Compiled by Jefferson Beavers
Republished from the Fresno State MFA blog
Kudos to #FresnoWriters is a regular series on the Fresno State MFA blog, celebrating the professional accomplishments of students, alumni, and faculty in the Creative Writing Program and the Department of English at Fresno State.
Daniel E. Arias-Gómez (MFA Creative Writing alum) – Published the poem “variations on a theme by Louis Armstrong” in Beloit Poetry Journal.
Marisol Baca (BA English alum) – Published 15 new poems as part of The Fresno 15 Creative Writing Marathon, a campaign by the Fresno State Creative Writing Alumni Chapter.
Stacey Balkun (MFA Creative Writing alum) – Won the annual Terrain.org Poetry Contest, as selected by Camille T. Dungy, for her poems “In the Forest,” “The Water, the Truth, the Water,” and “Grounded.”
Jamie Barker (MFA Creative Writing alum) – Published the essay “Nevertheless, We Persist” on the Fresno State Graduate Writing Studio blog.
Venita Blackburn (English faculty) – Published the graphic story “Grief Log” in the Commuter section of Electric Literature.
David Campos (BA English alum) – Published the poem “How They Eat You” in Spillway.
Joseph Cassara (English faculty) – Published the story “An Arrangement” in Boston Review. Was also featured for Hispanic Heritage Month on the Powell’s City of Books blog.
Daniel Chacón (BA English alum) – Published his latest book, the story collection “Kafka in a Skirt: Stories from the Wall,” with the University of Arizona Press.
Ethan Chatagnier (BA English alum) – His story “Dentists,” previously published in Glimmer Train, made the Notables list in Best American Short Stories 2019.
Sarah A. Chavez (BA English alum) – Was interviewed for the Tacoma Arts Commission video series artTown, on the subject “Artist and Place.”
Steven Church (English faculty) – Delivered the presentation “The Essayist, the Editor, and the Educator: Juggling My Roles in the Academy” for the Fresno State Provost’s Awards Lecture Series.
Carol Claassen (MFA Creative Writing alum) – Won The Forge Literary Magazine’s 2019 flash nonfiction competition for the essay “Object Permanence.”
Anthony Cody (Creative Writing grad student) – Published 15 new poems as part of The Fresno 15 Creative Writing Marathon, a campaign by the Fresno State Creative Writing Alumni Chapter.
Kathy Fagan (BA English alum) — Published the poem “The Rule of Three” in Poetry, the poem “At the Champion Avenue Low-Income Senior & Child Care Services Center” in the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day series, and the poem “Bad Hobby” in On the Seawall. Interviewed the poet Jake Skeets on “Shadows and Story” for The Rumpus. Was interviewed by Maggie Smith for The Mentor Series in The Rumpus. Has new work published or forthcoming in Foglifter, Plume, New England Review, and Pleiades.
Emily Froese (MA English alum) – Interviewed by Jefferson Beavers for the College of Arts and Humanities blog for the story “Local community colleges hire English and Creative Writing grads.”
Esmeralda Gamez (Creative Writing grad student) – Featured in a Fresno State Day of Giving video, speaking about the Mireyda Barraza Martinez Prize for Social Justice Writing.
Sarah Harian (MFA Creative Writing alum) – Interviewed by Elise Dumpleton about her new novel, “Eight Will Fall,” for The Nerd Daily. [Get the audiobook.]
Cody Hoover (MA English alum) – Interviewed by Jefferson Beavers for the College of Arts and Humanities blog for the story “Local community colleges hire English and Creative Writing grads.”
Jim Keller (MFA Creative Writing alum) – Under the pen name Ox Aaronson, published his first novel, “A Family Matter.”
Beth Linder Carr (Creative Writing grad student) — Published the essay “On Teaching ‘The Grapes of Wrath’” in the Steinbeck Review.
