pages and may or may not fall under the time restraints, given the choices of the director. The second portion of the book is a series of brief tips and principles that Fletcher uses when he writes. “[So] Shorts and Briefs not only became a literal description of the book, but also a play on words with men’s underwear. Which makes me smile. Not that men’s underwear makes me...next question?” Fletcher has had seven of his plays produced Off-Off-Broadway with several others produced in regional and university theaters, and he is currently a professor teaching playwriting at CUNY - Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn. Shorts and Briefs is currently available on Amazon, and a reading will be held the At The Inkwell Reading Series at KGB Bar on East 4th Street in New York on Thursday, June 4th at 7 pm. Beyond the stage, Fletcher has also recently completed a fourth draft of his memoir entitled, Skipping a Generation and plans to begin a YA manuscript as well. Guidance by Mentorship by Austin Bennett Knowledge can be obtained through books and experience, but empowerment–that is beyond self. It is the parent who says, “I love you;” or the teacher who says, “I believe in you;” or the coach who says, “You got this;” or the spouse who says, “I trust you.” Trusting your own abilities does not come easy. Confidence is gained through failure. It also comes by way of continued encouragement and guidance. Mentorship is essential to success. There once was a particular academic tradition where professors referred to their students as “distinguished comrades.”* Education was built on mutual trust and respect. It was �a mutual endeavor built around camaraderie not mere selfreliance. Similarly, in the Ancient Near East, the Hebrews viewed those who pursued scholasticism as part of a family unit. Instructors were referred to as “fathers.” Students were referred to as “sons.”* Much like a child learning from a parent, students were guided by teachers for the betterment of self and community. In both traditions, a close-knit-community was formed around scholasticism and teachers were viewed as mentors. When I chose to pursue my M.F.A. in Creative Writing at Wilkes University I was promised a mentor-based education. At that time, I did not fully know what that meant nor did I whole-heartedly buy the rhetoric knowing the competitive nature of colleges. Yet, what I found was something closer to camaraderie and kinship than cool academia. I became at once a peer and a son. When I wrestled with choosing my creative thesis, fearing I was out of my depth, encouragement came in the most unlikely of ways. I had a dream. The program director, Bonnie Culver, came to me like a fairy-god-mother and squelched my fears by pointing to mentorship. She said, “That’s why we’re here.” When my wife gave birth to our first child mid-way through my creative thesis, my mentor, Jeff Talarigo, offered more than advice on writing: he offered fatherly advice. *Kuper, Abraham. Scholarship: Two Convocations Addresses on University Life. Trans. Harry Van Dyke. Grand Rapids: Christian’s Library Press, 2014. Kindle file. Originally published on the Wilkes Mesa blog:https://wilkesumesa.wordpress.com/2015/02/16/guidance-bymentorship-by-austin-bennett/ Faculty/Staff Notes Faculty member Beverly Donofrio was interviewed in HBO's series, Road Trip Nation, which was broadcast in January 2015. Donofrio's children's book, Where's Mommy? published by Random House, was selected as one of the 10 Best Children's Books of 2014 by the New York Times. Donofrio's essay, "Choosing," appeared in the anthology, Faith: Essays from Believers, Agnostics, and Atheists, edited by Victoria �Zackheim and published by Atria Books. Faculty member Christine Gelineau has an essay, "The Courtesy of the Gravedigger," posted on the New York Times Opinionator Blog: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/12/21/ courtesy-of-thegravedigger/ (December 21, 2014).  Faculty member Gregory Fletcher had his essay The Sealed Envelope read at KGB Bar for At The Inkwell Series on December 10, 2014. The essay will appear in the soon-to-be-released Anthology Being: What Makes A Man, published by University of Nebraska-Lincoln Gender Programs. Faculty member Wendy Hammond’s play, What You Will, opened on February 19, 2015 at the Cunningham Theatre in Davidson, NC. Staff member Dawn Leas read in January at the Bridgewater International Poetry Festival at Bridgewater College in Virginia. Her poem “Slipstream” appears in the 14th anniversary issue (December 2014) of ThePedestalMagazine.com. She has also received two Pushcart nominations this year: one from SwanDive Publishing for “Seaside Heights, 2012,” which appeared in Everyday Escape Poems, and another that allowed her to select and submit three poems for consideration. Faculty member Michael Lennon’sSelected Letters of Norman Mailer, published by Random House on December 2, 2014, was chosen as a book of the week by Publishers Weekly (December 8, 2014); and selected as an Amazon book of the month (December 2014) in the biography/memoir category. It has been widely reviewed, including the following: New Yorker, Esquire, TLS, New York Times, Weekly Standard, Washington Times, The Guardian, and The Artery (WBUR-FM), The Tablet, and the Daily Beast. Staff member Lori A. May has received two Pushcart Prize nominations this year: one for an essay, “The Comfort of Ignorance” published in the fall issue of Border Crossing, and another for a poem, “Place Settings,” from her new full-length poetry collection, Square Feet. Her latest book, The Write Crowd: Literary Citizenship & The Writing Life, was published by Bloomsbury in December. Lori’s work has also recently been published in Tahoma Literary Review, 1966 Journal, Pine Hills Review, and in issue 52 of Creative Nonfiction. Her next book, Creative Composition: Inspiration and Techniques for Writing Instruction, co-edited with Danita Berg, will be published in May 2015 with Multilingual Matters. Lori will be presenting a panel on literary citizenship at the AWP conference in Minneapolis and reading at Subtext Books. Faculty member Taylor M. Polites participated in a reading from the �anthology Knitting Yarns at the Wellfleet Preservation Hall in Wellfleet, MA on October 26th, a panel discussion on historical fiction at the Providence Public Library on November 2nd, and a talk at Roger Williams University on November 18th as part of the Mary Tefft White Reading Series. Faculty member Richard Uhlig's comedy film Can’t Dance was a 2014 Festival Finalist for Public Broadcasting's Shorts Showcase. Richard wrote the screenplay while at a Wilkes residency. In August his novel Mystery at Snake River Bridge earned a four and a half star review from IndieReader and made the IndieReader Approved list for best books of the year. Richard's feature screenplay Tammy is currently in development with Dikenga Films. Student/Alum Notes M.A. student Molly Barari was published in the Holiday 2014 edition of East Meets West literary journal. Her essay on South Dakota life appeared in the "Bridging the Gap" section. She also completed the Norman Mailer Center's memoir writing workshop with Kaylie Jones in Salt Lake City in July 2014. M.F.A. student Austin Bennett published his article, “Guidance by Mentorship,” on the Wilkes Mesa blog. It can be found at the following link: https://wilkesumesa.wordpress.com/2015/02/16/guidance-bymentorship-by-austin-bennett/ M.F.A. alum Kait Burrier has launched Union Square Slam, a weekly open mic and reading series, in New York City. Kait hosts the series, which features curated readings and poetry slams, each Monday at Bar 13 near Manhattan's Union Square. Two of Kait's latest poems, "On the Queensboro Bridge" and "The Earrings," were published online by Germ Magazine. She reads regularly, most recently at :Kiss*Punch*Poem:. M.F.A. alum Tara Caimi's memoir Mush: from sled dogs to celiac, the scenic detour of my life was published by Plain View Press, and her essay "Lucky Teeth" was published in Oh Comely magazine. M.A. alum Cindy Dlugolecki had an excerpt of her one-woman play, Violet Oakley Unveiled, performed at the grand opening of The Underground Student Union in the Capital Blue Cross Theatre of Central Penn College (Summerdale campus) in mid-January. Violet shared the spotlight with only one other performer: Maestro Stuart Malina, conductor of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra. M.F.A. alum Brian Fanelli's poem, "Surviving Winter," was published in �the December issue of Two Cities Review, and another poem, "956 Johler Avenue," was published in the fall issue of Slipstream. M.A. alum Donna Ferrara’s short story “Arms Raised in America” was published by Amarillo Bay and her short story “Fairy Godmother” placed second in East Meets West Holiday Short Story Contest and will be published in Spring of 2015. M. F.A. alum Patricia Florio has been hired as an adjunct in the English Department of Brookdale Community College. M.A. student Kimberly Behre Kenna’s short story “Grotta Azzurra” won honorable mention in the East Meets West Holiday Contest. M.A. alum "11" Donna Malies had a production of her one-act play, "Broken," as part of Pensacola 24 Hour Theatre, March 21, 2015. M.A. student Margaret McCaffrey's story "Ironing" was read on the 'Cover to Cover' program for Vision Australia Radio (1179 am) and Iris (DAB+) on Sunday 11 January  2015. M.F.A. alum Linda M.C. Nguyen's short story "'A' Like in Math" was published by Every Day Fiction in September 2014. M.F.A. alum Laurie Elizabeth Powers' short script "The Importance of Sex Education" closed out 2014 by winning best short screenplay in the 16th LA Comedy Fest and was an official selection for the Houston Comedy Film Festival in February 2015. M.F.A. alum Michael Soloway’s essay “Share the Chameleon” has been selected for inclusion in the 2014 Sundress Press Best of the Net Anthology. M.F.A. alum Joseph J. Schwartzburt was featured in Savannah Magazine's January 2015 issue along with other local Savannah writers who are "the young cubs reclaiming [Savannah's] storied history from the South's literary lions—and rewriting it for the future." Also, as board member and performer with Seersucker Live, Joseph hosted an allWilkes line-up in February 2015 featuring Beverly Donofrio, Neil Shepard, David Poyer, and Lenore Hart who were nearby teaching workshops at the Ossabaw Island Writers' Retreat. M.A. student Ann Von Mehren is revising an article that's been accepted for publication by the Hellenic Mathematical Society International Journal for Mathematics in Education. �M.F.A. alum Alyssa Waugh's short story "The Stranger In The Glass" was published by Beyond Science Fiction Literary Magazine in December 2014.  M.A. alum Barry Wolborsky’s essay, “Like a (Pizza) Virgin,” appears on Medium, https://medium.com/@barrywolborsky/like-a-pizza-virgin7896d1b6a461. M.A. student Emily Wolfel’s short story,"His Tears Tasted like the Sea,” appears in issue 10.5 of Cactus Heart. Quick Links Career Development Campus Safety and Internships Centers & Institutes Online Programs Programs E.S. Farley Library Human Resources Jobs at Wilkes Online Nursing Offices & Administration Accessibility Statement Financial Aid Adobe Acrobat® Reader Registrar's Office Finance Office Investor Relations Student Work Study Jobs Veterans Services Visit Quick Links Schedule a Visit Parking Information Virtual Tour Campus Map Make A Gift �84 West South Street Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 1-800-WILKES-U Contact Us Wilkes University © e © d c f � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Revise This! March 2015 - Wilkes University.pdf https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/9bc34c02b5ce7b847cbd3b49515ef061.pdf cb627b15a923ff94e46abe39bcbbcf8b PDF Text Text About Wilkes Home n Graduate Academics Academics n Graduate Admission & Aid Graduate Programs n Graduate Life Master's Degree Programs About Our Students n n The Arts Creative Writing MA/MFA Revise This! n Archives Revise This - March 2016 Revise This! | March 2016 Archives Archives 2017 2018 Revise This! November 2019 Marlon James with Kaylie Jones. Rearranging the Deck Chairs: An Interview with Kaylie Jones By Dale Louise Mervine When I first sat down with Kaylie Jones, it was to discuss Marlon James and his success. I knew she was writing a piece for Wilkes Magazine, but I didn’t know what it encompassed, and was uncertain what direction the n 2016 n n �interview should take. While Kaylie began with meeting Marlon, the conversation evolved into a discussion of work ethic, inherent talent, and frustration with the publishing industry. I had tapped into a side of Kaylie Jones that pulsed with the energy of her passion. That frustration led, in part, to the creation of Kaylie Jones Books, an imprint of Akashic Books. The masthead of the website reads, “The list of brilliant novels unable to find homes within the mainstream is growing every day. It is our hope to publish books that bravely address serious issues—historical or contemporary—relevant to society today.” While relating the story of meeting Marlon and reading what would become his first published novel, John Crow’s Devil, Kaylie tapped into that passion for finding and publishing a damn good novel. John Crow’s Devil is Marlon’s first book, published in 2005. His second book, The Book of Night Women was published in 2009. A Brief History of Seven Killings was released in 2014. In publishing, do you see a change happening? I spoke with Susan Cartsonis about the push in Hollywood for more diversity, and she noted that it’s not really happening yet. Do you see it changing in publishing at all?  Mainstream publishing to me looks like they’re rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. It seems to me that the model is no longer working but no one has figured it out—they’re trying to figure out ebook lines, selfpublishing lines, the self-publishing Penguin line, Booktrope, whatever, but there are several problems. It’s a brand new world, like the Wild West with the Internet. This advent of self-publishing. It’s so easy to go onto Amazon and publish your own book that every idiot in the world who thinks they have a book is self-publishing. It used to be called “vanity press” publishing in the old days. And it’s still vain—egotistical and vain to think you can just slap a cover on your work and call it a book. I’ve always discouraged people from [self-publishing] because it’s creating a tsunami of really mediocre books and blocking the way of serious publishers who want to help get independent books out there to their audience. There’s a kind of disingenuous feel to self-publishing these days—which really annoys me personally—where writers don’t tell you honestly they’re self-publishing. The books are disguised. [Self-publishing] is very discouraging, and, in a way, has changed publishing. The whole picture has changed and no one really knows yet where it’s going to go. But hopefully, eventually, it will even out. I feel like I’ve had amazing students and amazing books published from the programs where I teach, and many successful books. I believe some people are lacking the willingness to do the work. Many want to be writers, but they don’t want to do the work; they don’t want to write. �Marlon does the work. He works tirelessly, all the time. How much of that do you see in the programs where you teach, where someone comes in with the talent and they don’t have far to go? There is a great spectrum with writing and it’s very interesting that you can compare it to ballet school. Kids will get sent at six years old to ballet school and the professional ballet teacher will pick out from that group ones who have the right body type, who have special agility, special grace. The teacher will start nurturing and grooming the ones who are going to be ballerinas. With fiction, you don’t need to be eight years old to start, but there’s the same idea: you start out with a certain proclivity, a certain talent, and a certain ear. Some people have an ear and some people don’t; I believe that can’t be taught. You can teach a decent writer to be a very good writer, but you can’t give somebody greatness, that magic. But I know a lot of writers I never thought would amount to anything—and I don’t mean in this program, I mean in my life—who have become bestselling, very successful writers. Marlon already had that in place, he just needed an opening. All doors were closed because our publishing industry is filled with cowards. They pigeonhole everybody. If you’re a black writer they’ll put you in a press called “Armistead Press;” if you’re gay, they’ll put you in an LGBT press, which is limiting. They’re curtailing readership by focusing on getting the readers that they think they’ll get. It seems Marlon wants to push against that assumption in the publishing industry. Yes, and he’s right. He’s pushing against 400, 500 years of colonialism too. All you have to do is look at The Last of the Mohicans for two minutes to see what the opinion of the “great white male” is, and what a woman’s role is. It’s horrifying. Marlon’s point is very interesting … he’s very brave … because he’s going against even the Jamaican conception of color and hierarchy. Being gay is illegal [in Jamaica]—you go to jail for life if you’re gay. Marlon is at risk for his life. He came out in a major New York Times article this year. Now, he’s like a different person, he’s so free from the weight of this. In school Marlon read all the classics, all the British writers, the colonials. Then he started branching out into anti-colonial African, AfricanAmerican, and Caribbean writers, who are pushing back against that sort of ingrained philosophy. �Did Marlon have that work ethic? He already had it. He’d already written a novel, he’d already revised that novel, and that novel needed a little work but it didn’t need substantial work, just a little revision. The Book of Night Women was his thesis from Wilkes. He wrote it in a year, so he really had the discipline and he really worked. Different people work at different paces; it’s not about speed. It’s about dedication and ambition and a willingness to really put that first in your life. Marlon was that dream student who has done the work already and is not coming to [their program] having watched too much TV and thinking “I’m going to write a sitcom and it’s going to be a novel,” but never having read a novel. That’s the worst possible situation because they’ve never read. They don’t know what it entails; they just know they want to be a writer, but they don’t know why. Marlon already had that dedication. He didn’t learn that from us, we just opened the door for him. That’s what we should be doing, opening the door for people who are really serious about pursuing a literary writing career. He does such a fantastic job with writing in dialect, when some writers struggle with that kind of writing. Marlon has such an ear for dialect, such a talent writing that. That was in John Crow’s Devil too, you could immediately see that he understood how to translate dialect into a readable English. I don’t find that dialect difficult at all. I think people resist it because they’re not used to it. That’s one of his great talents, and it’s unapologetic. Why would Marlon conform to our English when he’s Jamaican? When his Jamaican dialect comes from African tribes, and many sources who had English imposed on them when they were brought as slaves? There’s something very unapologetic about the way he uses dialect; it works very well. Marlon studied a lot of different colonial, as well as non-colonial, writers who used dialect in their fiction and adapted it to his own style. I don’t think there’s any rule that you shouldn’t use dialect; using it well is the problem. It could be terrible. Some people don’t do it well and they shouldn’t [use dialect.] It’s a question of ability. ABrief History Of Seven Killings is a demanding book and he’s not apologizing for it, making the book very thick, demanding, and emotionally painful for the reader. No Hidden Secrets: H. L. Hix on �Process, Publishing, and Reviews American Anger Etruscan Press, 2016 Wilkes University Graduate Creative Writing Program advisory board member H. L. Hix teaches in the creative writing MFA program at the University of Wyoming. His latest collection of poetry, published by Etruscan Press, has garnered literary accolades and has achieved a trifecta of literary mentions: American Anger received reviews in Library Journal, Publisher’s Weekly, and on NPR. In Library Journal, American Anger was included as a “Spring 2016 Poetry: Top Picks,” where it was described as “Instead of being downbeat…this dried-eyed collection is positively energizing.” �Publisher’s Weekly, points out that, “Hix’s book-length project joins other recent volumes in its corrosive anguish about a society both unequal and heavily armed,” and that it is “nothing if not unified: eight parts, each with many short segments in prose and verse, examine the word and the idea of anger.” NPR, which included American Anger in their 2016 poetry review, points out that Hix, “a prolific wellspring, froths, rages, boils over,” and that “unless you are made of stone, you will find, in these troubled and troubling times, some of your heart echoed here.” NPR, incorporated on February 26, 1970, has been in the forefront of public radio since its inception and it now utilizes the power of digital media to reach people all over the world. As H. L. Hix alludes to below, their power to introduce people to new types of literature gives writers of all genres hope for reception across the globe. Having published over 11 books of poetry and literary criticism with Etruscan Press, and over 30 books of translation, prose, and anthology in total, Hix isn’t slowing down. What are your thoughts on these accomplishments? It’s very gratifying. Poetry books receive very little attention in the world, so any notice or review is good news! And it is great in this case to be featured in these venues, because they are venues addressed to a broad public, not only to poetry readers, and this book does not only address regular readers of poetry. It is, for instance, a book about the election. The anger that is so prominent a part of the campaign rhetoric, and that is being expressed by voters, is not new or exceptional, and American Anger tries to understand it by putting it into a larger context. Can you give me some insight into your writing process, and perhaps some advice for other writers? Probably neither my process nor my advice is very remarkable, but maybe that’s good news: it suggests that there’s no secret that some writers have access to but that is hidden away from others. But the main feature of my process and my first piece of advice are essentially the same. The advice would be to find a time when you can secure “mental space” on a regular basis. For me, for my process, that’s way early in the morning, because it’s BEFORE frustrating committee meetings and before phone calls and so on, and because I can claim that time every day. But the advice is not early morning per se: the advice is whatever time you can make work in your life on a regular basis, whether that’s late at night or early in the morning or at lunch or (like William Carlos Williams) between appointments. Now that you've reached this level in your writing, do you think �about things like this when you are writing or working on publishing a book? I don’t think about things like book publicity at all while I’m writing. While I’m writing, I’m only trying to understand the world and my life, not to appeal to anyone. Once the book is written and the publication process kicks in, though, one has to “shift gears” and try to find and occupy those points of common ground that give others reason to engage with the work. What is the impact of being reviewed in publications such as these? Especially for poetry, the impact is great. Most people these days have been bullied away from poetry by bad experiences in school and by its erasure from popular culture, so few people will venture a new poetry book without some assurance