ALUMS

Sarah C. Baldwin (Creative Nonfiction, S’15) published another feature about the December 13, 2025, shooting at Brown, this one outlining the university’s trauma-informed recovery initiative.

Peter Adrian Behravesh (Popular Fiction, W’18) narrated A. E. Lanier’s story “Closing Aperture” for the October 20th episode of PodCastle. You can listen to it here.

Julie C. Day (Popular Fiction, S’12) is thrilled to announce Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology released from her own Essential Dreams Press won the World Fantasy award for best anthology. Authors include Mike Allen ◆︎ C.S.E. Cooney ◆︎ Maya Deane ◆︎ Andy Duncan ◆︎ Rocío Rincón Fernández ◆︎Theodora Goss ◆︎ CL Hellisen ◆︎ Getty Hesse ◆︎ Alaya Dawn Johnson ◆︎ Starlene Justice ◆︎ Amelia Mangan ◆︎ Michael Yuya Montroy ◆︎ Marisca Pichette ◆︎ Nisi Shawl ◆︎ KT Wagner ◆︎ Martha Wells. Afterword by Ann VanderMeer. Foreword by Tanith’s widower, John Kaiine. Editor-in-chief Julie C Day with coeditors Carina Bissett and Craig Laurance Gidney and assistant editor Julia DeRidder.

Renée S. DeCamillis (Popular Fiction, W’14) has a couple local events happening in November that she’s excited to share. She hopes to see some familiar faces there. Come on out and have some fun, build community, share stories!

• Event: Word Portland reading series, creepy stories \ When: Monday, November 2, 2026 | Where: Cantina Calafia, 46 Pine Street in Portland, ME | Time: Doors open at 7:00 p.m., Readings start at 7:30 p.m.
• Event: Punk Rock Flea Market | When: Sunday, November 29, 2026 | Where: Geno’s Rock Club, 625 Congress Street, Portland, ME | Time: Noon – 4:00 p.m.

Veda Boyd Jones (Fiction, S17) finds it great fun to write an annual Christmas romance novella. In this year’s offering, Get In Line, Pro golfer turned MSU golf coach Carter Fox is smitten with  recovery diver Edie Monroe, who rescues a family heirloom from the frigid water of Table Rock Lake. “Is she single?” he asks one of her crew. “For now. Get in line,” is the reply. Available now on Kindle.

Fiona Lehn‘s (Popular Fiction/Creative Nonfiction, W’15) essay “Tumbleweed Junction” has been published in The Antigonish Review, issue 220, Summer 2026. She also recently created a Substack for people who want to start and sustain a therapeutic journaling practice, called Fiona Lehn’s Healing Journal. It can be found at fionalehn.substack.com

Nina B. Lichtenstein (Creative Nonfiction, S’20) invites all Stonecoasters and their friends to the November 18th Maine Writers Studio’s Literary Salon & Open Mic at Walter’s Café in Brunswick. Get more info here. Got clichés? Join writers in community for the “Clichés Begone” workshop on Sunday, December 6th (in person or on Zoom). More info here. The November theme for in a flash lit mag is “Lost,” and the submission window is Nov. 1-15. Check out our submission guidelines here.

Will Ludwigsen‘s (Popular Fiction, W’11) novel A Scout is Loyal debuts from Lethe Press on November 16. The sequel to his Shirley Jackson Award-nominated novella A Scout is Brave, the novel follows Bud Castillo from the forsaken shores of Innsmouth, Massachusetts, to the forsaken rivers of Vietnam six years later where he finds that serving in Vietnam aboard a Swift Boat feels uncomfortably familiar. Publishers Weekly calls the novel “Intense… The unusual blend of war story and Lovecraftian horror leads to a shocking finale… a horror story that gets to a deeper truth.” You can order the book from the publisher, Lethe Press, here.

Thrill Ride Magazine is now up to issue #15 and Alison McMahan (Popular Fiction, W’10) has had a thriller story and/or essay published in nine of the most recent issues. Latest is “Moonrocks,” a YA Caper in the Capers issue. Coming up is “How to Get Anything on Anyone” in the Aristocrats issue. Check out all the great thriller stories at https://thrillridemagazine.com/

Miles Meth (Fiction, S’26) was interviewed by the Massachusetts Review about their artistic process and short story “Defend,” which follows a group of climate activists sneaking into a fossil fuels conference and was published in the fall edition of the journal. The interview can be read in full for free here. If you are interested in reading “Defend,” and still have UMaine login credentials, you can access it through UMaine’s Project MUSE proxy!

