THE CREATIVE WRITING ALUMNI NEWSLETTER,
Fall 2003
STEPHANIE G’SCHWIND TAKES OVER
CR ANNOUNCES NEW NELLIGAN PRIZE
Alissa
Reardon Norton, Kyra Ryan, Lisa Metzgar, Aaron Abeyta all gave generously of
their time and answered some questions relevant to their current jobs and their
experiences at CSU. We really appreciate their advice and honesty in sharing
information about their careers with current and former students.
Question 1:
Describe your current position. How did you obtain this position and was it
your intended concentration for employment?
Alissa
Reardon Norton: After a few years in
the corporate world selling magazine advertising, and several more piecing
together part time writing, editing, and teaching jobs, I've finally found a
satisfying and prosperous niche by starting my own business. My sister and I
share ownership of Momentum Enterprises, which offers development services to
non-profit organizations, primarily in the arts, childrens' services, and
education. We conduct grant research and write, submit, and administer grant
proposals and offer help with fundraising, board development, and individual
donor programs. Our clients include the Boulder-based literary journal, Many
Mountains Moving, where I previously served as the (volunteer) poetry editor.
Since my sister and I both had several years of varied work experience, good
writing and organization skills, and a passion for non-profit endeavors,
Momentum Enterprises grew out of our combined interests and skills. Because we
both have small children at home, neither of us work full-time. When I left the MFA program, my intention
was to continue teaching at the university level, but the financial reality of
that plan didn't fit with my life at the time. I wasn't willing to live just
anywhere, and I needed work that would sustain me and offer some kind of
stability as I began my married life--so I looked in other areas, and finally
came to this line of work. I find that writing grants is much like writing
poems--it's a creative and comprehensive process, perhaps including more
personalities, and more numbers! I very much enjoy using my skills with
language for honorable causes, and I love helping organizations to do their
good work
Alissa
Reardon Norton “balances” her writing and family by working part-time at
Momentum Enterprises, a business she owns with her sister.
Kyra
Ryan: I am currently a freelance
writer and editor. I edit and co-write books and book proposals for individual
authors, who contact me based on recommendations from their literary agents. I
work on fiction and non-fiction (the latter mainly have some narrative content,
such as biographies and memoir). I often help writers put together book
proposals and when these proposals sell, am able to work on the whole book,
preparing it for publication. I got into this work because I was contacted by Liza
Nelligan, a CSU alum who had her own editing business and needed subcontractors
(Steven, my advisor, had given Liza my name). I worked through Liza's business
for a couple of years and then went independent. Though I mainly make my living
from editing, I have done some freelance writing of articles about book and art
related subjects for a magazine and my local newspaper, too. As to whether I
intended to work in this field, I must honestly admit that I had no intentions
whatsoever regarding my career when I did my degree. I suppose I had assumed
that I would teach, though I felt lukewarm about doing so before completing a
significant body of work of my own.
Lisa Metzgar: I manage the technical writing department at a high
technology company. My duties are split between management activities and
technical writing, which mostly includes writing instruction and user manuals
for the products manufactured by the company. I completely fell into this line
of work. I came to work for the company in an internship that I got when I
finished the MFA program. I was hired into a full-time position from there.
When I was at CSU, I didn’t even know what a technical writer did.
Aaron Abeyta: Currently, I am an assistant professor of English at
Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado.
I have a 4:4 load which sometimes allows me to teach in my fields,
creative writing and Chicano literature.
Most of the time I teach gen. ed. courses in literature and composition
with one of my subject courses thrown in to keep me sane. At a school this size and in a department
this size, 2000 students and 9 full time faculty, respectively, you are
expected to wear a bunch of different hats...one of which is not
publishing. Instead we are asked to be
on a ton of committees, usually about three which range from club sponsorship
to hiring committees and everything in between. One of my major time consumers is community outreach. I do a lot of work in high schools, either
lecturing, reading, or conducting workshops.
I really enjoy this because I can bring my love of poetry to a really
receptive crowd that still believes in the power of the poem. It’s not all academic, and I truly
appreciate just being able to talk to kids of any age about something I love.
Was it my intended concentration...not really...though I did start out as an
education major before I got the poetry bug.
After that I switched to straight English and was not sure what I would
do with such a degree...my MFA cleared that up for me. I was fortunate to get a T.A. position and,
post MFA, an adjunct position at CSU. I
guess the die was cast from that point on.
Needless to say, I ended up in my hometown, 28 miles from Adams State
College and called them about adjuncting.