that it might be understandable, for one thing, and might be worthwhile. To have Library Journal and NPR lend their authority to it greatly improves its odds of finding a readership. The Weekender is Off and Running in Wilkes-Barre Wilkes Graduate Creative Writing Weekender Program Mesa Cohorts – March 5, 2016 In 2015, the Wilkes University Graduate Creative Writing Program expanded its offerings with a new Weekender program in Mesa, Arizona. �During November 13-14, 2015, Wilkes hosted the Arizona Writers Conference to showcase the hallmarks of the program to members of the Mesa community. With various workshops and panel discussions on fiction, non-fiction, screenwriting, playwriting, and poetry, Wilkes also offered instant enrollment decisions. The Arizona Writers Conference was designed in part to attract prospective students from Mesa into the low-residency graduate program and to provide a second option for those not able to come to Pennsylvania for the January and June residencies. The Weekender format delivers the class modules of each residency throughout four faceto-face weekends during each project term. Students complete their online work in the foundations classes while meeting faculty on the ground every seven weeks. While online learning enables students to engage with others in any part of the world, the one-week residencies in January and June facilitate interactions between students and faculty and allow everyone to enjoy the community of which they are now a part. The Weekender now takes that eight-day residency and stretches it out over the eighteen-week semester. This benefits local students who cannot take a full week off two times each year. In January, Wilkes expanded the Weekender format to the Wilkes-Barre campus. Two inaugural Weekender students, Janine Dubik and Samantha Patterson, began their project term with the rest of the 501 cohort in January—but their first Weekender ended on Sunday, January 10. They returned to campus February 26 –28 for the second Weekender. Janine described their experience: Our second residency weekend was fun. On Friday night, we attended the musical "Dogfight" at the Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts. The student production was excellent; its small ensemble cast handled multiple roles as well as stagehand duties. The pit orchestra, under the direction of Ken McGraw [adjunct instructor], was outstanding. Since the weekend focused on Image and Voice, it was the perfect field trip. Bill Schneider is always thinking of ways to convey writing fundamentals as well as create interesting writing prompts. On Saturday, Samantha Patterson and I visited the Polish Room in the Eugene S. Farley Library, and we brainstormed our Archetype presentation, which is due during our May residency weekend. The creative writing program continues to be a learning experience. Some cobwebs still exist in parts of my brain. During my college days, I wasn't working full-time as I do now. It's a balancing act. �And now with the Weekender available in both Mesa and Wilkes-Barre, it’s a slightly easier act to balance. AWP 2016 Preview: Wilkes & Etruscan Press Ready for L.A. Dr. Bonnie Culver, Wilkes Creative Writing Program Director and CoFounder with Marlon James at the April 8th opening celebration of AWP's 2015 Annual Conference and Bookfair in Minneapolis. Photo credit: Robb Cohen It’s the biggest academic writing event of the year. More than 13,000 writers and publishing professionals from around the world will take part in the Association of Writers and Writing Program’s Annual Conference & Bookfair, happening in Los Angeles, CA, March 30 through April 2, 2016. The event attracts undergraduate and graduate students of all ages, faculty and staff members from creative writing programs around the nation and beyond, accomplished authors, publishing professionals from independent presses, literary magazine editors, and many other literaryaffiliated people. From hundreds of panels and a massive book fair to dozens of off-site events, it’s no wonder this conference is one of the most-awaited literary events of the year—whether for learning the craft and business of writing, browsing books and publishing opportunities, meeting friends, or networking with peers. The Wilkes University Graduate Creative Writing Program is proud to once again be a benefactor of this literary event, and also to share a �book fair booth (1100) with one of their publishing partners, Etruscan Press. Not only will members of the Wilkes and Etruscan community be greeting attendees from their home base on the exhibit hall floor, they also will be educating and entertaining as part of panels, readings and other conference-related events. Here’s a preview of where you can find our Wilkes and Etruscan presenters: Meet Etruscan Authors One benefit to attending AWP is that you can meet Etruscan authors. Check the printed program and the AWP Facebook page. Below is the schedule, where you can meet authors and snag a copy of their work: THURSDAY, MARCH 31 1 p.m.– Laurie Jean Cannady (Hippocampus Magazine Booth, Table 118) 2 p.m. – Diane Raptosh FRIDAY, APRIL 1 9 a.m.– Renee D’Aoust 11:30 a.m. – David Lazar 2:30 p.m. – Bruce Bond SATURDAY, APRIL 2 10:30 a.m. – Laurie Jean Cannady & Tim Seibles Hear from Authors, Faculty Members, Students and Alumni at 20+ events Thousands and thousands of people submit proposals to present at AWP each year, and only several hundred are selected. Some panels that feature Wilkes and Etruscan authors are below, including Bruce Bond, Beverly Donofrio, Marlon James, Paul Lisicky, and Lori A. May; follow the links to learn more about the session and co-panelists. THURSDAY, MARCH 31 Noon to 1:15 p.m. – Bruce Bond: Dynamic Duos: Art & Words Collaborations, or How Prompted Inspiration Leads to Exhibition– Room 410 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. – Rachel Eliza Griffiths: Poetry, Politics, and Place: A Reading and Conversation with Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Luis J. Rodriguez, Sponsored by Poets House– Petree Hall 3 to 4:15 p.m. – Renee D’Aoust: Old Neighborhoods, New Locales: How Place Shapes Our Writing and Our Literary Identities – Room �408 B 3 to 4:15 p.m. – Tim Seibles: Beyond Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll: Far Out Poets Read Poems About the '60s.– Room 515 B FRIDAY, APRIL 1 9 to 10:15 a.m. – Kazim Ali: Necessary Hybridity: The Politics & Performance Of Making Multi-Genre, Multi-Media, Multi-Ethnic Literature Visible – Room 502 A 9 to10:15 a.m. – Fred Courtright: Phoning It In: Using QR Codes to Bring Poetry to a New Audience– Room 511 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. – Lauren Cerand: The Author as Entrepreneur: How to Build Your Writing Business– Room 408 A 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. – Marlon James: The New Globalism – Room 502 B 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. – Jim Warner: Two Sides of the Mirror: Writing About Body Image Across Gender– Room 402 AB 3 to 4:15 p.m. – Paul Lisicky: Story as Survival: LGBTQ Memoir–  Diamond Salon 6&7 4:30 to 5:45 p.m. – David Lazar: After Montaigne, Before Sunrise: Teaching and Writing about the Essays– Room 515 B 4:30 to 5:45 p.m. – Lori A. May: Should I Know Who You Are? Book PR for the Modern Age– Room 408 A SATURDAY, APRIL 2 9 to 10:15 a.m. – Beverly Donofrio: Writing the Spiritual Memoir– Gold Salon 1 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. – Shara McCallum: West Virginia Writers’ Workshop: How We Made It to Year 20; How Your Writing Conference Can Too!– Room 404 AB Noon to 1:15 pm. - Marlon James: Helping: A Tribute to Robert Stone– Diamond Salon 6&7 3 to 4:15 p.m. – Kazim Ali: A Tribute to Donald Revell– Room 403 A 3 to 4:15 p.m. – Julie R. Enszer: 40th Anniversary Celebration of Calyx and Sinister Wisdom– Room 407 3 to 4:15 p.m. – Toi Derricotte: (Still) Got the Juice: Fierce Writing by Women Poets of a Certain Age– Room 515 A 4:30 to 5:45 p.m. - Tim Seibles: Calling White Allies: What White Writers Can Do to Foster Inclusion and Support People of ColorRoom 409 AB Old School Slam The trend of having a Wilkes-affiliated, award-winning slam poet host the AWP Old School Slam continues. This year, Jeremiah Blue—a student from the Wilkes University Mesa, AZ, location—will host the Slam in Room 511, on both Thursday, March 31 and Friday, April 1, from 10 p.m. to midnight. �Off-Site Events Here are three events featuring Etruscan Press authors: March 31, 7 to 9 p.m. – Diane Raptosh & David Lazar reading at Gatsby Books April 1, 7 to 9 p.m. – Diane Raptosh reading at Flintridge Books & Coffee House April 3, 2 to 4:00 p.m. – David Lazar and Tim Seibles at June 2013 The conference program lists hundreds of other events in all sorts of genres at all sorts of venues; give it a look and make the most of your time in LA by attending events beyond the conference walls. Other AWP Announcements In addition to our program staff, there are a few members of the Wilkes Creative Writing faculty attending AWP. If you stop by Booth 1100, you might run into a few familiar faces including Becky Bradway, Susan Cartsonis, Beverly Donofrio, Rashidah Ismail Abubakr, Lori A. May, and Neil Shepard and two dozen students and alumni who will be representing Wilkes. Etruscan Press will be selling books at the booth with an option to ship the purchases home instead of stuffing them in overpacked luggage. On the Wilkes side, they will be sharing information about the lowresidency creative writing programs in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. and Mesa, Ariz. —including the new Weekender programs. Genres include creative nonfiction, documentary studies, fiction, playwriting, poetry, publishing and screenwriting. There will be details about the upcoming Pennsylvania Writers Conference (happening this August), and info about the various community workshops Wilkes has to offer. Follow Along with Us on Social Media Whether you’re right there with Wilkes in California or watching from afar, be sure to follow along with the action in LA on social media using the official conference hashtag, #awp16. Reps from Wilkes and Etruscan will be sharing moments from AWP, too. Follow along on Twitter with @WilkesUWriting and @Etruscan_Press—and also use hashtag #wilkesAWP. They’ll also share photos and updates on Instagram, and both Facebook pages: the public program and the private community Facebook group. �To learn more about Etruscan’s AWP activity and its featured authors, visit the Meet Us in LA page. Planning Ahead for 2017 If you won’t be in L.A. this year, it’s not too early to begin planning for 2017, when AWP heads back east, to the nation’s capital—perhaps more within driving distance for the majority of community members. The dates for AWP 2017 are Feb. 8-11, 2017—and it will be the 50th anniversary of the AWP conference. A limited number of conference registrations are available to students and alumni to help make professional development possible. Check with the Creative Writing office in fall 2016 to find out how you can get more involved with AWP.   Pennsylvania Writers Conference Returns to Wilkes University The Pennsylvania Writer’s Conference is returning to Wilkes University on Friday and Saturday, August 5 and 6. Faculty and alums are invited to submit their workshop, panel, or craft class proposal to Bill Schneider by April 1, 2016. The two-day conference is designed to engage, educate and empower the literary community. Last held on the Wilkes University campus in 2004, when Norman Mailer was the keynote speaker, the conference is open to adults of all ages, and includes an open mic and poetry slam, craft classes, writing workshops, and literary panels hosted by editors, film producers, literary agents, publishers, and writers. Scranton native and poet, novelist and biographer Jay Parini will deliver the keynote address. Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air book critic, will conduct craft sessions. $100 early bird registration is available until June 30. General registration $130 and students with valid school ID $40. Faculty News Faculty member Philip Brady's poetry received a 2016 Ohio Arts Council $5,000 Individual Artist Fellowship. This is his sixth OAC Individual Artist Fellowship. In addition, his essay, "The Man of Double Deed" was accepted for publication in Hotel Amerika. His essay, “That Lamp is from the Tomb,” is forthcoming in Poet's Quarterly and an essay, “Basketball at Sixty” appeared in Best American Poetry's Blog. Faculty member J. Michael Lennon has contributed the introduction to a new illustrated edition of Norman Mailer’s The Fight, his account of the “Rumble in the Jungle,” the 1974 championship match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. It will be published by Taschen �Books in the summer of 2016. Faculty member and MFA alum Lori A. May will be at AWP in Los Angeles, presenting on the panel “Should I Know Who You Are? Book PR for the Modern Age.” You will also find her signing books at Bloomsbury’s Bookfair booth #1207. Her book, The Write Crowd: Literary Citizenship & The Writing Life, was nominated for a 2016 Michigan Notable Book Award. She will be giving a featured reading at the Seattle Public Library, Ballard branch, this March. In April, she will be teaching a Master Class at The Banff Centre, as part of the Creative Nonfiction Collective Conference. Lori is also pleased to be a founding member of the Creative Writing Studies Organization, a new U.S. nonprofit focused on creative writing pedagogy. Faculty member Gregory Fletcher had a short play, Hangman, produced in March by Artistic New Directions in New York City. Entertainment attorney Jared Bloch is a New York based attorney who works with our program, He specializes in film and television development, production, distribution and financing. Jared has worked on such films as The Birth of a Nation, which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival; Maggie’s Plan, which premiered at the 2015 Toronto Film Festival; and the upcoming All We Had and Wolves, each of which will have their premiere at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. Student News Amye Archer, MFA ‘11, had her memoir, Fat Girl, Skinny, selected as second runner-up for the Red Hen Press Nonfiction Manuscript Award. She will also be participating in the Woodstock Writer's Festival on April 10th as part of the panel: “Memoir A Go-Go.” Jeremiah Blue, current MA student, will have his spoken word video-one part of a dual, multi-media presentation on the intersection of social justice and slam poetry--published by TEDx, on their official website. A link to the video will be posted online soon. Blue has accepted the invitation to host the Old School Poetry Slam at the 2016 AWP conference in Los Angeles. Cindy Dlugolecki, MA ‘11 had her short play, “Birthday Surprise,” garner an "Honorable Mention" as one of the top ten plays submitted to the Jewel Box New Play Festival in Oklahoma. Robert Holly, current MFA student saw his Masters capstone screenplay, The Champion of The World, accepted as "Official Selection of the 16th Beverly Hills International Film Festival." Robert was also �hired by Penn State Worthington-Scranton this semester as an instructor in Communications. Paul Jackson, MA ‘14 had an article, “The Devaluation of the Written Word,” published in March in the journal, Elite Critiques Magazine (both a print and electronic journal). http://elitecritiques.com/ecm-magazine/ He also has a short story, “Hostility Issues,” published in the journal Our Write Side http://ourwriteside.com/ Nichole Kanney, MFA ‘15 has been accepted to The Writer’s Hotel Conference in NYC, under the mentorship of Scott Woven and The New Guard Literary Review. She will be reading at KGB Bar in June. Monique Antonette Lewis, MFA ‘12, saw her reading series, At The Inkwell, expand to Denver and Seattle. The reading series is also held in New York and San Francisco. Josh Penzone, MA ‘13, saw his short story "Falling Away" appear in the March edition of Five on the Fifth's online magazine.  Anthony Dolan Scott, MFA ‘14, had his poem "The Power of Heritage" published in the Winter issue of Echoes Magazine. His chapbook, The Year Things Came Apart, has been published by Maine Author's Publishing. Dates for a launch at the local university and for a reading at the local library to be announced soon. Nathan Summmerlin, MFA ‘16 has had three scripts selected as Quarterfinalists in three separate competitions. His short film script, Catcophany in the Blue Cat Screenplay contest; his sitcom pilot script, Empire Cafeteria, in the CineStory TV / Digital contest; and his web series pilot, Meat, in the Screencraft Pilot Launch contest. Ahrend Torrey, MFA ‘16 had his prose poem, “The Bird & I,” appear in issue 6 of Guide to Kulchur Creative Journal. Ahrend was also selected to write a featured prose piece “Three Little Words,” which now appears in issue 2 of Wildness. His poems, “Anorexia” and “It’s All About The Cards—” were published in POMPA 2015. Upcoming Workshop Opportunity: MFA student Caryn DeVincenti will be teaching a FREE three-hour workshop at Florida's Wellington Library on Saturday, April 9th, 2016. “Bewitched With The Wicked: How To Create Memorable Villianesses In Fiction & Non-Fiction, A Craft Workshop.” �Quick Links Career Development Campus Safety and Internships Centers & Institutes Online Programs Programs E.S. Farley Library Human Resources Jobs at Wilkes Online Nursing Offices & Administration Accessibility Statement Financial Aid Adobe Acrobat® Reader Registrar's Office Finance Office Investor Relations Student Work Study Jobs Veterans Services Visit Quick Links Schedule a Visit Parking Information Virtual Tour Campus Map Make A Gift �84 West South Street Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 1-800-WILKES-U Contact Us Wilkes University © e © d c f � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Revise This! March 2016 - Wilkes University.pdf https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/fb41f53d4e4fdf60dc9fb497f89424b9.pdf e2e79ee6552df5d7a68c6fe61b68698a PDF Text Text About Wilkes Home n Graduate Academics Academics n Graduate Admission & Aid Graduate Programs n Graduate Life Master's Degree Programs About Our Students n n The Arts Creative Writing MA/MFA Revise This! n Archives Revise This - May 2016 Revise This! | May 2016 Adding Years: An Interview with Mrs. Anna Arnett Archives Archives By Dale Louise Mervine 2017 "Finding Wilkes has added years to my life," said Mrs. Anna Arnett, who, at age 91, will be the oldest student to graduate from Wilkes this June. 2018 While she did mention that she wishes she had heard of Wilkes Revise This! - University in Mesa sooner, she asserts, "I was really ready for Wilkes and November 2019 have not regretted a moment of my enrollment. It came fairly late in my life, but definitely has enriched it." Mrs. Arnett first heard of Wilkes at a church Christmas breakfast. It was the same morning her daughter told her to "quit fiddling around with fiction and poetry until you have written every story you know about the family." It just so happened that Wilkes had an open house that day. So she went directly from the breakfast to the campus to get more information. As Mrs. Arnett recalls, "I talked with Bonnie [Culver], and left with a student ID!" "Wilkes offered me exactly what I was looking for, and in a format to fit my n 2016 n n �capabilities. How could I not be a fan of the university that has given me a new lease Anna Arnett at Tortilla Flat, Ariz. during March 2016 Wilkes Graduate Creative Writing Program Mesa Weekender ethnography site inspection. Photo credit: Michael Mortimer on life? I am thrilled with the way I've been treated, or should I say babied, all the way through. I have never had more delightful people to work with. Dr. [J. Michael] Lennon has been absolutely fantastic. I doubt I've ever had more fun than I have had since I enrolled in Wilkes." When speaking of Dr. Lennon, Mrs. Arnett exuded excitement, saying that he, "epitomizes what Ella Wheeler Wilcox said: 'A pat on the back is only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants, but is miles ahead in results.' Dr. Lennon is profuse with his praise. He truly inspires me to keep improving." While Mrs. Arnett knew she would focus on her family history and try to make it readable to teens, she mused, "I don't think I needed to be told what to write, but Dr. Lennon continually points ways to write it better." "Miss Anna" as her fellow classmates call her, was born in Rexburg, Idaho. In the middle of her senior year of high school, December 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, changing her world. "I was taking shorthand and typing to earn a civil service stenographer rating. I worked for a couple of years and happened to meet my future husband, Air Cadet Charles Arnett, at Sunday School in Indianapolis. I saw him a second time the next weekend then not again until I went to Seymour to see him get his wings on my 19th birthday. I didn't lay eyes on him again for 22 months. On his third bombing mission out of England, over Germany, fighter planes hit three of his engines. Charles made it back to the coast but crash-landed in occupied Holland, and became a prisoner of war for eleven months and eleven days, but who's counting? Almost as soon as Charles got back to his home in Arizona, on Wednesday, June 5, 1945, while I was attending Utah State, he proposed, by mail and phone, that we get married in the Arizona Temple on June 15th. I agreed, flunked all my finals, lost ten pounds, made frantic preparations, caught a bus for Arizona and when I stepped out of the bus into his arms, I knew I'd made the right choice. We were married for time and eternity on the fifteenth. �I've detailed my story in Lolly's Yarns. Charles died March 8, 2008, but I still feel married. He's only on another overseas assignment. I've always regarded Charles as the most perfect man I could have stood to live with." Growing up on a farm just south of Rexburg, Mrs. Arnett fondly remembered the area, but was more interested in sharing tidbits from her thesis project, which concerns the history of her family. "They were real pioneers," she emphasized. "My mother was born in 1886...on a cattle ranch in a two-room log cabin with a dirt floor and a dirt roof. But a nice fireplace," she laughed again. When I asked her from where her lineage stems, she quipped, "How far back?" and then proceeded to fill in her impressive ancestry. On her father's side, her grandfather was born in Sweden and her grandmother in Denmark. "They joined the Mormon church there," she went on, "[and] came to Utah—before the railroads— so they were real pioneers there." Her mother's immigrant ancestor, she recalled, "was not on the Mayflower, but he built a house in Connecticut in 1650...that was her Wilcox line." This long line of Americans originated in England. "My mother's mother was born after the Mormons were driven out of Nauvoo [Illinois]. She was born in Winter Quarters and arrived in Salt Lake in September 1847, making her one of the earliest Utah pioneers, I knew her; I think I was about in seventh grade when she died. It's been wonderful to learn more about her." When I asked about her experience at Wilkes and working on her manuscript, she noted that, "It's just been delightful and besides that, having goals I needed to meet helped me make a lot of progress that I have procrastinated for decades in organizing my parents' histories. It has given me a closeness to them that surprises and delights me. I've made field trips into Utah to see where my mother was born and then again where she got her elementary education." When asked to give advice to those considering the program, Mrs. Arnett replied thoughtfully, "I think everyone has a story to tell. It might be a very short story, but every individual is completely unique. Well, maybe not completely unique, because we follow the trends of our society but we each do it in our own unique way. And each person has agency to decide, and is responsible for their own decisions. For instance, nobody can force you to do anything you don't want to do. They might force you physically, but they cannot take away your agency to decide what you will do, or how you will react. Therefore, each one of us is totally responsible for our own decisions." As a woman who has lived "for at least six weeks in sixteen different states and two foreign countries (Australia and Japan)," Mrs. Arnett does not shy away from new experiences. "I love all people, but I think it's a treat when I'm with (or reading about) people who have the same general objectives, namely to express themselves vocally and in print and thus pass on ideas and ideals." Dale Louise Mervine is completing her M.A. in the Wilkes Graduate Creative Writing Program. She lives in York, Pa. �AWP16 - Los Angeles The City of Angels welcomed Etruscan authors, Wilkes students and staff alike for the 49th annual AWP Conference and Bookfair. The Wilkes students enjoying dinner break at AWP. Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference and Bookfair, or AWP16, boasted over 12,000 attendees—in the form of authors, publishers, presses, writing programs, and staff. AWP16 featured 550 events, with over 2,000 presenters, and Etruscan authors participated in various ways: panels, book signings, and readings...both within the conference and at off-site events in the Los Angeles area. Etruscan, in conjunction with partner Wilkes University, hosted book signings featuring: Bruce Bond, Laurie Jean Cannady, Renée D'Aoust, David Lazar, Diane Raptosh, and Tim Seibles. Cannady and Lazar were also seen signing books at other booths around the Book Fair, while Diane Raptosh and Tim Seibles read and signed books at offsite events. Kazim Ali, Bruce Bond, Renée D'Aoust, David Lazar, Paul Lisicky, and Tim Seibles also served on panels throughout the weekend. Etruscan also co-sponsored the AWP Old School Slam and Open Mic which was held on both Thursday and Friday nights. Winners of the slam were awarded Etruscan gift bags, complete with their choice of three Etruscan books. Slam attendees flocked to Twitter, using #AWPOldSchoolSlam to enter their name for an Etruscan sponsored contest. One winner was named each night of the Slam, and the prize was a book of the winner's choosing. Next year will be the 50th anniversary of AWP, and the staff is already looking forward to the event, which will be held in Washington, D.C. from February 8-11, 2017. �Patience and Persistence: Making a Living With Writing Writing can be a lonely endeavor. When working on an individual piece, writers might easily find themselves cocooned Lori A. May. up in their own world. Eventually a writer may work with editors, agents, or others to get their writing into print, but the initial creativity and reshaping and editing the work is done in a somewhat lonely place. Not that we necessarily mind. We often need that quiet and alone time to get ideas down and to shape our writing. But then there are times we need each other, and we need a community to remind us that we share our lonely pursuit with many others. For those who have jobs outside of "just" writing, we share in those communities and can learn and grow in them, but these places are filled with all kinds of people, not just writers. When we come together at Wilkes for residencies, we are hyper-focused on our writing, our writing peers, and our writing experiences. We push aside the day-to-day issues of running a household, of working a nonwriting job, of caring for aging parents, growing children, and various pets. We take that time for ourselves, to focus on and revel in the one thing we all have in common: our love for writing. The Wilkes community is strong, and we feel that strength in January and June during our residencies. For the writers with non-writing careers, they need to shift their focus back to their regular lives once they return from residency. For those with writing-careers, perhaps they slide back into their lives a little more slowly, being able to savor the momentum they picked up at residency. In either situation, the time comes to turn back home and get back to work. Instead of waiting for the next six months to pass, however, and the next residency to begin, there are things a writer can do to enhance their creative side. Lori A. May, Wilkes alum and faculty member, has crafted a career out of her writing and has built that career out of patience and persistence. Below is an interview with Lori about her many hats as writer as well as how she balances her �professional work with personal writing, and advice for those just stepping in to freelancing shoes. What are your "writer" hats? I'm a big believer in diversifying one's portfolio, so I practice what I preach and wear many different writer hats. My main focus, of course, is on my own work: creative nonfiction, poetry, and fiction, occasionally. My work extends into freelance writing and editing, and I also travel extensively to guest lecture and teach at a variety of conferences and residencies across North America. Those are activities specific to my personal writing life, things that are important to my own development and role as a writer. I also teach and my primary gig is being a mentor in the University of King's College nonfiction MFA program in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I have a wonderful cast of students I adore and it's incredibly fulfilling to work with them as they craft their nonfiction books. Of course, the Wilkes community also knows I teach at the Wilkes residencies and I supervise publishing internships for River & South Review, our studentrun literary journal. So, yes, I diversify my workload, and always seem to be shuffling and adding shiny new things to my plate. What local communities do you involve yourself in as a writer versus "writer" as a job? It's a challenge being a "local" writer when I travel so much. I'm on the road for about 30,000 miles each year, and then in the air several thousand miles more, attending and speaking at a variety of events, so my "region" is North America. I'm a Canadian writer, transplanted to Seattle now after a near-decade in Detroit, and never seem to be in one place for very long. That being said, I feel it's important to involve myself in my many communities, so I have a sense of place and belonging among my peers. Wherever I am at the moment, I participate in reading series, both at the mic and attending in support of other writers. I'm also a member of a number of writing groups, both online and in person, that keep each other motivated and informed about writing craft, publication opportunities, and more. This can be incredibly fulfilling, and I value these connections I maintain. That sense of belonging in a community is important to me as we feed off one another's successes and cheer each other on during challenges. I hope I contribute to others' writing lives as much as others contribute to mine. I'm also a fan of book reviewing, and contributing to the conversation about contemporary publishing. Book reviewing keeps me connected to what's current, and is also a way I offer my time to the community. I also have to say how much I have valued the Wilkes community, both the experience of being at residency and keeping relationships with faculty and alums during the terms away. We have a �great source of inspiration among us and I am grateful for the many lasting friendships that have developed over the years. How do you balance your own writing: do you set aside time every day for journaling, for a specific writing piece you are working on, for this job, for that job--and how do you get yourself to focus on each individually and not get hooked up by one or another? Maintaining a specific schedule is not my forte, thanks to my travel itinerary. What I am consistent about, though, is making sure the writing always comes first. That may mean focusing on one larger project for the bulk of the day, or dabbling at a few smaller writing tasks, but writing is always number one. Whether I am traveling or at home, I try to start my day with writing new draft material each morning. This is the really rough stuff that wouldn't see the light of day, possibly for a time, or perhaps ever. This is my time to create, to be inventive, and to give myself permission to play. After that, I focus on the projects at hand, and that may mean an entire morning is spent on editing or revising a book project, then the afternoon is spent on promotional work or business matters. When I have student work come in for review, I schedule my time accordingly so they become a priority on my to-do list. When that happens, I'll usually do my morning writing first and then work on student material for the rest of the day. I also carve out a great deal of time for play and napping. Finding balance is always a challenge, but if I feel good and treat myself well, I work so much better. For those just getting into freelancing, or attempting to make writing their job, what advice do you have? What have you found works when it comes to balancing the work side of writing with the job side of writing? My biggest advice is to take it one thing at a time. A writer can't do everything all at once. Even though I am an advocate for diversification, I am not a big fan of multi-tasking. Writing, and its related activities, takes focus and time. Beyond running the laundry while I edit, I am not a very good multi-tasker. It makes me feel too disoriented. Instead, I tackle one to-do list item at a time, pay it the attention it deserves, and then move on to the next. For new writers, it can seem especially overwhelming to consider the writing, editing, pitching, social media and more that comes with the job, but everything is manageable in steps. Set goals for what you want to accomplish, then create a plan to make it happen. Strategic planning and realistic goal-setting are critical to keeping my writing life in order. That to-do list should also include friend and family time, quiet thinking time, and time for anything else that's important for self-care. That will help create a sense of balance. Any other anecdotal insights into making writing a full time job, or �how you weave your various hats together? I often have emerging writers come to me for advice on how to make a living and how to make writing their full-time profession. I'm always happy to hear about their goals and share some of my experiences, while perhaps offering insight into how to get things off the ground. What is most frustrating to me, though, is the impatience factor. So many times, a new writer wants everything to happen all at once, without paying mind to how long it can take to make a living out of this craft. Sure, for some people, it can seem to happen overnight. That was not my experience. My first paying publications were more than twenty years ago, but it has taken me years—decades—to get to where I am today. A livable wage didn't come to me overnight and even after my first and second novel, I was still maintaining non-writing jobs to pay the bills. I definitely want to encourage emerging writers on their paths, but I also hope to offer some reality checks that patience is necessary, and so is persistence. Writing can be a long-term profession if you go that route, but like anything else it takes perseverance to build a career. It's incredibly rewarding, but it takes time to make writing a full-time career. Lori A. May writes across the genres in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. She edits, teaches, and travels as a frequent guest speaker--all the while drinking copious amounts of coffee. 
Her latest book, The Write Crowd: Literary Citizenship & The Writing Life, is now available from Bloomsbury. Also new from 2014 is Square Feet, a full-length poetry book, available from Accents Publishing. Lori is also the author of The Low-Residency MFA Handbook: A Guide for Prospective Creative Writing Students (Continuum/Bloomsbury), stains: early poems, and two crime novels. She's polishing up a travel/immigration memoir and, under the influence of caffeine, is at work on another manuscript. From 2004 to 2016: PWC Then and Now by Danie Watson The �Pennsylvania Writers Conference will be returning to the Wilkes University campus from August 5 to August 6, 2016. The conference is a two-day event designed to engage, educate, and empower the literary community. However, PWC 16 is not the first of it's kind. In 2004, Wilkes first hosted PWC, which featured Norman Mailer as the keynote speaker. Dawn Leas, Assistant to the President and M.F.A '09, attended the conference, which was held from June 25-26, 2004. She said that her most memorable moment was hearing Mailer speak, which was one of the last times he was on the Wilkes campus. "Norman Mailer is one of those literary icons you grow up hearing about. He is always larger than life, whether it be in interviews, or in real life, or in the stories Bonnie [Culver] and Mike [Lennon] tell." Mailer's speech, which concerned point of view, plot, realistic characters, and the unconscious mind as part of the writing process, was so dynamic, Leas can remember where she was sitting in the Dorothy Dickson Darte Center. This year, PWC's keynote speaker will be Scranton native and poet, novelist, and biographer, Jay Parini. His works include Robert Frost: A Life, which won the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for best nonfiction in 2000, New York Times bestseller One Matchless Time: A Life of William Faulkner, and Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal. Parini's keynote address will take place at 7 PM on Saturday August 6, 2016, in the Henry Student Center Ballroom. Behind the scenes of both PWC 2004 and 2016 is Margaret Petty, Director of Continued Learning. Petty is in charge of registration for 2016, and played a key role in 2004. She reminisces about 2004, noting that once Mailer was announced as the keynote, the registrations came tumbling in. However, the registration and submission process in 2004 was a little different. It was all done manually through snail mail. "People were mailing in manuscripts in boxes and envelopes, and we sent out invoices and welcome letters. All I remember is that submissions were stressful. They were in limbo in the mail—sometimes they were not received, or we would get them late." Petty says PWC 16 is a streamlined registration process since it's all done online—even submissions for the writing competition. Although registration is just like online shopping—cart and all—the Center for Continued Learning will be accepting calls to register those who are not comfortable with the online system. Like PWC 2004, this year's conference will include workshops, panels, �and craft classes in the genres of creative nonfiction, fiction, playwriting, poetry, and screenwriting. PWC 16 will also contain two plenary sessions: "Reviews that Mattered" by NPR's Fresh Air Book Critic, Maureen Corrigan, and another by the Wilkes faculty. When Leas attended the conference in 2004, she took a poetry workshop with Rashidah Ismaili, who urged Leas to apply to the program. Because of her obligations, Leas wasn't able to attend the program until January 2006, but her time at PWC 2004 sealed the deal with Wilkes. PWC 16 will include an element of competition. Like 2004, there will be a writing competition, in the genres of creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. Submissions may not exceed five pages, and are due by July 22, 2016 with a $5 entry fee. Attendees may submit in all genres, $5 per entry. Winners will be awarded following the keynote address on August 6, and the awards are: $150 for first place, $100 for second place, and $50 for third place. Not only will there be a writing competition, PWC 16 will also include an open mic and poetry slam on Friday, August 5, from 7 PM to 9 PM. The events are open to the public for a $5 admission fee, and attendees may present for $5 per event. The influence of the Pennsylvania Writers Conference can be as large or as small as you make it. For Leas, PWC 2004 is still impacting her life today. Her latest poetry collection, Take Something When You Go, concludes with that very poem she wrote in Ismaili's poetry workshop at PWC 2004. Leas is excited that the conference is returning to Wilkes. "Bringing the conference back is a great idea; not just to recruit more students, but to provide more literary events in the area, and to offer an outlet to be part of a writing community." For more information about the Pennsylvania Writers Conference, and the schedule of events, please visit the Wilkes website. Danie Watson is currently working towards her M.A. at Wilkes University. She currently lives in Nanticoke, PA. Faculty News Faculty member Robert P. Arthur, with former Wilkes student, Francis Williams, won Chanticleer Book Award for PASSOVER in category of ghost novel. Arthur was also nominated for Library of Virginia Book Award (poetry) and Mary Lynn Kotz Book Award (poetry). �Faculty member Gregory Fletcher had an essay, Thanks, Dad, I Think published in Diverse Voices Quarterly, Volume 8, Issue 28. His short play Hangman is having its second production of the year in the festival Take Ten at the 13th Street Repertory at the end of April. Faculty member Rashidah Ismaili was part of a panel Saturday, April 2, held at City College, CUNY and Columbia University. She was also part of the PEN Voices International Festival April 25 – May 1 in New York City at various locations. Faculty member and M.F.A. alum Lori A. May taught a Master Class at The Banff Centre this spring, as part of the Creative Nonfiction Collective Conference. Other recent events include a reading at Seattle's At The Inkwell reading series, launched by Wilkes alum Monique Antoinette Lewis, and a workshop at Book Publishers Northwest. Lori is also attending the Canadian Book Summit in Toronto, Ontario, and presenting at the Pacific Northwest Writers Association conference this summer. Student News Molly Barari, M.A. alum '15 has been selected as a 2016 South Dakota Humanities Scholar. She has also been accepted to The Writer's Hotel Conference in NYC in June, under the mentorship of Scott Woven and The New Guard Literary Review. Over the winter, Molly created and taught a class for Community Education of the Black Hills called Heirlooms: Creative Life Writing for Seniors. Kimberly Behre Kenna, M.A. alum '15 had her poem, "First Day at St. Margaret's Shelter," published in East Meets West American Writers Review 2015 Winter Edition. Her poem, "Neap Tide," was selected for publication in the upcoming issue of Rubbertop Review. Craig Czury, M.F.A. alum '08 had Thumb Notes Almanac translated into Italian by Aldo Villagrossi and published as Non Pensare Ai Camion (Milano). Craig has poetry performances with actors & musicians in Soncino, Romanengo, Goito, Salsomaggiore, and Crema, with interviews on LOMBARDIA TV and Radio Alta in May-June. Brian Fanelli, M.F.A. alum '10 will have his new book of poems, Waiting for the Dead to Speak, published in September by NYQ Books. His poem, "What Our Cat Teaches Me in Dreams," was published in the spring issue of Stone Canoe out of Syracuse, and another poem, "Trying to Call Forth a Ghost," was recently published in the print anthology of the Kentucky Review. The anthology is a "best of 2015." The poems in it originally appeared on the journal's website. �Tyler Grimm, M.F.A. alum '13 will have his short story "Broken Smile" published by VOX, Elizabethtown College's literary magazine, in April. He has also been nominated for the 2016 Elizabethtown College Student Senate Engaging Educator Award. Nichole Kanney, M.F.A. alum '15 had her short screenplay, Fridge Mates, selected as one of two finalists for the 2016 Nashville Film Festival Family/Animated Screenplay Competition. At press time, we learned Nichole won this award. Congratulations! Dawn Leas, M.F.A. alum '09 released her poetry collection, Take Something When You Go, in mid-April by Winter Goose Publishing. She also recently had three poems, "Day Job," "Last Sunday in August," and "Sinew," published in Clear Poetry, an online journal based in the UK. Mark Levy, M.A. alum '08 has a book of essays, Trophy Envy, now at the printer. Monique Antonette Lewis, M.F.A. alum '12 At The Inkwell reading series launched in Denver, in February, and in Seattle, in March. She also welcomed Wilkes alumnae Kait Burrier and Andi Talarico, in March, as the new co-hosts for At The Inkwell New York. This July, Monique will launch the reading series in London, which will be At The Inkwell's first international presence. Learn more at www.attheinkwell.com. Margaret McCaffrey M.A. alum '15 had her story "Original Sin" - written in Taylor Polites fiction class - commended and accepted for publication in an anthology by Melaleuca Blue. Josh Penzone, M.A. alum '13 will have his short story "Rose" appear in The Critical Pass Review's upcoming winter magazine. Dania Ramos, M.A. alum '10 had two short plays in the 6th Annual OneMinute Play Festival at Luna Stage. Her play Hielo was featured in the New Jersey Women Playwrights Reading Series co-presented by Writers Theatre of New Jersey, Speranza Theatre Company, and Jersey City Theater Center. Lynne Reeder, M.A. alum '10 earned first place for her poem "Of Green Stuff Woven" and her poem "Colored" earned her the title of 2016 Perry County Poet Laureate in the 18th annual Perry County Council of the Arts Poetic Excellence Awards. Julia Steier, M.A. alum '10 had her essay about "Facing my Fear" featured in The Guardian.  �Heather A. Taylor, M.F.A. alum '14 has been promoted to Director of the McCann Learning Center at Bethany College. She has also joined the Etruscan Press staff as Production Editor.  Quick Links Career Development Campus Safety and Internships Centers & Institutes Online Programs Programs E.S. Farley Library Human Resources Jobs at Wilkes Online Nursing Offices & Administration Accessibility Statement Financial Aid Adobe Acrobat® Reader Registrar's Office Finance Office Investor Relations Student Work Study Jobs Veterans Services Visit Quick Links Schedule a Visit Parking Information Virtual Tour Campus Map Make A Gift �84 West South Street Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 1-800-WILKES-U Contact Us Wilkes University © e © d c f � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Revise This! May 2016 - Wilkes University.pdf https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/e1c9e4ba200449d78e4ded3f051b799b.pdf b90a514a43195f724437a41aa42e9096 PDF Text Text About Wilkes Home n Graduate Academics Academics n Graduate Admission & Aid Graduate Programs n Graduate Life Master's Degree Programs About Our Students n n The Arts Creative Writing MA/MFA Revise This! n Archives Revise This - November 2009 Revise This! 2017 2018 REVISE THIS ARCHIVES Revise This! November 2019 Contents: 2009 James Jones First Novel Fellowship Winner Announced Jim Warner joins Etruscan Press | Student Profile: Chris Bullard Wilkes University Awards Scholarships | Faculty Notes |  Student Notes  2009 James Jones First Novel Fellowship Winner Announced Tena Russ of            Riverwoods, II Revise This! Archives n 2009 n n �Wilkes-Barre, Penn. –Tena Russ, of Riverwoods, Il., won first place for her novel After Paradise in the 18th Annual James Jones First Novel Fellowship, co-sponsored by the Graduate Creative Writing Department of Wilkes University and the James Jones Literary Society. Russ was awarded $10,000. This year’s contest drew 674 submissions, and this was not the first time Russ had entered her manuscript in the competition.  “I actually entered the contest several times and never made it to the second level. I almost didn’t even enter the contest this year,” she said.  Russ was shocked to learn that her manuscript, which has undergone several revisions, finally won. She was notified that she won by novelist Nina Solomon, a judge for the competition and a faculty member of the creative writing program.  “It was like Ed McMahon just came to my door. When Nina called, I literally got goose bumps,” Russ said. Russ was not always heavily involved in writing. Following her studies at Northwestern University and the American Academy of Art, she worked as a portrait artist. She started writing regularly after she joined a local writers group and took an additional writing workshop at Northwestern University. The professor brought in published authors at the end of the semester, and the experience encouraged Russ to become a writer.  “The challenge of learning to write has been so rewarding in many ways,” Russ said. “I love every part of it. I do it every day now.”  Prior to winning the James Jones competition, Russ’s manuscript won first place in the Novel-in-Progress category of the William FaulknerWilliam Wisdom Writing Creative Writing Competition of 2008.  Her second novel will focus on Sam, a secondary character in After Paradise who is a Vietnam War veteran, suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The novel is in the prewriting stages. She is also still revising After Paradise.   Russ also volunteers in a literacy program for young children, The Canine Reading Buddies. Once a month, she and Cami, her German Shepherd, meet with children at a library where the children enjoy reading to Russ and her dog.The submission deadline for entries is �March 1 of each year. The runner-up winners of the James Jones competition were Michael Schiavone, of Gloucester, Mass., for his manuscript Call Me When You Land, and Christine Wade, of New York, for her manuscript Seven Locks. They were each awarded $750.  The James Jones Fellowship was established in 1992 to “honor the spirit of unblinking honesty, determination, and insight into modern culture as exemplified by (the writings of) James Jones.” Requests for guidelines should be sent, along with a stamped, self-address envelope, to James Jones First Novel Fellowship, c/o The Graduate Creative Writing Department, Wilkes University, 84 West South Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766, or via e-mail to jamesjonesfirstnovel@wilkes.edu Jim Warner joins Etruscan Press Jim Warner, Assistant Director of the Graduate Creative Writing Program of Wilkes University, has been named business manager and associate editor of Etruscan Press. Warner, a published poet, said his duties with Etruscan will involve community outreach, managing finances, and organizing the office to ensure it runs more efficiently. The press is Jim Warner, Assistant Director of the Graduate Creative Writing Program at Wilkes housed in the creative writing offices. “I’ve always wanted to be involved in the publishing industry. It’s a new challenge and a new world to me. There’s so much untapped potential here,” Warner said. Etruscan just signed a new three-year contract to remain on campus, and Warner hopes to strengthen the relationship between the university and the press through community outreach projects, including working with the downtown Wilkes-Barre Barnes & Noble to have book launches. The press will also eventually reach out to local high schools to start programs in the arts. Warner made clear that his duties with the creative writing program will still be his top priority, and he described the work he now does with Etruscan as a “part-time job” done off-hours. However, the press is tied into the creative writing program in several ways. Its current graduate assistants are enrolled in the program, and some of Etruscan’s founders and directors also teach in the program, including poet Philip Brady and fiction writer Robert Mooney.  �The press will continue to publish about eight manuscripts a year in the genres of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Etruscan will eventually consider publishing more manuscripts a year, according to Warner. Warner’s own writing has appeared in the poetry journals Drunken Boat, Word Riot, Cause & Effect, and other publications. His first collection of poems, Too Bad It’s Poetry, was published in 2007 by Paper Kite Press, located in Kingston. His follow-up book, Jim Warner’s Second Book, will be published by Paper Kite in December.   Student Profile: Chris Bullard Some of the most well-known poets often balanced their writing with other professions. William Carlos Williams was a doctor. T.S. Elliott was a banker. Chris Bullard, one of the Wilkes University Graduate Creative Writing Program’s most well-published poets, balances his writing with his duties as an administrative judge for the Social Security Administration in Vorhees, N.J. Bullard, who resides in Collingswood, NJ, has had his poetry has been published by some of the most prominent literary journals in the country, including Green Mountains Review, Nimrod, and Atlanta Review. His work is also forthcoming in Rattle, and his chapbook, You Must Not Know Too Much, won the 2009 Plan B Press Chapbook Contest. As a result, Bullard was given a cash award and 50 printed copies of the book. His interest in poetry predates his interest in law. He’s been writing poetry since high school, when he served as the editor of the school’s literary magazine. His influences early on included Edgar Allan Poe and Robert Frost, but his influences broadened when he attended the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia as an undergraduate.  Once he graduated, he knew he had to make a serious decision about his writing career. “At the end of college, I either had to go to writing school or do something else with my life,” he said. “It was easier for me to ask my parents for money for a career in law than for a famous writers’ school.” Bullard added that he also had no interest in becoming an academic, a career for many poets. The world of academia seemed too political to him. But balancing poetry with his law career wasn’t as easy as Bullard had hoped it would be. He stopped writing after law school until he was about 40. “I had reached a point with my poetry where I couldn’t think of anything interesting to do. I also wasn’t in contact with any poets,” he said. �But he eventually started writing again, once his career situation changed and he had more time. He also hired private poetry tutors to strengthen his work. Now, Bullard’s career involves hearing claims of people who believe they are disabled and deserve Social Security funds. But his job has not influenced his work. “I have written I think only one poem about my work, though I have certainly seen the human condition. I pretty much have heard everyone’s beefs with the world.” He became interested in the Wilkes program because he and his wife have a home in the area, and he was impressed by the quality of the faculty. He is now completing his M.F.A. and has expanded his own knowledge of contemporary poetry, due his work with the poetry faculty. “I tend to reread people I like, but the program has definitely brought me up to date,” Bullard said. “When I started working with Christine [Gelineau], she had me read all of these people I had not heard of but have been impressed with.” He recently completed two full-length collections of poems, which he’s been submitting to presses and contests. One of the books is entitled Back and features all formal verse, and the other book, Under Growth, includes the poems from You Must Not Know Too Much and additional work.  Wilkes University Awards Scholarship to Taylor Polites and Richard Fellinger Wilkes University awarded the 2009-2010 Norris Church Mailer Scholarship to fiction writing major Taylor Polites, of Provincetown, Mass. , and the 2009-2010 Beverly Blakeslee Hiscox ’58 Scholarship to fiction writing major Richard Fellinger, of Camp Hill, Pa.  The Norris Church Mailer Scholarship was established in 2004 by Mr. Norman Mailer, husband of the novelist Norris Church Mailer; other friends; and a gift from the estate of the late Gordon Smith. It is awarded annually to a graduate student in the creative writing program who has both artistic promise and financial need. Selection is made by a faculty committee appointed by the director of the creative writing program. The Beverly Blakeslee Hiscox ’58 Scholarship was established by her children with love and affection to honor their mother’s dedicated service to Wilkes University as trustee from 1986 - 2003. First preference is given to a non-traditional student with family responsibilities. �Faculty/Staff Notes Phil Brady’s memoir, By Heart: Reflections of a Rust Belt Bard, was chosen by Foreword Magazine as Essay Book of the Year. Program co-founder and director Bonnie Culver’s play, “The Cell,” and Jean Klein’s play, “The Test,” will run on Nov. 13 and Nov. 14 and Nov. 20 and Nov. 21 at The Venue at 35th in Norfolk, VA. For more info, visit http://www.venue-35.com. Program co-founder and advisory board member J. Michael Lennon’s interview with fellow advisory board member Lawrence Schiller was published in the third issue of The Mailer Review in October. The interview focuses on the origins of Norman Mailer’s Oswald’s Tale, including the successful effort to convince the Russian KGB to reveal their tapes of Lee Harvey Oswald in Minsk in the early 1960s. Two of Christine Gelineau’s poems, “Socanasett” and “Physical,” will be published in the next issue of Paterson Literary Review, and her essay “Cops” will be published in the next issue of Florida Review as a finalist for their 2009 Editors’ Award in Creative Nonfiction. Her next book of poems, Appetite for the Divine, is forthcoming in April from Ashland Poetry Press. Advisory Board Member Colum McCann’s novel, Let the Great World Spin, has been shortlisted for the fiction prize for this year’s National Book Awards. Nancy McKinley’s story, “Yellow Tape,” will appear in the 2010 Main Street Rag Short Fiction Anthology: Coming HomeTheme, and her story, “Goat Meat,” will appear in the 2010 Main Street Rag Short Fiction Anthology: Commute Theme. David Poyer’s novel, The Crisis, will be published on Nov. 8 by St. Martin’s/Macmillian, and his novel, The Weapon, will be published as a soft cover edition on Dec. 1. Neil Shepard has four poems forthcoming in literary journals. “Physician in the Dark” will be published in the Harvard Review, “Pleasant Weather in Cornwall” in North American Review, “If I have to Die, and I Have To” in Notre Dame Review, and “Iced Tea in Deer Isle” in Chautauqua Literary Review. Little Theatre Players will present "Imagine," a short one-act and a triology of new mini-plays by playwright Jan Quackenbush at Broome Community College's Little Theatre, November 20, 21 at 7 p.m. Student/Alumni Notes M.F.A. student Richard Fellinger’s story, “Flashbacks,” has been �accepted for publication by Audience Magazine. It will be the eighth story published from his rust-belt themed collection. M.A. student Patricia Florio’s story, “My Coney Island Baby,” was published by Word Fountain, a literary magazine run out of Ousterhout Free Library in Wilkes-Barre. Alum Andrea Janov, M.A. student Carol MacAllister, and M.F.A. student Brian Fanelli have poems forthcoming in the December issue of Chiron Review. Alum Dawn Leas’ poetry chapbook, I Know When to Keep Quiet, was accepted for publication by Finishing Line Press. M.A. student Gale Martin received a Pushcart Prize nomination from The Greensilk Journal for a short story published in spring of 2009 entitled “On Hens and Elephants and Being like Them.” M.A. student Dara Morowa Yejide Madzimoyo’s story, “Agnes,” was published in the September issue of Adiorondack Review, and her poem, “Your Grave,” will be published in the autumn/winter edition of Zócalo Press’ "Age" chapbook series.           Quick Links Career Development Campus Safety and Internships Centers & Institutes Online Programs Online Nursing Make A Gift �Programs E.S. Farley Library Human Resources Jobs at Wilkes Offices & Administration Accessibility Statement Financial Aid Adobe Acrobat® Reader Registrar's Office Finance Office Investor Relations Student Work Study Jobs Veterans Services Visit Quick Links Schedule a Visit Parking Information Virtual Tour Campus Map 84 West South Street Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 1-800-WILKES-U Contact Us Wilkes University © �e © d c f � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Revise This! November 2009 - Wilkes University.pdf https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/16e5d326fd8fce02e7e9f7b7013066d4.pdf bf579a36af879ea6a047c0e9fffd30aa PDF Text Text About Wilkes Home n Graduate Academics Academics n Graduate Admission & Aid Graduate Programs n Graduate Life Master's Degree Programs About Our Students n n The Arts Creative Writing MA/MFA Revise This! n Archives Revise This - November 2015 Revise This!   |   November 2015 Revise This! Archives As the end of the year approaches, we reflect on many of the accomplishments of the Creative Writing program’s faculty, alumni, and current students. Several significant 2015 events include the anniversary of the program’s 2017 2018 tenth year, which was celebrated throughout the June residency. In Revise This! - October, alum Marlon James, MA ’06 was awarded the Man Booker November 2019 Prize for his award-wining novel A Brief History of Seven Killings (see alum note). In November we presented the Second Annual Arizona Writer’s Conference in Mesa, featuring publisher, editor, and agent panels, screenwriters pitch sessions, workshops, readings, and a poetry slam. We also added eight testimonial videos to our website featuring alums and faculty discussing their impressions of our program. Q&A with Jean Klein – Wilkes Playwriting Faculty Interview with faculty Susan Cartsonis, Producer and President of Revise This! Archives n 2015 n n �Storefront Pictures Marlon James, MA ’06, Wins Man Booker Prize for A Brief History of Seven Killings Faculty Notes The Wilkes Readers Theatre Group at the Norman Mailer Society The Second Annual Arizona Writer’s Conference Student/Alum Notes Q&A with Jean Klein – Wilkes Playwriting Faculty Jean Klein has created a new publishing/distribution company called Blue Moon Plays—which focuses on family oriented plays that have a place in schools. A sister website, Once in a Blue Moon Plays, will seek plays that have had their premieres and are now looking for more traction, Jean talks about these two new endeavors as well as other interests for the stage. What was your mindset in creating Blue Moon Plays? I had another publishing company for about ten years that sold primarily plays that were appropriate to schools and families. An emphasis on teens and seniors was another one of our bigger sellers. There are a lot of senior groups out there now. I wanted to go in a different direction.  With Blue Moon Plays, I wanted to focus on new plays of two kinds: one was the new play that probably wasn’t getting the traction it should—most people don’t know that it’s harder to get the second or third production of a play than it is the first. They call it first light, second light, third light and so on. And a lot of theaters now are just clamoring to get the premiere or the world premiere and after that, well, we’re not so interested in the second one. For a play to get a second and third light, even after a couple of good runs, like Bonnie Culver’s “Sniper” for example—it’s been off-Broadway, got good reviews, it was in LA and in a couple of other theaters—I’m looking for plays like hers.  New plays that are edgy and that tackle topics that are a little risky. Or that are interesting in terms of the way the writer has used the stage. They’re just a little bit unusual or different. Plays that are staged differently, uniquely make different use of the stage, and/or �deal with topics that are currently difficult to deal with that are touchy and edgy.  What got you into playwriting?  Actually, my degrees are in fiction. I have an MA and an MFA from the Writer’s Workshop at Iowa. My undergraduate degree was at Carnegie Mellon and I had dabbled a little with radio plays when I was in junior high and high school. Then I went to Carnegie Mellon and of course they have an amazing drama department. Their playwriting department then was not quite as well connected as it is today, but they were cool. I was at Iowa for two and a half years getting my MA at the writer’s workshop and I was taking playwriting at the same time. I found my very real mentor, Howard Stein, who was also oddly, [Wilkes Creative Writing faculty] Greg Fletcher’s mentor years later at Columbia.  So that’s the background between Greg and me. We both had the same mentor. I clicked with him and he kind of stayed my mentor for the rest of my life, actually.  And I just stayed a playwright. It just became my love. I’m a little bit of an introvert, and I find writing can be very lonely. What I found in the theater is that I can find a lot of people who were willing—actors and directors—who were willing to sit down and read through my plays with me and make comments and it became much more of a community activity. The joy in writing for me is not so much seeing something produced. It’s fun and nice to see them produced but it doesn’t give me that kick. What gives me the kick is sitting at a reading of a play, realizing there’s something just not quite right, with the scene or an act, and then suddenly having it all come into focus and saying, “Oh, I know what it is -I know what to do!” That to me is the joy. That very moment when I say, “I can fix that.” And that’s the kick I get as a teacher, when I see that happen to somebody else. I think what the basis for my interest in at least getting a forum for new plays that haven’t “hit” yet, but that have the merit and should be done. How do you find the plays? I tend to rely, especially for Once in a Blue Moon Plays, on playwrights whom I know or know of. For Once in a Blue Moon Plays I’m only looking for full length. One Acts are really hard to sell. Long one acts that run about 90 minutes are fine. If you are interested in what Jean Klein has to offer, visit BlueMoonPlays.com. Its sister site, Once in a Blue Moon Plays will be up later this month. – Interview by Dale Louise Mervine �Interview with faculty Susan Cartsonis, Producer and President of Storefront Pictures How did Storefront Pictures come to be?   I’d been a studio exec and I’d built a film company for three highly successful television show creators.  When they decided abruptly to close their doors for personal reasons, I thought, I need to start my own company. When I looked at my own body of work and what my creative and business instincts tell me to make, it is always films from a female perspective. It turns out that this demographic, who largely drive the movie business, are grossly underserved. What were some of the struggles in the beginning? You had a history in filmmaking, so were you able to utilize some of your contacts, or did people sit back and see how you would do? Being a producer is always a struggle. It’s a relationship business so yes, I’ve leaned heavily and will always lean heavily on relationships. In film, as in raising a child, “It Takes a Village” as Hillary Clinton says. People STILL sit back to see how I will do. Your success serves to pave the way for you for about 30 seconds, and then you have to prove yourself again! Women in film (all aspects) has been a hot topic of late. I’ve seen you involved in many conversations, interviews, and panels where the charge for more women in film has been trumpeted. How have changes progressed since Storefront opened or even since you first entered the industry?  There’s a consciousness now that didn’t exist then. Geena Davis is working tirelessly through her Gender in Media institute to help create that consciousness. But the disparity in opportunity and the ridiculousness of Hollywood leaving money on the table still exists.   Some of the research I’ve done shows some increases in females working in film, but you’re there on the inside—have you seen it yet?    �There are, sadly, few increases. At the same time women are pushing for change in Hollywood, so too are LGTBQ supporters.  Do you see these groups working hand in hand to bring about more diversity?  Same with women of color, or even men of color—too often films still use “stock” actors to portray diverse characters.   I believe that where women lead, all diversity follows. In general, of course. We are, either by acculturation or genetically more about the good of the whole than individual achievement (part of the reason there are more female producers than directors), more about inclusion, and generally more about diversity—perhaps also because we are a majority yet treated as a minority. Would these groups working together affect change more rapidly, or do you think there is still enough push-back that “one at a time” makes more sense?   Gender and race rights have always been closely linked. Advances in one area support the other.  Everyone has both race and gender. Certainly any artist or filmmaker has a HUGE task in getting a movie made and might have to keep their focus on one cause above others, but anyone with a brain can see that race/gender/diversity inclusion rights are ALL linked. Ideally our work on the screen as well as through activism becomes a reflection of the change that we want to make.   What is the most satisfying part of production? Least satisfying? And what is involved in “prepping” a film? I say that production (which is physically rigorous) is the punishment for being good at development. I am so busy prepping two films right now that I seriously don’t have time to list all the things entailed in prepping a film.  I saw in an interview that you said you are a very visual person and if you can’t visualize the screenplay as you're reading, then you don’t think it’ll work as a film.  Is there one aspect of a screenplay, however, that strikes you when you’re reading? If I’m moved. Either to laugh, cry, or feel something deeply. Even if the material is flawed, if it moves something in me, I believe that it will reach other people and I’m moved to make it happen. Because I do believe we are all linked and if we can find that commonality in moments and themes between us, even in stories that seem incredibly unique, we can reach each other through the creative work that we do. �What is your advice to young screenwriters? Write something that entertains YOU. Interview by Dale Louise Mervine. Residing in York, Pennsylvania, Dale Louise is still trying to figure out what she wants to be when she grows up.  She’s the owner of Semicolon Creative, which only proves there is no vetting process for start-ups. Marlon James, MA ’06, Wins Man Booker Prize for A Brief History of Seven Killings On Tuesday, October 13, 2015, a wave of excitement rippled throughout Wilkes University. The prize had just been announced, and Wilkes alum Marlon James, MA ‘06, had just won the Man Booker Prize—a prestigious prize awarded each year for the best original novel written in the English language.    James was part of the first Creative Writing cohort and one of the first graduates of the MA class of 2006. His thesis became his second published novel, The Book of Night Women, in 2010.  That novel was preceded by John Crow’s Devil, published by Akashic Books soon after James began the Creative Writing program. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1970, James was always interested in the history and people of that country. A Brief History of Seven Killings is an epic story told as an oral history in many voices. In December 1976, armed men stormed the home of musician Bob Marley, wounding him, his wife, and several others. This is the starting point of James’ look at the dark times in Jamaica through the 1970s, ‘80s, and into the 1990s.  Michael Wood, this year’s chair of the Man Booker Prize said, “It’s a crime novel that moves beyond the world of crime and takes us deep into a recent history we know far too little about.”  Congratulations, Marlon! Faculty Notes �Program Director Bonnie Culver was re-elected to the Association of Writers and Writing Program (“AWP”) Board of Trustees for another 4year term. She was also elected as Chair of the Board. Faculty member Beverly Donofrio had an essay, "Riding with the Top Down," published in the anthology, Shades of Blue: writers on depression, suicide, and feeling blue, edited by Amy Ferris for Seal Press, October 2015.  