The Low-Residency MFA Program at Queens University of Charlotte is an active community of experienced and emerging writers.  In light of that fact, this page is devoted to recognizing the activities and achievements of our students and alumni. 

Participants in the program are encouraged to update these entries by submitting news to Michael Kobre, the on-campus director (kobrem@queens.edu). If you are an Alum, please be sure to include the year you graduated.  We also encourage visitors to this site and prospective students to seek out some of the works listed here.

Mary Akers, a 2003 graduate, was recently featured with Andrew Bienkowski, the co-author of her new non-fiction book, in an article for The Buffalo News. Radical Gratitude and Other Life Lessons Learned in Siberia, (Allen & Unwin, March 2008) recounts Bienkowski's harrowing childhood experiences in a Siberian gulag during WWII and his later life as a therapist. Akers' work has also appeared in The Fiddlehead, Brevity, Xavier Review, Primavera, Literary Mama, Wisconsin Review, ParentLife Magazine, and the anthology The Maternal is Political. In 2004 she received a Bread Loaf Waitership, followed by 2005 and 2006 Bread Loaf work-study scholarships.

Georgia Ann Banks-Martin's poem "Memorial Day" will be published in Ariel. Georgia has also recently published book reviews in Her Circle ezine.

Beebe Barksdale-Bruner, a 2003 graduate, will have her first book of poems It Comes to Me Loosely Woven published by Press 53 in 2007.

David-Matthew Barnes , a 2008 graduate, has become the first screenwriter to be selected for the Emerging Writers in Residency program at Penn State Altoona. He recently won the award for Best Play at the 2008 ten-minute play competition SlamBoston. He won the 2008 World AIDS Day Writing Contest, earning double awards for his stage play "Don't Mention It" and his poem "You Wonder." He received national recognition in the 2008 Split This Rock Poetry Contest for his provocative poem "Latin Freestyle." He received the 2007 Carrie McCray Literary Award in recognition of his two-woman play "Bracelets and Boyfriends" at the South Carolina Writers Workshop conference in Myrtle Beach. He also received a second place award for Best Poem for "Caution," a poem that was workshopped at Queens. His first feature film, the Latin-flavored coming-of-age drama, Frozen Stars, is now available on DVD from major retailers. David-Matthew's list of publications, stage and screen credits and awards is long and growing. For a complete list, visit his website at www.davidmatthewbarnes.com.

Diane Bechtler, is a 2007 graduate whose short story "Til Death Do Us Part" was nominated "Best of the Net 2008" by The Dead Mule. She has previously had short stories and poetry published in Thema Literary Society, Pangolin Papers, The Distillery, Cenotaph, WordWrights!Magazine, and online at Small Spiral Notebook, The Dead Mule, and Poets Online. Her work has also appeared in The Charlotte Observer and she won an honorable mention in the Charlotte Writers Club short story contest. An excerpt from her memoir was published in New Mobility Magazine.

Wendi Berry, a 2008 graduate, had her story "A Personal Ad for Tidepools" published in storySouth, February 2008.

Pat Bland's story "Blue Porch Ceiling" was accepted for publication in The Greensboro College publication for The O.Henry Festival Stories for 2005.

Janie Braverman's poem "In the Office of My Son's Psychiatrist" appears in the new poetry anthology, A Chaos of Angels.   Her fiction has appeared in Steam Ticket, published by the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse, The Baltimore Review, and in Pinyon, a publication of Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Dennis Burges, a 2005 graduate, published his novel Graves Gate with Caroll & Graf in 2003.  The Washington Post described Graves Gate as “slick and spooky.”  Dennis has also made presentations at several conferences on mystery writing, including Bouchercon, Left Coast Crime, Sleuthfest, and the Virginia Festival of the Book.  He appeared at the 2005 Malice Domestic conference in Washington, D.C. and at the Staunton, VA. Summer of Mystery.

Jessie Carty has poems online at The Dead Mule (www.deadmule.com/poetry).  She also has work forthcoming in the Red Clay Review and Main Street Rag.

Tracy Crow, a 2005 graduate, has published essays in The Missouri Review, Mississippi Review, and Puerto del Sol. Each essay was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She has also signed with New York literary agency, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates, to represent both her thesis, which is a memoir about life as a Marine during the 1980s, and a novel-in-progress.  She is currently visiting assistant professor in journalism and writing at the University of Tampa.

