Image: Alumna Roda Avelar, left, won a prestigious Ruth Lilly poetry fellowship. Alumnus Brian Turner published his first of three new poetry collections this year.
Compiled by Jefferson Beavers.
Republished from the Fresno State MFA Blog.
J.J. Anselmi (alumni) — Published the essay “My Summer of Rubber Dust” in Jake the Magazine.
William Arcé (faculty) — Secured a grant from the National Center for the Humanities for a one-month summer writing residency in Durham, North Carolina.
Roda Avelar (alumni) — Won a 2023 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation. The fellowship, which is among the largest awards offered to young poets in the United States, includes a $27,000 prize.
Stacey Balkun (alumni) — In conversation with C.T. Salazar for the Southern Review of Books on “Absence, Possibility, and Power.”
Cindy Bradley (alumni) — Published the essay “Death, Driveways, and Dreams” in the magazine SugarSugarSalt.
Audra Burwell (MFA student) — Published the poems “Fresno” and “Enough” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Michael Cantú (alumni) — Published the poems “Candlelight Dinner” and “The Ancient Howl” in hais: a literary journal; and “36 Degrees at Sunrise” and “Bracero” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Kenneth R. Chacón (alumni) — Published the poem “For the Fancy Dancers y Los Danzantes” in Woodcrest Magazine.
Ethan Chatagnier (alumni) — In conversation with Peter Riehl for The Chills at Will podcast.
Marcus Chinn (alumni) — Under the pen name ślimak vr0k, published the poems “samson with the good hair” and “sugar cult unicorn seahorse boy” in hais: a literary journal.
Steven Church (faculty) — Published the essays “Float Trip” in the magazine Sport Literate; and “Blue Atlas” in the new Outpost19 anthology “Rooted2: The Best New Arboreal Nonfiction,” edited by Josh MacIvor-Andersen. His previously published essay “Crown and Shoulder” will be published in the Columbia University Press anthology “Essay Form(s),” edited by Jill Talbot.
Anthony Cody (alumni) — Interviewed by Brent Ameneyro for the Letras Latinas Blog on his second book, “The Rendering.” The book was reviewed by Chaun Webster for the magazine Full Stop; it received a starred review in Publishers Weekly; and it was included in the Letras Latinas list of 22 Books by Latinx Poets. Published the poem “UnRendered Postal Card A.4267” in hais: a literary journal.
Tiffany Crum (alumni) — Published the story “Sosie” in the magazine The Molotov Cocktail.
Mia De La Cerda (alumni) — Published the poem “Fractured Thoughts of an Ex-Catholic” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Isabella De La Torre (B.A. student) — Published the poems “The Descent of the White Bear” in Honeyguide Literary Magazine; and “My Grandfather’s Buck” in hais: a literary journal.
Brian Dunlap (alumni) — Featured in the Rising Stars interview series for VoyageLA Magazine.
Soreath Hok (MFA student) — Won a 2023 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for the series “Health and Healing for Cambodian Survivors” on Valley Public Radio. The award was Hok’s third regional Murrow Award in three years.
Kimberly Horg (alumni) — Published the essay “PABST” in the journal Vineyard Literary.
Kathy Fagan (alumni) — Her new book “Bad Hobby” was reviewed by Arah Ko for the Northwest Review.
Kristin FitzPatrick (alumni) — Published the story “The Abortionist’s Wife” in the magazine Bodega.
Rebeca Abidail Flores (alumni) — Published the story “The drive thru, the taco truck” in the magazine El Tecolote.
Eddie P. Gomez (alumni) — Published the article “Mr. Espresso Opens The Caffé in Downtown Oakland” in Barista Magazine.
Pilar Christiana Graham (alumni) — Published the poems “Lord’s and Lord,” “On the Third Day: Flower Series,” and “Poem About a Small Bird Trapped Beneath a Caged Water Grate” in the Cold River Press anthology Voices.
brooklyn haley (alumni) — Published the poem “my small town” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Mathew Kenerly (alumni) — Accepted a new job as coordinator of the Writing Center at Coppin State University in Baltimore, Maryland.
