ANNOUNCEMENTS

As we prepare for Stonecoast’s Summer 2026 residency, taking place June 19–27, 2026, we’re excited to share a few highlights that promise to make our return to the USM Portland campus especially meaningful and memorable. 

We are thrilled to welcome back distinguished guest Dante Micheaux, alongside Stonecoast alum Penny Guisinger (Creative Nonfiction, S’19). Joining them are Sarah Braunstein, Christa Carmen (Popular Fiction, W’21), Myronn Hardy, Nyamuon “Moon” Nguany Machar, and Kathryn Miles, each bringing insight and artistic vision to our Stonecoast community. Together, these writers represent a dynamic range of creative voices and perspectives that will enrich readings, seminars, and conversations throughout the residency.

If you can attend only one event this June, we especially encourage you to join us for the residency’s cornerstone WISE Gathering: The Task Before Us: Refuge. This timely and relevant conversation will feature Penny Guisinger, Dante Micheaux, and Nyamuon “Moon” Nguany Machar as they explore how refuge—through sanctuary, belonging, storytelling, and acts of care—can become a powerful force for survival, resistance, and collective freedom. Together, they will consider the ways writers create spaces of witness, healing, and possibility in times of uncertainty.

Stonecoast Summer Residency Schedule.

We look forward to gathering again in Portland, and we hope you will join us for what promises to be an inspiring Summer 2026 residency.

Justin, Robin, and Nikki

ALUMS 

J Brooke’s (Poetry, S’19) Poetry (debut) book, I Can Tell You The Version That Will Make You Take My Side, launches Tuesday June 2! The themed collection of queer / nonbinary / trans poetry has been chosen for Ms. Magazine‘s Best Poetry Books 2026  J’s June Book Tour dates can be found on their website JBrookewrites.com. Please consider ordering a copy here: J Brooke’s book or wherever you buy books (even on Amazon…). In their role as Book Reviews Editor for The Rumpus, J encourages members of the Stonecoast community with interest in writing a sharp, get-noticed book review for an upcoming small press title to contact them at J.Brooke@therumpus.net 

Linda Buckmaster’s (Creative Nonfiction, S’11) traveling literary exhibit, “Of Cod and Communities,” will be at the Mulholland Gallery in Lubec, Maine, June 10-30. Reception is Saturday, June 13. The exhibit consists of eight 3′ x 5′ soft fabric banners adapted from her book “Elemental: A Miscellany of Salt Cod and Islands,” a Finalist in the Maine Literary Awards, and is a cross-genre that reflects the landscapes and people of the cod cultures across the North Atlantic. The Gallery is part of the historic McCurdy’s Herring Smokehouse complex.

Part of Jen Dupree‘s (Fiction, W’15) duties as Assistant Editor of The Masters Review is to curate a monthly blog called Writers on Not Writing. It is what it sounds like—writers sharing what fills them up creatively when they’re away from the page. It’s unpaid, but it’s fun and a good way to bump up your byline! If you’d like to write something for the blog, pitch Jen at jen@mastersreview.com. 

teri elam’s (Poetry, Spring 2019) debut book of poems, Digging Beneath Bones, is a portrait of family, caretakers, aunties, nieces, and Black boy joy, finding meaning in music, myth, prayer, and grief. At its heart, it is a daughter’s love letter to her mother, a shared kaleidoscope of broken colored glass holding their testimony and memory. To get a copy, click here or check out teri’s website. Pre‑sales run through July 10, with the official release on August 28.

Natalie Harris Spencer (Fiction, S’21) has been accepted into Bread Loaf, Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and Community of Writers based on an extract from her latest manuscript.

David Healey (Popular Fiction, S’07) recently completed a Kickstarter campaign for his new Revolutionary War novel, The Guns of Liberty, set against the backdrop of the Philadelphia campaign of 1777. This month, he is once again the co-chair for the Purdue Global Literary Festival, now in its 14th year. The festival, hosted by the Department of English and Rhetoric, features more than 30 workshops and literary presentations over two days. He’d enjoy catching up with any Stonecoasters from back in the “aughts” when he’s in Maine this summer. 

Linda Quinby Lambert (Creative Nonfiction, W’16) enjoyed being one of ten chosen for Field Notes “Staple Day.” 

Nina B. Lichtenstein (Creative Nonfiction, S’20) is happy to share the her memoir-in-essays, Body: My Life in Parts, was a finalist for the 2026 Maine Literary Awards. Nina’s Maine Writers Studio’s next Literary Salon & Open Mic (at Walter’s Café in Brunswick, ME) is on June 24, 2026. Welcome!

Jeanette Lynes‘ (Poetry/Fiction, S’05) novel The Paper Birds won the Fiction Prize at the 2026 Saskatchewan Book Awards. 

