CURRENT STUDENTS

Kim Autrey’s (Popular Fiction) mystery short story, “Mt. Pinos Murders,” was published in Onyx Publications last week. 

Abigail Bokaer’s (Fiction) short story “Made in Wonderland” was selected as the second-place finalist for The Masters Review Debut Fiction Prize and will be published on October 27th.

ALUMS 

Shannon Bowring (Fiction, W’22) is thrilled to welcome her third book into the world. In A Distant Valley, the conclusion to the Dalton Novels trilogy, will be published by Europa Editions on October 7th. The audio version, produced by Tantor Media, will be released the same day. Throughout the month, Shannon will be visiting several bookstores around Maine to promote the book(s); event details can be found here. 

Kathy Briccetti‘s (Creative Nonfiction, W’07) personal/travel essay “Traveling Past Grief” was published in the recent issue of Third Act Magazine. 

J Brooke (Poetry, S’19) (in their continued role as Editor of Prose Reviews for The Rumpus) would like to remind writers who have an interest in reviewing a book that they can contact J at J.Brooke@therumpus.net.

Renée S. DeCamillis, (Popular Fiction, W’14) is excited to announce three book events for October 2025 for her latest release, Try Not to Die: By Your Own Hand, an interactive novel about suicide ideation and prevention. This is a charity novel, with all profits donated to Maine’s Mobile Crisis Hotline run by The Opportunity Alliance.

• On Sunday, October 5th at 11:00 a.m., Renee is hosting a Book Talk and Suicide Prevention Discussion at Barnes and Noble in South Portland, with special guest Carrie Swarthout, Director of Crisis Services at The Opportunity Alliance. This is a free event and open to the public.
• On Thursday, October 9th at 6:30 p.m., Renee is participating in a Halloween Story Night at Quiet City Books at 124 Lisbon Street in Lewiston, Maine, along with members of the Horror Writers of Maine as well as a few local Lewiston storytellers. This is a free event and open to the public.          
• On Saturday, October 18th from 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Renee is a guest author at the Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival at the Haverhill Public Library in Haverhill, Massachusetts.

David Hewitt‘s (Popular Fiction, S’09) essay “The Muse Theory of Value: Creator and Creativity in the Age of A.I.” appears in the Fall ’25 issue of New Myths. 

Veda Boyd Jones (Fiction, S’17) explores family and friendships, kindness and spitefulness, in the second of her slice-of-life Lost Creek novel series, 309 Main Street, available now on Kindle. 

Lindsey Kemp (Wells)’s (Creative Nonfiction, S’15) latest essay, “The Harrowing Tale of the Gym Rat Bat,” finally found a home in Literally Literary Magazine, both in print and as the featured essay on their website. The essay is about anxiety, a mother/daughter bond, and rabies. That’s right—rabies. 

Mike Langworthy (Creative Nonfiction, W’11) has been hired to direct the world premiere of the dark comedy Borrowing Funny on September 11, 2026, at The Vintage Theatre in Denver, Colorado. Inspired by playwright Matt Wexler’s experience as a standup comic and set in a comedy club during the 1990s, Borrowing Funny dramatizes the disillusionment of meeting a creative hero and explores the blurred lines between parallel thinking and plagiarism. This is the second collaboration between Wexler and Mike, who directed Wexler’s Reptile Logic in 2024. An official selection of numerous festivals in the U. S. and abroad, Borrowing Funny was recently named “Best Stage Play” by The New York Script Awards.

Emily Levang (Creative Nonfiction, S’19) has a new poem, “Rain,” published in Humana Obscura‘s Fall 2025 Issue. 

Nina B. Lichtenstein (Creative Nonfiction, S’20) had an essay published in On Being Jewish Now on how moving to Maine has impacted her Jewish identity. She also has a piece about her son’s Viking-Jewish Bar Mitzvah in a new anthology, Manna Songs: Stories of Jewish Culture & Heritage (ELJ Editions). Maine Writers Studio’s fall writing retreat for women on Bailey Island (October 17-19) has a few spots open! Find out more HERE, and MWS’s monthly lit salon & open mic is now at Sea Dog in Topsham on October 15th at 6:30 p.m.: “Come for dinner, stay for stories.” In November, Nina will teach “Your Body, Your Story” a 3-week workshop offered by MWPA (in person in Portland, at Mechanics Hall).

Bonnie Naradzay’s (Poetry, W’08) book of poems, Invited to the Feast, will be published by Slant Books this month.

Alexandra Oliver (Poetry, W’12) is a finalist for the 2025 Rattle Poetry Prize. You can learn more, meet the other nine finalists, and read and hear her poem “Gated Community” here. Alexandra is currently teaching at the University of Toronto.

Lisa Panepinto‘s (Poetry, W’13) new poetry collection, nature of infinity, was published by Spuyten Duyvil. 

Marisca Pichette (Popular Fiction, S’21)celebrated the six-month book birthday of her novella, Every Dark Cloud, in September! She read from it at VICFA and had a wonderful time discussing embodied spirits, folk magic, and eco-mythic end times. Marisca also taught her first workshop for MetroWest Writers Guild, on the topic of “Productive Procrastination.” In November, she is bringing the workshopping back to Stonecoast as part of the Practice of Writing alumni series! Join her November 11th for “On Submissions.” Finally, she’s delighted to share that two of her 2024 poems—“Asking” in Epistemic Lit and “death is a less terrible thing” in Moss Puppy Magazine—were nominated in the new Monarch Queer Awards.

Catherine Schmitt (Creative Nonfiction, W’12) is glad to announce that Trees of Acadia: The Past, Present, and Future of Park Forests, forthcoming from Down East Books, is now available for pre-order. Catherine talks about her approach to science writing in a recent episode of America Adaptsand reports on efforts to “re-wild” a golf course in The Working Waterfront.

October brings sid sibo (sidney woods; Fiction, W’19) to Maine with a number of collaborative events in different communities—details can be found at sidsibo.com. On October 25, however, the Jackson Hole Writers Conference calls sibo home to Wyoming for a panel presentation with Bison Books acquisitions editor, Taylor Gilreath, who selected The Scent of Distant Family for the University of Nebraska imprint.

Olive L. Sullivan‘s (Poetry/Fiction, S’15) poem “Aunt Jane’s Tomatoes” appears in the new book Eat Your Words: A Kansas Cookbook, edited by Kansas Poet Laureate Traci Brimhall and published by Meadowlark Press. The book features 20 recipes by Kansas chefs paired with 20 poems by Kansas writers. Poems will also be displayed on posters at the Kansas State Fair. Brimhall has been interviewed about the project on NPR.

FACULTY  

Cate Marvin (Poetry) had a poem titled “Suburban Divorcée” in The New Yorker and a poem titled “The Truth” in the Academy of American Poet’s Poem-A-Day series, chosen by the poet Randall Mann.

Elizabeth Searle (Fiction and Scriptwriting)’s new book The Drama Room: A Collection in Three Acts launches October 19th with the following events:

• October 17th: Interview with author Caroline Leavitt on the national podcast A Mighty Blaze at 4:00 p.m. ET; see www.amightyblaze.com 
• October 19th: Book Launch event and party at Newtonville Books at 2:00 p.m. — “In Conversation” with author Jessica Treadway; reception to follow
• October 25th: Boston Book Festival: Elizabeth will be signing books at the Pierian Springs Press booth
• October 30th: Reading with Tim Gager at La La Books in Lowell, MA, at 7:00 p.m.
• Check EVENTS on www.elizabethsearle.net for updates