WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Bonnie Jo Campbell ('98) publishes new novel

2011-06-09T11:56:00.000-07:00

Bonnie Jo Campbell ('98) wins Guggenheim Fellowship

2011-04-12T05:12:00.000-07:00

Bonnie Jo Campbell, an English Department alumna (MFA in Creative Writing/Fiction, 1998) nominated two years ago for a National Book Award, is one of the recipients of a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in Fiction for 2011. For information about the fellowships, see HERE.

Emeritus Professor, Arnold Nelson, dies at age 92

2010-12-17T05:35:00.000-08:00

Arnold G. Nelson

Arnold G. Nelson, age 92, of Verona, WI, died peacefully at the Hospice Center in Fitchburg, WI on November 13, 2010.

He was born July 10, 1918 to Frank and Anna Nelson in Stillwater, MN, where he spent his childhood. He graduated from Hamline University in St. Paul, MN, and after serving in the Army Air Corps in World War II (where he was stationed at Truax Field in Madison, WI), he returned to school at the University of Minnesota to earn a Master’s degree, and a PhD in American Studies.

He enjoyed a long career as a college professor teaching English and Communication. He spent a year at Stout Institute (now the University of Wisconsin-Stout) in Menomonie, WI, and then settled down for twenty-six years in the English Department of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI. During this time he and a colleague produced a radio program on communication called “We Mean to Say” for the University radio station, and he received a Fulbright Grant to teach American Literature in Turku, Finland for the 1964-65 academic year. He approached teaching with a creative flair, always seeking new American writers and other artists to engage his students. He retired as a Professor Emeritus in 1980.

Upon retirement, he and his wife Helen moved to Ludington, MI and took up many projects and adventures. Their travels included rafting on the Colorado River, camping on Isle Royale in Lake Superior, and trips to England, Sweden and Iceland. He received a grant to journey to Alaska where Helen’s grandfather, Edwin M. Randall had traveled and taken many photographs of the mining operations and living conditions during the height of the Gold Rush. He and Helen spent the summer taking photos and doing research, which led to publication of an article in the Alaska Journal.

Since moving to the Madison, WI area in 2003, he spent his time exploring the internet, e-mailing friends and keeping current on politics and the newest generation of writers. At the age of 90 he completed a memoir and critique of writing titled How to Write a Good Sentence: A Manual for Writers Who Know How to Write Correct Sentences, which was published in the Spring & Summer volume (Volume 27, Number 1 & 2) of the Alaska Quarterly Review.

His family and friends will remember him for his sense of humor, his great wealth of obscure knowledge about books, art and architecture, and his passionate interest in the panorama of American culture and liberal thought.

He is survived by his wife Helen, and his daughters Kristine Seaman (Barney) of Chattanooga, TN, Ingrid N. Kelley of Madison, WI, and Linnea Nelson (John Martin) of Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. He is also survived by grandchildren Zack Czengoldi and Robin Seaman of Chattanooga, TN, Carmen Nave (John Verne) of Waterloo, Ontario, and Lenore Brooks (Ryan) of Toronto, Ontario; and great-grandchildren Maia and Logan Disbrow of Chattanooga, TN and Ada Verne of Waterloo, Ontario.

Memorials may be made to the Heifer Project through their web site. Please go to the Nelson Family page at http://www.heifer.org/myregistry/anelson.

In Memoriam William Rosegrant

2010-09-23T05:15:00.000-07:00

A memorial service for William Rosegrant, a 29-year member of the faculty and emeritus in English, will be held Saturday, Oct. 2, at 1:30 p.m. at People's Church.

Announcement of the Winner of the 2010 Maurice Prize for Fiction

2010-09-14T06:15:00.001-07:00

Melinda Moustakis

2010 Maurice Prize for Fiction

Prize Winner

The UC Davis English Department and novelist John Lescroart are pleased to announce Melinda Moustakis the winner of the 6th annual Maurice Prize in Fiction contest. Melinda will receive the $5,000 prize for her winning entry, Bear Down, Bear North, selected from 11 novels submitted this year. She is a 2006 graduate of the M.A. English program for creative writers. The $5,000 prize is a gift from John Lescroart in honor of his father, Maurice, for whom the contest is named.

Bear Down, Bear North was selected the best novel submitted by alumni of the creative writing program at UC Davis who haven't published a book-length manuscript. It is John Lescroart's hope to inspire the department's graduates to publish their literary work. Three previous winners have gone on to achieve that goal.

Benjamin Percy, judged this year’s contest. He is the author of The Wilding, Refresh,Refresh, and The Language of Elk among many other publications. He is the recipient of the Whiting Award, Plimpton Prize and anthologized in Best American Short Stories. He is assistant professor in the MFA program at Iowa State University as well as a member of the faculty at the Low Res MFA Pacific University program.

