MFA News
November 28, 2012
Faculty
Kim Barnes’ new novel In the Kingdom of Men, published in May 2012, continues to garner important accolades. It was selected as a top-15 summer novel by the Christian Science Monitor. Vogue selected the novel as a top-6 summer novel.
Additional positive reviews were posted in the New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Seattle Times. Kim’s novel has received international acclaim as well, with noteworthy reviews appearing in both England and New Zealand. The paperback version of the novel will be released in May 2013.
Sayantani Dasgupta (non-fiction ’09) had essays published in Torches N’ Pitchforks, About Campus, and IDAHO Magazine. Forthcoming essays will appear in Crab Creek Review and Kweli Journal, and CAB magazine. Finally, Sayantani’s short story “Another Life” will appear in Sugar Mule.
Jeffrey Jones (non-fiction ’05) has a poem, "These Buildings," forthcoming in the winter issue of Beloit Poetry Journal. His short story "Maybe We're the Angels" received a special mention in the 2013 Pushcart anthology.
Ron McFarland’s poem “Baseball and the Moral Order” was published in Sport Literate. Additional poems were taken by Poems & Plays, Valparaiso Poetry Review, and Poetry South. Ron’s short story “Undercover” was published in Silk Road, and he also published a critical essay on Hemingway in Midwest Quarterly.
Daniel Orozco won the 2012 Saroyan International Prize for Writing.
Alexandra Teague has learned that a 10-poem series from her in-progress manuscript will be available in January’s Willow Springs. Additional poems from the manuscript are forthcoming in The Southern Review, Hayden's Ferry, Southern Poetry Review, ZYZZYVA, 32 Poems, Blackbird, and an anthology entitled New California Writing. Finally, her poem “Whole Cloth” appears in the newest issue of Gulf Coast.
David Thacker (poetry ’10) was awarded the Western Literature Association's Frederick Manfred Award for his poetry collection The Voice Crying in the Wilderness, and Other Poems. A poem from the same project, “Blizzard,” was published in The Cortland Review. Additionally, David’s poem "What a Woman Knows" has been accepted at Massachusetts Review.
Robert Wrigley has two books forthcoming in 2013. Bloodaxe Books will release The Church of Omnivorous Light: Poems Selected and New, while Penguin will publish Anatomy of Melancholy & Other Poems. An interview with Bob was published in Chapter 16.
Students
Alex Baldwin (poetry ’15) co-wrote and published Field Guide: Design Thinking for Innovation in Switzerland; he then co-taught a course on this title in Switzerland. Alex has had three poems published: "Shirt Tags Itch Under Aladdin PJs," "Trampoline," and "Grand Teton in the Dark.” The latter two poems have been nominated for Reader's Choice Awards. His short story "Ink on Skin" is being anthologized in Main Street Rag. Finally, Alex is working on a series of children's stories that will be published and used in the classroom of select grade schools at the start of February. They are a part of The Food Dudes Experiment, which encourages children to eat healthier.
Michael Benedict’s (fiction ’13) story “Twenty-Six" will be found in the Fall 2013 issue of Eclipse.
Kristen Blanton (fiction ’13) has a story, "Fast Water,” in the current issue of Blue Lyra Review.
Karina Borges (fiction ’14) won the International Programs Office Tuition Waiver Scholarship.
Sandi Day (poetry ’13) has a new poem, “On Writing Poetry,” published in The Quarterlife Quarterly.
Sonya Dunning (non-fiction ’13) is the winner of the 2012 University of Idaho Alumni Award for Excellence. Additionally, her essay "for(e)closure" will be listed as a Notable in the 2012 Best American Essays.
Eric Greenwell (poetry ’14) has been awarded a University of Idaho Writing the Wild Fellowship.
Jory Mickelson’s (poetry ’13) poem "Float” appeared in PANK Magazine. He has two forthcoming poems: "The nights are long here" in the Adirondack Review and "Night Shifts" in Cossack Literary Journal. Jory’s three-part poem, “Extinction Existentialism,” will appear in Scareship, an online journal of speculative work. Additionally, three of his poems have been anthologized in a forthcoming book, People Are Starting to Talk About You: A New Anthology of Gay Poetry. Finally, Jory and the University of Idaho MFA Program were highlighted in a Niche Magazine interview.
Jeff Pearson (poetry ’15) received the Apospecimen Award for his poems "Coyote" & "Reintroduction.” These poems were published in the Fall 2012 issue of a capella zoo. Jeff also participated in Pocatello's Literary Pavers project; one of his poems was memorialized into a piece of the city walkway.
