STONECOAST READINGS

On May 13, Elizabeth Searle will host a reading at Newtonville Books in Newton, MA, celebrating ten years of Stonecoast MFA and featuring readings by Stonecoast alumni Eugenio Volpe, Cal Armistead, Mihku Paul, and Richard Cambridge.

ALUMNI

Michael Beeman‘s (Fiction, S’09) short story “The Sleeping Saints” was published in the Winter 2013 issue of The Sewanee Review. The story, written while he was working with Kelly Link during his first semester at Stonecoast, was also well-received in a recent New Pages review.

Jennifer Marie Brissett (Popular Fiction, S’11) was accepted into the Launch Pad Astronomy Workshop for established writers. It’s held in beautiful high-altitude Laramie, WY, and aims to provide a “crash course” in modern astronomy science through guest lectures as well as observation through the University of Wyoming’s professional telescopes.

Tamie Marie Fields‘ (Creative Nonfiction, S’12) essay “Hook and Sway” was published in the April issue of Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built + Natural Environments.

J. M. McDermott (Popular Fiction, S’11) sold a story, “Dolores, Big and Strong,” to Asimov’s Science Fiction.

Bruce Pratt (Fiction, ’04) will be directing a staged reading of Elizabeth Searle‘s ten-minute play Stolen Girl on Sunday, May 5, at 1:00 p.m. at the historic Penobscot Theatre’s Opera House in Bangor, ME, as part of the Northern Writes Festival of New Works. A Q&A with the author will follow the performance. Bruce’s short play Memories of Paradise and Mike Kimball‘s short play Janey Succumbs to Polar Madness are included in the Maine Playwrights Festival in Portland, which runs from April 26-May 4 at the St. Lawrence Arts Center. The third performance of Bruce’s play will run Saturday, May 4, at 8:00 p.m.; Mike’s play will be presented on May 2 and May 3 at 7:30 p.m. and again on May 4 at 4:00 p.m. Additional information may be found here, and tickets may be ordered by calling 207.854.0065.

Lisa Romeo (Creative Nonfiction, S’08) has been appointed creative nonfiction editor for the forthcoming online literary journal, Compose. Last month, her memoir proposal was one of five finalists in the Seal Press book contract contest sponsored by SheWrites.com. This winter, Lisa judged Kenneth Kingery/August Derleth Nonfiction Book Award for the Council for Wisconsin Writers, selected David McGlynn’s memoir, A Door in the Ocean.

Patricia Smith (Poetry, S’08, and former Stonecoast poetry faculty member) will be reading at the Library of Congress on May 1, along with poets Kevin Young, Brenda Shaughnessy, Marily Chin, and Brian Turner. The program, “Necessary Utterance: Poetry As Cultural Force,” commemorates Nathasha Trethewey’s historic term as poet laureate. On May 2, Patricia will receive the Robert L. Fish Award from the Mystery Writers of America, given for the best debut story in the genre. “When They Are Done with Us,” her contribution to the crime-fiction anthology Staten Island Noir (which she also edited) was chosen for the Fish Award and will be included in Best American Short Stories 2013.

STUDENTS

Sheila Boneham (Creative Nonfiction/Cross Genre) has been invited to participate in the “Lunch with an Author” fundraiser on May 2 in Wilmington, NC. Proceeds from the event go to support Creative Writing Scholarships at Cape Fear Community College. Sheila will also be speaking about her writing to the New Hanover Kennel Club in Wilmington on May 13, with a portion of proceeds going to support canine health research.

FACULTY

“Bon Appétit: How Food Writing Fed My Fiction,” Aaron Hamburger‘s (Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, Popular Fiction) essay on fiction and food writing, is in the current issue of Poets and Writers. Also, his short story “No More Wild Orchids” will appear in the upcoming issue of Carolina Quarterly.

Mike Kimball‘s (Popular Fiction, Scriptwriting) full-length play Duck and Cover has been selected to be read at the Bangor Opera House as part of the Penobscot Theatre Company‘s 7th Annual Northern Writes Festival May 3-5. A full production of Duck and Cover (“A delicious mix of drama, history and humor… Smart, witty, heartwarming and incisively written. Truly engaging.” ––Portsmouth Hearld) will be staged May 30-June 9 at Acorn Studio Theater (Westbrook ME | 207.854.0065). His new short play Janey Succumbs to Polar Madness will be part of the 2013 Maine Playwrights Festival (also on Facebook) on May 2-3 at 7:30 p.m. and on May 4 at 4:00 p.m. at the St. Lawrence Center for the Performing Arts in Portland, ME.

Elizabeth Searle (Fiction, Popular Fiction, Scriptwriting) has a new one-act play, Stolen Girl, premiering at Northern Writes Festival of New Works in Maine at the Bangor Opera House on Sunday, May 5, directed by Bruce Pratt (Fiction, ’04) and produced by the Penobscot Theatre Company.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

The inaugural issue of The Catch: Writings from Downeast Maine, a new literary journal launched in association with the Downeast Fisheries Trail, was published on April 10 and is available here. The submission window opens in September; Catherine Schmitt (Creative Nonfiction, W’12) is managing editor.