This year's 2010 finalists are Kate Swoboda, (Class of 2004), Palimpsest, and Halina Duraj, (Class of 2003), Fatherland: A Novel.

Previous recipients of this award include:

* Angie Chau, 2009 winner (Class of 2005), A Map Back to You
* Melanie Thorne, 2008 winner (Class of 2006), Hand Me Down

* Elizabeth Chamberlin, 2007 winner (Class of 2006), these people, they crawl all over the place

* Shawna Ryan, 2006 winner, Locke 1928. (Class of 2001). Locke 1928 was published in 2007 by El Leon Literary Arts.

* Spring Warren, 2005 winner, The Breaks.(Class of 2002). Her first book Turpentinewas published in September 2007 by Grove Atlantic.

Adam Schuitema's new book

2010-04-13T06:11:00.001-07:00

Come celebrate the release of Freshwater Boys by Adam Schuitema

Published by Delphinium Books

This Saturday at 6:00 p.m.
Kendall College of Art and Design
17 Fountain St. NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503

For details, click the link below:
http://adamschuitema.wordpress.com/book-release-party/

Freshwater Boys goes on sale today.
To purchase the book, follow the link below:
http://adamschuitema.wordpress.com/pre-orders/

In Memoriam Rodger Swan (1986-2010)

2010-02-04T08:25:00.001-08:00

On January 26, WMU alumnus Rodger Swan (1986-2010) passed away from a sudden illness. In 2009, he had completed an English major and Japanese minor, and at the time of his death, he was teaching English in Iwate, located in northern, rural Japan. Rodger was an outstanding student in the English and Japanese programs, and during his time at WMU, he was an active part of the Writing Center, where he helped many people throughout the university with their work. He was also a member of the Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honor Society. Because he was such a fine student, he was the recipient of an all expenses-paid scholarship to study abroad at one of WMU’s study abroad partners, Keio University in Tokyo, for the 2007-2008 academic year.

Rodger had a passionate love for Japanese culture, literature, and film. In fact, his Honor's Thesis was a translation of a piece of Japanese fiction from the 1920s, which he completed with the assistance of his advisor, Dr. Jeffrey Angles from the Department of Foreign Languages. The translation will be published later this year in a collection of Japanese ghost stories forthcoming from the publisher Kurodahan Press. While in Japan, first as a student and then as an English teacher, Rodger created a series of extremely popular YouTube videos in which he introduced various aspects of Japanese culture and talked about his daily life in Japan. (http://www.youtube.com/user/rodgerswan ) Currently, his YouTube channel shows almost 8000 subscribers. There were Facebook fan pages dedicated to his films and, after his death, there was a great outpouring of grief on Facebook and his YouTube channel from fans who stated that his films had encouraged their love for Japan.

Because Rodger was such a fine ambassador for Japanese culture, Rodger’s family and Dr. Angles of the Department of Foreign Languages have cooperated to create the Rodger Swan Memorial Fund for Japanese Studies. Donations to the fund will help support the study of students who, like Rodger, are working on Japanese language or planning to travel to Japan. Through the fund, they hope to keep alive his eagerness to foster a love for Japan in others, as well as keep his name a part of the activities of the department for years to come.

Donations are being accepted via credit card through the following link.

Rodger Swan Memorial Fund for Japanese Studies https://shopwmu.wmich.edu/ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=718&SINGLESTORE=true

Bonnie Jo Campbell, MFA

2010-01-28T08:59:00.001-08:00

Bonnie Jo Campbell is a fiction finalist again--this time by the National Book Critics Circle Award, announced Saturday at the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in New York. The Awards are given annually by the critics' group and will be handed out March 11. It was for her novel American Salvage.

In Memoriam: Emerita Nancy Cutbirth Small

2009-12-01T07:10:00.000-08:00

Dr. Nancy Cutbirth Small passed away after a long illness on Friday, 27 November 2009. Nancy joined the Department of English in 1971 and retired as Associate Professor with emerita status at the end of 1995. Her career was distinguished above all by the nurturing care that she lavished on her students, by her teaching of numerous courses in Renaissance Literature (particularly poetry), by her editing of The Anthony Powell Newsletter, and by her labors in conjunction with her future husband Tom in organizing what were then annual Shakespeare Festivals sponsored by the Department.

Following retirement Nancy pursued her passions for peace and the natural world. She was an early opponent of the war in Iraq, an early and active member of the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy, and a founder of the Kalamazoo chapter of Wild Ones, an organization that advocates for natural landscapes. She lectured widely and wrote numerous letters and essays advocating for the preservation of natural spaces and all critters that live in, on, or above them. In a sense she never stopped teaching, as those who gardened with her, or received plants from her hands, or sought her advice on what to plant and where and why would testify. T. H. Seiler

See also the Obituary in the Kalamazoo Gazette. Please also note that the family has established an online Guest Book until 12/1/2010.