They hired me on. I did a
reading my second semester there. The
dean attended. The next day he offered
me a visiting professorship which then, with the publication of my book and the
awards it received, became a tenure track position...with benefits
(yippee). So was it my intended
concentration? Yes, but not really. I
hope all this rambling makes sense.
Question 2:
What about the CSUs MFA program prepared you for it?
Alissa Reardon
Norton: My workshop experience gave
me invaluable humility when it comes to having others read my work (or my
grants). I've been amazed at how many of my colleagues (in various positions
I've held) are so sensitive about their writing--they take revision suggestions
as personal attacks. Though I am confident in my writing abilities and my skill
in reaching different audiences, I also recognize that there is always room for
improvement. For me, it's been this attitude that helps even more than my
actual skill with language. My clients like to have input when we're
collaborating on a document, and I am very open to this. I find this process
much easier than workshop ever was! Close reading of texts, too, really
prepared me for the detailed work of covering every aspect of every question on
a grant proposal. Critical thinking skills, studying skills, targeted
research... they all play in to successful writing for my clients. When I was
at CSU, I did a lot of organizing through OGSW, and I planned a student writing
retreat that offered me early experience in community building and the politics
of developing and running a "public service" program.
Kyra Ryan: The MFA program at CSU prepared me extremely well
for the editing work I do. I became adept at giving feedback to writers through
workshops. Teaching composition, creative writing, and literature also prepared
me to be a constructive, specific editor.
Lisa
Metzgar: Primarily my internship at
the Colorado Review, where I did some grant writing and editing—skills that the
people who hired me were impressed with. My TA teaching experience also helped
give me confidence in my skills.
Aaron Abeyta: I've heard a lot of friends from other MFA programs
criticize the fact that CSU’s MFA is three years, had comps, and required the
study of literature as part of the mix.
Their main criticism is that MFA candidates should just write. While that sounds cool, it wouldn't have
prepared me for teaching at the college level.
So did the MFA program prepare me for my current position? Absolutely.
Especially since I have to teach literature, comp. and creative writing
courses. If I only taught in subjects
directly or closely related to writing, any program might have done the trick,
but I’m convinced that studying for comps, which I didn't do so hot on, really
prepared me for the types of questions and subject matter I encounter on a
daily basis.
Question 3:
Do you find time to write? Why or why not? If so, how do you balance writing
and your job?
Alissa
Reardon Norton: I do find some time
to write, but not as much as I'd like. My work with MMM helps me to stay
somewhat in touch with the writing world. I wish I could say I get up at 6 am
every morning and write for 2 hours... or something to that effect... but my
children take up a great deal of that time I used to devote to writing. I am
changing diapers and packing lunches instead! When I do write, I feel
wonderfully refreshed and creative. For me, exercise and writing are the two
things that always make me feel better. Since my children were born, I've had
periods of creative energy and some serious dry spells when it comes to my
writing. I remember worrying quite a bit about how to balance work and writing
when I was at CSU. I've found that my creative writing is actually very
unrelated to any writing I do on a professional level--by that I mean that
because I am writing well at work doesn't mean I'm writing good poetry, or vice
versa. When my life is in balance and I'm enjoying my work and my family, I am
more likely to take time for writing. If I take time for writing, my life is in
balance and I enjoy my work and my family more... and so it goes. I'd say it's
been a constant struggle for me, during the last (gasp) almost 10 years to keep
up with my identity as a writer. Sometimes, the guilt of it gets to me and I
just have to silence that voice in my head that tells me I "SHOULD"
be writing. If I'm doing it just as another chore to cross off my list, what's
the point? The urge and the desire have to be there. There's also been such a
vast shift in the way my days play out since I had children--really, no ritual
at all that I used to have has survived. For my own benefit and that of my
family, I've had to let go of that guilty feeling that there's always something
else I should be doing. If I let that get to me, I'm not enjoying the moments
that make for good poetry (whenever it gets written) anyway.
Kyra
Ryan: Alas, I continue to be rather
blocked when it comes to my own writing. Although I often have chunks of time
to write and I am able to live in the place my novel in progress is set, I find
lots of reasons not to produce. Being in a good writing group has helped spur
me on, though, and in addition to making sporadic progress on the novel. I do
on occasion write an odd, long-pent up short story to send in to one contest or
another. I've also found summer writing programs helpful. Though I grow old and
shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled, I do think there's hope for my
novel yet. Freelancing is great in that it provides a lot of freedom, but in
the last year I have been working overtime to ensure that I have a lot of
published books to add to my resume and thus that I'll be able to pick and
choose projects. I neglected my own writing. I'm trying to accept the
insecurity and use those times I do have time (and not $) to work on my own
projects. I've learned a lot about what works and what doesn't in others' work
and the publishing industry. So I think when I do finish my own book I'll be in
a better position to get it published. On bad days, though, when feeling
inundated by others' words, I fantasize about working in a bakery.
