Goucher Creative Writing Program News

Goucher graduate and former Goucher Communications Media Relations Specialist, Jess Bowers, checks in with great news. She recently published "Shooting A Mule" was in the Spring '09 issue of Redivider: http://www.redividerjournal.org/shooting-a-mule/ and "Snake" was in the August '09 issue of Fringe: http://www.fringemagazine.org/lit/short-short/snake/. She is currently working on a short story collection/creative dissertation in the graduate program at the University of Missouri. It's tentatively called I Dig A Pony, and deals with the intersections between horses, death, photography, and film. She says, "I miss you all at Goucher!"

Laura Bogart, Goucher class of 2004 has great news to report: She graduated from American University in 2008 with an MFA in Creative Writing. In 2009 she was a Grace Paley Fellow at the Juniper Institute at UMass Amherst and she has taught at Montgomery College in Maryland. Her short stories have appeared in 34th Parallel, Wazee Journal, Ne'er Do Well Magazine, Full of Crow, Xenith, and Prick of the Spindle. She is a featured contributor to The Nervous Breakdown. She is at work on a collection of linked short stories currently entitled Your Name is No.

Katherine Cottle has wonderful news. Her book My Father's Speech: Poetry was published in 2008 and her memoir Halfway: A Journal through Pregnancy is due this Fall 2010. Both books are released from Apprentice House, the press of Loyola University. She is a recent graduate of the MFA program at the University of Maryland and she is a doctoral student in American Literature at Morgan State University while working as a part-time distance education poetry instructor for Johns Hopkins University's CTYOnline program. Her new website is www.katherinecottle.com.

Paul Reyes is the author of Exiles in Eden: Life among the Ruins of Florida's Great Recession, forthcoming from Henry Holt in fall 2010. Find out more about it here: http://www.paulrreyes.com/

Andrew Ervin is the author of Extraordinary Renditions, a group of three novellas forthcoming from Coffeehouse Press. Check it out at http://andrewervin.com/

In addition to having been admitted to Fence Magazine's Summer Literary Seminar in 2011, Kate Wyer, previously known to us as Kate McGill, has been busy publishing short-short stories; here's a few links:

http://www.litnimage.com/wyer.htm

http://www.fringemagazine.org/lit/short-short/transponder/

http://robotmelon.com/issueten/kwyer.html

http://www.decompmagazine.com/overbite.htm

Clara Roberts was accepted to present her creative work at Susquehanna University's 2010 Undergraduate Literature and Creative Writing Conference.

Emily McCormack's story entitled "Dumb Thoughts" was published in the Winter 2009 issue of the nationally distributed literary journal The First Line.

Matthew Ashby published his first creative nonfiction book entitled On Toilets in 2009 (available at amazon.com).

Kate McGill (class of 2002) has published the poetry chapbook From Spools of Thin Wire, with the Baltimore company Publishing Genius, under her new name, Kate Wyer. You can see an online version here: http://publishinggenius.blogspot.com/search?q=from+spools+of+thin+wire --in fact you can actually page through and print out a PDF version. This outfit is handy with the technology as well as having good taste....

One of Allison McCarthy's short stories called "Everybody Knows" from her 2008 senior thesis with Madison Bell was accepted for publication in the literary magazine Dark Sky. Congratulations Allison!

Dr. Peter Ramos, Goucher class of 1992 and a professor at Buffalo State, has a new book of poems called Please Do Not Feed the Ghost (BlazeVOX Books). It's available on Amazon, or directly from the publisher: http://www.blazevox.org/bk-pr.htm. Peter earned a Ph.D. in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo, as well as an M.F.A. in creative writing from George Mason University. Ramos has criticism and other scholarly publications featured in Mandorla-New Writing from the Americas, Verse, The Oxford American, Lagniappe, and Rust Talks. He is the author of two other booklets of poems: Watching Late-Night Hitchcock (Handwritten Press, 2004) and Short Waves (White Eagle Coffee Store Press, 2003). Congratulations Peter!

After graduating with an MFA from the University of Maryland at College Park, Adrienne Casalena, class of 2004, secured as a College Admissions Recruiter and an Adjunct Professor of English at Stevenson University in Maryland.

