Kirk Pinho

After a couple years as a political journalist outside of Detroit, Kirk Pinho is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Alabama. In addition, he will also become one of the assistant poetry editors of the Black Warrior Review in January, 2008, and an instructor of freshman composition in August, 2008. He also has recently published poetry in the Comstock Review, is working on a chapbook about former President William McKinley, and one of his poems was turned into a short Chicago play in February, 2007. “I still wear my WMU t-shirt around the UA campus proudly and refuse to say ‘Roll Tide’ unless I am joking around with someone.”

David James

Connections, a series of short one-act plays by creative writing alum David James, had its premiere production March 29-30 in The Smith Theatre on the Orchard Ridge Campus of Oakland Community College, where David is a faculty member in English.

Michael Loyd Gray

MFA alum Michael Loyd Gray’s novel December’s Children, which was a finalist for the Sol Books 2006 Prose Series Prize, will appear soon. He adds, “I have an agent in California now and two new novels in the hopper with her. I’m also almost done with the screenplay version of one of them, which was awarded a grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation.”

Carey Daniels

MFA alum Carey Daniels is the new sales and ticket manager for the Peoria Symphony Orchestra. Carey was here in April for the Frostic reading of her play “Hands for Toast,” which is included in Arnie Johnston and Debby Percy’s anthology from New Issues, The Art of the One-Act.

John Minichillo

A short story by John Minichillo, a 1995 MFA grad, was recently selected for inclusion in Next Stop Hollywood, a groundbreaking anthology just published by St. Martin’s Press. John’s story, “Blind Man in the Halls of Justice,” was selected from more than 600 submissions from around the world. Next Stop Hollywood is a collection of fifteen previously unpublished short stories, all of which have potential as movies.

Jody Keiser

Jody Keisner reports the following wonderful news: “Two weeks ago I interviewed for a full-time Instructor of English position at the University of Nebraska-Omaha and I got the job! I will be teaching advanced composition, literature, and short story. UNO offers undergraduate 4-year degrees, a MA in English Literature, an Advanced Writing Certificate, and is starting a low residency MFA program. I couldn't be more thrilled for the opportunity and wanted to share my good news and pass on my gratitude to all those who helped.” Congratulations, Jody!

Allison Williams

MFA alum Allison Williams reports that her performance group, Aerial Angels, was honored as the Best Small Business of 2006 for our region, quite an honor as they were chosen from over 800 small businesses. Allison adds that, “At the awards ceremony, my associate director Zay and I met (in the bar line, of course) journalist Ren Carlton, who will be interviewing me on the Business Reality Network Saturday, June 2, 11 AM – noon (Eastern Standard Time) on 1310 AM WDTW. Anyone not in the Detroit listening area can listen live at www.businessrealitynetwork.com, or catch the show in their archives. I'm really looking forward to this opportunity to talk about how we address the challenges our business faces, and to promote our exciting new project coming up in 2008, codenamed The Big Show.”

Tom Martin

Congratulations to Tom Martin, who reports the following good news: “Yesterday I accepted an offer for a one-year teaching contract at James Madison University, in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, teaching a 4/4 load of American Literature from the Civil War to the present and a Great Works course that I recently put together based upon E. M. Forster's four ‘prophetic’ novelists: Emily Bronte, D. H. Lawrence, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and Herman Melville. The job doesn't pay much, but it’s more than double what I’ve been living on for the past eight years and located in a lush landscape on a beautiful campus; it should be perfectly suitable as a launching pad for the next cycle.”

Margaret Sneden Moceri

Creative writing undergrad alum Margaret Sneden Moceri—now writing as Meg, though we knew her as Peggy in her years at WMU—earned her master's degree at Georgia State in 1997 and she and her husband are now living in Grand Rapids. Most recently, Meg’s first collection of stories, Sky Full of Burdens, won the George Garrett Fiction Prize sponsored by Texas Review Press/Sam Houston State University. Publication by Texas Review Press will be announced later.

Francine Rossi Distinguished Alumna 2007

Francine Zeidman Rossi has been named Distinguished English Department Alumna for 2007. She earned her B.A. in 1970 with a major in English and minors in Speech/Drama. She continued her education at Michigan State University where she was a student inductee into the Society of Professional Journalists. Her concentration was in Journalism/Consumer Affairs and she completed the requirements for a M.S.J. (With Honors) from Roosevelt University, Chicago, IL in 1987. In 1975, she served an internship at the U.S. EPA (Region V - Department of Public Affairs, Chicago) where she researched, wrote and edited the first in-depth article calling for the national ban on PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls): “Study group calls for ‘ban’ on PCBs.” In 1987, she purchased The National Center for Educational Testing, Inc. from Roosevelt University where she had served as Director of Test Preparation Courses within the College of Continuing Education. She also incorporated The American Center for Educational Development, Inc. and trained over 8,000 students in asbestos/lead abatement. Her company was named one of the top three trainers in the country by the U.S. EPA. As an adjunct to training, she incorporated AS-RA-TECHnologies, Inc., a female-owned environmental remediation company, in 1991. Her company has been awarded contracts, among others, for the Department of Aviation (O’Hare, Midway & Meigs Airports), Chicago; Ft. McCoy, WI; Ft. Leonard Wood, MO; Butler VA, PA; Great Lakes Naval Training Station, IL; and, Ft. Sheridan, IL, for which the company was awarded a Certificate of Recognition by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its outstanding performance on its three-year contract. She served on the WMU Alumni Board of Directors for six years, and is a member of the Federation of Women Contractors, National Association of Women in Construction, National Association of Women Business Owners, and, the Environmental Information Association, in addition to other professional/social organizations.
The English department is extremely proud to honor Francine Rossi with this recognition. She is an excellent example of the many wonderful careers that begin with an education in English studies.