Melanie DeCarolis, a 2006 graduate, will publish her story "Looks Like Tomorrow is Coming On Fast" in the 2008 edition of 580 Split.

Manolita Farolan Doise received a John Woods scholarship to study at the Prague Summer Program in July 2006.

Shelley Drancik, a current Queens student, has published her first story "Faces" in Relief (Volume 2, Issue 3).

Erika Dreifus, a 2003 graduate, has seen her short stories, essays, and reviews published in The Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, Lilith, Mississippi Review Online, Missouri Review, TriQuarterly, and many others. A past winner of the David Dornstein Memorial Creative Writing contest for her short story, "Homecomings," Erika has also been awarded residencies and scholarships from the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, The Robert M. MacNamara Foundation, the Paris Writers Workshop, the Prague Summer Program, and the Vermont Studio Center. Erika currently serves as a contributing editor for The Chattahoochee Review and for The Writer magazine; publishes a free monthly newsletter for fictionists, poets, and writers of creative nonfiction (http://practicing-writer.com); and maintains a blog to assist fellow writers at http://practicing-writing.blogspot.com.

Sally Drumm, a 2005 graduate and former Marine, has founded, developed and currently leads the Milspeak Creative Writing Seminars (www.milspeak.org), a series of writing workshops developed for military people who want to write about their experiences. She founded the Seminars in 2005 as an outreach program focused on using narrative writing to assimilate the wartime experience. Since everyone has a war story to tell, be it a story from the front or from the homefront, MCWS has evolved to include military personnel, retirees, family members, and civil service workers. During the five-week workshop, seminar participants write nonfiction stories about important moments in their lives. Most participants begin the seminar without formal creative writing training. The only requirement for participation is a desire to tell a true story about military life. Sally guides MCWS writers during five Saturday morning workshops. An anthology of MCWS writers is scheduled for publication in June 2009 by Press 53, a publisher co-founded by fellow-Queens alumna Sheryl Monks. Sally has published work in several publications, including The Gettysburg Review, where her essay was named a notable essay in Best American Essays 2005.

Chris Duncan, a 2004 graduate, has a new story "Scared for this World" appearing in the online journal Sitrring. Other work has appeared in Ink Pot Literary Journal, Spoiled Ink, and The Best of Carve Magazine. He is currently teaching at Virginia Highlands Community College. Chris is also the editor of the online journal Ray's Road Review.

Athena Dixon, a 2007 graduate, had two poems, "Kind of Blue" and "See-Line Woman"  in the Fall Ars Poetica issue of The Amistad, Howard University's literary journal. Her poem "Chick" appeared in the inaugural issue of Pluck!: The Journal of Affrilachian Arts and Culture that debuted at AWP this year.

Jilly Dybka, a 2006 graduate, has a new book of poetry, Trouble and Honey, available for download from Lulu Books. She has also had poems featured online by McSweeney’s and Poetry Hut.  Her poetry has also appeared in Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine, Ink Pot, The Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, The Michigan Quarterly Review, Elysian Fields Quarterly: The Baseball Review, Penwood Review, Main Street Rag and in two anthologies: Things That Go Bump in the Night by Outrider Press and an Hay(na)ku anthology by Meritage Press in California, and xPress(ed), Finland.  Her chapbook, Fair Territory, was published by Bear Shirt Press in 2004.   

Deborah Eshenour, a 2006 graduate, leads creative writing workshops at New Directions Center, a woman's shelter, in Staunton, Virginia. Her short story "Luke John" (published in the Winter/Spring 2007 issue of Fourteen Hills) has been nominated for a 2008 Pushcart Prize. An excerpt from her novel The Thousandth Man, called "Stories" will be published in the Summer 2008 issue of Puerto del Sol.

Roberta Fabiani, a 2006 graduate, was the keynote speaker at the Spring 2005 Conference of The Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets.  Roberta also serves as Vice-President for the State of Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets.