Faculty member J. Michael Lennon’s review of the new Gore Vidal biography by Scranton native Jay Parini, Every Time a Friend Succeeds, Something in Me Dies (Doubleday), appeared in the October 16 issue of the (London) Times Literary Supplement. His review of Kevin Oderman’s Cannot Stay: Essays on Travel (Etruscan Press) appeared in the October issue of Hippocampus Magazine. Faculty member and MFA alum Lori A. May‘s co-edited book, Creative Composition: Inspiration and Techniques for Writing Instruction, is now available from Multilingual Matters. She will be at the NonfictioNOW conference in Flagstaff, AZ, this fall, and will be on a panel about book marketing at AWP 2016 in Los Angeles. Lori has recently been awarded a project grant from 4Culture, a Washington state arts organization.   Faculty member David Poyer just found out he was published in SerboCroatian in 1981 . . . in a collection which included an unauthorized reprint of his short story, "If You Can Fill the Unforgiving Minute," translated as "Possljednja Utrka" by Aleksandar Gvoić. Pirated in Yugoslavia during the Cold War . . . he says “guess I'll take that as a compliment, all things considered . . . interesting cover for the collection. They never sent me a copy. . . .”  Faculty member David Poyer’s forthcoming novel Tipping Point (St Martin’s, December) was reviewed in Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, and Quarterdeck Magazine.  Reviews below: “In Poyer's engrossing 15th Dan Lenson novel (after 2014's Cruiser), the skipper of the USS Savo Island faces challenges as old as those confronted by Horatio Hornblower and as new as the latest military sexual harassment charge…this series sets the standard for naval action thrillers.” – Publisher’s Weekly “A hair-raising yarn of the sea and a U.S. Navy cruiser on the cusp of war... First-class storytelling by a master of the genre.” – Kirkus Reviews “Crisp prose, punctuated with authentic operational naval details, create a page-flipping thriller. David Poyer continues his run as a master of modern naval fiction.” – Quarterdeck Magazine  �The Wilkes Readers Theatre Group at the Norman Mailer Society Presented a marathon reading of Tough Guys Don’t Dance October 1 and 2. The reading lasted 11 hours over two days at locales in Provincetown that served as settings in Mailer’s novel. Readers included Creative Writing faculty, alum, and current students: Bonnie Culver, Matthew Hinton, Ross Klavan, Carol Lavelle, Dale Louise Mervine, Jan Quackenbush, Bill Schneider, and Ken Vose. The Second Annual Arizona Writer’s Conference Was held at the Mesa Center for Higher Education on November 13 and 14. Featuring publisher, editor, and agent panels, screenwriters pitch sessions, workshops, readings, and a poetry slam, several Creative Writing faculty participated, including Phil Brady, Bonnie Culver, Beverly Donofrio, Ross Klavan, Jeff Talarigo, Richard Uhlig, and agent Albert LaFarge. Student/Alum Notes MA student Jeremiah Blue was recently asked to do a TEDx Talk on the convergence of slam poetry and social justice. He and his partner in the talk created a multi-media presentation, filming and showing his first official spoken word video, which they mixed with a live lecture on key foundations of advocating for social justice issues through art and performance/spoken word poetry. The presentation took place in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, October 24th and the video can be seen at www.jeremiahblue.com. Kait Burrier, MFA ’14 recently launched Sweet Nothings, a creative writing open mic series co-hosted by Andi Talarico in Manhattan's Lower East Side. In September, Kait served as curator of TheThePoetry's Poem of the Week feature. She also looks forward to returning as a guest editor for the 2015 Winter Issue of River & South Review. In November, Kait will feature at The Plunge NYC. More recent readings include Prose in Pubs, �Brooklyn Poets, At the Inkwell, Salon Lucero, Great Weather for Media's Spoken Word Sundays, the Watershed Reading Series, and the NYC Poetry Festival.  Brian Fanelli, MFA ’10 successfully defended his PhD dissertation on Monday, November 16.  His dissertation included a poetry collection entitled, Waiting for the Dead to Speak.  Fanelli’s new collection will be published by New York Quarterly Books. Congratulations to Dr. Fanelli, who joins former Binghamton PhD alums— Phil Brady, Bonnie Culver, Christine Gelineau, Nancy McKinley, and Robert Mooney. Fanelli’s poem, "Trying to Call Forth a Ghost," was published online by The Kentucky Review. The poem will also appear in the annual print addition in January. His poem, "What Our Cat Teaches Me in Dreams," was accepted for publication in Stone Canoe, and another poem, "Immigrant Names," was a finalist for the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Prize and will appear in The Paterson Literary Review in summer 2016. TheThePoetry and [PANK] recently published book reviews Fanelli authored, and in October, he read as part of a panel entitled "The Next Generation of Italian American Poets" at the Italian American Studies Conference in Washington, D.C. Patricia Florio, MFA ‘11 was featured in an article from Rutgers University Continuing Education News Center, “Where were you at 62? Court reporter finds her own words through Rutgers degree earned off campus.” bit.ly/1j9nAZq  MA student Jeffrey Ford will have three film critiques published in an upcoming issue of SCREEM Magazine. SCREEM #31 can be purchased at Barnes & Noble or through the publication's official website: www.screemag.com Tyler Grimm, MFA ‘13 will be giving two public presentations in the next few months: Fight Off Your Demons: Creative Writing as Therapy on November 6 and True Life: The Working Writer on February 19, both at Elizabethtown College where he is a faculty member. Tyler also recently published a short story he wrote while at Wilkes, Green Bean Casserole, in Vox Magazine. Monique Antonette Lewis, MFA ‘12 has expanded her reading series At The Inkwell to San Francisco. The series is now bi-coastal, including New York City. She plans to launch another series in Denver and Seattle by Spring 2016. Founded in 2013, At The Inkwell supports published authors through book reviews, readings, and feature articles.  Donna R. Malies, MA ’11 wrote her one act play "Marriage, Men, Menopause – No Laughing Matter" for the Pensacola 24 Hour Theatre on October 17, 2015.  As the name implies, the play was written and �produced in the span of 24 hours.  MA student Michael Mortimer wrote, directed, and edited a movie, In the Dark, in 2005 that has finally found release. The footage, lost for many years, was recently discovered in an attic somewhere. The ghost story can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfcxCBDp8go Linda Minh Chau Nguyen, MFA ’14 is a Narrative Development Tester at Ubisoft Montreal, working on Far Cry Primal, an upcoming actionadventure video game set to be released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on February 23, 2016. The trailer can be seen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ2iH57Fs3M https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_Cry_Primal  Rachel Luann Strayer, MFA ’12 will have her full-length play Drowning Ophelia produced by Gaslight Theatre Company in Scranton, PA, at the end of January. Rachel has had four of her ten-minute plays produced by Gaslight.  Donna Talarico, MFA ‘10 presented a 3.5 hour pre-conference intensive workshop called "Words, Words, Words" at the Higher Education Web Professionals annual conference in October, held this year in Milwaukee, WI. This was her fifth consecutive year presenting at this event, this time moving from a 45-minute track session to a more in-depth workshop. Talarico also served on the conference committee this year in a communications role. She presented a shorter version of "Words, Words, Words" at the 2015 Northeast PA Blog Conference (better known as NEPA BlogCon) in September. Additionally, she was part of a nonfiction panel and editor speed-dating session at Philadelphia Stories' 2015 Push to Publish Conference October 10, and presented a session on personal branding at Moore College of Art and Design's Leadership Conference for Women in the Arts on October 17. She loves nothing more than combining words and business.  Quick Links Career Development Campus Safety and Internships Centers & Institutes Online Programs Online Nursing Make A Gift �Programs E.S. Farley Library Human Resources Jobs at Wilkes Offices & Administration Accessibility Statement Financial Aid Adobe Acrobat® Reader Registrar's Office Finance Office Investor Relations Student Work Study Jobs Veterans Services Visit Quick Links Schedule a Visit Parking Information Virtual Tour Campus Map 84 West South Street Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 1-800-WILKES-U Contact Us Wilkes University © �e © d c f � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Revise This! November 2015 - Wilkes University.pdf https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/6801cc018c2ff80dbc4171fe51d7d4d5.pdf 580c47e569d972475d3735dbf2020023 PDF Text Text Revise This - October 2010 - Wilkes University About Wilkes Home n Graduate Academics Academics n Graduate Admission & Aid Graduate Programs n Graduate Life Master's Degree Programs About Our Students n n The Arts Creative Writing MA/MFA Revise This! n Archives n 2010 n n Revise This - October 2010   Revise This! 2017 2018 Revise This! November 2019 REVISE THIS ARCHIVES Contents: Revise This! Archives Colum McCann Wins National Book Award | Marlon James Named Finalist for National Book Critics Circle Award Cecilia Galante Joins Creative Writing Faculty | Page To Stage Faculty Notes | Student Notes  Colum McCann Wins National Book Award https://www.wilkes.edu/...masters-programs/creative-writing-ma-mfa/about-our-students/revise-this/archives/2010/revise-this-october-2010.aspx[3/2/21, 9:54:32 AM] �Revise This - October 2010 - Wilkes University Colum McCann, winner National Book Award Colum McCann, a member of the advisory board for the Wilkes University Graduate Creative Writing Program, has won the National Book Award for his novel Let the Great World Spin. The award was presented on Nov. 18 in New York City. The award – considered one of literature’s most prestigious – is presented in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and young people’s literature. As a member of the Wilkes creative writing program’s advisory board, McCann has provided input on course content and curriculum, performed readings from his work at its residencies, and been a thesis reader for degree candidates in the program. Let The Great World Spin takes place in August 1974, when a mysterious tightrope walker is running, dancing, leaping between the Twin Towers, a quarter mile above the ground. It chronicles the lives of a group of New Yorkers, weaving their separate stories against the backdrop of the tightrope walker’s feat. Some of McCann’s other novels include Zoli, Dancer, and This Side of Brightness. His fiction has been published in 30 languages and has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, GQ, Paris Review, Bomb and other places. He has written for numerous publications including The Irish Times, Die Zeit, La Republicca, Paris Match, The New York Times, the Guardian and the Independent. In 2003 he was named Esquire magazine's "Writer of the Year." Other awards and honors include a Pushcart Prize, the Rooney Prize, the Hennessy Award for Irish Literature, the Irish Independent Hughes and Hughes/Sunday Independent Novel of the Year 2003, and the 2002 Ireland Fund of Monaco Princess Grace Memorial Literary Award. His short film, “Everything in this Country Must,” directed by Gary McKendry, was nominated for a 2005 Academy Award. McCann lives in New York City, where he teaches creative writing at Hunter College. The mission of the National Book Foundation and the National Book Awards is to celebrate the best of American literature, expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of good writing in America. Marlon James Named Finalist for National Book Critics Circle Award https://www.wilkes.edu/...masters-programs/creative-writing-ma-mfa/about-our-students/revise-this/archives/2010/revise-this-october-2010.aspx[3/2/21, 9:54:32 AM] �Revise This - October 2010 - Wilkes University Marlon James, Finalist for National Book Critics Circle Award in fiction Marlon James’ novel The Book of Night Women was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award in fiction by the National Book Critics Circle. The finalists were announced in January, and the winners were announced on March 11.  Other finalists included memoir writer Mary Karr, former U.S. poet laureate Louise Glück, and former National Book Award winner William T. Vollmann. The other fiction nominees included Hilary Mantel, Jayne Anne Phillips, and Michelle Huneven. Mantel won the fiction category for her novel Wolf Hall. The National Book Critics Circle, founded in 1974, is a nonprofit organization with around 600 members, "book reviewers who are interested in honoring quality writing and communicating with one another about common concerns." James worked on The Book of Night Women while he was enrolled in the creative writing program. He also teaches at Macalester College in Minnesota. Cecilia Galante Joins Creative Writing Faculty Cecilia Galante, newest member of Creative Writing Faculty Young adult novelist Cecilia Galante has joined the faculty of the Graduate Creative Writing Program. She is the author of five young adult novels. Her first, The Patron Saint of https://www.wilkes.edu/...masters-programs/creative-writing-ma-mfa/about-our-students/revise-this/archives/2010/revise-this-october-2010.aspx[3/2/21, 9:54:32 AM] �Revise This - October 2010 - Wilkes University Butterflies, was selected as a Young Adult Book of the Year by the Northeast Independent Booksellers Association, a Top Ten Pick for 2008 by Amazon, and a Recommended Read for Teens on Oprah's website. Another one of her books, Hershey Herself, will be translated into Polish in 2010. Her other novels include Willowood, and The Sweetness of Salt, which will be published in 2011. She has BA from King’s College and an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College. Her first interactions with the faculty and students came in January when she attended the residency. “It was thrilling. I had no idea that I was going to be among such a crowd of intellectuals and have peers that are so successful,” she said. Galante is no stranger to teaching. She spent years teaching high school English in the Wilkes-Barre area, though she is currently on sabbatical. But when it comes to teaching in the Graduate Creative Writing Program, she plans to use what she learned as a graduate student at Goddard. “I’m trying to borrow more from my experience as a student. My teachers at Goddard were incredibly supportive and astute,” she said.  “I’ve been able to draw from that experience and insert criticism in a way that doesn’t kill the spirit.” Besides teaching, Galante is also hard at work on her first adult novel, and the process has not always been easy. “It’s been incredibly daunting. For young adult, you’re allowed to write more simply and straightforward,” she said. “So, I was getting caught up in sounding like an adult and  sounding smart enough.” Galante added that the process has been easier lately, and she’s confident the book will stand on its own. She has to submit a manuscript by the end of April. Though this will be Galante’s first adult novel, she admitted that she was not initially attracted to the young adult genre. “I wasn’t even familiar there was a YA genre when I wrote my first book, The Patron Saint of Butterflies. My agent said we were going to market it as young adult, and I was devastated. I didn’t think it was young adult,” she said. “I sat back and waited, and she was right. It became a successful young adult book and a crossover book. It appeals to adults and young adults at the same time.” Bonnie Culver Helps Area High School Students Take Writen Work from "Page to Stage" https://www.wilkes.edu/...masters-programs/creative-writing-ma-mfa/about-our-students/revise-this/archives/2010/revise-this-october-2010.aspx[3/2/21, 9:54:32 AM] �Revise This - October 2010 - Wilkes University Bonnie Culver Students in four northeast Pennsylvania school districts have a chance to become playwrights in a special program being piloted by Bonnie Culver, director of the Graduate Creative Writing Program. Culver worked with two graduate students, Sarah Pugh and Cory Brin, on a master of fine arts project developing a pilot program, “Page to Stage.” Culver is working as guest artist in four high schools – Hanover Area, Hazleton, Tunkhannock and Wyoming Valley West  – to teach basic elements of playwriting to students. Culver was in the schools Tuesdays and Wednesdays from Feb. 2 to March 25. Each student presented a 10-minute play. One or two plays from each school will be chosen to be presented at the Fine Arts Fiesta in May. Wilkes University’s long-term goal is to replicate this with fiction, poetry, film, and nonfiction with creative writing students and faculty serving as guest artists in area schools with a final arts festival on campus. Faculty/Staff Notes Christine Gelineau’s essay “Cops” was published in the winter issue of The Florida Review as a runner up in their Editors’ Award in Nonfiction. Rashidah Ismaili Abu-Bakr’s poetry was published in Bending the Bow, a collection of love poems from Africa, published by Southern Illinois Press. Sara Pritchard's story "Sip the Wine" was published in Vol. 76, No. 1 of New Letters (Dec. 2009). Her story "Two Studies in Entropy" won a Pushcart Prize and is included in the 2010 PUSHCART PRIZE XXXIV BEST OF THE SMALL PRESSES anthology, and her story "Help Wanted: Female" is forthcoming in Vol. 6 (2010) of The Tusculum Review. Sara will be reading at the River Festival of Books in Huntington, West Virginia, on Friday, April 16, 2010.   Student/Alumni Notes https://www.wilkes.edu/...masters-programs/creative-writing-ma-mfa/about-our-students/revise-this/archives/2010/revise-this-october-2010.aspx[3/2/21, 9:54:32 AM] �Revise This - October 2010 - Wilkes University M.A. student Amy Archer had part of her memoir entitled “Bad Connection” published in the December issue of the Journal of Truth and Consequences. M.A. student Cindy Dlugolecki’s play, “Violet Oakley Unveiled,” was showcased at Villanova University on Thursday, March 18. The onewoman show helped celebrate Women’s History Month. Violet Oakley was the first woman in art history to paint murals in a public building, and her home and studio were only a few miles from Villanova’s campus, according to Dlugolecki. Dlugolecki, the actress, director, and tech team were also the guest of five different departments at Villanova, including Women and Gender Studies, History, and Art. M.F.A. student Brian Fanelli’s poem “Freshman Year” was published in the February issue of My Favorite Bullet. http://www.interiornoisepress.com/0010_FANELLI_FreshmanYear.html, and his poems “In a Club’s Cracked Mirror” and “Why I Said No” were published in the March issue of Word Riot http://www.wordriot.org/archives/976. Alum Pete Kaszyk’s short story, “You’re Not My Father,” was accepted for publication by Kerlak Publishing for inclusion in its WTF Anthologies edition. Publication date is pending. M.A. student Kimberly Loomis-Bennet’s poem, “It Is Sweet and Decorous To Be Poor in One’s Country,” was published in the Winter 2010 issue of The November 3rd Club. http://www.november3rdclub.com/2010/02-2010/poetry/loomisbennett.html     Quick Links Career Development Campus Safety and Internships Centers & Institutes Online Programs E.S. Farley Library Make A Gift Online Nursing Programs https://www.wilkes.edu/...masters-programs/creative-writing-ma-mfa/about-our-students/revise-this/archives/2010/revise-this-october-2010.aspx[3/2/21, 9:54:32 AM] �Revise This - October 2010 - Wilkes University Human Resources Jobs at Wilkes Offices & Administration Accessibility Statement Financial Aid Adobe Acrobat® Reader Registrar's Office Finance Office Investor Relations Student Work Study Jobs Veterans Services Visit Quick Links Schedule a Visit Parking Information Virtual Tour Campus Map 84 West South Street Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 1-800-WILKES-U Contact Us Wilkes University © e d c f https://www.wilkes.edu/...masters-programs/creative-writing-ma-mfa/about-our-students/revise-this/archives/2010/revise-this-october-2010.aspx[3/2/21, 9:54:32 AM] �Revise This - October 2010 - Wilkes University © https://www.wilkes.edu/...masters-programs/creative-writing-ma-mfa/about-our-students/revise-this/archives/2010/revise-this-october-2010.aspx[3/2/21, 9:54:32 AM] � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Revise This! October 2010 - Wilkes University.pdf https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/9d2c968b5ed45f0cabbc85a77b4b8636.pdf 796d84057c60f4333184f7b3c03193a5 PDF Text Text About Wilkes Home n Graduate Academics Academics n Graduate Admission & Aid Graduate Programs n Graduate Life Master's Degree Programs About Our Students n n The Arts Creative Writing MA/MFA Revise This! n Archives n 2013 Revise This - October 2013 Revise This! Revise This! 2017 2018 Revise This! November 2019 Revise This!   |   October 2013                                                Revise This Archives Revise This! Archives Mailer Biography by J. Michael Lennon | Laura Moran Makes National Strides Michael Mailer Film at Cannes | Drowning Ophelia | Announcements | Awards Faculty/Staff Notes | Student/Alumni Notes   Mailer Biography by J. Michael Lennon Now Available Faculty and advisory board member J. Michael Lennon offers a definitive portrait of literary legend Norman Mailer in his highly anticipated biography, Norman Mailer: A Double Life (Simon & Schuster). As Mailer’s archivist, executor, and family friend, Lennon had unlimited access to the late author’s Related Links Calendars & Schedules Campus Map Centers for Excellence Faculty Publications Graduate Bulletin (.pdf) Graduate Bulletin Online Graduate Student Handbook Library Office of the Registrar Online Learning Professional Pharmacy Application School of Nursing - Graduate Program Student Handbook Schools, Departments, Divisions n n �papers, letters, and other personal documents. Lennon also interviewed more than eighty individuals and the result is a 947page biography. While Mailer is a literary legend and model for many, he was also a complicated and controversial figure. In a recent interview, Lennon touched on Mailer’s multiple identities: “Mailer could see reality only as a series of oppositions. Everybody and everything, all phenomena, is twinned. All of his own identities—rifleman, novelist, filmmaker, political activist, family man, womanizer, journalist, and so on—had a double. Doubleness was his tool for understanding people, politics, nature, the universe even,” Lennon said. “What makes it more fascinating is that each twin has a minority within. Monsters have an enclave of virtue, and the converse is true for saints.” To prepare for this biography, Lennon conducted daily interviews during the last year of Mailer’s life. He also culled information from more than 45,000 letters, and spent time with Mailer’s family, friends, and colleagues. The final book reveals Mailer’s sources and influences for each of his major works, as well as his state of mind at every critical point in his life and career.   Alum Laura Moran Makes National Strides M.F.A alum Laura Moran was invited to attend the Kennedy Center National Seminar for Teaching Artists in August, 2013. Laura was one of thirty artists invited to participate, thanks to her interest in designing extended residencies in schools.