Bonnie Jo Campbell (MFA 1998) finalist for National Book Award

2009-10-14T11:23:00.001-07:00

Bonnie Jo Campbell is among the finalists for the National Book Foundation's "National Book Award" for American Salvage. Please read the full article in the NY Times.

Bonnie Jo Campbell's "American Salvage" Has Once Again Gained Success

2009-09-10T06:37:00.000-07:00

"In her new short-story collection, American Salvage, Bonnie Jo Campbell looks at working-class life in Michigan. Reviewer Alan Cheuse says both roughness and beauty can be found in Campbell's stories about cold, meth-drenched small towns."

The following is the transcript of the National Public Radio broadcast relating to her book:

NOAH ADAMS, host:

From NPR News, it's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Noah Adams.

MELISSA BLOCK, host:

And I'm Melissa Block.

Michigan has been one of the hardest-hit states in the economic downturn. The unemployment rate there right now is 15 percent. And it is among Michigan's struggling working class that Bonnie Jo Campbell sets her new book of short stories. It's called "American Salvage."

Alan Cheuse has this review.

ALAN CHEUSE: Campbell sets most of her stories in a small Michigan town that's been saturated with methamphetamine, a place suffering from a declining Rust Belt economy and all of the usual small-town modern pains: loss of love, splintered families, despair about the future.

Even the happy families, such as that of the yard man, Jerry, and his wife, Natalie, must fight off assaults from invading nature, from ermines to bees to snakes. Jerry can't sleep because of a hole in the baseboard of their bedroom. He's afraid that anything could move into that empty space and lurk there.

That worry turns up in many of the other stories. In "King Cole's American Salvage," an ex-con named William Slocum, Jr. holds up an auto salvage yard owner, beating him nearly to death, all so he can buy his beloved girlfriend, Wanda some meth - to keep herself going, we hear, since she'd lost her job.

In one of the most chilling passages in recent fiction, Slocum presents his girl with a wad of blood-spattered cash.

Campbell writes: Here's your house payment, babe. Look at you, Wanda says, but she was looking at the money. With two fingers, she lifted a $50 bill from the stack and held it away from herself. Willie, this money's covered with blood. Sorry about that. Slocum looked at his hands, which were also covered with blood. We can wash it in the sink, Wanda said.

What these people do to each other can't be washed away. But in these stories about cold, lonely, meth-drenched, modern, working-class, small-town Michigan life, there's a roughness and even beauty.

Few of the stories have endings that seem resolved. Because of their despairing feel and their shape and form, they seem quite lifelike, all too real.

BLOCK: The book of short stories is called "American Salvage" by Bonnie Jo Campbell. Our reviewer is Alan Cheuse. And Alan's latest book is "A Trance After Breakfast."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112651628

Vincent Reusch

2009-08-28T08:45:00.000-07:00

Vincent Reusch, recent PhD graduate, got a job at Concordia College, Minnesota--a fiction position.

Laura Feffer (2008) wins prestigious award

2009-08-12T06:10:00.000-07:00

Laura Feffer (2008) just learned that she is the recipient of the prestigious Farmer Award from the Editor of English Journal, with a circulation of over 30,000 the largest circulation academic journal in the world! Laura's essay about her students engaging in ensemble theater, written with Allen Webb as an independent study during her MATE program, was one of two essays selected this year to be given this national award at the secondary section of NCTE at the luncheon at the conference this November in Philadelphia.

American Salvage

2009-08-03T06:36:00.001-07:00

National Public Radio book reviewer Alan Cheuse has just reviewed
AMERICAN SALVAGE, Bonnie Jo Campbell's (1998 MFA) third book of fiction,
which has just gone into a third printing. Cheuse says many all good
things, compares Campbell to D.H. Lawrence, and refers to a particular
scene in the title story as "one of the most chilling passages in recent
fiction." AMERICAN SALVAGE was published by Wayne State University
Press as part of the Made in Michigan series.

One of the stories in the collection, "The Inventor, 1972,"
has won the 2009 Eudora Welty Prize from /Southern Review./

Campbell teaches at the Pacific University low residency MFA program in
Oregon, and currently she is is running around promoting AMERICAN
SALVAGE, so if you want her to come to her town, just contact her on
facebook or at her website: www.bonniejocampbell.com.

'American Salvage' delves into lonely, modern working-class small-town Michigan life

2009-08-03T06:35:00.000-07:00

'American Salvage' delves into lonely, modern working-class small-town Michigan life

Bonnie Jo Campbell creates stories that somehow dig deep while also soaring

By Alan Cheuse |Special to Tribune Newspapers

July 25, 2009

Well, it looks as though Illinois writer Jean Thompson, with her recent collection "Do Not Deny Me," has middle-class Midwestern life pretty well covered for the year. Now here's Bonnie Jo Campbell in "American Salvage" taking on the question of life among Michigan working-class folks, and making stories that dig deep and somehow soar at the same time.