Melanie Faith, a 2007 graduate, had her poetry chapbook Bright Burning Fuse selected as a finalist in the Keyhole Magazine 2008 Poetry Chapbook Contest. Her work has also appeared in Writings From the River, published by Montana State University-Great Falls, Caesura; Arabesques, an international literary journal; Bravado, a literary journal from New Zealand; The Blue Ocean Institute's Sea Stories magazine; The Powhatan Review; and NoD, published by the University of Calgary, Canada. An essay about Billy Collin's poetry was featured in a themed issue of the Minneapolis/St. Paul literary newspaper, Whistling Shade.

Carol Fant, a 2006 graduate, has recently been published in The Gettysburg Review.  Her poem "Two Girls Gone" was awarded the 2006 Incite Award for Poetry by The Eckerd Review.   Her poetry has also appeared in Eclectica and Pen Himalaya.

Cliff Garstang, a 2003 graduate, has stories forthcoming online at The Hub and Storyglossing. His story "Nanking Mansion" is the winner of the 2007 GSU Review Fiction Contest and will be published in the summer issue. His fiction has also appeared in Southern Arts Journal, Confluence, The Ledge, RE:AL Baltimore Review, Bellowing Ark, The Beat, The Circle Magazine, North Dakota Quarterly, and Timber Creek Review.  He’s written book reviews for Rain Taxi, MoorishGirl.com, and Shenandoah: The Washington and Lee University Review, where he also serves as the Fiction Assistant.  In fall 2005, he was a Fellow at The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.  He was nominated for a 2006 Pushcart Prize for a story that appeared in Eureka Literary Magazine and was awarded a Tennessee Williams Scholarship to attend the 2006 Sewanee Writers' Conference.

Joy Beshears Hagy’s poem "Rapture" was chosen by North Carolina Poet Laureate Kathryn Stripling Byer as an Honorable Mention in the 2006 NC State Poetry Contest.  Another poem, "Traffic Jam, Butterfly" was published on Southern Gothic Online.  She was also the featured poet and host of the January 2006 Downtown Library open mic in Winston-Salem, NC. 

Jessica Handler, a 2006 graduate, will have her memoir Invisible Sisters published by Public Affairs Books, a division of Perseus Press, in Summer 2009. Jessica's work has also appeared in More magazine; Southern Arts Journal; Ars Medica, the Canadian journal of medicine and the humanities; Brevity; The Journal of Concise Literary Non-Fiction; Brain; Child Magazine; The Utne Reader "Best of the Alternative Web"; and Shuz Magazine. She has also published poetry in The Berkshire Review. Her essay "Feeling It, Wanting" was nominated for a 2008 Pushcart Prize.  

Patricia Hickman, a 2006 graduate, published her latest book Painted Dresses with Random House in July 2008. Based on the thesis she submitted here at Queens, the novel follows protagonist Gaylen Boatwright. When her unbalanced sister, Delia, shoots a woman, Gaylen decides to flee the law with her. Publisher's Weekly has this to say: "Hickman gamely unpacks the lies families tell each other, the cost of family secrets to ourselves and others, the bonds between sisters and the walls between husbands and wives. Her sparkling talent is evident in this engrossing story." Her previous books include In the Cathedral of Grasshoppers, Breakfast by the Sea, Our Horn of Plenty, Fallen Angels, Nazareth’s Song and Whisper Town.

Scott C. Holstad, a 2005 graduate, has recently been published in Main Street Rag, The Southern Ocean Review, The Heat City Literary Review, and The Asheville Poetry Review.  His 15th book of poems, Cells, was published in January 2005, and his 16th book, Confessions, was published later the same year. 

Sean Iannucci’s story "Before The Fight" was named as a finalist for Glimmer Train’s Very Short Fiction award.

Kevin Jones, a 2005 graduate, published an essay, “Over There,” on the Op-Ed page of The New York Times on May 30, 2005.

Julie King, a 2006 graduate, was the featured new voice in Tin House. Her work will also appear in Pleiades, where it will be introduced by Alan Michael Parker.  She has poems soon to appear in Cimarron Review, Texas Review, and Saint of Hysteria, an anthology of collaborative poems edited by Denise Duhamel, Maureen Seaton, and David Trinidad.