John Christopher Nelson (Fiction, S’15) has three nonfiction pieces out at the moment. Beach Sloth posted his essay about Michael Myers, “You Can’t Kill The Boogeyman,” to celebrate being half-way to Halloween. “Cascarón,” John’s rant about cuisine as a cultural cornerstone, is available now from Secret Restaurant Press. It’s featured in their handsewn zine, Breakfast 3…?. There are currently only five copies left, so you’d better cop one soon. John is humbled to share that “Bugbear,” an account of losing friends while active in alcoholism and continuing to lose them during a near-death experience & in sobriety, is featured in Issue 028 of Paloma Magazine, Fault Lines. Speaking of drinking: a decade after they published John’s “Signs of Alcoholism” in their inaugural issue, Indiciawill feature his sequel of sorts, “Signs of [Escalated] Alcoholism,” in this year’s forthcoming edition. Also, John and his partner have started a quarterly, Los Angeles-based event, Feedbag Reading Series, at Stories Books & Cafe in Echo Park. Feedbag Reading Series is an event for those who partake of prose & poetry. They feature eclectic lineups of independent writers that showcase a range of styles, voices, and backgrounds, all sharing the common goal of artistic expression. Their April kickoff was a success, and they’re hosting a second date on Friday, July 17th. If you’re based in Southern California, you’re encouraged to attend. More importantly, if you or someone you know in the Los Angeles area would like to read at a future event, please reach out to John via his Instagram, @johnnygrovemumbler. Poetry, fiction, nonfiction, regardless of genre or style, all aesthetics, tastes, & vibes are welcome. The next Feedbag will be in October.  

Judy Sandler (Creative Nonfiction, W’21) announces the forthcoming publication (in September 2026) of her debut memoir, What Kind of Mother, A Reckoning (West Virginia University Press), a mother’s memoir that reckons with her son’s descent into severe mental illness. What appears to be substance-use disorder in high school later becomes a dual diagnosis as bipolar disorder emerges. Her son soon grows disillusioned with prescribed pharmaceuticals and participates in a residential treatment program that assists people in forgoing medication altogether. However, the program ultimately ejects him from the community for the very behaviors that the medication once managed. The book chronicles Judy’s initial denial of her truth, her painful awakening to mental illness in her family, and her eventual acceptance that she cannot save her son, only he can save himself. The book has received high praise from Stonecoast Greats such as Melanie Brooks (Creative Nonfiction, W’15), Morgan Talty (Fiction, S’19), and Susan Conley (Faculty; Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Writing for Social Change). Elissa Altman author of Permission, The New Memoirist and The Courage to Create, and Motherland says, “A poignant brilliantly-written evocation of what it means to come to terms with a child’s addiction and mental illness and in the process one’s own struggles and history, overcoming secrecy and shame  and how they conspire to destroy families from within. Absolutely unforgettable, this is a story that will stay with me forever.” Upcoming release events include the book launch on September 8th at Left Bank Books in Belfast, Maine. With What Kind of Mother, Judy continues to build her body of work centering around mental health and everyday experiences that remind us we are connected. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times’ Tiny Love Stories, Brevity Blog, Yale School of Medicine’s The Perch, The Atticus Review, and others. She is the nonfiction editor of The Awakenings Review and has served as a nonfiction editor of The Stonecoast Review. She lives in mid-coast Maine with her husband and two dogs. 

With echoes of various encouragements from Stonecoast instructors Elizabeth Searle and Aaron Hamburger still bouncing around, sid sibo (sidney woods, Fiction, W’19) has agreed to moderate an author panel in August for Wyoming’s Bookmarked festival. Always say YES. And because good questions are often the best answer, sid looks forward to adding panel moderation to the summer schedule of judging and critiquing for Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, Jackson Hole Writers, and the new Winter Woods Publishing endeavor begun by fellow Stonecoast alum Kathryn Balteff (Fiction, W’19) as well.

Linda K. Sienkiewicz (Fiction, S’09) has a guest article on “Author Fairs: The Hidden Benefits Beyond Book Sales: What you gain, what they cost, and how to sell without being pushy” on Bad Redhead Media on Substack. Also, her poem, “As Tall as Tomorrow” is published in Peninsula Poets, the Poetry Society of Michigan’s annual journal. In late May, Linda and Jeff Kass (Poetry, S’09) read together at Next Chapter Books in Detroit, MI. She has an essay titled “Writing Beyond Your Experience Requires More than Research: Hiring a Sensitivity Reader” in Women’s Fiction Writing Association’s Write-Away Blog. What a sensitivity reader gave Linda was not just correction but confidence that she had created a character who felt fully human instead of simply well-researched. Also, Linda is delighted to share that her essay “A Literary Anchor” is included in a book about the life and legacy of the late Gee Gee Rosell, the beloved owner of Buxton Village Books in the Outer Banks. The Gee Gee Book is published by Beach Glass Books, May, 2026. And Linda was recently featured in Sage’s Pages on Substack: An Author’s Journey: Exploring the Complexities of the Outsider in the Fiction of Linda K. Sienkiewicz

The cover of Kevin St. Jarre‘s (Popular Fiction, S’10) next novel, The Ghosts of Riddell House, has been revealed. Publication date is September 23, 2026—preorder availability coming soon!

FACULTY 

Elizabeth Searle has a new book coming out in October: Lock Her Up—a timely literary thriller about a woman framed for murder by her right-wing in-laws. The book will be released by Pierian Springs Press first in Europe; it is already available in French translation and soon in more languages. Its USA release date is October 6th. Preorders available on Amazon, AbeBook, B&N, Harvard Bookstore and more via this link. This summer, August 17-21, Elizabeth is happy to be teaching with star author, friend & former SC faculty Suzanne Strempek Shea; “Words & Images” is a generative workshop in writings inspired by your own images and short films shot on your own devices. Learn more here.