She sets most of her stories in a small Michigan town that has been saturated with methamphetamine, a place suffering the torpors of a declining Rust Belt economy and all of the usual small-town modern times pains -- loss of love, splintered families, despair about the future -- as well. Even the happy families, such as that of Jerry and his wife, Natalie, must fight off assaults from invading nature, from ermine to bees to snakes. Jerry can't sleep because of a hole in the baseboard of their bedroom, fearing that anything "could move into that empty space and lurk there, a bat or a squirrel or bugs or some awful art of himself, maybe."

That worry turns out to be in many of the other stories, except it's people from town, the neighbors, who assault one another. In the story "King Cole's American Salvage," from which Campbell takes the title for the collection, an ex-con named William Slocum Jr. robs an auto salvage yard owner, beating him nearly to death, all so he can buy his beloved girlfriend Wanda some methamphetamine "to keep herself going since she had lost her job" and help her pay her mortgage. He beats the salvage yard man so badly with a length of galvanized pipe that the victim's blood spills over the money Slocum finds in his pockets.

In one of the most chilling passages in recent fiction -- all the more so because of the matter-of-fact way the writer presents it -- Slocum presents his girl with the cash. " 'Here's your house payment, babe.' 'Look at you,' she said, but she was looking at the money. With two fingers she lifted a 50-dollar bill from the stack and held it away from herself. 'Willie, this money's covered with blood.' 'Sorry about that.' Slocum looked at his hands, which were also covered with blood. 'We can wash it in the sink,' Wanda said."

Alas, what these people do to one another can't be washed away or erased. Even the children suffer from a deadening of expectations, as we hear when a schoolgirl, run over by a man racing along the road on a foggy morning, lies waiting for help, considers the miseries of what may come in her life. "What if the future were camouflage and gray and sour, phlegm and dirty snow, wounds and scars and boys killing helpless pond creatures?"

Humor is a toothless meth addict, joking with her earnest ex-husband that she has committed incest with her former stepson. And though the future envisioned by the most level-headed adults, as in the mind of Doug, the victim of an accident, takes on a certain lyrical force, it remains bleak nonetheless: "The universe seemed darker than he'd realized, and larger, which made each thing in it, including him, smaller. Years ago, smart-aleck schoolboys like him ... should have learned more than their grammar and arithmetic. Why hadn't they learned the way bodies could break and how slow and difficult it was to heal?"

In these stories about cold, lonely, meth-drenched, working-class Michigan life, there's a certain beauty reaching something like the sublimity of a D.H. Lawrence story. Few of the stories have endings that seem resolved. Because of their despairing feel, and their shape and form, they seem quite lifelike.

Alan Cheuse is an author, a writing teacher at George Mason University and a book commentator for NPR's "All Things Considered."

"American Salvage"

By Bonnie Jo Campbell

Wayne State University Press, $18.95, 171 pages

Former English Faculty, Ken Macrorie, Dies

2009-07-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

From Las Cruces Sun-News "Ken Macrorie was born in the Mississippi River town of Moline, Ill., in 1918. He graduated from Oberl[l]in College in Ohio and served in the Army during WWII. He then earned a master's degree in English at the University of North Carolina where he became a civil rights activist and began his lifelong dedication to breaking down racial bigotry and bars to equality wherever he was. He taught at Michigan State University and was active in forming the teachers union. When he began work on his doctorate at Columbia University, he studied perception, concentrating on how it affected journalists and accompanying New York Times reporters on assignments. He wrote his doctoral thesis on objectivity/subjectivity in reporting. After receiving his degree, he returned to Michigan State, eventually moving to San Francisco State and then to Western Michigan University where he made the breakthroughs that led to his national leadership role in re-educating teachers trapped in unproductive teaching methods to learn how to express themselves in print and pass that knowledge on to their students." For the full obituary, visit the Las Cruces Sun News.

WMU Alumni Kelly Sandoval's Update

2009-07-15T06:05:00.000-07:00

Kelly Sandoval just got her BA in English/Creative Writing. She wrote "How to Win in Reno" in a 5660 workshop last year. The story was a runner-up for the 2009 Undergraduate Fiction Award, and is now going to appear in Esopus Magazine.

Bonnie Jo Campbell (MFA 1998) publishes American Salvage

2009-05-14T05:33:00.002-07:00

Bonnie Jo Campbell's third book of fiction, AMERICAN SALVAGE has been released into the wild. Booklist gave the story collection a starred review, and on Sunday, Julia Keller wrote a feature about BJC and her book in the Chicago Tribune. Read the story HERE.