Willie James King, a 2005 graduate, has published his third collection of poetry, The House in the Heart, with Tebot Bach press. Of The House in the Heart, Cathy Smith Bowers has written, "Anyone who enters this house, so sturdily constructed by the poet's art and craft, his wisdom and childlike awe, will find himself at once both chilled and warmed by King's far-reaching vision, his deep passion, his immense and inspiring talent." Willie's work has also appeared in Mudfish, Obsidian 111, Pembroke Magazine, Peurto del Sol, RATTLE, River King Poetry Supplement, The Wallace Stevens Journal, The Southern Poetry Review, HazMat Review, Oyez Review, and an anthology of Alabama poets edited by Sue B. Walke, the Poet Laureate of Alabama. His poetry was also featured in the 1999 anthology Dark Eros: Black Erotic Writings. Willie's collection of poetry Wooden Windows was published in 1999 by Sulphur River Literary Review Press, with a forward by Yusef Komunyakaa. His chapbook, At the Forest Edge, first published in 1992, was reprinted in 2005. He has been nominated for four Pushcart Awards.

Ellen Kirschner, a 2006 graduate, recently published a short story, “How do I Tell the Kids?” in a new anthology, Under Our Skin: Literature of Breast Cancer, published by The Illuminati Press.  Her work has also appeared in the bilingual journal Interfaces.  Most recently, her illustrated essay with original images, Representation of Illness in Literature and the Arts, was published in Vol. 26 of the journal. The author’s lithograph, “Inner Self-Portrait” appears on the cover and a CD of her original drawings is included with the publication. 

Deborah Gerlach Klaus, a 2006 graduate, published her story "Sins of the Flesh" in the Spring/Summer 2006 issue of Hayden's Ferry Review.  Her story "Freedom Ride" appeared in the Winter/Spring 2005 edition of Passages North.

Lisa Williams Kline's novel for young people, Write Before Your Eyes, will be published in Fall 2008 by Delacorte Press. Two previous middle-grade novels, Eleanor Hill, and Princesses of Atlantis, were published by Cricket Books. Eleanor Hill won the North Carolina Juvenile Literature Award. Her story "Guest Room" won third prize in the Elizabeth Simpson Smith Contest sponsored by the Charlotte Writers' Club.

Ron Lands, a 2004 graduate, has published fiction in New Millenium Writings, Branchwood Journal, Wind, descant, The Distillery, Washington Square, Fourth River, and Nassau Review. His story "The Veil," originally published in The Distillery was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Jodi Laughlin, a 2006 graduate, has had her story "Spanish Geranium" featured on storySouth. She also has a flash fiction story forthcoming at One Page Stories.

Tom Lombardo, a 2003 graduate, is the editor of the recently published anthology After Shocks: The Poetry of Recovery for Life-Shattering Events (www.poetryofrecovery.com). The anthology features 152 poems by poets from 15 nations, and its chapters cover Grief, War, Exile, Abuse, Divorce, Bigotry, Illness, Injury, Addiction and Loss of Innocence. Tom's own poems have appeared in many journals in the US, the UK, Canada and India, including Southern Poetry Review, Subtropics, Ambit, Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review, New York Quarterly, Kritya, Orbis, Salamander, Ars Medica, Pearl, Asheville Poetry Review and others. His criticism has been published in New Letters, North Carolina Literary Review and South Carolina Review. His chapbook of poems, Life, and a Letter, was published in 1998 (Pygmy Forest Press). His essays and other nonfiction have appeared in Chrysalis Reader, IEEE Spectrum, Leisure Magazine and other publications. He was the founding editor-in-chief of WebMD.

Linera Lucas is a 2006 graduate whose short story "Shamlet" won the 2007 Crucible Fiction Competition. Her short stories have appeared in Pindeldyboz, VerbSap, Crucible, and Pipes & Timbrels, and her poetry in R-KV-RY, and the anthologies In the Yard, and Night Whispers. Her interview with watercolorist Ruth Armitage appeared in the 2008 issue of Salem Monthly.

Karon Luddy, a 2005 graduate, will have her first book of poems, Wolf Heart, published by Clemson University Press. Karen's novel, Spelldown, was published in 2007 by Simon & Schuster. Her fiction has appeared in The South Carolina Review, Timber Creek Review, and One Paycheck Away, an anthology of short fiction.

