ALUMS 

J Brooke (Poetry, S’19) interviewed the great Morgan Talty (Fiction, W’19) about his debut novel Fire Exit for The Rumpus! If you haven’t read the interview (which coincided with the book’s June 4 release date) read it here. If you haven’t read Fire Exit, READ IT! Additionally J’s poem “My Avatar (aka afab perpetrates heteronormative relationship)”—officially J’s longest title to date—was published by Holy Gossip. 

Linda Buckmaster (Creative Nonfiction, S’11) will be giving a “walking tour” of her traveling literary banners exhibit, “Of Cod and Communities,” inside the Picker Room of the Camden (Maine) Public Library. The talk will be Saturday, August 3, at 4:00 p.m. The exhibit consists of eight 3’x5′ soft-fabric banners and sidebars and is an adaptation of her hybrid book, Elemental: A Miscellany of Salt Cod and Islands, that reflects the lives of cod communities across the North Atlantic over time. The book was a Finalist in the Maine Literary Awards and the banners have traveled to libraries along the coast this year. It will be at the Camden library the month of August and the Bangor Public Library in October and November. Linda is booking the exhibit for 2025. For more info, contact her at lsbuck1@gmail.com.

Renee S. DeCamillis’s (Popular Fiction, W’14)debut full-length novel, Chisel the Bone, is set for publication on July 23rd, through Encyclopocalypse Publications. This is the sequel to her debut novel, The Bone Cutters. Renee is excited to share the latest blurbs for Chisel:

• “This one digs deep—bone deep, you could say. If you weren’t already gritting your teeth from the blade.” ~Stephen Graham Jones, New York Times bestselling author of The Only Good Indians and The Indian Lake Trilogy
• “Chisel the Bone is by turns hallucinogenic, tough, rough, and unexpectedly tender. Lovecraft meets Nope on Renee DeCamillis’ long, strange, trip into a bone-dark nightmare. If you love books written in blood, you’ll turn the pages so fast your fingers will splatter. Sequel!” ~Nancy Holder, New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award 
• “Chisel the Bone is a gruesome, gritty tale in which DeCamillis creates a stark, tense atmosphere of unease, dread, and pervasive and increasing madness. She shows evil in its big, bad, brutal glory, but also at its most insidious, often understandable, and inevitably tragic. Echoes of Laird Barron and Poppy Z Brite within a voice uniquely her own, DeCamillis flays the skin of polite society and exposes for all to see the sharp edges of desperation, need, and survival. This book will get under your skin in all the best ways.” ~Mary SanGiovanni, author of The Everywhere House

The book launch event for Chisel the Bone is at Novel Book Bar & Café in Portland, Maine, on Thursday, August 15, from 7:00-8:00 p.m., where Renee will be in discussion with fellow Maine horror author Meg North, author of The Transformation of Charlotte Poole.All who are interested in attending, please RSVP here. On Thursday, August 22, at 5:00 p.m., Renee will be in a horror panel discussion at Copper Dog Books in Beverly, MA, with horror authors Morgan Sylvia, Emma J. Gibbon, and J.S. Breukelaar.

Amy Dempsey (Creative Nonfiction, W’21) won a 2024 Maine Literary Award in the Short Works Competition in Nonfiction for her essay “Me & Her,” first published in Electric Literature. 

Darcy Duda’s (Fiction, W’19) latest essay, “Tapeworms,” appears in this year’s summer issue of Threepenny Review, and two journalism pieces have recently appeared in The Modern Farmer.

Jess Flarity (Popular Fiction, S’18) has completed his PhD in Literature at the University of New Hampshire. His dissertation, “The Splintered Man: Masculine Responses to Feminism in 20th Century Fiction,” will be available by next year.

An excerpt from Lo Galluccio’s (Creative Nonfiction/Poetry, S’19) prose-poem memoir, Sarasota VII, was published in Metapsychosis Journal, online last month. 

Veda Boyd Jones (Fiction, S’17) sold a short story to Woman’s World, which will be in the July 15th issue.