After only three weeks, Wayne State University Press has done a second
printing of AMERICAN SALVAGE. Be sure to attend her Kalamazoo Book Release Party at Bell's Brewery, on May 24, the Sunday before Memorial Day, from 2-8 pm. As well as books and beer, there will be readings, art, music, pin the tail on the donkey, Kalamazoo's biggest ball of string, lots of temporary tattoos and more. BJC will read at 3:00. If you have any questions, contact BJC at bonniecamp@gmail.com.

Three English Alumni Publish

2009-04-29T11:29:00.000-07:00

Dennis Hinrichsen (1975), winner of the FIELD Poetry Prize, 2008 (Kurosawa's Dog)

David James (1977), publishing his second book after a 25 year hiatus (She Dances Like Mussolini, March Street Press)

Marc Sheehan (1977), winner of the Ashland Poetry Prize for 2008 (Vengeful Hymns, Ashland Univ. Press)

Party for Arnie

2009-04-14T13:29:00.002-07:00

Dear All,

On behalf of the faculty and staff of the English Department, I would like to invite all of you to attend a retirement party honoring Arnie Johnston, since July 2008 Professor and Chair Emeritus after 42 (!) years of service to Western. Please join us and spread the word. All of Arnie's friends, students, staff, collaborators, and colleagues are invited. The event will take place on Tuesday, April 21, from 5-9:00 pm in the Lee Honors College Lounge.

All best,
Richard

Lisa Eckert becomes Director of Yellowstone Writing Project

2009-04-13T05:30:00.000-07:00

Former Ph.D. student, Lisa Eckert, is now director of a new National Writing Project site at Montana State University. Lisa was originally a high school teacher at Gull Lake, and wrote an award-winning NCTE article for the English Journal that grew out of a paper she did for Larry Syndergaard. She also worked as a summer grad assistant for the Third Coast Writing Project..

Jon Taylor, MFA '96

2009-02-06T06:50:00.000-08:00

Jon Taylor, MFA '96 (Poetry) is Assistant Professor in the Department of Languages and Literature at Ferris State University. He teaches creative writing, professional writing, and literature. After many years of teaching, living life, and dabbling in Ph.D. programs (English Ed. & Academic Leadership) he has recently refocused on writing and has just finished a writing sabbatical. He completed his first collection of poetry and is currently seeking a publisher. In the past year, he attended the Bear River Writer's Conference in Petoskey and the Colrain Poetry Manuscript Conference in Massachusetts and had excellent experiences at both. He lives in Big Rapids with his wife and two sons, aged three and eight. His older son has autism and his new work focuses on the experience of raising him. He recently started a Facebook account and has been in touch with former friends, colleagues, and mentors (including Arnie Johnston). You can contact Jon there: http://www.facebook.com/people/Jon-Taylor/1513111565 or at taylorj @ ferris.edu.

Rose Swartz

2009-02-06T06:23:00.000-08:00

Rose Swartz, an English major--Creative writing, who graduated a couple of years ago (you may remember her for editing The Laureate), is in her second year at Arizona State where she is poetry editor of Hayden's Ferry Review. She just won the Hot Metal Press chapbook contest for her manuscript entitled "Things I've Left Between." She has been awarded a fellowship to Prague for this summer and also an artistic residency to collaborate with another artist from someplace in the world for a month in Tabor, Czech Republic. We're very proud of her.

The new "Arnie"

2008-12-23T07:43:00.000-08:00

Attention all alumni/ae: Others may have the "Oscar," the "Hugo," etc., but we are inaugurating the "Arnie." The Arnie Johnston One Act Play Award is named in honor of the recent retirement of WMU English Department Chair and distinguished playwright Arnie Johnston, who began teaching graduate playwriting at WMU in 1975. For full information, please go HERE.

Darren DeFrain, PhD

2008-12-01T09:47:00.000-08:00

Darren DeFrain's new collection of stories, Inside & Out, was just published by Main Street Rag Publishing Company and can be had via the web at http://www.mainstreetrag.com/store/MSRFiction.php . One of the stories in that collection, “Why Oshkosh,” was just nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
After directing the MFA program at Wichita State University last year he's back as Director of the Writing Program. He submitted his tenure file in October and is anxiously awaiting the verdict. "I do hope you and everyone in Kalamazoo are doing well. Please give my best to anyone who might remember me."