Margaret MacInnis, a 2004 graduate, was a finalist in the 2006 Mid-American Review Creative Nonfiction contest, with the essay to be published as The Editor's Choice. Another essay is forthcoming in Massachusetts Review. Margaret's nonfiction, including excerpts from her memoir, has also appeared in Gettysburg Review, Louisville Review, Alimentum, Literal Latte, Potomac Review, Crab Orchard Review, and Brevity, and her poetry has appeared in Literary Mama and Caketrain. Margaret's honors inlcude first place recognition in the Literal Latte essay contest, being featured by Alimentum as the magazine's emerging writer, a fellowship at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and a term as writer-in-residence at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts in Nebraska City, Nebraska. She has been nominated for a 2007 Pushcart Prize.

Nick Marino, recently accepted a position as managing editor of Paste Magazine and wrote the magazine’s current cover story about rapper-provocateur Kanye West. Paste Magazine is an award-winning national publication dedicated to new music, film, books, and culture.

Chris Mastin, a 2006 graduate, has published fiction in Zebulon Nights and online at WordRiot.org, LitPot, and The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature.  Her essays have appeared in the Winter 2003 edition of Ink Pot Literary Journal and Ray’s Road Review.  Another essay appeared in From Sheep to Shawl, published by Random House in 2004.  Chris also recorded a poem for Poetic License, broadcast on public radio in Northern California.

Terri McCord, a 2006 graduate, had her chapbook, The Art & The Wait recently published by Finishing Line Press. Rebecca McClanahan describes The Art & The Wait as "an unblinking look at the world before our eyes and a glimpse into the unseen worlds of myth, dream, and dark enchantment." Terri's work has also appeared in Connecticut Review; Cortland Review; the Texas Review Press poetry anthology, Southern Poetry Anthology, South Carolina; and Kakalak 2007, published by Main Street Rag. She's the recipient of the 2007 Don Russ Poetry Prize by the Kennesaw Review and was a finalist in the Yemassee poetry contest and the Southeast Review poetry contest.

Madge McKeithen, a 2006 graduate, published her book Blue Peninsula: Essential Words in a Life of Loss and Change, a collection of essays about her older son's degenerative illness, with Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux in the spring of 2006.  Lines from a range of poets and lyricists including Emily Dickinson, The Rolling Stones, Paul Celan, Bruce Springsteen, Marie Howe, Walt Whitman and many others are springboards for the essays.

Susan Meyers, a 2003 graduate, is the author of Keep and Give Away (University of South Carolina Press, 2006), selected by Terrance Hayes as winner of the SC Poetry Book Prize. The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance also voted it winner of the 2007 SIBA Book Award for Poetry; and it is the recipient of the 2007 Brockman-Campbell Book Award, judged by Rigoberto Gonzalez. Susan's work has received recent prizes from Yemassee and South Carolina Review; and her poems have appeared in The Southern Review, Tar River Poetry, and Crazyhorse, as well as Verse Daily online. She has been poet-in-residence at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, SC, and artist-in-residence in the SC State Parks program. She serves as president of the Poetry Society of South Carolina. 

Sheryl Monks, a 2003 graduate, is a co-owner of Press 53, a new publisher in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Press 53 publishes short story collections, novels, poetry volumes, memoirs and other creative nonfiction books. Sheryl is also the author of Ghostly Lighthouses from Maine to Florida and a contributor to Travel North Carolina: Going Native in the Old North State, both published by John F. Blair Publisher in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She was a recipient of a grant for 2004-2005 by the Northwest North Carolina Regional Artist Project, sponsored by the arts councils in Alleghany, Ashe, Watauga, and Wilkes counties, and won the Reynolds Price Short Fiction Award in 2003, judged by Shannon Ravenel, editor at Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. Her short story, "Little Miss Bobcat," appeared in a issue of RE:AL-The Journal of Liberal Arts.

Carl Moore was the recipient of the Nonfiction Award and The Morgan Fitz/George Kuhl Award at The Sandhills Writers Conference in Augusta, Georgia.

Valerie Nieman, a 2004 graduate, has recently published poems in Appalachain Heritage, Iodine Poetry Journal and The Camelot Project. She taught at the John C. Campbell Folk School and the North Carolina Writer's Network. Val has published two collections of poems: Wake Wake Wake (Press 53) and Fidelities (West Virginia University Press).  Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Lisel Mueller has said of Nieman's poetry: "Ultimately it's a writer's excellence as a writer, her strength of language, apart from all good intentions, that convinces us she is telling the truth.  [Nieman] has an extraordinary sense of metaphor and a talent for expressive language that seems, at the same time, plain and straightforward, probably because it is so apt as to seem inevitable." 

