ALUMS

Peter Adrian Behravesh (Popular Fiction, W’18) narrated E. M. Linden’s story “The Projectionists” for the September 28 episode of Cast of Wonders, as part of their Banned Books Week. You can listen to it here.

Libby Cudmore’s (Popular Fiction/Creative Nonfiction, S’10) novel Negative Girl (Datura 2024) was released in paperback, ebook, and audiobook on September 10, 2024. The book, a continuation of her Shamus and Black Orchid award-winning Wade & Jacks series, has been hailed as “immersive” and “intriguing” by Mystery and Suspense Magazine. The audiobook is read in alternating chapters by Libby and actor Jay Karnes (The Shield, Sons of Anarchy) and will be released on Audible, Spotify, and other streaming platforms.

Renée S. DeCamillis (Popular Fiction, W’14) is excited to announce that she is one of six members of the Horror Writers of Maine taking part in a Halloween Reading Event on Friday, October 4th, at 6:30 p.m. at Quiet City Books in Lewiston, Maine. She will be reading from her recently released novel, Chisel the Bone, Book 2 in The Bone Cutters Series. Renée is also doing an Author Signing Event at Barnes and Noble in South Portland, Maine, on Saturday, October 5th, from 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. On Saturday, October 19th, Renée is taking part in the Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival, along with over 50 other horror authors and artists, at the Haverhill Public Library in Haverhill, MA, from 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Stop by and find just the right spooky reads to accompany you through the darkest time of the year. 

Jen Dupree (Fiction, W’15) is pleased to announce that her second novel, What Do You Want From Me?, is under contract with Apprentice House Press. It’s due to be published in the spring of 2025. 

Natalie Harris-Spencer‘s (Fiction, S’21) personal essay “Speed Date Spouses” has been published on Open: Journal of Arts & Letters.

Veda Boyd Jones (Fiction, S17) finds it great fun to write an annual Christmas romance novella. In this year’s offering, The Sheriff’s Christmas Candy, Sam Rockwood and Candy Malone settled differences as extras in a made-for-TV movie. The ebook will be available on Amazon on October 1.

Nina B. Lichtenstein (Creative Nonfiction, S’20) is thrilled to announce the launch of In a Flash, a new online lit mag for flash cnf, 500 words or less. Submissions are themed and the first round opens on October 1-15th. This is a unique lit mag in that the chosen essay and author will be highlighted with brief editorial comments from the four co-editors (as in what specifically stood out & worked with the piece), as well as a Q&A with the featured author. So, dear Stonecoasters: Subscribe, Submit, Share! Also, Maine Writers Studio’s October Weekend Retreat (10/18-10/20) on “Embodied Writing” has a couple of spots still open. Be inspired on the coast of Maine, on Bailey Island, with a small group of women writers. For more info go HERE. 

Alison McMahan‘s (Popular Fiction, W’10) short story “Hellfire & Holywater” will appear in the Devil’s Snare anthology published by Crimespell Books in November. She is now represented by Sandy Lu of the Book Wyrm agency.

Catharine H. Murray (Creative Nonfiction, S”17) is opening her Memoir 101 online class to new students this October. In addition, she will be teaching an in-person memoir-writing workshop for women in the Hamptons October 25-27. For more information on these, click here.

Autumn Newman‘s (Poetry, S’09) book review of Shaina Phenix’s To Be Named Something Else appears in the Colorado Review, and her book review of Brandi George’s The Nameless appears in Calyx. Both are online and free to read. Autumn’s chapbook, A Flower Burst Open, is now available for pre-order from Finishing Line Press. Annie Finch has this to say about the book: “Autumn Newman, strong, wise survivor and poet par excellence, brings the power of poetry to bear on unbearable truth—for all our sakes. Born from the crucible of domestic violence, the poems of A Flower Burst Open bless everything they touch with ingenious poetic structures, exquisitely calibrated meters, and searingly apt imagery. Here is a book of hard-won words, none of them wasted. It demands to be heard.”

Marisca Pichette (Popular Fiction, S’21) is happy to share that she has had two poems nominated for the Best of the Net 2025! “in grandmother’s homemade house” (Moss Puppy Magazine) and “I’ve always loved darkness best” (Epistemic Literary). In October, you can also find her at two conferences: online at VICFA and in-person at WFC in Niagara Falls!

Even busier in the second launch month for The Scent of Distant Family, sid sibo (sidney woods, Fiction, W’19) will continue engaging with readers (and exploring new campsites) across WY, ID, and MT at bookstores, library programs, and book festivals.

Linda K. Sienkiewicz (Fiction, S’09) is thrilled to announce she has signed a contract with traditional press Regal House Publishing for the publication of her novel Love and Other Incurable Ailments for their fall ’26 frontlist season. “When an anxiety-prone hypochondriac upends her life to search a remote island community for a mysterious penman she knows only from torrid love letters he sent to another woman, she discovers she must change more than her magical thinking to survive.” Linda is also teaching a workshop in Choosing the Best Point of View for your Fiction at the Rochester Writers Conference, MI, on October 17th.

Patricia Smith (Poetry, S’08, and former faculty member) was elected to the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Furious Flower Poetry Center at James Madison University.

The latest novel from Kevin St. Jarre (Popular Fiction, S’10) is now available for pre-ordering from your favorite bookstore or online. Chills at Her Living Cry is available in hardcover, paperback, or e-book. Publication/ship date is October 30, 2024.

Christopher Watkins‘ (Poetry, W’08) poem “Kites” will be included in the upcoming Bards West Poetry Anthology from Local Gems Press.

FACULTY

Faith Adiele continues to actively endorse her newest books, Her Voice and Voice/Over; meanwhile, her essay about turning her memoir into a series of chapbooks appeared in Women Writers, Women’s Books: “Transformation Is Possible: From Unsold Memoir To A Series Of Experimental Chapbooks.”

Aaron Hamburger (Fiction, Creative Nonfiction) is teaching a class on Evelyn Waugh’s classic novel Brideshead Revisited for Politics and Prose online, November 4 & 11. Sign up now!

Elizabeth Hand’s (Popular Fiction, Fiction) novella “Fern’s Room will appear in the forthcoming “Revenants” issue of Conjunctions edited by Bradford Morrow and Joyce Carol Oates. Her most recent review is of Rumaan Alam’s Entitlement for The Washington Post. Elizabeth’s Cass Neary novels, beginning with Generation Loss, are being reissued in the UK by Influx Press this month. Her 2015 novel Wydling Hall has also just been reissued in a new limited UK edition from PS Publishing.