“It was an honor to attend,” Moran said. “The Kennedy Center teaching artist materials have evolved my practices and are crucial to securing new residencies and integrating arts into the new common core curriculum.” Moran’s experiences at the Kennedy Center prompted her and Thomas �Bosket, a professor at Parsons School of Design Arts, to found a new business, B-Trads: Teaching Artists Alliance. B-Trads, or Beautiful Traditions, “sprouted from our awareness of a need to balance tradition and innovation through creative interaction; to connect disciplined learning to heart-based needs in support of Balance; to allow discovery and expression of all that makes us human—without censure— in order to find that Balance. True teaching provides opportunity for epiphany. Effective teachers provide those opportunities, but we also intentionally notice them, actively acknowledge them, and consciously engage students in reflection and celebration of their discoveries.” With a select corps of teaching artists, Moran and Bosket will offer workshops and residencies to K-12 schools, adult learners, businesses, organizations, and communities. “Our first teaching opportunity was a partnership with the Upper Delaware River National Park Service in Lackawaxen, PA this past summer. We offered three workshops for adults and two for children—a huge success—which has resulted in plans for the 2014 season. We will also be working with the Delaware Highlands Conservancy to develop eco-arts educational materials.” Lauran Moran graduated with an M.F.A. in 2012. She received the 2011 Beverly Hiscox Scholarship and gratefully acknowledges the support and encouragement she received during her time at Wilkes. Michael Mailer Film at Cannes Faculty member Michael Mailer, producer of more than twenty feature films, recently returned from the Cannes Film Festival where his film Seduced and Abandoned premiered. “It was an exciting time walking the red carpet,” Mailer said. The film stars Alec Baldwin and James Toback. “Seduced and Abandoned is a nonfiction film, part mediation on film and the filmmaking process consisting of interviews of film legends such as Polanski, Bertolucci, Scorcese, Copola, and part adventure tale following the ups and downs of Alec Baldwin and James Toback as they attempt to set up a remake of Last Tango in Paris (but this one is set in Iraq called Last Tango in Tikrit) at the Cannes Film Festival,” Mailer said. HBO bought the film for US distribution and will be airing it this fall. Mailer is currently working on a new picture in Louisiana. San Francisco Production for Playwriting Alum �Drowning Ophelia , a play by M.F.A. alum Rachel Strayer, will be onstage October and November at Repurposed Theatre in San Francisco. The full-length play explores the nature of abuse and forgiveness. “I’ve been really blessed by how much the director, Ellery Schaar, has included me in this process,” Strayer says. “Since the production is happening in San Francisco and I live in Pennsylvania, I have not had the privilege to attend a rehearsal. However, Ellery has kept me involved all the way. During the auditions she emailed me the headshots and resumes of the actors she called back, calling me once to discuss who she was looking at and then again to discuss who she was planning to cast and why.” Strayer says she stays in touch with Ellery on a regular basis. “She often sends me pictures through text or email, showing me the theatre space, costumes, the very important bathtub set piece, and even candids from a promotional photo shoot. While Ellery has final say in all the decisions, she has made it abundantly clear that my input is very important to her. Even with the show happening across the country, I feel as though I am an integral part of the production. I could not have asked for a better experience.” The Wilkes alum and her husband, Jonathon, will attend all three of the opening weekend productions. She has also been invited to do a “playwright talkback” after each performance. Strayer graduated in 2012 and worked with mentor Juanita Rockwell.       Announcements New Program Tracks and Updates: Ever thought you wanted to start your own press, e-zine, or literary journal? Thanks to the initiative of Akashic Books editor Johnny Temple and Etruscan’s founding editor Phil Brady, alums and current students now have the option of pursuing a Master of Arts in Publishing! This new track opened at the June 2013 residency. Wilkes alums need only take only an additional 18 credits to earn the M.A. in publishing. �Have you found the world of documentary film fascinating? We have also added a Master of Arts in documentary film, which will begin in 2014. Like the new publishing degree, alums need only take an additional 18 credits to earn this degree. The curriculum is being developed now with Robert May, SenArt Films, and others. Due to student requests, all M.A. graduates will have their area of study on their diploma, beginning with the fall graduation. For example, if you complete a screenplay for your thesis, your diploma will now read: “Master of Arts in Creative Writing specializing in screenwriting.” Beforehand, all diplomas simply read, “Master of Arts in Creative Writing.” Should you wish to return to Wilkes and specialize in another area of study, you need only take the last 18 credit hours to earn a second M.A. For more information on any of these new possibilities or to apply to any of the newly revised program tracks, please email or call Dr. Culver or Ms. Dawn Leas. Etruscan Press has great news. Diane Raptosh’s American Amnesia is one of ten poetry books on the long list for the 2013 National Book Awards. This is the fourth Etruscan book to make the long list. Akashic Books has made Flavorwire’s list of “25 Independent Presses That Prove This is the Golden age of Indie Publishing.” In its description of why the press deserved such recognition, Flavorwire says Akashic is “the ultimate indie.” River & South Review , our new student-run literary journal, has launched. The editorial team is derived of current students in the M.A. and M.F.A. Wilkes writing programs. The launch issue debuted in Summer 2013 and the Winter issue is scheduled for publication in December. Each issue features poetry, fiction, and nonfiction—as selected by student editors—and special theme issues will include additional genres. The journal website is hosted at http://riverandsouth.blogspot.com.   Awards Awards were presented during the recent summer residency. Joshua Horwitz received the Beverly Hiscox Scholarship and Lori A. May received the Norris Church Mailer Fellowship. Horwitz was featured in the Wesleyan University newsletter with a quote from his mentor Beverly �Donofrio, a fellow Wesleyan alum. The 22nd Annual James Jones First Novel Fellowship awarded first place and $10,000 to Margot Singer of Granville, OH for her manuscript titled The Art of Fugue. Runners-up in the competition were Jennifer S. Davis of Baton Rouge, LA for her manuscript Reckonings; and Timothy Brandoff of New York, NY for his manuscript Connie Sky. They were each awarded $750. Tamara B. Titus, of Charlotte, NC received honorable mention for her manuscript Lovely in the Eye. The James Jones First Novel Fellowship was established in 1992 to “honor the spirit of unblinking honesty, determination, and insight into modern culture as exemplified by (the writings of) James Jones.” It is awarded to an American author of a first novel-in-progress. The competition is cosponsored by the Wilkes University Graduate Creative Writing Program and the James Jones Literary Society.   Faculty/Staff Notes Bonnie Culver is on the road for those organizations connected to the CW program. October 3-5, she attended the Board of Directors meeting for AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Programs) of which Wilkes is an institutional member. She serves as the Vice-President of AWP whose next national conference is in Seattle, February 26 to March 1, 2014. October 24-26, she will attend the International Norman Mailer Conference hosted this month in Sarasota, FL where she and screenwriting faculty member Ken Vose will continue the annual tradition of a Wilkes University readers theatre presentation on Mailer’s work. Bonnie Culver and Mike Lennon are charter members and board members of the Mailer Society. As the JJL Society president, she will attend the 2013 James Jones Literary Society Symposium, which will take place on November 8 at the Quail Creek Country Club in Robinson, IL. In November, she will return to Mesa, AZ where she spent last year on special assignment for Wilkes. The Wilkes CW program will cosponsor the Mesa version of the National Novel in a Month (NaNoMo). Alums, students, faculty, if you are interested in knowing more about or participating with any of these organizations, please contact the program director. Christine Gelineau has a poem, “Eating Blueberries,” in the new issue of Gargoyle Magazine and her poem “Accident” has been accepted for the winter issue of the journal Broad Street. Also, she will have a poem included in a forthcoming book from H.L. Hix, accepted for publication by Wilfrid Laurier University Press. �Ross Klavan has a comic novel due out from Greenpoint Press. Schmuck has an official publication date of January 21, 2014. He was also consultant on a script for director Rich Devaney and is a voice on Amazon’s TV series Alpha House. Dawn Leas has a poem, “Empty Cars,” in the fall issue of San Pedro River Review. Her reviews of Gold by Barbara Crooker and What Remains by Caroline Maun, as well as a Q&A with Michael Czarnecki about his Poems Across America Tour, appear in the Fall 2013 issue of Poets’ Quarterly. Michael Mailer ’s new film, Seduced and Abandoned, premieres on HBO in October. Nancy McKinley ’s short story “Love, Masque & Folly” appears in the short fiction anthology Voices from the Porch, published by Main Street Rag. Nancy’s short story “Ramp” has been accepted by The Blue Penny Quarterly for Spring 2014. Neil Shepard has a new poem, “Street,” based on the James Nares’ video installation in The Metropolitan Museum, coming out in The Manhattan Review. Other new poems will appear in Barrow Street, as well as in Amherst College’s new literary magazine on place, The Common. His poem “No” will appear in The TV Anthology: Rabbit Ears, which will appear in print and podcast. His poem “Town Green: South Royalton” was selected as poem-of-the-week for the poetry blog, THEthe, by guest-editor Christine Gelineau. In September, Shepard gave a poetry reading at The Burlington Book Festival, did a radio interview for the literary program WriteTheBookin VT, and performed in nightclubs with his long-time ensemble, PoJazz. Jan Quackenbush had a concert-reading of his new play, Fire on the Water, at La MaMa Theater’s La Gallariain NYC. Susan Cartsonis had an article, “Why Women Should Get the Jobs,” published in ArtsHub, an Australian digital magazine.   Student/Alum Notes M.F.A. alum Amye Archer reviewed Beverly Donofrio’s latest book, Astonished, for Brevity. M.A. alum Tom Borthwick has a short story accepted for publication in �Bewildering Stories. TwentyFiveEight Studios is also going to be turning it into a short film. M.F.A. alum Cory Brin will have his poem “A Rainy Drive” published in a poetry collection, This Time Around, by Eben and Wein Publishing. M.F.A. alum Tara Caimi ’s essay “Cat-Face” was published in Pithead Chapel, and her essay “Without Words” was selected for inclusion in the nonfiction anthology Whereabouts: Stepping Out of Place, published by 2Leaf Press. Both essays are excerpts from the full-length memoir Tara completed during her time in the creative writing program at Wilkes. M.A. alum Chris Campion published his debut novel The Jiu-Jitsu Bum with Northampton House Press, LLC.   M.A. alum Cindy Dlugolecki has had three staged readings of her tenminute play At the End of Her Rope in 2013 as part of Playwrights Alliance of PA: Hershey Area Playhouse in June; Mt. Gretna’s Cicada Festival in August; and Open Stage of Harrisburg in October. M.F.A. alum Brian Fanelli ’s poem “Adjunct Plight” appeared in The Los Angeles Times over the summer. In addition, his poem “A Cub Reporter’s Mentor” was accepted for publication by Blue Collar Review for a future issue, and his poem “State of Emergency” was accepted for publication in the next issue of North Chicago Review. In addition, Brian’s full-length book of poems, All That Remains, will be out this fall through Unbound Content. M.A. alum Donna Ferrara ’s script Arvin Lindemeyer Takes Canarsie was named a Top Finalist in the ASU Feature Length Screenplay Contest. Her play The Waiting Place has been chosen for consideration for a yearlong workshop at William Paterson University New Playwrights Competition. M.F.A. alum Patricia Florio has a cookbook available through Serendipity Media Press. Cucina d’ Amelia: My Mother’s Sicilian and Neapolitan Recipes is currently available in a digital edition and will soon be available in print as well.   M.F.A. alum Rachael Goetzke published a memoir excerpt with The Writing Disorder. �M.A. student April Line has written for the Jamie Chavez Blog. She also reviewed Tim Parrish’s Fear and What Follows in West Branch Life’s Fall issue. M.F.A. student Heather Lowery ’s essay “Keeping It Real” was recently published in Poets’ Quarterly. M.A. alum Gale Martin is a presenter at the 2013 Literary Festival at Alvernia University in Reading, PA. She is discussing her latest novel Grace Unexpected. She also participated in BookFest PA in State College, PA during Arts Festival Week, sponsored by Schlow Library of Centre County. M.F.A. alum Vicki Mayk is teaching a first-year foundations class for freshmen, “The Power of Story,” at Wilkes University. The class explores the ways that story is used to communicate in many contexts. Her personal essay “Road Warrior” was selected for publication in Hippocampus Magazine’s Road Trip issue in July 2013. M.A. alum Lori M. Myers had her musical Talk, the Musical,with music by Nicholas Wilders, produced by Gretna Theatre this past summer. Her playA 21st Century Christmas Carol was accepted for publication by Contemporary Drama Service. Her short story “Nina” will be published by Zest Literary Journal. She also recently interviewed singer/actress Shirley Jones for B Magazine. M.F.A. student Linda M.C. Nguyen ’s short story “Pretty Things” was published by the Sassafras Literary Magazine in September 2013. M.F.A. student Travis Nicholson recently accepted a position as Assistant Professor of English at University of Arkansas - Monticello. He has also interviewed fellow Wilkes alum Chris Campion for The Write Life. M.F.A. alum William Prystauk ’s short horror film Too Many Predatorsis an Official Selection at both the Twisted Tails Film Festival in Texas, and the New Jersey Horrorfest. His short drama Tigers in the Soup is in preproduction. M.F.A student Nisha Sharma ’s thesis, My So-Called Bollywood Life, won first place in the 2013 annual Write Stuff Literary Contest in the Young Adult Fiction category. M.A. student Thomas Simko will have a nonfiction piece, “The Long Goodbye,” published in War, Literature, & the Arts. �M.F.A. alum Donna Talarico is Director, Integrated Communications at Elizabethtown College and also is editor of the College alumni magazine and online newsroom, E-town NOW. Her previous position was Integrated Marketing Manager. In the spring and summer of 2013 she presented at a number of national and regional conferences including Penn State’s Social Media Summit and the Mid-Atlantic Web Conference at Gettysburg College. M.A. alum Douglas James Troxell was a guest on Read First, Ask Later, a radio show on I <3 Radio that discusses literature and conducts interviews with authors. His short story “The Working Dead,” a story he started writing in his 501 fiction workshop, will appear on Dark Futures Fiction in October as part of their zombie-themed month. M.F.A. alum Sandee Gertz Umbach , who has relocated to Nashville, TN, will be visiting the Western Pennsylvania area to give a reading at the Carnegie Library, Pittsburgh, on Sunday, October 20 as part of their Sunday Poetry Series.She will also be a Guest Lecturer at the University of Pittsburgh that same week where her book, The Pattern Maker’s Daughter, is being taught by Professor William Scott in an English course focusing on Working Class Literature.   Quick Links Career Development Campus Safety and Internships Centers & Institutes Online Programs Programs E.S. Farley Library Human Resources Jobs at Wilkes Online Nursing Offices & Administration Accessibility Statement Financial Aid Adobe Acrobat® Reader Registrar's Office Finance Office Investor Relations Student Work Study Jobs Veterans Services Make A Gift �Visit Quick Links Schedule a Visit Parking Information Virtual Tour Campus Map 84 West South Street Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 1-800-WILKES-U Contact Us Wilkes University © e © d c f � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Revise This! October 2013 - Wilkes University.pdf https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/6a139605d169b6b41b8d8b9c9344f7c5.pdf 31221fde92e366fb2e759f5110955c42 PDF Text Text About Wilkes Home n Graduate Academics Academics n Graduate Admission & Aid Graduate Programs n Graduate Life Master's Degree Programs About Our Students n n The Arts Creative Writing MA/MFA Revise This! n Archives n Revise This - October 2014 Revise This!   |   October 2014 Revise This! Revise This Archives 2017 Cecilia Galante’s Work Is All Grown Up | All the World's a Stage for Jean Klein & Wilkes Playwrights Mailer On and Off Campus | Hail to the Chief Wilkes Takes over The Brooklyn Book Festival! | No B.A.? That’s Okay! 2018 Revise This! November 2019 Czury’s Story | Family Matters: From the Kitchen to the Courtroom | A History of At the Inkwell Revise This! Archives Cecilia Galante’s Work Is All Grown Up Related Links Calendars & Schedules Campus Map Centers for Excellence Faculty Publications Graduate Bulletin (.pdf) Graduate Bulletin Online 2014 n n �Graduate Student Handbook Library Office of the Registrar Online Learning Professional Pharmacy Application School of Nursing - Graduate Program Student Handbook Schools, Departments, Though Cecilia Galante has made a name for herself in the YA genre, her novels aimed at young adult and middle-level readers are anything but child’s play.  Her first book, The Patron Saint of Butterflies (2008), deals with teenage best friends growing up on a religious commune, and the violence the girls experience at the hands of the group’s leader.  Galante’s Hershey Herself (2008) features a teenage protagonist spending time in a shelter for battered women.  The Sweetness of Salt (2011) introduces readers to a high-school valedictorian who veers off her chosen path after discovering a family secret. During the next year, Galante will venture into another section of the bookstore with the publication of The Invisibles, her first novel aimed at the adult market.  The Invisibles tells the story of four high school best friends who’ve gone their separate ways.  The women reunite in their thirties following a suicide attempt by Grace, who tries to hang herself. The friends take a road trip that causes them to delve into the past, reopen old wounds, and alter their lives forever.  “Secrets come out that shatter the image they have of each other,” says Galante. While The Invisibles may be aimed at a different target audience, Galante’s approach to the work was the same.  “The difference between young adult and adult is very, very slim,” Galante explains.  “I never set out to write a YA novel or an adult novel.  I really set out to write the best novel that I can.  You have to write three-dimensional characters who are going to take you on the ride of your life.  That’s the bottom line.” Galante expects a summer 2015 release for The Invisibles.  In addition, she’s hoping to see the story on screen with talks of a film adaptation underway.  “All I can say is, it’s in the works.” Still, Galante’s not ready to abandon her teenage roots.  Random House is set to release her next YA book, Be Not Afraid, this coming spring.  This tale may have readers sleeping with the lights on as it crosses the threshold into the supernatural via young heroine, Marin, and her unusual Divisions �perceptive abilities.  “It’s like The Exorcist for YA readers,” says Galante. Even with two novels slated to hit the shelves and a potential film shoot in the near future, Galante isn’t ready to sit back and relax.  “I’m in the throws of working on another novel,” she says. “It’s something I haven’t been able to let go of.”  And though her storylines often take a dark turn, Galante has a bright outlook when it comes to her writing career’s hectic pace.  “It will be kind of crazy having back-to-back releases, but it will be fun, too.” All the World’s a Stage for Jean Klein & Wilkes Playwrights Jean Klein is not playing around, but she sure is having a good time.  Though playwriting tends to have fewer students than other genres in the Wilkes M.A./M.F.A. programs, what Klein’s students and alums lack in quantity, they’ve been making up in quality, as well as staged readings and full productions.  “I’m kind of proud,” Klein says. "We don’t have big numbers of people who take playwriting.”  Here are just a few Wilkes playwrights who’ve recently produced:  Cindy Dlugolecki’s ten-minute comedies  At The End Of Her Rope, Real Housewives Of The Bible, Here Comes The Bride’s Mother, All Hands on Deck, and Royal Tea have all spent time in the spotlight on Pennsylvania stages, as has her full-length drama SNAP! Rachel Strayer’s full-length play, her M.A. capstone Drowning Ophelia, received its world premiere production at the Mojo Theatre Space by Repurposed Theatre in San Francisco. A staged reading is planned for New York City’s Ensemble Atria, with a potential full production in the future.  Strayer has also seen productions of her shorter works including A Clean Bathroom and Empathy, the monologue Tooth Fairy From Hell, and the one-minute play Balconies.  Lori Myers’s plays 91366, which she started in CW 505, Magnificent Healing, Cinderella and the Lone Prince, Glee-ful Rapunzel, Sight Unseen, Miss Information, No Way, The Serpent's Egg, Rock Around the Castle, Eleanor and the Christmas Carol, Mirror, Mirror, and Talk, the �Musical have all hit the stage. Alum Dania Ramos’s play Hielo, developed through the New Jersey Emerging Women’s Playwrights Project, was selected as a finalist in Repertorio Español’s 2013 MetLife Nuestras Voces National Playwriting Competition and the 2013 Liberty Live Playwriting Contest through Premiere Stages at Kean University. Ramos also co-wrote Mi Casa Tu Casa and reworked the script for an educational touring version.  In addition, several other alums from the playwriting program have seen their work come to life on stage. Alum Michael Soloway had his play, I Love You, Lynn Swann! produced by The Pittsburgh New Works Festival in the Summer of 2013. Meanwhile, alum Adrienne Pender is making inroads with her thesis play Somewhere In Between, which was scheduled for a reading by WordSmyth Theater in Houston, Texas and for a main stage production at Theatre in the Park in Raleigh in September 2014. Alum James Craig has had two of his short plays from CW 505 produced as readings at Theater of the Seven Sisters. Alum Laura Moran’s Last Words was produced as a staged reading at NACL Theatre in Highand Lake, New York. Moreover, former M.A. student, Laurie Elizabeth Powers had her short script, “The Importance of Sex Education” selected as the overall winner for the 2014 Sidewrite competition. With all of this student success, Klein could easily play the role of diva, but instead she credits the Wilkes Creative Writing program with encouraging students to get their work in front of an audience. She lauds the program for teaching students that their work is not simply an academic assignment, but an artistic product that’s meant for public consumption. “I don’t know of another program that stresses, ‘Get your stuff out there!’”  Klein also acknowledges her students’ tenacity when it comes to getting their plays from page to stage.  “I’ve been given students who have a measurable amount of talent, but even more so, persistence,” she says. “I really think it’s diligence first, then talent.  In my mind, diligence produces talented playwrights.”  While Klein is thrilled to oversee all this student success, she still has plenty of her own work to attend to.  