Sandy Novack, a Queens post-graduate student, recently sold a short story collection and partial novel to Random House for publication. Her story "Memphis" was selected by Stephen King as a "Distinguished Story" in Best American Short Stories, 2007.

Godfrey Onime, a current student, had an column in the New York Times. "When Hostility Melted for the 'Funny Accent'" appeared in the May 27, 2008 issue.

Bruce Overby’s story, “Bookmarks,” recently won First Prize in the 2007 Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition (www.shortstorycompetition.com).  Another story, “Pool,” is forthcoming in Issue 24 of the online literary journal StoryGlossia (October 2007, www.storyglossia.com).

Steven Patten, a current student, has been a four-time finalist in Glimmer Train’s annual fiction contests. His stories
“Undeserved” and “Night Blooming Series” were finalists in 2004, “My Father” in 2005, and “A Mouse’s Death” in 2006.

Carol Peters, a 2005 graduate, has a chapbook, Muddy Prints, Water Shine, upcoming in the New Women's Voices Series from Finishing Line Press of Georgetown, Kentucky. Her work has appeared in miPOradio, Pembroke, Cairn, Pebble Lake Review, Always on Friday, RealPoetik, Bamboo Ridge, Ink Pot, and inkburns. She reads fiction for The Gettysburg Review. Visit her blog at http://carolpeters.blogspot.com

Nancy Pinard, a 2004 graduate, published a story in The Paper Journey Press's anthology on the Seven Deadly Sins.  The story, one of 49 stories chosen from a field of 250, was featured in the section on greed. 

Brittney Prichard, a 2008 graduate, will have her poem "Weekend at Waldhorn's" published in the November issue of Peeks and Valleys. She has also recently been published in Main Street Rag.

Kent Priestly, a 2006 graduate, is the co-author, with Jon Elliston, of North Carolina Curiosities, published by The Globe Pequot Press. The book is a travel guide to offbeat collections, attractions, and people around the state.

Sarah Park Rankin a May 2006 graduate, has published the first print anthology of the stories appearing online on http://www.pipesandtimbrels.com, Pipes & Timbrels.  The print anthology features stories by Queens alums Linera Lucas and Claudine Guertin. Sarah Park was also a panelist at the 2006 North American Conference of the Historical Novel Society in Albany, NY.

Mary Beth Ray, a 2006 graduate, has an essay forthcoming in Arts & Letters and a story forthcoming in the North Atlantic Review.  She has also been a Pushcart Prize nominee and has had work appear in Arts & Letters and Iodine.

Peter Reinhart, a 2008 graduate, won a 2008 James Beard Award for his book Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraoardinary Flavor, one of the projects he workshopped in the MFA program. His book was also nominated for the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) Book Award. In 2002, Reinhart won Book of the Year honors from both organizations for his book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread. This book is now a finalist for the International Gourmand Best of the Best Award for "Best Baking Book of the Past Twelve Years." An earlier book, Crust & Crumb, also won a James Beard Award. Peter teaches at the Charlotte campus of Johnson & Wales University and has lent his name and expertise to the new Charlotte restaurant Pie Town. Keep up with Peter at his website peterreinhart.typepad.com.

Susan Rivers, a 2007 graduate, recently signed with Writers House literary agency in NYC, and is revising her novel, Bred to a Harder Thing. She was awarded a 2008 Regional Artist Project Grant from the Arts and Science Council that will enable her to do field research for her unfinished second novel, Augusta's Winter which is set in rural North Carolina. She recently completed her first semester teaching English as an adjunct instructor at UNC Charlotte.

Pat Riviere-Seel, a 2003 graduate of the MFA program, was recently featured on the NC Poet Laureate Web site as the "Poet of the Week". Cathy Smith Bowers wrote an introduction to Pat's work, and the site featured several of Pat's poems.  Her first book of poems, No Turning Back Now, from Finishing Line Press, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.  Pat’s poetry has also appeared in Asheville Poetry Review, Crucible, and Main Street Rag.  Her poem, "Road Trip Conversation" was also nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2003.  Pat currently serves as President of the North Carolina Poetry Society.