Suzanne Lummis (MA English alum) – Was in conversation with David Lehman on “Acting Noir,” “The Studio System,” “Noir Dialogue,” and “How Noir was My Valley,” for The Best American Poetry blog. Has new work published or forthcoming in Plume, Saw Palm, Terminus, and Voyage LA.
Alison Mandaville (English faculty) – In September, was invited to give the annual Callista Brown Common Read Lecture at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, with the lecture “Slavery Today: Violence and Change in Octavia Butler’s ‘Kindred,’ the Graphic Novel Adaptation.” Published a review of the Khazakhstani poet Aigerim Tazhi’s collection “Paper Thin Skin” in World Literature Today. Was interviewed for the Authors Talk series of Superstition Review.
Sarah Fawn Montgomery (MFA Creative Writing alum) – Had her debut memoir, “Quite Mad,” reviewed by Bruce Owens Grimm for Entropy Magazine, and also reviewed by Courtney Clute for Sweet Lit. Her previously published essay “Steering into Winter,” published in Brevity, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Samina Najmi (English faculty) – Published the short essays “Brew” and “The Sky That Didn’t Fall” and the poem “Café Convo” in Thin Air Magazine.
Kristen Norton (MFA Creative Writing alum) – Interviewed by Jefferson Beavers for the College of Arts and Humanities blog for the story “Local community colleges hire English and Creative Writing grads.”
Monique Quintana (MFA Creative Writing alum) – Her story “Vanity Agent” is forthcoming in 2020 in the Twin Peaks anthology, “These Poems are Not What They Seem” from APEP Publications. Published the story “crypto” in Corvid Queen, the flash essay “on trick-or-treating with my brother” for Luna Luna Magazine, and the story “Audiencia” for Clash Books. Had her debut novella, “Cenote City” reviewed by Hillary Leftwich for Heavy Feather Review. Also interviewed by Jefferson Beavers for the College of Arts and Humanities blog for the story “Local community colleges hire English and Creative Writing grads.”
Mario Rosado (MFA Creative Writing alum) – Was named a recipient of the Excelencia in Teaching scholarship from the Latinx Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Bradley Samore (Creative Writing grad student) – Published the poems “Old Home Videos,” “Tree of Love,” “Gratitude,” “Teacher,” “Distance,” and “Basketball – Age Nine” in Orson’s Review.
Nohemi Samudio Gamis (English undergrad student) – Profiled in the College of Social Sciences social media series on First-gen Student Researchers.
Manivone Sayasone (Creative Writing grad student) – Interviewed author Maceo Montoya for The Normal School magazine.
Emily Jo Scalzo (MFA Creative Writing alum) – Published the poem “Placebo Panacea” in The New Verse News.
Elizabeth Schulte Martin (MFA Creative Writing alum) – Interviewed by Matt Derouin for Alive magazine about her debut novel, “Everything You Came to See.”
Jeffrey Schultz (BA English alum) – Published 15 new poems as part of The Fresno 15 Creative Writing Marathon, a campaign by the Fresno State Creative Writing Alumni Chapter.
Navdeep Singh Dhillon (MFA Creative Writing alum) – Announced the publication of his debut young-adult novel, “Sunny G and a Series of Rash Decisions,” forthcoming summer 2021.
Hector Tapia (English grad student) – Featured in a Fresno State Day of Giving video, speaking about the Undergraduate Conference on Multiethnic Literatures of the Americas.
Burlee Vang (MFA Creative Writing alum) – Had his previously published poem “To Live in the Zombie Apocalypse” included in the Academy of American Poets “Celebrate Halloween” roundup.
Mai Der Vang (English faculty) – Published the poem “Out of Research Into Reveries” in the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day series.
M. L. Williams (MA English alum) – Published the poems “Late Thunderstorm,” “3:00 AM Song,” “Thoth,” “Euryphaessa,” and “Intrasocial Disunity in Neoliberal Economics” in Live Encounters.
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