Bang-Bang, a first (published!) novel by Theo Gangi, will appear in October from Kensington.

Matt Ashby, now based in New York, is an operator of Bookish Love, a website for and about writers, which features, among many other things, an interview with Ryan Heryford.

Naa-Norley Adom and Rachel Loeper have just completed the MFA Program at Hollins University-- where Jordana Frankel will enroll this fall.

Helen McLaughlin will be attending the highly selective MFA program at the University of Virginia next year.

Dory Hoffman is on her way to the MFA program at the University of Maryland, College Park

Jessica "J" Bowers has accepted a nice package offered her by the Creative Writing Program of the University of Missouri (and will be sadly missed by those of us who depend on her stellar services in Goucher's Office of Communications.

A.C. "Tony" Evans had his first Paris art show recently. Here's a couple of paintings that were featured there:

Jurret (Jared) Fischer reports the following: "I have had my poem "Neighbor's Song" accepted to be published in the 2007 edition of Welter, the literary publication of the University of Baltimore. I work as Communications Manager for the Dance Institute of Washington and also contribute music articles to the Baltimore City Paper and venue blurbs to the Baltimore Sun's MetroMix Web site. I am also assistant editor of Baltimore-based poetry review Smartish Pace. On top of that, I founded a record label, Moc Rok, with my girlfriend Hanna Badalova (a goucher grad and excellent writer). We released the 12-song debut of our band Mr. Moccasin, entitled Deer Eyes Bunny Eyes, and have performances in Baltimore and DC. Thanks to you, Madison, Beth and all the Goucher writing teachers for the outstanding teaching you provided to me."

Andrew Ervin is having a very active career as a reviewer for New York Times Book Review, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post Book World, and The Believer to name a few. You can check out many of this articles at www.andrewervin.com. Andrew's first book-length fiction, a collection of three novellas, is making the rounds of the publishers now.

Theo Gangi has his first novel accepted for publication by Kensington Books, on a two-book contract.

Rachel Loeper is in her second year at the recently reinvented Hollins University MFA program, and says that she is having a good and productive time.

Heidi Vornbrock-Roosa published a short story, "Catch Me Waiting," under her nom de plume Regina Harvey, with the SHOTS UK ezine: www.shotsmag.co.uk.

Terese Hereford has completed a thriller, Desert Orchid, concerning contractors held hostage in Iraq.

Maryah Converse is at work on a nonfiction book about the lives of Arab women and children, based in part on her two and a half years experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in a small village in Jordan.

Lily Burana, a special student in Goucher fiction workshops in the early 2000s, published her first novel, Try, with Saint Martin's Press this summer, and celebrated with a September reading from the book on campus. Learn more at http://www.lilyburana.com/

Our very own Jessica Bowers (aka J. Bowers), class of 2002, Media Relations Coordinator in the Office of Communications at Goucher has a remarkable story called "A Contest Featuring Human Beings" forthcoming in spring/summer 2006 issue of ZONE 3 Magazine.

Elaina Loveland, Goucher graduate, creative writer, and former editor of the Journal of College Admission publishes

Elly Zupko's short story "Clean" was published with the Baltimore Writers Project and can be read here.

Darcey Steinke's fourth novel, Milk, was published by Atlantic Monthly Press

Kenneth Harris will be attending the MFA writing program at the University of Maryland in the fall of 2005.

Jason Leahey has been accepted and plans to attend New York University's MFA writing program in the fall of 2005.

Laura Bogart received a merit fellowship and will be attending American University's MFA writing program in the fall of 2005.

Naa-Norley Adom received a full-tuition scholarship with a stipend and will attend the MFA program at Hollins University in the fall of 2005.

Scott Sell has been accepted and will be attending the MFA program at The New School during the academic year 2006-2007. He was also accepted to the Salt Institute certificate program to pursue additional post-undergraduate studies in creative nonfiction and he will begin his work there in the fall of 2005.

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A short story by Caitlin Corrigan '04, "Quake," appears in the current edition of Fusion.