Tim Wheeler, creative writing and Playwriting alumnus

2008-11-11T11:09:00.000-08:00

Central Michigan University's radio broadcasting network airs Obstructed View, Tim Wheeler's weekly take on the world of Pop-Tarts, five-bladed razors, nefarious condiments and an overwhelming array of life's underwhelming distractions. Catch him on Kalamazoo's airwaves Wednesdays at 12:15 p.m. on WGVU and you can learn more about such exciting topics as pickled eggs, Boo-Berry and Little Toe Day. For more information: obstructedviewstudios.com
He's in print:
Mondays, The Grand Haven Tribune
Monthly - Brought to you by Riversedge Photography
Women's Lifestyle - Northshore Edition

Kristin Berger

2008-11-11T08:25:00.000-08:00

For the Willing is the first chapbook of poetry by Portland poet and essayist, Kristin Berger. In the 26-poem collection, Berger maps the arc of motherhood into childhood, from the outer world of lunar eclipses and seasonal migrations to the inner world of sleepless nights and caring for children. From the simple pleasures of digging in spring soil and cooking for a family to the complexities of global warming and life's unexpected turns, these poems are strung on a steady and sure thread.

Kristin Berger lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and two young children. A Creative Writing graduate of Western Michigan University, her poems and non-fiction have been published in numerous journals and reviews, including CALYX, Hip Mama, New Letters, The Rockhurst Review and Sea Stories. She received First Place in the Oregon State Poetry Association's New Poets category in 2006. To sample more of her writing, visit her weblog at www.kristinberger.wordpress.com.

Published by Finishing Line Press of Georgetown, Kentucky, this handcrafted, soft-bound, 6' x 9' chapbook also features original cover-art by Michigan artist, Cindy Mom.

more news about Darrin Doyle

2008-11-11T08:22:00.000-08:00

Our PhD alumnus (fiction) Darrin Doyle had his first novel taken by LSU Press. Revenge of the Teacher's Pet: A Love Story will appear in March 2009. He has been a visiting assistant professor at the University of Louisville, and next year will be teaching in the creative writing program at Kansas State.

Ron Riekki

2008-11-11T08:07:00.000-08:00

Our recent PhD graduate Ron Riekki has just published a novel: U.P., a novel by R.A. Riekki. Order from Ghost Road Press, 5303 E. Evans Ave., #309, Denver, CO 80222, ISBN 0-9796255-5-6, $19.95, ghostroadpress.com. Says Christopher Tilghman, "Ron Riekki takes us to Michigan's Upper Peninsula and shows us a world that is at once banal and horrific. Part Celine, part Henry Miller, Part Cormac McCarthy, Riekki delivers his vision with high intelligence and relentlessly powerful prose."

Kristen Tracy, MFA 2005

2008-11-10T07:36:00.000-08:00

Kristen Tracy's first teen novel, Lost It, was published last year by Simon & Schuster. It received a starred review in Publishers Weekly, was selected by the New York Public Library as one of their "Books for the Teen Age," and is already in its third printing. Her second teen novel, Crimes of the Sarahs, was also published by Simon & Schuster and came out this spring (It's set in Kalamazoo). Her first middle-grade novel, Camille Mcphee Fell Under the Bus, will be published next year by Random House with a second novel to follow in 2010. Her poems have recently appeared or are forthcoming in Threepenny Review, Prairie Schooner, TriQuarterly, New York Quarterly, Puerto del Sol, and AGNI. She recently found out that Ted Kooser has selected her poem "Rain at the Zoo" to be reprinted in American Life in Poetry. She lives and writes in San Francisco, where she is very very happy.

Roy Seeger Publishes Poetry

2008-11-03T05:19:00.000-08:00

Charlotte, NC October 21, 2008—Main Street Rag Publishing Company to release Roy Seeger’s The Boy Whose Hands were Birds, the winner of their 2008 Main Street Rag Poetry Book Contest. The book will be available through Main Street Rag’s online bookstore and through select bookstores nationwide with a suggested cover price of $14. Roy Seeger is a. English Instructor at the University of South Carolina Aiken and the winner of the 2007 Gribble Press Chapbook Contest forThe Garden of Improbable Birds. He received his Masters of Fine Arts in Poetry from Western Michigan University in 2005 and his Masters of Arts in Poetry from Ohio University. He was also co-winner of the 2008 Society for the study of Midwestern Literature’s Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Prize, a finalist for the 2007 Chicago Poetry Center Juried Reading, and his work has been featured on Verse Daily as well as in numerous poetry journals such as Gulf Coast, The Laurel Review, Versand The Mississippi Review. Bob Hicok, award winning author of This Clumsy Living, says of the collection that, “There is a quiet optimism to these poems, a product of Seeger’s awareness that ‘between the clay/& the syllable that breathes/what we make/alive’ we are, as he points out, ‘little gods.’ Where others see language as limiting, he understands language as that which allows a level of ontological choice...This is an engaging first book.” William Olsen, poetry editor of New Issues Press, says of Seeger’s collection that, “These poems instruct not so much by example as by mishap, jerry-rigged allegory, domestic fluke. The result: a poetry that is itself a credible way to live, uniquely.” Roy Seeger was a Kalamazoo resident for over a decade. He received his Bachelors Degree in English at Western Michigan University, and then returned to receive his Masters of Fine Arts. He is a former poetry editor of the award winning literary journal, Third Coast. The Boy Whose Hands Were Birds is scheduled for release onOctober 20, 2008 through Main Street Rag Publishing Company for $14. For orders contact M. Scott Douglass through www.mainstreetrag.com or by phone at 704-573-2516. You may contact Roy Seeger for autographed copies, readings, book signings, and workshops at 803-226-0245 or by email at roydseeger@hotmail.com.