She’s in the process of revising two old scripts, and she has three new ones in progress.  In addition, Klein oversees HaveSCRIPTS, a small dramatic publishing company. This abundance of activity makes it quite clear to Klein that the live theatre’s demise has been greatly exaggerated.  “All kinds of theatres are popping up around the country in terms of opportunities for new plays and new playwrights.  Theatre is not dead, it’s just looking different,” she �explains. “When I was a graduate student, there was only New York and California.  The regional theatre system did not exist.  There’s a whole huge, fertile field out there for people who want to take advantage of it.” Mailer On and Off Campus Though Pulitzer Prize winner Norman Mailer passed away in 2007, the founding advisory board member’s literary presence is never far from the Wilkes Creative Writing Program.  This year, the vibe is particularly strong, with four Wilkes writers offering summer workshops at the Norman Mailer Center and the University bringing the Norman Mailer Society Conference to campus. According to their web site, the Norman Mailer Center “encourages and supports writers who take on the issues of their day with the same fearless honesty and dedication to craft that Mailer himself did for over six decades; writers who seek artful ways to explore and present the complexities of historical and contemporary reality.”  Wilkes Creative Writing faculty members Kaylie Jones, J. Michael Lennon, and Beverly Donofrio, supported the Center’s mission by spending a week, sharing their talents with workshop students in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Kevin Oderman, another Wilkes faculty member, facilitated the month-long fellowship session in July for the creative nonfiction fellows. So why the mass migration to the Beehive State?  “We’ve always been involved with the Center,” Culver says.  “They [the faculty] teach things Norman would have appreciated.  It’s a combination of an understanding of who Norman was, and what our program teachers and creative writers offer in their own right.”  In the fall, the Wilkes campus paid tribute to the late novelist by hosting the annual Norman Mailer Society Conference.  The weekend-long conference provided an opportunity to introduce a new generation of students to Mailer’s work through presentations, workshops, and a marathon reading of the author’s 1965 novel An American Dream. In 1996, Mailer received an honorary doctorate from Wilkes.  He was the Max Rosen lecturer on campus in 2000 and also spoke at the opening of the Mailer Room in the library.  So it seems only fitting that the University plays host to this celebration of Mailer’s talent and legacy.  “It seemed to be a good opportunity,” Culver says.  “Norman’s always had a connection to Wilkes.  He had a special affection for this place and this program.”  �Part of the group of Wilkes faculty, students and alums, who participated in the reading of An American Dream. This section was led by John Buffalo Mailer (center) reading Rojack. Photo taken by Matt Hinton.  Hail to the Chief In the entertainment business, a hyphen can be a sign of a multifaceted career.  Actordirector.  Singersongwriter.  Socialitespokeswoman-fashion designer.  If the same holds true for writers, Bonnie Culver has facets to spare.  Culver, director and co-founder of the Wilkes Creative Writing program, is a playwright-screenwriter-professor-director, and now, the title of chair can be added to the list.  Culver was recently named Chair of the board of trustees of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP).  AWP is a non-profit organization founded in 1967 by 15 writers from 13 different writing programs.  In 40 years, AWP has grown to provide support for more than 500 college and university writing programs, over 100 writing conferences, and thousands of individual writers.  The organization’s mission is to “foster literary achievement, advance the art of writing as essential to a good education, and serve the makers, teachers, students, and readers of contemporary writing.” Wilkes has been a member of AWP since 2005.  Culver has served on the Board on the executive committee for three years, as vice-president �and treasurer and now chair.  She’ll serve at least one year in that position, possibly more.  “It’s a great opportunity,” Culver says of her appointment.  During her term, AWP will be reorganizing their governance structure and revising the by-laws.  As chair, Culver will be responsible for working closely with the executive director, on all aspects of the organization. She says, “It’s pretty all-encompassing.  It’s quite a challenge.”  Culver expects her duties to add 25 hours a week to her already jampacked schedule.  Still, she didn’t hesitate to accept the nod and is ready to work with the executive team.  “This is not a job to do alone.  It’s a tremendously talented and responsible board of trustees.  They’re all folks at the top of their games.”  While it’s clear that Culver believes in the AWP support system, she also believes in the organization’s value to the writing community.  “I think that the work AWP does is important for writers and especially writing programs.  It’s the only organization dealing with writers and academics,” she says. Wilkes Takes Over the Brooklyn Book Festival! Wilkes goes to New York! This year several members of the Wilkes Creative Writing Community played important roles at The Brooklyn Book Festival. Faculty member Rashidah Ismaili Abubakr was featured on the panel "Politics, War, Love and Streetlife,” and she discussed the social issues of the Lower East Side before the Vietnam War in 1950.  On the panel “Catch a Fire: Social Collapse in Multiple Voices,” Marlon James discussed his book A Brief History of Seven Killings, which features a variety of voices that witness the violence of Jamaica in the 1970s. He then related his work to how both internal and external forces can cause society to crumble. Another alum, Morowa Yejide, spoke on the panel “Autism Portraits” explaining the role that autism played her novel Time of the Locust. In addition, Barb Taylor talked about her new novel, Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night on the panel “Where I'm Writing From: Hometown Fiction” A part from the panels, Johnny Temple moderated a special event held by Brooklyn Historical Society Library for librarians that discussed the writing life, education, and inspiration of the authors Jonathan Lethem and Carmen Fariña. No B.A.? That’s Okay!  Czury’s Story �“Becoming a poet and wanting to be a poet are antithetical quantums. Being language obsessed...thought=words, communication=words, dreams=words,” says Wilkes M.F.A. alum Craig Czury, an internationally recognized poet.  Czury talks about how he became fascinated with his craft saying, “it was the torment of language, rather than a love, that led me to my first shrieks.” Prior to attending Wilkes, Czury had traveled internationally for a good 67 years with books translated into Spanish, Russian, Italian, Lithuanian, and Albanian. Czury was also a poet-in-the-schools for 25 years through various state and regional arts councils before he found himself with no work. Penn State offered him a full scholarship along with an apartment and teaching assignments until they realized he did not have a B.A.  Likewise, the University of New Orleans initially arranged for an M.F.A. program in Spain, but they backed out for the same reason. Fortunately, friends affiliated with the Wilkes M.F.A. knew of the struggles he was facing and recommended he apply to the program. Norman Mailer, one of the founding fathers of the program, wanted Wilkes to be unique by letting writers without bachelor’s degrees into the program when they can demonstrate a storied publishing record, as Craig did. Moreover, Wilkes’s Creative Writing Program is one of the few in the country that does not require a GRE. Czury says that his acceptance was empowering, since he had little to no success in all other academic programs since eighth grade.  He not only enjoyed the curriculum at Wilkes, but the low-residency format allowed him to continue traveling to places like Rome. When asked about his cohort he reminisces saying, “We had great camaraderie, hilarity, and brilliance together.” In the program, he studied creative non-fiction with Chris Busa as well as with Juanita Rockwell, a Buddhist playwright. He graduated with a cross-genre thesis defended as creative non-poetry. Since graduating he has continued to work with John Koloski and Jan Quackenbush while conducting interviews in the “fracking” region. As a writer, Czury says that his biggest success thus far was being invited as a featured poet to international poetry festivals in Colombia, �Argentina, Lithuania, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Ireland. Moreover, he is honored to have been named Poet Laureate of the International Albanian Festival in Macedonia. When asked about future project Cruzy explained, “I’ve just returned from Chile, where I helped launch an anthology of poets from Tarapacá (Chile’s northern desert region) and poets from Pennsylvania, for which I had chosen. More importantly, I wrote a future book while there, poetic journal prose with photographs.” Czury is also known for creating poetry performance spaces not only in schools and community centers but also in shelters, prisons and mental hospitals. When asked why he explained, “my mother and I have a running argument (even though she’s been dead for decades) about the amount of times I ran away from home when I was a kid vs. the amount of times she threw me out. I spent 15 years hitchhiking North America. My sister spent a year in the state hospital in Danville after a suicide attempt. Spending a few nights in jail comes with the road, homeless shelters, soup kitchens… I just naturally gravitated toward the places and the people I was familiar with the hope I could get the right words written from them I never got when I was there.” Finally, when asked about his writing process, Czury proceeded to send the image of a blank page, but recommended that all writers change their name and run away from home. Family Matters: From the Kitchen to the Courtroom “My writing world reaches a great range these days,” says Patricia Florio, a Wilkes M.F.A . alumna. Florio has just returned from the Norman Mailer workshop in Utah where Wilkes instructor Kaylie Jones impressed upon her the importance of structure and encouraged the other attendees to keep an open dialogue through email. However, Florio is familiar with the topic of structure and studied it while “weaving” a series of family short stories, which eventually became her book, My Two Mothers.  Later, she returned to the idea of family stories and added family recipes, family history, Sicilian and Neapolitan traditions, and other stories, which then became Cucina Amelia, her second novel.  �Recently, however, she has been reflecting on the 17 years she spent as a court reporter. In this project, she talks about the individual cases as well as the loss of her father. Unlike her first two, this book is “structured in flashbacks and present day cases in the courtroom.” She adds, “I found this technique to work best for this book.”  Florio says she is blessed to be part of The Jersey Shore Writers at the Jersey Shore Arts Center.  Once called Tri-Muse, this group was cofounded by Carol MacAllister (another Wilkes alumna), Gayle Aanensen and Florio in 2001. Florio explains, “We have grown into a strong cohesive group of published writers taking on readings, workshopping, critiquing, and having our own writings workshopped as well. I urge new writers to join a community of writers locally or via Facebook. The encouragement keeps us writing on a daily basis.”  A History of At the Inkwell Monique Antonette Lewis initially created At the Inkwell in January, 2013, because she missed writing human-interest articles. Lewis began her writing career as a financial news reporter in Manhattan and at the time, she used to be a newspaper reporter covering everything from festivals to local housing issues.   However, she decided to focus on interviewing authors after completing her M.F.A. in creative writing at Wilkes University because she missed her writing community and hoped to recreate it.  The project became an outlet for her to write the kinds of articles she loved while helping authors promote their books. Thus, At the Inkwell became a promotional service for published authors to market their writing through feature articles, book reviews and public readings. Lewis and her mother developed the name. Her mother was the one who added “At” in the name, which made it unique. She says, “The greatest struggle was designing my website. I created it by myself in one weekend on very little sleep. It was a lot of trial and error.” Lewis then asked the owner of Manhattan-based KGB Bar if she could host readings on an ongoing basis. She had a pre-existing relationship with the bar since she hosted one-off readings in the summers (20112012) under the name The Writer’s Corner, while studying at Wilkes. �KGB accepted her proposal for At the Inkwell’s reading series and gave her a trial period. Then came her second challenge--finding authors who could read well and pull in a good crowd. She began reaching out to authors she knew and word-of-mouth alone launched her into business. Her first hosted reading was Romance Night on March 8, 2013, and there was standing room only.  The owner was impressed with turnouts, but she still had not earned a permanent spot, which meant readings were irregular. At the Inkwell finally became the 13th permanent reading series at KGB Bar in October, 2013, and it has since been held every 2nd Wednesday of the month. Lewis says that one of the biggest lessons she learned was how to curate the series. Initially, she used to mix genres, giving readers a taste of poetry, fiction and non-fiction all in one night. However, this turned off readers who might not be interested in one of the genres, and it didn’t help attract the right crowd for each author equally. Lewis says, “I quickly learned that I needed to stick to a theme for each event, which ensured that each reader was going to read to an audience that was interested in their genre.” Thus far, At the Inkwell has helped 106 individual writers either through feature articles, book reviews and readings, or a combination of all. Lewis says, “Other than having a chance to sell your books at the reading, the networking opportunity alone is beneficial. You never know who will be in the audience, a publisher, editor or agent.” Alums and current students could help ensure the success of At the Inkwell by recommending writers to feature on their site as well as books that are no less than a year old to review, and by spreading the word about their readings. You can also share At the Inkwell on your Twitter and Facebook feeds or join the mailing list to stay updated on the readings. Subscribe via the website or email attheinkwell@gmail.com.  Lewis’s long term goal is to create monthly At the Inkwell readings in other cities. She’d like to begin with Philadelphia followed by Boston and D.C.  She adds, “My biggest project is to take At the Inkwell on the road and host readings at various cities including an open mic session. I’d like to do a livestream of the readings as well as video documentary of my trip on the road meeting writers.” Currently, she is seeking a videographer and a video editor to continue to develop At the Inkwell. She envisions it to be a two-week deal ending in Phoenix or San Francisco, and anyone who is interested may contact her at attheinkwell@gmail.com.   �Upcoming Readings At The Inkwell 85 E. 4th St., 2nd Fl, NYC (between Bowery and 2nd Ave.) Oct. 8, 2014 (Poetry Mixer night): Featuring Wilkes Alum, Amye Barrese Archer Dec. 10, 2014 (Anthology night): Featuring Wilkes Faculty Member, Gregory Fletcher  Jan. 14, 2015 (Fiction night): Featuring Wilkes Alum, Lori May March 11, 2015 (Poetry night): Featuring Wilkes Faculty Member, Neil Shepard April 8, 2015 (National Poetry Month): Featuring Wilkes Alums, Kait Burrier, Stanton Hancock and     Andrea Talarico June 10, 2015 (Memoir night):  Featuring Bonnie Friedman, a new Etruscan author Etruscan News Several Wilkes creative writing students have joined Etruscan press for the June-November 2014 semester. M.F.A. student April Line is completing her publishing internship with Etruscan. She has been instrumental in researching and developing community outreach and grant opportunities. M.A. student Johanna James is developing a comprehensive marketing plan for a memoir to be published by Etruscan in the Fall of 2015. M.A. graduate assistant Hillary Transue is working on various promotional campaigns for the press, while M.F.A. graduate assistant Nathan Summerlin is working on numerous production aspects for Etruscan. He has also designed a quarterly e-newsletter. Internships of Current M.F.A. Students Mike Avishai will launch a free online screenwriting foundations workshop. Maxwell Bauman is interning for Kaylie Jones Books. He has researched material to locally promote KJB authors including but not limited to bookstores, libraries, newspapers, TV news, radio programs and book clubs. He is also in the process of researching possible demographics for one author, and looking up contests and finding writing contests where their authors can submit. Mckenzie Cassidy is interning for Kaylie Jones Books and reading manuscripts while performing other administrative duties. Paul Jackson is teaching a remedial English class as well as Composition 101 and 10 at Miller-Motte Technical College. �Sheree Lewis is interning as a tutor at the Kumon Learning Center. She is also a private tutor for high school students. Andrea Ruiz is interning with Etruscan Press and is working on an anthology about writing and tailoring children's books to match the common core standards. Faculty/Staff Notes Faculty member Gregory Fletcher’s short play Robert Mapplethorpe's Flowers has been published in Wilde Magazine, Erotica Issue 1, Summer 2014. His other short play The Moon Alone was read was included in Playwrights' Night at KGB Bar's At The Inkwell, July 2014. Faculty member Jean Klein’s Refraction of Light, a full-length play, received a staged reading at The American Theater in Hampton, Virginia on September 7 as part of a Lighthouse Reading Series, a combined effort between the theater and the Virginia Playwrights Forum. Snapshots, her one-act play which was a winner in the Kernodle one-act competition, was produced as one of three short plays on the main stage of the American Theater, August 8 and 9. Staff member Dawn Leas’s review of Maria Terrone’s Eye to Eye is included in the fall issue of Poets’ Quarterly. She is also now a contributing editor at TheThePoetry and a poetry editor at CityLitRag, an online literary journal co-founded by alumna Monique Lewis. Faculty member Michael Lennon’s edition of Selected Letters of Norman Mailer will be published by Random House on December 2, 2014. The paperback edition of his biography, Norman Mailer: A Double Life, will be released on October 28, 2014. Lennon also edited and wrote the introduction for both the Taschen edition of Mailer's essay on John F. Kennedy, Superman Comes to the Supermarket, which will be published in September and The Fight, Mailer's account of the 1974 championship match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, which will be published in November of this year. Faculty member David Poyer’s novel The Cruiser: A Dan Lenson Novel received a praising review from Publisher’s Weekly. Faculty member Juanita Rockwell's site-specific audio play, The Circle, was directed by Carmen Wong and produced by banished? productions as part of the 2014 Capital Fringe Festival in Washington, DC. �Faculty member Neil Shepard was a fellow at the MacDowell Arts Colony in April and at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in May; he will be in-residence at the Center for the Arts in Mornay, France, in October. New poems are appearing in The Cimarron Review, The Common (Amherst College), and The Louisville Review. His new book, Hominid Up, is due out in January 2015 from Salmon Poetry Press of Ireland. Student/Alum Notes M.F.A. alum J. C. Alonso Jr.'s  poem "Yoga Music" was published by Poetry Quarterly in the Summer 2014 issue.  M.F.A. alum Amye Archer’s  full-length poetry collection, Bangs, was recently released by Big Table Publishing. M.A. alum Catherine Arne's  feature-length sci-fi script, THE DECIMATION (working title), was optioned by Voyage Media, where she has also begun assignment work as an independent contractor, doing script treatments, action plans, and book-to-screen projects. She has also acquired a literary manager for her master's thesis, Animals, Inc. He will be representing both the novel and script. M.A. alum Cheryl Bazzoui  will have her chapter “A Writer's Marketing Recommendations” published in the anthology Writing After Retirement under her penname, Ann McCauley. M.F.A. alum Kim Loomis Bennett  had her poem, “The Talker,”  accepted for publication in Fall 2014 of issue seven of The Floating Bridge Review: Help Wanted: The Poetry of Work. M.F.A. alum Randee Bretherick  recently signed with BookEnds, LLC of Gillette, NJ. She also had a short story, "Plum Creek: A Pilgrimage to the Little House on the Prairie," published in the April edition of Red Fez. M.F.A. alum Tom Borthwick  will have his short story, Welcome to the Singularity, anthologized in Altered States. M.A. alum Rennee Butts  published her novel Siren Slave through Wild Rose Publishing. M.F.A. alum Tara Caimi's  essay and memoir excerpt "Kayenta” was published, and her essay "Lucky Teeth" is forthcoming in Oh Comely magazine. On September 9, she moderated an online book club discussion of Near to the Wild Heart for Oh Comely magazine. Tara's memoir, Mush: from sled dogs to celiac, the scenic detour of my life, �which she drafted as part of her M.A. thesis requirements, is forthcoming with Plain View Press. M.A. alum Chris Campion  is now a guest columnist for Giuporshutup.com. M.F.A. alum Craig Czury  received a faculty development grant from Albright College to go to Iquique, Chile in June to speak and read poems at the launch of SO FAR... SO CLOSE, anthology of Contemporary Writers of Tarapacá and Pennsylvania, for which he selected PA poets. Craig's chapbook of poems, BECAUSE ALTHOUGH DESPITE, from his Marcellus shale hitchhiking project, was published in August by FootHills Publishing. In September, Craig was a featured poet at the international Södermalms Poesifestival in Sweden. M.F.A. alum Brian Fanelli's  poem, "Trying to Catch the Culprits," received an Honorable Mention for the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Prize. The poem will also appear in a future issue of Paterson Literary Review, along with his other poem, "For Jimmy, Who Bruised My Ribs and Busted My Nose." In addition, his essay, "He Too Sings America: Jazz, Laughter, and Sound as Protest in Langston Hughes's Harlem," was published in August by TheThePoetry. Brian also read for the New York Quarterly reading series in August at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City, and two of his poems are forthcoming in the journal. M.A. alum Salena Fehnel's  novel, Nesting Dolls, was published through Northampton House Press with a release date of July 1, 2014. Nesting Dolls was nominated for the America Library Association's Stonewall Book Award and for the 2014 GLCA New Writers Award. M.A. alum Donna Ferrara’s  screenplay Arvin Lindemeyer Takes Canarsie was a top Finalist in the ASU screenplay competition. She alsohad her short story, “Whirlpool,” accepted for publication in Crossing Lines, an anthology by Main Street Rag that will be published in Spring of 2015. She also had her short stories “Then and Now,” “Scrap” and “Payback is a Lady” accepted for publication in The Law Studies Forum. M.F.A. alum Wendy C. Garfinkle's  debut novel, Serpent on a Cross, was released in print and re-released in ebook format by Booktrope in August. This edition contains new material. (SOAC was originally released as ebook only in 2012 by Northampton House Press.) M.F.A. alum Kasian Klute’s  The Ambush, the First Novel in the Series Entitled Walter's War for Kasian Klute,  has been published through Amazon and is now available on Kindle as well. M.F.A. student April Line  is teaching two literature courses at �Misericordia and was offered two more for next semester. She is a parttime  proofreader for a marketing firm, and a #CNFtweet  she wrote appeared in issue #53 of Creative Nonfiction. M.F.A. alum Ginger Marcinkowski  published The Button Legacy: E Miley's Inheritance through Vox Dei, the Christian imprint of Booktrope Publishing. She is also a columnist for Book Fun Magazine, with a readership of 400,000. In addition, she spoke at the Hampton Roads Writers Conference in Virginia Beach, VA, September 18-20, and is a finalist judge for The Carol Awards for the American Christian Fiction Writers this year. M.A. student Corinne Nulton  had her play, 14 Symptoms, premiere at the The Brick Theater as part of The Game Play Festival. Her short story “Signed” also was published in Cactus Heart. M.A. alum Christoph Paul published his short story, “Gay Zombie Sluts of Key West” on ThatLitSite.com M.F.A. alum Adrienne Pender’s  thesis play, Somewhere In Between is having a premiere at Theatre in the Park in Raleigh.  