Fiona Lehn (Popular Fiction/Creative Nonfiction, W’15) is thrilled to announce that her creative nonfiction book Like the Cat: Feline Wisdom for Transformation and Healing is now available in paperback and ebook on Amazon. Like the Cat offers practical, spiritual, and science-based solutions to the common problems so many of us face—illness, injury, trauma, mental health issues, feeling lost, starting over, spiritual pathfinding, and more. Illuminating a transformative path from desperation to joy and ease, each chapter focuses on a Feline trait, provides strategies for healing and mindful living, and closes with an inspiring affirmation and illustration. The cat is a master of self-care and awareness. When you remember to live like the cat, your life improves. It’s that simple! #beinglikethecat Blurbs from early readers: 

• “Playful and insightful, Like the Cat contains everything you need to live your best life. The wise and vetted strategies described in this book will support the well-being of anyone, whether you suffer from an acute or chronic illness, or none at all.” ~Priscilla Szneke BSN, MSc., meditation and mindfulness teacher. Adjunct faculty at The Mindfulness Center at Brown University
• “A beautiful, witty book that turns life’s lemons into sweet lemonade. It is a life-changing offering to all who live with health challenges, feel lost and alone, and don’t know how to start to find a life they can love again.” ~Judith Z., reader with chronic illness
• “Like the Cat, though short in length, is long on wisdom. It explores a simple truth: self-care and self-compassion are key to thriving, rather than simply surviving, with chronic illness. As mentioned in the book, simple does not mean easy. Like many simple but powerful ideas, the devil is in the details of the how. This book will help you navigate through the swamp—a metaphor for life’s challenges—and teach you to embrace your inner cat.” ~Dr. Ric Arseneau, Clinical Professor at University of British Columbia, and a specialist in internal medicine with expertise in ME/CFS, FM, Long COVID, Eating Disorders, Group Psychotherapy, and Medical Education

Will Ludwigsen‘s (Popular Fiction, W’11) novella, A Scout Is Brave, debuts on July 1 from Lethe Press. Modified from his Stonecoast MFA thesis, it tells the story of a young newcomer to a small coastal town who starts a Scout troop with the only other boy in town. Together, their idealism collides with the sinister and far-reaching plans that the Lovecraftian locals have for his family. It’s available from all of the usual places now!

Marisca Pichette (Popular Fiction, S’21) enjoyed taking part in the virtual Nebula Conference at the beginning of June. She moderated “Grow from No: How to Survive (and Thrive) from Rejection” and sat on the panel “Vomit Draft: How to Spew Up Your Ideas and Finish that First Draft.” She also held office hours for two aspiring authors. Later in July, she will be heading to ReaderCon in Quincy!

Bruce Pratt (Fiction, S’04) has two poems, “Alone” and “Gunmetal Grey,” in the Summer edition of the Maine Arts Journal, where they are introduced by Betsy Sholl.

Several former editing and/or coaching clients of Lisa Romeo (Creative Nonfiction, S’08) have new books out. Essayist Leslie Tucker’s memoir-in-essays is Things I Did Anyway: Truth from a Virtuous Liar, while Anne Anderson Evans debuted her second memoir, The Sweet Pain of Being Alive: A Memoir of Life and Death. Carole Duff’s new memoir is Wisdom Builds Her House. Lisa also worked with Suzette Mullen on early drafts of pieces that later fed her well-regarded new memoir, The Only Way Through is Out, recently featured in a New York Times article about women coming out later in life.

Lisa C. Taylor (Poetry, S’04) is gearing up for the second annual Mesa Verde Writers Conference July 11-14. As a part of the Mancos Creative District, the conference is now nonprofit and is poised to grow next year. It has been full since early April. Lisa is also proud to be the poetry editor for a new anthology of Four Corners Writers due out in late 2024. This anthology was made possible through a LOR grant and will be accepting fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from writers in the Cortez, Colorado, region until September 1. Four Corners Writers recently became a nonprofit organization serving writers in the Four Corners area of Colorado.

Rhiannon J. Taylor/R. J. Howell (Popular Fiction, S’19) had two stories published in June. On June 1st, her science fiction short story “37 Seconds to Say Goodbye” was published by Luna Station Quarterly in issue 058. On June 15th, her fantasy short story “Princess Mildred and the Dragon” was published by Worlds of Possibility.