John Christopher Nelson (Ffiction, S’15) is stoked to share that his short fiction “Beth Garland Realizes Her Date is a Serial Killer” (originally published in October, 2019 by the now defunct Parhelion Literary Magazine) is online over at Be About It Press. John’s genre piece about time-traveling cowboys & murderous aliens, “Nosegay,” is included in Volume 20, Issue 6 of Schlock! Webzine. The story features a playlist, which you can listen along with here.  John’s flash fiction “Heretofore, Quiescent” will be featured at God’s Cruel Joke on January 19, 2027. Lastly, for anyone who hasn’t had a chance to read John’s ambulance essay, “Attrition,” when he last shared the news, the piece was still forthcoming. It’s online now in Crab Creek Review‘s The Spring Crab, Volume 4: Night Shift.

Anne Britting Oleson‘s (Ppoetry, W’05) fifth book in the Aventurine Morrow mystery thriller series was published on October 21. Aventurine on the Grand Union is Anne’s tenth published novel, set in Little Venice on the Grand Union Canal in London. Ask for it at your favorite retailer!

Marisca Pichette (Popular Fiction, S’21) has a new flash fiction and short interview out in The Orange & Bee. Read “The Witches of Western Mass” free online here! On November 10th, her solarpunk horror story “Bottles, Bones, Skein” comes out in Solarpunk Magazine Issue 30. You can pre-order the issue now through the link above!

Bruce Pratt (Fiction, S’04) has poems forthcoming in Athelon: The Journal of Sport Literature, Sport Literate, and Gray’s Sporting Journal. His short memoir “Two Gregs, a Bill, a Bruce, and a 1960s Epiphone Texan” is forthcoming in December from Portland Magazine. His tribute to the late poet and scholar Don Johnson appears in a special tribute issue of Aethlon, as does his poem “Tight Lines,” also featured in Appalachian Places. Bruce’s newest poetry collection, Sporting: Sports Poems for all Seasons, will be published by Finishing Line Press in April 2027.

While the university press that published sid sibo‘s (sidney woods; Fiction, W’19) debut novel seldom (never?) creates audio versions, the two-year rights reversion reserved in the contract negotiation is now past, and narration is underway. Listening to stories not only erases barriers for some individuals, it also hearkens back to cultural histories around the globe, dovetailing with sid’s undergraduate studies in anthropology. Below is the cover (with design thanks to Stonecoasters Jeanie Mullins and DL Duda) for the audio edition, expected to be available for holiday gift-giving and traditional winter storytelling season.

The audiobook for Lisa C. Taylor’s (Poetry, S’04) 2025 novel, The Shape of What Remains, will be released in November. Check her web site www.lisactaylor.com for ordering information and updates. Her next novel, Like Gravity, Like Love, is scheduled to be published on May 11th, 2027. She will be doing events in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maine in June. She’d love to pair with any Stonecoasters (even those who write in a different genre); her novel is literary fiction and the story takes place in Boston. Also, the Mesa Verde Literary Festival will be held again on Saturday September 4, 2027. All authors with at least one published book are welcome to apply. Applications will open in April. The Mesa Verde Writers Conference will be held in October. More information will be forthcoming in the new year. You can email Lisa at mesaverdewriters@gmail.com for more information. Don’t forget to vote!

Acrylic & Ink, an exhibit featuring the ekphrastic poetry of Adrienne S. Wallner (Poetry, W’09) in conversation with the paintings of her grandfather, Wisconsin (and Maine!) artist Philip Richard Stock (1930-1984) will be on display November 9th – December 18th at the Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. This multi-sensory exhibit will also offer gallery visitors the option to scan a QR code posted beside each displayed poem and listen to the poet recite each piece right on their phone. The opening reception will occur Friday, November 13th, with an artist meet & greet from 5:30-6:30 p.m. and an artist talk 6:30-7:30 p.m.

FACULTY

Aaron Hamburger‘s (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction) novel Hotel Cuba will be translated into Italian by Kalos publishing in Italy! Also, while on book tour for his new novel The Shiva Bandit, Aaron will be pairing up with not one by two illustrious Stonecoast alums this spring who also have wonderful new debut books: Alexander Rigby (Fiction, S’23; Meet Me at the Creek) and Jenny O’Connell (Creative Nonfiction, S’17; Wildheart). Watch this space for details…

Elizabeth Searle (Fiction/Scriptwriting) had a live virtual interview about her new book on the streaming show A Mighty Blaze with author Caroline Leavitt. Watch it on YouTube here. Also, Elizabeth has a guest post about writing her new literary thriller novel Lock Her Up on the Mystery Center of the iconic mystery/thriller magazine The Strand. Elizabeth’s November events include:

• November 10th at 2:00 p.m. — a lunchtime reading and talk at Duxbury Literary Circle in Duxbury, MA
• November 14th from 3:00-5:00 p.m. — Arlington Authors Salon Bookfair; Roasted Granola Café; Arlington, MA
• November 19th — Virtual Reading in the Dire Literary Series, hosted by Tim Gager; watch this event live or on tape via the Dire Literary Series Facebook page or YouTube Channel. Those watching live are welcome to take part in an “Open Mic” following Elizabeth’s reading/discussion. For updates, visit www.elizabethsearle.net