Ashley Dempsky with AmeriCorps

2008-10-28T05:33:00.000-07:00

Here is recent news from Ashley Dempsky (class of '08):

"Americorps, which is often called the 'domestic Peace Corps,' is a multi-faceted government volunteer program wherein members can serve in different ways. I work in the education area of AmeriCorps for a program called KernCorps AmeriCorps, named after Kern County in California. Due to the socio-economic challenges many people in the poorer areas of Kern County face (gang activity, poverty, unstable family life, etc) their education often suffers. I work at what is called a 'community high school' where students who have been expelled from the public school system attend until their expulsion period is over. The two areas in which these students struggle the most with are Reading and Math; many of them are below fourth-grade standards. I work with about 20 students a week, tutoring them and helping them prepare for their high school exit exams which they need to pass in order to receive a diploma. AmeriCorps state and local programs require a one year commitment, so I will be busy with this until next summer! It's challenging but rewarding at the same time."

Robert Bradley 2008/2009 Distinguished Alumnus

2008-10-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

Robert Bradley was recently honored with the Department's Distinguished Scholar Award at the College of Arts and Sciences Reception. On Friday morning, he had an opportunity to visit Beth Bradburn's British Literature I class and witnessed a discussion of Chaucer's "Miller's Tale." In the picture, he is standing in front of Sprau Tower, an appropriate location considering that he was the Department's second recipient, in 1951 (!), of the prestigious George Sprau Student Award.

Elizabeth Kerlikowske

2008-10-13T12:43:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth Kerlikowske, who completed her PhD here in lit/Creative Writing a year or two back, has had her dissertation The Laying on of Maples (a collection of poetry) accepted for publication by Wayne State University for its Made in Michigan Series. Elizabeth teaches full-time at Kellogg Community College.

Bill Bradley at VanityFair.com

2008-10-13T11:43:00.000-07:00

Bill Bradley, '07--creative writing, moved to Harlem this January after completing an internship at Esquire. He now writes about music (mostly) for VanityFair.com. He just recently took part in creating a video about an Obama4Harlem debate party which you will soon be able to find at: http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2008/10/harlem- awaits-the-second-black-president.html

Michael Gray Interviewed on 'Well Deserved'

2008-09-07T13:31:00.000-07:00

Michael Gray is doing a monthlong interview with the publisher of his novel, Well Deserved. The interview is accessible at: http://www.solbooks.com/blog

Donald Verkow

2008-05-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

Former student Donald Verkow recently credited Beth Amidon with his success in writing and publishing. Verkow, author of two stories in the best-selling "Chicken Soup" book series, was a student in Beth's 1996 "Writing in the Elementary School" class, and she encouraged him to hone his skills and think about publishing. For more information, see Kurt Anthony Krug's article on p. D8 in the Kalamazoo Gazette, May 18, 2008.

Amanda Warren

2008-04-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

Amanda Warren, a recent PhD graduate, is a finalist in The Poetry Center of Chicago's 14th Annual Juried Reading Competition, judged by Literary activist and award-winning poet E. Ethelbert Miller. All eight finalists will be published in a chapbook by Dancing Girl Press as well as on The Poetry Center website. Winners will be announced at the 14th Annual Juried Reading Award Ceremony on Saturday, April 26, at 3:30 pm in the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium at the Harold Washington Library Center. The cermony will be held as part of the Chicago Public Library's Ninth Annual Poetry Fest.

Michael Gray

2008-04-21T06:28:00.000-07:00

Michael Gray's novel Well Deserved was awarded the 2007 Sol Books Prose Series Prize (http://www.solbooks.com).
Michael Loyd Gray (MFA 1996) now lives in Champaign, Illinois; he is the winner of the 2005 Alligator Juniper Fiction Prize, the 2005 The Writers Place Award for Fiction, and has written three novels and a screenplay based on one of the novels. His novel Not Famous Anymore was awarded a grant by the Elizabeth George Foundation. His novel December’s Children was a finalist for the 2006 Sol Books Prose Series Prize, and as mentioned above, his novel Well Deserved was awarded the 2007 Sol Books Prose Series Prize. He recently completed a new novel, Blue Sparta. A lifelong Chicago Bears and Rolling Stones fan, he lives with two insolent cats, EH and Moonpie.