Cara Stoddard’s (non-fiction ’13) poem "Ode to the Xiphoid Process" received second place in Knockout's International Memorial Reginald Shepherd Content. Another poem "To the Player Piano, Grand Rapids, MI, 2010" is forthcoming in Ninth Letter.
Amy Whitcomb (non-fiction ’13) has two forthcoming essays, one in High Country News and the other in River Teeth.
Laura Zak’s (non-fiction ’15) essay “We Called it Emptiness” was published in Sundog Lit.
Alumni
Brittney Carman (non-fiction 08) has an essay, "Sometimes the Heart," forthcoming in the winter 2012 issue of Exponent II.
Nancy Casey (non-fiction ’99) continues to publish a blog and a syndicated radio show/podcast, The View from Planet Nancy.
Paula Coomer’s (’99) fifth book Blue Moon Vegetarian has been accepted for publication by Booktrope for a mid-2013 release. Her second collection of poems, Nurses Who Love English, is available from Stephen F. Austin State University Press and will be on the shelves by the winter holidays. Paula was also a featured presenter at this year’s Eastern Oregon Word Round-up in Pendleton, Oregon. Finally, Paula has been named as Dean of Language and Creative Arts for McCall College, a new 2-year college in McCall, Idaho.
Jen Hirt (non-fiction '04) won the 2012 Gabehart Prize for Nonfiction for her essay "Glow in the Dark," and she was invited to read the essay at the Kentucky Women Writer's Conference. That essay is also forthcoming in Redivider. Her essay "String Theories" has been accepted at The Sonora Review, and the essay "The Understory of the One-Eyed Deer" has been accepted at Confrontation. She had a prose poem, "Tough Stain," published in the most recent issue of The Rubbertop Review. Another prose poem, "Too Many Questions About Strawberries," will appear in the winter issue of The Baltimore Review.
Stephanie Lenox (poetry ’04) has published her debut collection of short stories, Congress of Strange People. She has also received a career development grant from Oregon Arts Commission.
Andrea Mason (non-fiction ’08) conducted a research trip in Everglades National Park for her forthcoming memoir "Gladeswoman."
Jerry Mathes’ (fiction ’08) nonfiction book Fever and Guts: A Symphony is currently available for pre-order. It’s slated to hit the shelves in early-December. The title essay from that collection will appear in the upcoming December 2012 issue of The Dos Passos Review. Jerry’s video Slay the Dragon can be seen on Space Lit Magazine.
Laura Powers’ (poetry ’09) article "Breaking Stereotypes: Reconfiguring the Musical" was published in SIGNAL. She also has a chapter in the forthcoming textbook, Critical Merits of Young Adult Literature.
Sean Prentiss (non-fiction ‘05) has non-fiction essays forthcoming in Arts and Letters PRIME Journal and New Madrid Literary Journal. His poem “Hands and Fingers” will be published in Camas: the Nature of the West.
Kendall Sand (fiction ’07) was accepted into the Warner Bros. Writers Workshop for 2012-2013. This highly competitive program (9 accepted from a pool of 1700 applicants) runs from October to May.
Virginia Shank (’08) recently completed her Ph.D. in Creative Writing at Binghamton University. She currently teaches at Irvine Valley College in California teaching creative writing, poetry, and composition.
Ciara Shuttleworth (poetry ’11) has poems forthcoming in the Los Angeles Review, Weber: the Contemporary West, and Yemansee. Her poem "Sestina" is in The Norton Introduction to Literature, 11e, which was released in paperback in October and is due out in hardcover in January 2013. Cascadia Review published six poems in the October issue. The same review published an interview Ciara conducted with Michael McGriff.
Georgia Tiffany’s (poetry ’04) poem “The Trouble with Holy Places” has been accepted by Hubbub.
Jane Varley, (’90) has been promoted to Chair of English at Muskingum University in New Concord, Ohio.
Anna Vodicka’s (non-fiction ’10) essay "Aerial Perspectives on Plumbing, Heating and Electrical" will be published in the December issue of The Iowa Review. Anna’s also the recipient of a Washington Grant for Artist's Projects (GAP) award from Artist Trust.
Joe Wilkins’ (poetry ’07) latest poetry collection Beyond Notes from the Journey Westward, winner of the 17th Annual White Pine Poetry Prize, is available at the White Pine Press website. His poetry collection Killing the Murnion Dogs was a finalist for the High Plains Book Award in Poetry. Joe has also been awarded a 2015 Boyden Wilderness Writing Residency, as well as a fellowship from the Ucross Foundation.
Joe’s story "Sam and Annie: A Kind of Love Story," from the Winter 2011 issue of Indiana Review, earned a notable mention in Best American Nonrequired Reading 2012. His new work appears in recent issues of The Nashville Review, Linebreak, and Orion, as well as online at Verse Daily.
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