Sheila Saints, a 2007 graduate, has recently been selected as a judge for the Moore County Writers Competition. Her work has appeared in Charlotte's Uptown Magazine and one of her essays will be included in a new book, Southern Music Anthology, published by Novello Press. Sheila works in Wachovia's Corporate Video Network department as a producer and writer for a daily desktop newscast called "Take 5."

Martin Seay, a 2005 graduate, published his story "Grand Tour" in the Summer 2007 issue of The Gettysburg Review. He was a recipient of a 2005-2006 fellowship in fiction writing from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown.

Hershella Smith, a 2007 graduate, will publish her story "Saved" in the Winter issue of Appalachian Heritage.

Ron Stodghill, a 2007 graduate, has published Redbone: Money, Malice, and Murder in Atlanta with Amistad press. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has called Redbone, "A captivating look at an extravagant life, a sordid murder and a pivotal time," Ron's work is also regularly featured in the Sunday Business Section of The New York Times.

Robert Stofel, has had his story "Sum Life" accepted for publication in the Fall 2008 issue of Controlled Burn. Under the penname Robert Lavender, his story "For the Love of Pearl" was published in the 2008 edition of the Clackamas Literary Review. Robert's work has also appeared in Wheelhouse Magazine, Red Clay Review, Swink Magazine (http://www.swinkmag.com/), Monkeybicycle, Descant, Aura Literary Arts Review, Happy, and Zone 3. His story "Police-Legs Aren't for Public Consumption" was a finalist for Mills College's 580 Split fiction award in 2007.

Nona Stuck, a 2006 graduate, has published essays in O, the Oprah Magazine, More Magazine and the on-line journal Literary Mama.  One of her essays for O was nominated for the National Magazine Awards. Nona will have an essay published as part of Dan Jones' Modern Love column in The New York Times on April 22, 2007.  

Charles Swanson, a 2008 graduate, has had several poems published recently in Appalachian Heritage, Confluence, and Pegasus. Two poems published in Pegasus "Joe Pratt to His Wife" and "After the Garden: What Does it Mean, the Killing Fields?" won first place prizes from the Kentucky State Poetry Society. His work has also appeared in Aethlon, the journal of Sport Literature; Virginia Writing; Wildlife in North Carolina; alcalines; Appalachian Journal; Grab-A-Nickel and Now & Then.

Rob Trott’s short story "Loony" has been accepted by Inkwell.

Blaise Weller was nominated for Pushcart Prize for a story published in The Licking River Review.

Ann Wicker, a 2005 graduate, edited a nonfiction anthology, Making Notes: Music of the Carolinas, which came out in May 2008. Ann taught creative nonfiction in The Davidson College Alumni Writer’s Workshop and her work has appeared in Creative Loafing, Lake Norman Magazine, Southpark, University City Magazine and Charlotte.

Mike Willis's poem "At Whaling Time, Circa 1898" has been accepted for publication by Washington Square Review.  His poetry has also appeared in Southern Arts Journal and Rattle.  While residing in Munich, Germany, Mike was co-founder of  "Wordstock" a writers' group for ex-pats living there and later of "Ink Well," a similar group for students at Munich International School where he taught English and co-directed theater productions. Until recently his work has appeared almost exclusively in magazines abroad: Studio (Australia), Quantum Leap (Scotland), Paris/Atlantic (France), Flaming Arrows (Ireland) and Orbis (England) where he was awarded the Editor's Choice Award in spring 2003. His work also appeared in the summer 2005 issue.

Kevin Winchester, a 2005 graduate, had a novella entitled It Was After Shelby Foote Died... published in the Fall 2005 issues of storySouth, with two other stories selected for the storySouth anthology Everything But the Baby.  Another story was published in Southern Hum in 2006.  Kevin was also the recipient of a 2005 Bread Loaf Scholarship.

Susan Woodring, a 2004 graduate, won Isotope's 2005 fiction contest, and her story, "Inertia," was published there in fall 2006.  Other stories have been accepted by Yemassee, turnrow, Passages North, and Ballyhoo.  They will be published in 2007.  Her work has also appeared in Quick Fiction, Issue 8 and a Main Street Rag anthology.  Susan’s story, “Radio Vision” won the Elizabeth Simpson Smith Short Story Award in 2006.