Kyra Ryan has the look of “working in a
bakery.”
Lisa Metzgar: Yes, I make time to write (or at least I did until
we had a baby four months ago—and I’m beginning once again to carve out time).
As for balancing writing and job?!? I guess I don’t really believe you can really
“balance” these things. You either do them or you don’t. Identify the things
that are really high priority in your life and stop doing the other stuff. Give
up TV. Get up an hour earlier. Go out less. Or stop writing. In a sense I’m
back where I was when I got out of school—trying to “balance” work and writing
and family life and once again I’m convinced there’s no balance as such. You
either do it or you don’t.
Aaron Abeyta: Write?
What’s that? Just kidding. I would like to be able to write more than I
do but that isn't always possible with 120 - 140 students per semester, lots of
grading. Right now I do my best to
write on my free time; during the summer I rarely leave home without my
journal. I take notes, let things stew
for awhile, rough draft, re-rough draft, final draft and then on to the next
poem. I’ve never been prolific, but
now, because of time constraints, I try and crank out one or two poems or other
work per month.
Question 4:
What advice would you give to present students to find a job in your (or a
related) field (i.e. suggest useful courses, obtain specific internships,
etc.)?
Alissa
Reardon Norton: Definitely do an
internship in an organization that interests you, and make sure you get real
world experience there with things that may not involve writing at all. Learn
about the politics of working with other people. In anything you do, adopt a
can-do attitude and be a person that others want to work with. If you have a
charismatic, competent presence, doors will open for you. If you plan to work
for a living (as most of us have to), accept the fact that you will use your
writing skills to meet all kinds of goals... and there is nothing wrong with
this, and it will not affect your integrity as the writer you are. Take any
course that challenges you, and be sure you are being stretched to try new
things and think in new ways. Practice working with difficult personalities and
forge strong, lifelong ties with the kindred spirits you meet in the program...
as you move beyond the MFA program into the world, these people will be your
lifeline! (And they may even get you a job at some point).
Kyra
Ryan: I'd advise students who want
to do the work I do to start by getting jobs or internships with literary
agents or publishing houses. Although I didn't do so, I think my path was a bit
of a lucky fluke and most freelance editors I know worked for publishing houses
or agents first. You have to build a base of contacts in order to get your name
out there as an editor people can trust. Also, give great, detailed feedback to
the other writers in your workshops, work for the COLORADO REVIEW and/or other
magazines, and hone your critical reading and writing skills if you are
teaching.
Lisa Metzgar: I guess I’d suggest looking at internships in lots
of different areas. Now, when the economy is bad, is a great time to find an
internship (interns are cheaper than regular employees). And don’t be afraid to
apply for things where you have no experience. As creative writers, I think we
tend to think that we have no “hard” skills that would apply in the business
world, but there are lots of folks out there looking for the kinds of
communication and writing skills we have in abundance. Read job descriptions
and think about how you can “spin” your skills and experience to fit the
requirements of the job. And don’t think you don’t measure up to what they
want—you’re probably smarter and more qualified than three quarters of the
other people who will apply.
Aaron Abeyta: I’m not sure that I’m one to give advice since I
basically lucked into my position, but since you asked...I’d say that each
student should find an area of expertise.
How profound huh? What I really
mean is...how many 18th century lit. professors can one department have? How many Joyce experts? How many women's lit. etc. etc.? Find a need in your department or future
department. What are they lacking? In my case they were lacking Chicano lit. so
I made that my emphasis. For the
longest time that was all I read, studied, practiced, but in the end it made me
marketable, especially here at Adams State where Chicana/os make up about 35%
of the student population. On another
level, I would suggest that all MFA candidates take an oral interp. class.,
learn how to read your work and then go out and read it often...you never know
who is in the audience. In my opinion
there is nothing worse than a boring reading...it doesn't have to be def poetry
jam every time you take the stage, just use your voice to convey the emotion
and people will notice.
Aaron Abeyta displays the “def poetry
jam” technique.
STEPHANIE G’SCHWIND TAKES OVER
Stephanie G’Schwind took
over as editor of the Colorado Review
and director of the Center for Literary Publishing. Although the change brings new challenges for Stephanie, she is
clearly the right person for the job as she was managing editor since
1998. The forthcoming Spring 2004 issue
will be the first to be completely under her control as editor. Congratulations
to Stephanie on her new, well-deserved position! For more information on the
Center for Literary Publishing and the Colorado
Review visit http://www.coloradoreview.com/.