David James

2008-02-12T11:49:00.001-08:00

David James' ('77) fourth chapbook has been published by March Street Press, Trembling in Someone's Palm. He has poems and essays forthcoming in Rattle, Quercus Review, Lalitamba, Poet Lore, Poetry East, Driftwood Review, poetryREpairs.com and others. He teaches and is the English department chair at Oakland Community College.

Darrin Doyle

2008-02-05T13:10:00.001-08:00

Darrin Doyle's (MFA from WMU, 1999; PhD in Comparative Literature, U of Cincinnati, 2006) first novel, Revenge of the Teacher's Pet: A Love Story, will be published by LSU Press in March of 2009. His short stories are forthcoming in The Long Story and Puerto del Sol and have appeared in Cottonwood, Night Train, Alaska Quarterly Review, Laurel Review, Harpur Palate and other journals. He is currently Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Louisville. He and his wife Courtney live in Louisville with their two young sons, Simon and Charlie.

Amy McInnis

2008-01-10T08:01:00.000-08:00

Amy McInnis' first book of poetry, River, won the 2007 Holland Prize from Logan House Press. McInnis' poems have appeared in The MacGuffin, Yemassee, Cimarron Review, and others. An Upper Peninsula native, she earned her M.F.A. at Western Michigan University. She's reading at the Kalamazoo Public Library on January 22nd at 7 p.m.

David James

2008-01-10T07:43:00.000-08:00

Just published by March Street Press, David James' Trembling in Someone's Palm. The book consists of 36 prose poems by our alumnus, a Michigan author, whose most recent chapbooks include I Dance Back, and I Will Peel This Mask Off. Peter Stine, editor of Witness, writes, "These wise and humorous prose poems stun us with their illuminations of family, love, marriage, loneliness, sex, and creativity. James is a master of metamorphosis, literalizing his metaphors to recover the wondrous in the quotidian. Read this original book."
Books available for $9.00 through March Street Press, 3413 Wilshire, Greensboro, NC 27408, www.marchstreetpress.com, or rbixby@earthlink.net.

Lisa Fishman

2007-11-21T08:17:00.000-08:00

Lisa Fishman (MFA 1992) now teaches in the undergraduate and MFA Poetry Programs at Columbia College Chicago. Her third book is out: The Happiness Experiment (Ahsahta Press, 2007) and a chapbook: KabbaLoom (Boulder: Wyrd Press, 2007). She is also an editor of Court Green, the faculty-edited journal at Columbia College. "And I help manage the Poetry/Farm project, a work residency program for poets on our organic farm in southern Wisconsin."

Julie Roos

2007-11-21T08:05:00.001-08:00

Julie Roos (MA 2007) is now teaching English 10 at Canyon Springs High School and Leadership and Law Preparatory Academy in North Las Vegas, Clark County School District. This past summer she married Christopher Rogers in Indiana, Pennsylvania, home of their undergraduate alma mater.

Patricia Jabbeh Wesley

2007-11-21T07:57:00.000-08:00

Patricia Jabbeh Wesley's new book The River is Rising is now available, published by Autumn House Press, 87 1/2 Westwood St., Pittsburgh, PA 15211 (412) 381-4261, www.autumnhouse.org. It is also available through Amazon.com, ISBN 978-1-932870-18-3.
Currently at work on her memoir of the Liberian civil war, Patricia teaches English, Creative Writing, and African Literature at Penn State University in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where she lives with her family.

Roy Seeger

2007-11-21T07:54:00.000-08:00

Roy Seeger (MFA 2005) is a finalist for the Poetry Center of Chicago Juried Reading Award (Winners announced April 28), winner of the Buckbee, A Writer, Inc. Saddness Writing Contest. His poems are forthcoming in Controlled Burn, Blue Mesa Review, Nimrod, Southeast Review, Green Mountain Review, Tampa Review, Painted Bride Quarterly, and 32 Poems.

Adam Schuitema

2007-11-21T07:39:00.000-08:00

Adam Schuitema's story collection Freshwater Boys will be published in hardcover by Delphinium Books and distributed by HarperCollins. He was recognized as a 2006-07 All-University Scholar for his work on the book.
Adam has also accepted [starting Fall, 2007] a tenure-track position as assistant professor of English at Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids.

Tom Martin

2007-11-15T07:13:00.000-08:00

Tom Martin (PhD 2007) recently placed a poem in The Wild Goose Poetry Review and a 16-page story in Passages North. The story is excerpted from chapter four of his novel.

Kirk Pinho

2007-10-23T08:17:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-15T13:27:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-15T13:26:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-15T13:25:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-15T13:24:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-15T13:23:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-15T13:22:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-15T13:21:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-15T13:19:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-15T11:41:00.000-07:00

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.