If you’re in the area next week, please join us for the English Graduate Programs end-of-year gathering on Thursday, May 19, at 6-8pm on the fourth-floor patio of Leatherby Libraries. Light refreshments will be served. We look forward to seeing current students, admitted students, and alums.
I’m also excited that our graduating students have defended their thesis projects and are donning their academic regalia for Commencement on May 21. Many of the MFA students graduating this spring have earned their degrees entirely in the pandemic, so I’m especially proud of the perseverance of this cohort. Plus, “Pomp and Circumstance” is one of my favorite songs.
And of course, students in our incoming MFA class are now registering for this fall’s classes, so we are looking forward to greeting all of you in person. I’ll be teaching the required Aspects of a Writer course, so I’ll see you there.
As we move from one academic year to the next, I also want to thank the amazing staff for their hard work, especially Graduate Programs Coordinator David Krausman and English Administrative assistant Samantha De La O. In addition, Ximena Delgado and Makena Metz continue to do a fantastic job as the MFA Program Assistants.
—Dr. Anna Leahy, Director of MFA in Creative Writing
Alumni Achievements
Ariel Banayan '21
(Dual MA/MFA)
Ariel Banayan's poem "Labyrinth of the Toilet" was published in Variant Lit.
Banayan has another poem appearing soon in Sidereal Magazine.
Meghan Kemp-Gee '19 (Dual MA/MFA)
Megan Kemp-Gee's poem "The fire is watching us, too" was published in the latest volume of The Minison Project.
Jason Thornberry '21
(MFA)
Jason Thornberry's short story "The Cake Eater" was published with The Broadkill Review.
Candice Yacono '21
(Dual MA/MFA)
Candice Yacono has been selected as this year's recipient of The CEA Robert Miller Memorial Prize for her essay, "Video Game Design as a Multimodal Heuristic: Turning the Tide of Composition Studies," published in The Critic.
Tryphena Yeboah '21
(MFA)
Tryphena Yeboah's short story "Lemon Drove" was published in Birdfeast Magazine.
Student Achievements
Audrey Fong
(Dual MA/MFA)
Audrey Fong has launched a new journal for reviews of literature by Asian American authors titled Soapberry Review.
Megan Friess
(Dual MA/MFA)
Megan Friess was awarded the Anna Marie Jardini Graduate Student Award for Service and Achievement at the 2022 Annual Kugelman Arts & Humanities Awards Ceremony.
Piper Gourley & Ximena Delgado
(MFA)
Piper Gourley has launched a new literary magazine titled The Institutionalized Review.
Ximena Delgado serves as prose editor.
The first issue is available now.
Kate Hampton
(MFA)
Kate Hampton was awarded a one-week residency at Dorland Mountain Arts Colony in partnership with Chapman's MFA in Creative Writing program.
Matt Lemas
(MFA)
Matt Lemas's short story "Felicidades" was published with Beyond Words Literary Magazine.
Makena Metz
(Dual MA/MFA)
Makena Metz's poem "Light Through Water" was published with The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls. Metz was recently interviewed by Women & Theatre and her short play "Death Bites" was published by Next Stage Press in their "Disability Forward!" Anthology.
Hannah Montante
(Dual MA/MFA)
Hannah Montante's short story "A Love Story" was published with Paper Lanterns.
Ansalee Morrison
(Dual MA/MFA)
Ansalee Morrison was awarded the Paul Frizler Award for Outstanding MA Student at the 2022 Annual Kugelman Arts & Humanities Awards Ceremony.
Janalee Tabayoyong
(MFA)
Janalee Tabayoyong was awarded the Terri Brint Joseph Award for Outstanding MFA Student at the 2022 Annual Kugelman Arts & Humanities Awards Ceremony.
Santa-Victoria Perez & Isabelle Stillman
(Dual MA/MFA, MFA)
Santa-Victoria Perez and Isabelle Stillman have been admitted to the Juniper Summer Institute this year.
Paige Welsh
(Dual MA/MFA)
Paige Welsh's poem "When they made Io his moon" was published in Pidgeonholes.
Welsh was also awarded the Tom Massey Award for Outstanding Dual Degree Student at the 2022 Annual Kugelman Arts & Humanities Awards Ceremony.
Events
Mark your calendar to join our MA, MFA, and Dual MA/MFA students in an end-of-year celebration on Thursday, May 19, at 6-8pm on the fourth-floor patio of Leatherby Libraries. Students, Staff, Faculty, and Alums are all welcome!
Opportunities
Ploughshares has announced that the 2022 Emerging Writer’s Contest is now open for submissions. Awarded annually, the contest recognizes fiction, poetry, and nonfiction by writers who have yet to publish a book of their work. One winner in each genre will receive $2,000, a conversation with Aevitas Creative Management, and publication in Ploughshares. The deadline is May 15.
Rutgers University has opened applications to their second annual Poets and Scholars Summer Writing Retreat - Bodies of Text: Crafting Equity in the Language of Care, from July 11-21, 2022. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The deadline is May 15 at noon EST.
Pomona Valley Review is looking for poetry, short fiction and creative nonfiction, and artwork for its 16th online issue. The deadline is June 18.
Fresh Words is looking for poetry, short stories, essays, essays, and plays.
Poets & Writers has an extensive list of literary journals with website links and reading periods included, and you can filter by genre. There is also a good list of contests that rolls according to impending deadlines and a list of book review outlets.