CR ANNOUNCES
NEW NELLIGAN PRIZE
The Colorado Review announces the Nelligan Prize for Short Fiction. One
thousand dollars will be awarded for the best short story, which will be
published in the fall 2004 issue of Colorado Review.
The Nelligan Prize for
Short Fiction was established in memory of Liza Nelligan, a writer, editor, and
friend of many in Colorado State University’s English Department, where she
received both her bachelor’s and her master’s degree in literature in 1992. By
giving an award to the author of an outstanding short story each year, we hope
to honor Liza’s life, her passion for writing, and her love of fiction.
·
Fee
is $10 per entry, payable to Colorado Review; there is no limit on the number
of entries you may submit. All submissions will be considered for publication.
·
Stories
must be previously unpublished.
·
There
are no length or theme restrictions.
·
All
manuscripts must be typed and double-spaced.
·
No
e-mail submissions.
·
Include
two cover sheets: on the first, print your name, address, telephone number, and
the story title; on the second, print only the story title. Your name should
not appear anywhere else on the manuscript.
·
Provide
SASE for contest results.
·
Manuscripts
will not be returned.
·
Contest
opens January 15, 2004.
·
Deadline
is the postmark of April 5, 2004.
·
Winner
will be announced in July 2004.
·
Entries
must be clearly addressed to:
Nelligan Prize
Colorado Review
Department of English
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523
A new Alumni Website is
in the works! We are putting together a site where you can log on and update
your personal, career, and publication information. You will receive an email
soon asking you to visit the site and add your information. This is just so we
can send you our newsletter and other information about CSU’s MFA program. Any
information you supply us will be used only to show the success of the program.
Your personal information will never be sold or used for outside solicitation purposes.
Watch for more to come on this.
CSU Creative Writing
Program’s Reading Series for Fall 2003 kicked off in September with visiting
fiction writer Jonis Agee (see workshop photo below). Jonis entertained us with
both humor and heartbreak in her midwestern stories. Her latest book, Acts of Love on Indigo Road (Coffee
House Press, 2003), is a collection of short stories and completes her
extensive list of publications.
In October, Matthew
Cooperman, our newest faculty member, read along with MFA poetry students Carol
Chris and Aaryn Richard.
Lee Gutkind, founder and
editor of Creative Nonfiction, read
as part of his Forever Fat: Essays by the
Godfather (Univ. of Nebraska Press, 2003) tour in November.
Finally, MFA students
Jean Knight Pace (fiction), Stephanie Marcellus (poetry), and Shelle Barton
(fiction) brought down the house with their material in December.
Jonis Agee leads a workshop
discussion on setting while Stephanie G’Schwind and Judy Doenges listen in.
Our
Spring 2004 readings are listed below: (all readings are at 7:30 pm in the
Hatton Gallery in the Visual Arts Building)
Thursday,
February 12
MFA Reading
Cathy Ackerson Rogers, Rebecca
Davidson McGoldrick, & Jennifer Lamb
Thursday, March 4
MFA Reading
Lesa Alison, Neil Hastings, &
Crawford Frazer
Thursday, April 1
Crow/Tremblay Alumni Reader
Jiro Adachi
Thursday, April 15
MFA Reading
Trevor Jackson, Nicole Backens,
& Kerry Lawrynovicz
Thursday, April 22
MFA Reading
Margo Paraska, Janell Cress, &
Kathleen Willard
Lesa
Alison’s (2004) poem, “What the Soul Is,” was selected by the Creative Writing
faculty for the AWP Intro Journals Project.
Leslee
Becker’s story, “No Such Place,” was accepted by EPOCH.
Thomas
Cain’s (2005) story, “Let This New Disaster Come,” was published in the Fall
2003 issue of Louisiana Literature and “Onion bagel with Cream Cheese”
was published in the Fall 2003 issue of Phantasmagoria.
John
Calderazzo’s essay, “Sailing Through the Night,” will be reprinted in the
journal Pilgrimage: Story, Place, Spirit, Witness.
Steven
Church's (2001) has just had his collection of essays accepted for publication
by Simon & Schuster. His essay, "Practical Real-Life Responses to
Theoretical Killings (or Hypothetical Killers and the Men Who Love Them),"
has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize by Quarter
After Eight. Salt Hill has accepted his short story, “Smashing Chairs,” for publication and
his manuscript was named as a finalist in the AWP Book Contest in Creative
Nonfiction.
Meghan Clay (2002) won the 2003 Arts & Letters Fiction
Contest with her story, “Mental’s Girl.” She works at the YMCA in the Boston
area.
