Community News & Updates January 2026

HAPPY NEW YEAR! ANNOUNCEMENTS STONECOAST WINTER 2026 RESIDENCY As we prepare for Stonecoast’s Winter 2026 residency (January 9–18, 2026), we’re excited to share a few highlights we think will make our time back at the Harraseeket Inn especially memorable. We’re delighted to welcome our distinguished guests Brock Clarke, Marianne Leone, Dante Micheaux, Jennifer Militello, Rebecca Turkewitzk, and Catherynne (Cat) Valente, each bringing a …

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Community News & Updates March 2025

ANNOUNCEMENTS IOTA SHORT FORMS BEGINS SUNDAY WRITING SESSIONS Penny Guisinger (Creative Nonfiction, S’13) and Suzanne Strempek Shea (Faculty 2003-2021) are offering free monthly online writing sessions through Iota Short Forms. Led alternately by these two Iota Co-Directors, plus some special guests here and there, the sessions will consist of writing time with or without prompts. You’ll …

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Community News & Updates August 2024

ALUMS  Sarah Baldwin (Creative Nonfiction, S'15) had an article about a scholar's research on young Jewish refugees in the U.S. during WWII published by Colgate Research. Her flash essay titled "Twelve Weeks" appeared in the inaugural issue of In Short. Shannon Bowring (Fiction, W'22) has been remiss in reporting several good pieces of book-related news: Her debut novel, The Road …

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Community News & Updates December 2023

ALUMS Shannon Bowring (Fiction, W'22) is delighted (and still in a fair amount of shock) that her debut novel, The Road to Dalton, has been selected by NPR for their list of 381 Books We Love in 2023. She is also excited to share that the novel is now available as an audiobook, released by Tantor Media, a …

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Community News & Updates September 2023

ANNOUNCEMENTS CLIFFORD ROYAL JOHNS (POPULAR FICTION, W’18) Cliff’s wife, Barbara Johns, wanted to share this sad news with the Stonecoast community: Cliff got ill at the end of April and died of liver cancer June 23. He was never in pain, but he quickly lost over 50 pounds, was weak, and did not want visitors. He was …

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Community News & Updates October 2022

ANNOUNCEMENTS A CELEBRATION OF NATIVE WRITERS October 4, 2022, 7:00 p.m.-8:15 p.m. Join the Maine literary community for a night of conversation and readings by three critically acclaimed Native writers working in different genres and coming from different nations. Stonecoast Fiction faculty and Winter '19 alum Morgan Talty (Night of the Living Rez), Terese Marie Mailhot (Heart Berries), …

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Community News & Updates July 2021

ALUMS  Darcie Abbene (Fiction, S’21) was a finalist for the Vermont Writer’s Prize for her essay “Reverse-os.” Darcie has spent the last few months writing book reviews for Kirkus Reviews, Necessary Fiction, and Split Rock Review. Her braided essay “Brave” is forthcoming in the summer issue of Whitefish Review. Jill Abbott (Popular Fiction, S’04) will be presenting at …

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Community News & Updates May 2019

ANNOUNCEMENTS One Voice: Stonecoast’s 2nd Annual Open Mic May 7th, 2019 Celebrate the greater Stonecoast MFA literary community at our second annual One Voice open-mic event, Tuesday, May 7th, 7:00 p.m. at Oxbow Blending and Bottling in Portland’s East End. Sign up here to share a three-minute reading of your original work. (Space is limited, …

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Community News & Updates February 2019

ANNOUNCEMENTS Iota: Short Prose Conference is now open to students and alumni of Stonecoast MFA. (Applications don't open for everyone else until February 8!) The creation of Stonecoast graduate Penny Guisinger (Creative Nonfiction, S’13), Iota will stage on Campobello Island from August 16-19, 2019, with faculty Arielle Greenberg and Richard Blanco. Iota is also thrilled …

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Community News & Updates January 2019

ANNOUNCEMENTS The Task Before Us: Writing Truth to Power Stonecoast MFA invites you to join Pulitzer Prize finalist Martín Espada (Poetry, Writing for Social Change) and award-winning writer Cheryl Clarke for an interactive discussion interrogating the intersection of creative writing and participatory democracy. Join us at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, January 18th, at the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport, …

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