M.A. alum Josh Penzone  had his short story “The Whitings” published by ELJ Publications as part of their "Afternoon Shorts" series.  The story will be available as a paperback and as an ebook this coming January.    M.F.A. alum Danielle Poupore  has been hired for the role of Communications & Marketing Specialist for Student Affairs at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. Danielle also had a flash fiction piece, "Touch," published by SweatpantsAndCoffee.com in May under the pseudonym Danielle E. Curtis. M.A. alum Art Posocco  has had three essays published at The Artifice: "Apollonian and Dionysian Artistic Impulses in The Lego Movie," "In Defense of Hannibal and Its Use of Gore," and "Station to Station: Reflections on Manakamana." M.F.A. alum Laurie Elizabeth Powers  had her "The Importance of Sex Education" place in the top six finalist in the DC Shorts Screenplay Competition. In addition, both "The Importance of Sex Education" and her feature length screenplay entitled "Related" have just been announced as quarter-finalists in the Screencraft Comedy Screenplay Competition. M.A. alum Dania Ramos  had two plays, Reason and Cars, staged at Passage Theatre for the 2014 New Jersey 1-Minute Play Festival. Reason was also featured in Luna Stage's 2014 Short Play Festival. Her co-creation Mi Casa Tu Casa received a workshop �production as part of New Jersey Theatre Alliance's 2014 Stages Festival. M.F.A. alum Dane Rooney  wrote an essay that was featured on Howard Sherman’s website. M.F.A. alum Nisha Sharma  sold her M.A. thesis project My So-Called Bollywood Life and one additional untitled YA romance in a pre-empt deal to Crown Books for limited world rights. My So-Called Bollywood Life is slated for publication in Spring 2016. Her thesis project My So-Called Bollywood Life has been optioned by Producer Susan Cartsonis for filmmakers Gurinder Chadha and Paul Mayeda-Berges to adapt. Cartsonis, Chadha and Mayeda-Berges will produce together through their companies Storefront Pictures and Bend it Films. M.F.A. alum Rachel Luann Strayer  has accepted a full-time position as Assistant Professor in the Communication Arts and Humanities department at Keystone College. M.F.A. alum Donna Talarico  had a featured editor interview in The Review Review in August, and another interview with The Triangle, (http://thetrianglepa.com/2014/09/16/interview-with-donna-talarico/), a lit organization in Lancaster, PA. She also works with Hippocampus Magazine, planning a creative nonfiction conference for August 2015. In addition she completed her M.B.A. from Elizabethtown College in May as part of the 2014 Core Class of Leadership Lancaster, and she was the class graduation speaker. M.F.A. alum Heather Ann Taylor has  been named an Assistant Professor in English at Bethany College in Bethany, WV. M.A. student Hillary Transue  published three articles this past summer. One of which, “Confessions of a Former Prankster” was posted to the Kids for Cash movie’s blog. “(Former) Judge Mark Ciavarella” was published by Vitamin W. Her Op-Ed article “Children Deserve our Honesty and Compassion” was published by the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange. Because of her involvement with the movie Kids for Cash, produced by SenArt films, she has appeared on myriad television shows and news programs across the country such as The Katie Couric Show and Politics Nation with Reverend Al Sharpton. M.A. alum Autumn Whiltshire  placed first in the sci-fi feature category of the Indie Gathering for her screenplay “Gaia.”  �Quick Links Career Development Campus Safety and Internships Centers & Institutes Online Programs Programs E.S. Farley Library Human Resources Jobs at Wilkes Online Nursing Offices & Administration Accessibility Statement Financial Aid Adobe Acrobat® Reader Registrar's Office Finance Office Investor Relations Student Work Study Jobs Veterans Services Visit Quick Links Schedule a Visit Parking Information Virtual Tour Campus Map Make A Gift �84 West South Street Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 1-800-WILKES-U Contact Us Wilkes University © e © d c f � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Revise This! October 2014 - Wilkes University.pdf https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/547ee155481cbf88fbab3c291f2827a6.pdf 40baa9388a4ba45bdc3629cc82081239 PDF Text Text About Wilkes Home n Graduate Academics Academics n Graduate Admission & Aid Graduate Programs n Graduate Life Master's Degree Programs About Our Students n n The Arts Creative Writing MA/MFA Revise This! n Archives Revise This! October 2016 PAY IT FORWARD SCHOLARSHIP; NEW FACULTY/ALUM Archives Archives SCHOLARSHIP Tim seibles HONORED BY THE STATE OF virginia fanelli's "waiting for the dead to speak" RELEASED BY NY Quarterly BOOKS 2017 2018 Revise This! November 2019 21 summer grads receive diplomas NEWS FROM FACULTY, STUDENTS AND ALUMS Scholarship programs turn writers into graduate students n 2016 n n �Now entering its second year, the $2,500 Pay It Forward scholarship grant has helped attract 15 students to the Wilkes University Graduate Creative Writing Program by using marketing's most powerful medium: word of mouth. Pay It Jan Quackenbush and Kaylie Jones display the James Jones Literary Society's donation to the new Faculty/Alum Scholarship fund. Forward puts scholarship money in the hands of every Wilkes Creative Writing faculty member and alum, who can nominate one student per term for the award. The $2,500 defrays a portion of tuition in a student's first semester in the program. Another scholarship initiative now in development got a boost in June with a $5,000 donation from the James Jones Literary Society. The Faculty/Alum Scholarship Fund, organized by Dr. J. Michael Lennon and Jan Quackenbush, will be added to the merit awards given each June to continuing students. Those scholarships are based on faculty nominations, and include the Beverly Hiscox, Norris Church Mailer, and Jennifer Diskin Scholarships, and the Bergman Family Foundation Award. In its first semester, 10 students in the Jan. 2016 cohort received Pay It Forward awards, including seven in the low-residency cohort (faculty and alums who referred them are in parentheses): Cooper Gorelick (referred by Anne Henry) Lisa Greim (Kaylie Jones) Patrick Kelley (Rachel Strayer) Bibiana Krall (David Poyer) Christopher Owens (Bill Schneider) Mark Rivera (Danielle Poupore) �Pamela Turchin (Nichole Kanney) Janine Dubik of the new Wilkes-Barre weekender program (referred by Sam Chiarelli) and Mesa weekenders Toni Muma (referred by Austin Bennett) and Christy White (referred by Bonnie Culver) also received $2,500 scholarships. In June, four more low-residency students and one Wilkes-Barre weekender received Pay It Forward scholarships: Todd Conaster (Phil Brady) Christa Mallecoccio (Rachel Strayer) Camika Spencer (Lori A. May) Lindsey Wotanis (J. Michael Lennon) Amanda Cino (Rick Priebe) Know someone who would benefit from the program? Let them know about the $2,500 scholarship, and pass along their names and contact information to Program Director Dr. Bonnie Culver. Tim Seibles named Poet Laureate of Virginia Etruscan Press author and Wilkes Creative Writing Advisory Board member Tim Seibles was named Poet Laureate of Virginia July 15 by Gov. Terry McAuliffe. Seibles read from his National Book Award-nominated collection, Fast Animal (Etruscan Press, 2012), at the June residency, and spoke at the closing banquet. Here's a video of him reading "Ode to My Hands" from Fast Animal at the National Book Awards Finalists Reading in 2012. A dedicated ambassador for poetry, Seibles has won fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center. He received his bachelor's degree from Southern Methodist University and his MFA in creative writing from Norwich University/Vermont College of Fine Arts. He teaches in the M.F.A. program in Creative Writing at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. Sheri Reynolds, a colleague at Old Dominion, called Seibles "a visionary writer and teacher ... a generous mentor to his students and a much-loved colleague." �Five and a half questions for Brian Fanelli (M.F.A. '10) by Lisa Greim A literal shout-out to a Wilkes poet happened Sept. 20 when The Writer's Almanac, a daily update produced by American Public Media and sponsored by the Poetry Foundation, featured work from Brian Fanelli's new book. Click this link to hear "Raking Leaves," read by a familiar voice, A Prairie Home Companion's retired host, Garrison Keillor. Brian Fanelli's Waiting for the Dead to Speak. Waiting for the Dead to Speak is Fanelli's second full-length book of poetry, published Sept. 12 by the New York Quarterly Foundation's imprint, NYQ Books. Reviewer Maria Mazziotti Gillan calls Fanelli's work "vibrant, muscular, carefully crafted poems rooted in working-class rural Pennsylvania." Links to order from your favorite bookseller may be found at New York �Quarterly's website. You can also find both the book and its author at a launch party Oct. 7 at the Olde Brick Theater in Scranton, or at readings in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York this fall. The full schedule is on his website: brianfanelli.com/events/ Fanelli holds a Ph.D. from Binghamton University, along with his Wilkes M.F.A., and is Professor of English at Lackawanna College. We asked him a few questions about the pieces in Waiting for the Dead to Speak and the life of a poet. Has your writing process changed since you started your M.A.? My schedule is vastly different now than when I enrolled in the Wilkes program and even different from when I finished the M.F.A. in 2010. I have a full-time teaching load and committee responsibilities that come with the job. So, I tend to write around my teaching schedule, often in the morning and then later at night. When I was in the program, I worked a few part-time jobs and had more time for writing. That said, I still follow a routine of writing first thing in the morning, before I do anything else. Often, my thoughts are most fluid in the morning. How has your poetry changed? My poetry has changed drastically since I enrolled in the Wilkes Creative Writing Program. I have deepened my knowledge of the poetic tradition, for one, thanks to the reading lists that my mentors gave me while in the program. It has also deepened because of my experience finishing my doctorate at Binghamton University. I had to take a variety of courses and read poets that I may not have read if not for the program. I have always written narrative poetry. I like poetry that is accessible in its language and democratic. I also like poetry that tells a story in whatever form that may take. I think, however, that I am getting more comfortable writing longer, meditative poems. I used to write far shorter narrative poems, but now I try to push deeper. I'm also more comfortable trying different forms. I thought the most evocative line was, "The worst thing to do is to forget." Is that why you write? That line comes from the book's title poem, "Waiting for the Dead to Speak," and it was about my father, specifically how I never dreamt about him after he died, unlike my other family members. I had this fear that I would forget certain memories of him, and I felt this frustration because I didn't dream about him. This book, more than anything else I've written, is about the past, about the different ways that the dead speak to us, either through dreams or through memories. It is also about the idea of not forgetting, which is what that line is all about. �The personas in your poetry are so representative of the diferent selves we try on as we go through life: punk rocker and homeowner, working-class kid and overworked adjunct. Was this a conscious choice as you wrote, to set up these parallels? I wrote the poems over a span of five or six years, through different workshops, including some of the workshops I completed in the Wilkes program. I don't think I intentionally meant to represent the different ideas of self, since the poems were written over a longer period of time. However, when I started organizing the collection, which was a long process, I was conscious of how the poems interacted and spoke to each other, even worked against each other at times. To paraphrase Frost, the order of a book of poems should act like the final poem. Who and what are you reading now? I have always been interested in issues of class and labor, so I just finished two books that got a lot of buzz within the last year, Nancy Isenberg's book White Trash: A 400 Year History of Class in America and JD Vance's book Hillbilly Elegy. I liked them both. I was drawn to Isenberg's historical lens of class issues, which was a nice contrast to Vance's personal account of growing up poor in rural Ohio. I think both books are so important now, in the context of this election cycle and the rise of Trumpism, more specifically the anger of the white working-class. I also just read and plan to re-read Ross Gay's Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude. It is a wonderful, moving collection of poems. The poems are about gardening, but they're about more than that. They are these long narratives that use gardening as an entry point to talk about memories of the poet's family or friends long gone. I'm going through an anthology called The Fire This Time, which was just released and deals with matters of race in America. Other than that, I've been reading in preparation of what I'm teaching this semester, so a lot of American literature, going back to the Puritans, to Anne Bradstreet's poems, to Phyllis Wheatley, to Native American accounts of the American experience. It's been helpful when trying to figure out where we've been as a country and where we may be headed. Is there a moment or an experience from your Wilkes program that has stuck with you? I remember sitting down with my poetry mentors during some of my first residencies. I remember Christine Gelineau and Neil Shepard handing me lists of books that I needed to read. I realized how much I didn't know and how much I wanted to learn. All of us are always learning. There are writers we haven't read yet. The Wilkes program is really great at pushing you, expanding your knowledge, and pulling you out of your comfort zone as a writer and reader. I am forever grateful for that. �Lisa Greim, a freelance journalist and content marketing writer in Denver, is a graduate assistant  pursuing her M.A. degree in Creative Writing from Wilkes University. Summer Commencement includes 21 creative writing degree recipients   Three cheers for the following members of the Wilkes writing community, who completed their work at the June residency and received degrees Sept. 11 at Wilkes' summer graduation ceremony. Master of Arts Anna Laurene Arnett (Creative Nonfiction) Spencer Aubrey (Poetry) Michelle Byrnes (Screenwriting) Wendy Decker (Fiction) Kayleigh DeMace (Fiction) Brianna Eller (Fiction) Joshua Horwitz (Creative Nonfiction) Jennifer Jenkins (Fiction) M. Anthony Kapolka (Fiction) Nathalie O'Brien (Fiction) Dale Louise Mervine (Fiction) Kerri Miller (Poetry) Michael Mortimer (Screenwriting) Donna Talarico (Publishing) Kristin Vath (Fiction) Master of Fine Arts Caryn Devincenti Megan Haikes Corinne Nulton Vanessa Taylor-O'Connor Ezzel Thomas John Winston Faculty News Screenwriting faculty member Ross Klavan is one of three authors, along with Charles Salzberg and Tim O'Mara, in Triple Shot, a new compilation of three novellas just published by Down and Out Books. His �noir-ish story of cops who go bad, and then worse, is called "Thump Gun Hitched." Fiction faculty member Lenore Hart's narrative poem "Crazy Quilt 1918" was selected for inclusion in the upcoming anthology Forgotten Women, forthcoming later this year from Grayson Books. A novel manuscript, The Alchemy of Light (formerly Dead Light), which Hart has read from several times at residencies, was a semifinalist for the Faulkner-Wisdom Novel Award.  Galleys are completed for faculty member Nancy McKinley's short story "The Dog" in the canine-themed anthology To Unsnare Time's Warp. She promises, "The collection of dog stories and poems will make you howl with literary delight." You can get a pre-publication discount at Main Street Rag Publishing's online bookstore.  Playwriting faculty member Juanita Rockwell was awarded the 20162017 Marion International Fellowship to write a play with songs set on the day of the bombing of Hiroshima, from the perspective of various women whose work led to its detonation. She just returned from "Scientific Delirium Madness 3.0," the third annual July residency at the Djerassi Resident Artist Program, with a dozen scientists and artists working on projects that bridge the (imaginary) gap between science and art.  Student and Alumni News Cheryl Bazzoui (M.A. '14) has been busy writing book reviews on the Story Circle Network's website: Hope You Guess My Name by Heather Harlen; Six Car Lengths Behind an Elephant: Undercover & Overwhelmed as a CIA Wife and Mother by Lillian McCloy; and In Robin's Nest by Elizabeth Sumner Wafler. Her review of Tipping Point by fiction faculty member David Poyer aired on WPSU's BookMark.  Jennifer D. Bokal (M.A. '10) gave a presentation on character development at the Lilac City Fiction Writers August meeting. In early September she presented on writing love scenes at the Connecticut Fiction Fest. Jen also signed a three-book contract with Harlequin's Romantic Suspense line, with the first one released for the holidays in 2017. Jen is represented by Chris Tomasino of the Tomasino Agency. M.A. �Todd Conner appears this fall in Metamorphoses. student Todd Conatser, whose stage name is Todd Conner, will present three performances of Metamorphoses Sept. 27, Oct. 25 and Nov. 15 at the Players Club,16 Gramercy Park South, New York City. Seats are available by guest RSVP only at mayasphereproject@gmail.com. A $15 cash admission will be asked at the club, whose dress code is business casual. Conner premiered his solo storytelling version of Ovid's epic mythology in 2000 at the S. Mark Taper Foundation Amphitheatre in Beverly Hills, Calif. Entertainment Today in L.A. called it a "grand combination of art and entertainment." Conner learned to play the harp for this production, and composed new music to accompany his live storytelling. Wendy Decker (M.A. '16) will teach a young adult workshop at Neptune Public Library in Neptune, N.J., 6-8 p.m. on Sept. 29. Cindy Dlugolecki (M.A. '11) had her 10-minute play, A Matter Of Taste, produced in August at Hershey Area Playhouse. The Bombcatchers, another 10-minute work, had two staged readings, at Mt. Gretna Playhouse in August and Hershey Area Playhouse in September. Cindy also signed a contract with Once-in-a-Blue Moon Plays to publish her one-act Christmas comedy, A.N.G.E.L.s Inc. Gale �Gale Martin's Don Juan in Hankey, Pa. Martin's (M.F.A. '10) novel Don Juan in Hankey, Pa., has been reissued in a newly revised edition by Northampton House Press. Editor Lenore Hart says: "Peek beneath the surface of an extraordinary small-town opera company, and get to know a fabulous cast of characters: determined flirts, a lusty singing gaucho, ingenious manipulators, a bipolar ketchup heiress, devious lovers, and some very determined ghosts. Delve into high society in Hankey, Pa.—a world of simmering seductions, convoluted mysteries and entertaining intrigues. Don Juan in Hankey, Pa., will delight readers everywhere, opera lovers or not!" Janine P. Dubik (M.A. student) is among 16 writers whose poems were selected for the 2016 Poetry in Transit program with the Luzerne County Transportation Authority in Wilkes-Barre. In its 10th year, Poetry in Transit displays the poems in each LCTA bus route from September through August. The 2016 program launched Aug. 19. Richard Fellinger (M.F.A. '10) published a pair of op-eds on the presidential race in July and August in the Lancaster paper, lancasteronline.com.  M.A. student Cooper Gorelick is now working for the Theater �Department at Rutgers University Camden as a production stage manager and event staff crew, starting with their production of Little Shop of Horrors, which runs Oct. 26-30. He adds: "It's what I'll be contending with while I write an M.A. screenplay about putting on a play." Heather Harlen (M.A. '08) participated in the Collingswood Book Festival Oct. 1 in Collingswood, N.J., showcasing her novel Hope You Guess My Name: A Thriller, from Northampton House Press. Heather also wrote an essay for Yoganonymous called "Closer To Quiet: How Meditation Helped Me Heal My Grief." Scenes from Lit Crawl Sept. 2 in Denver, organized by Monique Antonette Lewis M.F.A. student Jennifer Jenkins is teaching "Thinking and Writing" at King's College for the fall 2016 semester, while she continues to write for the marketing/communications department at Wilkes as a graduate assistant. Monique Antonette Lewis (M.F.A. '12) was the lead organizer for the first annual Lit Crawl Denver, a project of the Litquake Foundation. The Sept. 2 event featured more than 30 local writers holding readings across six venues in northwest Denver. Her organization, At The Inkwell, also held a reading which included Aurora, Colo., poet laureate Jovan Mays. Lori A. May (M.F.A.'13) has new writing in the Seattle Post Intelligencer and Panorama: The Journal of Intelligent Travel. She will be at AWP 2017, speaking on the panel "Don't forget the day job: preparing creative writing graduates for lifelong careers." In October, Lori is presenting at �three writers' conferences: Write on the Sound, Surrey International Writers' Conference, and BinderCon NYC. She is also a featured reader at the WordsWest Literary Series in Seattle, taking place October 19. Josh Penzone's (M.A. '13) short story "After Zion" appears in the October issue of FICTION Silicon Valley. His short story "The Scratch" will appear in an upcoming issue of Chantwood Magazine. Jim Scheers (M.A. '08) showcased his novel This Is What You Want, This What You Get (Northampton House Press) at the Collingswood Book Festival Oct. 1 in Collingswood, N.J. M.A. student Karley Stasko has been appointed a graduate assistant to Dean Paul Riggs in the Wilkes University College of Arts, Humanities and Social Services. M.A. student Ronnie K. Stephens reports: "I've had numerous posts from my blog picked up by various outlets over the last couple of months, including Scary Mommy and The Good Men Project. The topics range from the dreaded sex talk and parenting through divorce to Pokemon Go and mental health. I even had my son's birth story circulated by the You Share Project!" Quick Links Career Development Campus Safety and Internships Centers & Institutes Online Programs Programs E.S. 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