Matthew Cooperman has poems forthcoming in Notre Dame
Review, Pool, Verse, Quarter After Eight, and Gargoyle. His
interview with Ed Dorn will appear in Verse and his interview with Jane
Miller appeared in the fall issue of The Iowa Review. He recently had a chapbook of poetry
selected for publication by Phylum Press.
New poems have been accepted by VOLT
and Denver Quarterly.
Janell Cress’s (2004) story, “Repo Agent” was
selected by the Creative Writing faculty for the AWP Intro Journals Project.
Mary Crow was awarded two residencies, one at the Fundaçion
Valparaiso in Almeria, Spain and another at the Lannan Foundation’s new colony.
Mary was also named a finalist in the translation division of Pen Center
USA’s 2003 Literary Awards for her translation of Olga Crozco’s Engravings
Torn from Insomnia.
Jill Darling (2002) has poems and a short essay forthcoming
in Aufgabe. She was also awarded a Community Outreach Award and a short
residency at the Mary Anderson Center for the Arts in Mount Saint Francis, Indiana.
Jen Dick (1999) has had
her first collection of poems accepted for publication by the University of
Georgia Press.
Marc
Dickinson’s (2006) short story, “Thorough,” will appear in the Coal City
Review and “Momentary Darkness” appeared in the North American Review.
Jeff Faas
(2003) won first place in the Columbia: A
Journal of Art and Culture’s 2003 essay contest.
Justin
Hocking's (2002) story, "Dragon," was published in the November issue
of Open City and he is editing a book
called Life and Limb: Writing by
Skateboarders that will be released by Soft Skull Press (Brooklyn) in June
of 2004. His essay, "Locks," was recently accepted for publication in
Many Mountains Moving. He has taken a
position with Rosen Publishing in New York doing freelance editing and writing.
Deanna
Ludwin has been awarded an Excellence in Teaching Award by the College of
Liberal Arts. She was also selected for the first Stephanie White Memorial
Award for a fellowship at the Mary Anderson Center for the Arts in Mount Saint
Francis, Indiana. Two of her poems (“How I Came to Work at Wheaton’s Dairy” and
“My Lover’s Greatest Fear”) will be published in Luna and an essay, “The
Prose Poem: A (Mostly) Personal History,” will be published by Sentence.
Stephanie Marcellus’s (2004) poem, “Pansies,” was
selected by the Creative Writing faculty for the AWP Intro Journals Project.
Sophie
Moore (2001) is currently completing a second masters at DU in mass
communication. She has a teaching assistantship as a writing coach for
undergraduates and her work has been published in Reed Magazine. She’s also a freelance advertising copywriter and
started a new writing related business called Vend-O-Prose. Vend-O-Prose uses
mechanical vending machines to sell short stories, nonfiction and poetry for a
quarter in coffee shops, bars, etc.
Laura Mullen’s
poem “A Noun’s Meant” is forthcoming in Xantippe and a story
(“English/History”) has been accepted for publication in a forthcoming
anthology of New Fabulist Fiction. Laura’s third collection of poems, Subject,
will be published by the University of
California Press in 2004.
Aaryn Richard’s (2004) poems, “Entrance and Rituals”
and “Risen,” have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize by The Portland Review.
Aaryn’s poem, “Blue: Into Flames,” was selected by the Creative Writing faculty
for the AWP Intro Journals Project.
Rosa Salazar
(2005) received an International Merit Award from the Atlanta Review for
her poems, “crêpes” and “Transformation with Potato.”
Steven Schwartz's
essay, "In Defense of Contrivance," has been accepted for publication
by the AWP's Writer's Chronicle.
Oz Spies
(2003) is working at The Denver Foundation in the Donor Services
Department. Her short-short, “Become Thin and Attractive,” received an honorable
mention and is forthcoming in the
collection Women Behaving Badly. She
was the runner-up in a contest conducted by the online journal Brevity: A
Journal of Concise Nonfiction with her essay “Audible Frequencies”
published in a recent issue. Oz also had her short story, "The Love of a
Strong Man," accepted for publication in the Ontario Review (with an acceptance letter signed by Joyce Carol
Oates).
Bill
Tremblay’s review
of Ovid at Fifteen by Christopher Bursk will appear in an upcoming issue
of The American Book Review. His new book Shooting Script: Door of
Fire (Eastern Washington University Press) was
released in October. Bill’s poem, “The Lost Boy,” appears in Best American
Poetry 2003.
Laura Van Etten’s (2006) essay, “Safety Planning”
was selected by the Creative Writing faculty for the AWP Intro Journals
Project.