Laura Lippman's novel, Every Secret Thing appeared to spectacular reviews. Laura will be teaching another section of English 120 in the spring.

Stacy Grimes '03 has had her short story "Trouble" accepted by the literary journal Five_Points, whose current issue (volume 7, No. 1) includes an interview with Madison Smartt Bell.

John McManus '00 is publishing his second collection of stories, Born on a Train.

Darcey Steinke '85 appeared with her band Ruffian at a benefit for Link at the Baltimore Creative Alliance, in conjunction with the annual Associated Writing Programs Conference, held this year in Baltimore. Also featured was a performance of Forty_Words_for_Fear by Madison Smartt Bell, Wyn Cooper, James Alonso and others.

Jessica "Jay" Bowers '02 has begun her first semester in the graduate creative writing program of Hollins University-- attended in the past by John McManus, Jonathan Musgrove, Christine Stewart, and Leslie Wernsdorfer. Jessica Dolber is pursuing a graduate degree in creative writing at Emerson College where Gilmore Tamny '90 got her advanced degree.

Letting the Body Lead, a second novel by Jenn Crowell '99, will appeared from Putnam in May. Jenn celebrated the occasion with a joint reading with Laura Lippman at Goucher; Laura taught a section of the English 202 in Fall 2002.

"Crayfish Hunting," a poem by Jonathan Musgrove '98, appears in the February issue of The Atlantic Monthly.

Gilmore Tamny '90 is married, finishing an MFA at Emerson College in Boston, and has recently published a story at http://www.surgeryofmodernwarfare.com.

Patricia Elam, who taught the 202 fiction workshop in Fall 2000, published her first novel:

Alumnus Jonathan Musgrove '98 has had two poems accepted by The Atlantic Monthly : "Crayfish Hunting" and "Her Last Night at Home."

Alumnus Andrew Ervin has published "Diz Lives" (a short story written in the Goucher workshop) in Night Rally Magazine.

Alumnus Jonathan Jackson '93 returns! to teach a section of English 120 this semester in the Goucher Creative Writing Program. Jonathan will do a joint reading with John McManus '99, author of Stop Breakin Down : Stories in the Alumnae House Great Hall, 8:00 p.m. March 1, 2001.

Senior Andrea Regas published a poem, "Stolen," in The Iowa Review (Volume Thirty, Number 1, 2000)

Guess what it's about-- an extraordinarily readable work as best can be determined by a reader who knows nothing about the subject whatsoever.... An Amazon.com reader review explains more clearly:

The way to teach a windows user how to "Think Unix", August 15, 2000
Reviewer: A reader from Maryland, United States
This book is a "One Horse" book, that horse being to teach UNIX to those who have used Windows or Macintosh OS's their whole life. Although I have been learning UNIX for over a year, and would like to think I know a little bit about it, it tends to be hard to remember how to tell someone else how to "do this" or "that". This book is great for that. This takes a user who knows how to use a mouse and keyboard, and knows how to navigate under a "windowed" operating system into the world of command prompts and even the X-Windows system. Don't expect this to make you a system administrator, it doesn't even touch many of the things a user doesn't need to know, but it does fulfill its purpose. If you would like to learn UNIX so you can install LINUX on your machine at home, this can be a great start. While a UNIX's are different in some way's, Jon tends to stick to common themes, and points out when a command just has a different name. If you would like to "remember" what your users don't know, this is also great for you. It's a great book to recommend for a user to learn on their own.

Alumna Lesley Ann Wernsdorfer has been accepted by the Hollins University Masters Program in English and Creative Writing and will be attending.

Alumni Gilmore Tamny has been accepted by the graduate creative writing program at Emerson College in Boston.

Katherine Owen was a finalist in the literary contest run by the Hollins University Literary Festival ... in both poetry and fiction.

Jessica (Jay) Bowers has a story accepted for publication in The Allegheny Review.

Theo Gangi ('99) has been accepted in the Columbia School of the Arts MFA program in fiction. Bethalee Jones '99 has been accepted to the graduate program in creative writing run by Miami University in Ohio.

Here's what the cover of John McManus's story collection will look like. Stop Breaking Down will be published by Picador in the summer of 2000.