Ahlam Khadra (MFA student) — Under the pen name Ahlam, published the poems “Abandoned” and “An Unfinished Broken Story” in hais: a literary journal. Published the poem “Routine and loneliness” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Noah La Fleur (alumni) — Published the story “Summer Dread” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Vincent Landeros (B.A. student) — Published the story “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Phoua Lee (MFA student) — Published the poem “ancestor-speak” in the ctrl + v journal. Published the story “Tigerskin & Lonesome Girls” in hais: a literary journal. Delivered a guest lecture at the “Lives On and Off Paper: Hmong Art and Writing in the Everyday” conference at the University of California, Merced’s Center for Humanities.
javier a. lopez (alumni) — Published the poem “Eight Years of Death Followed By Eight More Years of Living Death or a Poem of Now, Being Too Late” in hais: a literary journal.
Juan Carlos Mantilla (faculty) — Published the essay “Sacsayhuaman in Early Modernity: the Invention of New Ancient Edifices” in Verso, the journal of the international science blog Hypotheses.
Andrea A. Marin Contreras (alumni) — Published the poems “To Love a Crow” and “Wild on American Soil” for Apricot Press.
Elizabeth McBrearty (B.A. student) — Published the story “Braided Pride” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Faith McKesson (alumni) — Published the poems “Summertime” and “Nightly rituals” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Melinda Medeiros (faculty, alumni) — Named a finalist for a Luso-American Development Foundation fellowship for her essay “Cat’s in the Cradle.” The fellowship included a summer residency at the Disquiet International Literary Program in Lisbon, Portugal.
Victoria Monsivaiz (MFA student) — Published the poems “Of Mind” in hais: a literary journal; and “We You I,” “Turbulence,” and “Adventures at no expense” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Sarah Fawn Montgomery (alumni) — Published the poem “Taxidermy” in the magazine Okay Donkey. Published the essays “Brumation” in the Hunger Mountain Review; and “Pocketed” in the Alan Squire Publishing anthology “Already Gone: 40 Stories of Running Away,” edited by Hannah Grieco. In conversation with Peter Riehl for The Chills at Will podcast; and by Jody Keisner for Fourth Genre on “Essaying as Empowerment.” Her book of essays “Halfway from Home” was reviewed by Whitney Jacobson for the Split Rock Review. Her story “Manifest,” previously published in Monkeybicycle, was included in the Wigleaf Top 50 longlist.
Samina Najmi (faculty, MFA student) — Published the essay “Ring In the New” in the new Zubaan Books anthology “Insurgent Feminisms: Writing War,” edited by Bhakti Shringarpure and Veruska Cantelli. Her essay “The Heft of the Hollowing” was named a finalist in the 2024 Summer Writing Contest from the journal Under the Sun.
Emily Peacock (B.A. student) — Published the poems “i drank while i was sad for the first time today,” “honeymoon jive,” and “The first time I took my dog to the ocean” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Leslie Kay Quintana (B.A. student) — Under the pen name lkq, published the poem “An Optimist’s Promise” in hais: a literary journal. Published the poems “Flu Season,” “Seamstress,” and “Since Stars Never Truly Align” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Monique Quintana (alumni) — Published the story “Scout Locket” for the South Broadway Press. Her flash piece “Manchester Gate Apartments,” previously published in Maudlin House, was included in the Wigleaf Top 50 longlist.
Jacob Reina (B.A. student) — Published the poems “Friends Who I Broke Khleb With” in the Gabby and Min literary review; “The Most Reflective Hour” in the Banyan Review; and “The Function and Its Need” in the New York Quarterly magazine.
René M. Rodríguez-Astacio (faculty) — With co-author David E. Low, published the article “Using Superhero Graphic Novels to Foreground Transitions in Our Teaching with Upper Elementary and Middle-Grade Readers” in The Reading Teacher, the journal of the International Literacy Association. Delivered the Sunday Morning Super Session keynote at the California Association of Teachers of English 2023 conference in Monterey, California.
Brynn Saito (faculty) — Newly tenured and promoted to associate professor. Celebrated the publication of her third poetry collection, “Under a Future Sky,” published by Red Hen Press. Her poem “The Messenger” was featured on The Slowdown Show, hosted by Major Jackson.
Alberto Saldaña Uribe (MFA student) — Published the piece “No Way Out” in the magazine Variant Literature. Published the poems “experiment: Adela’s sopa de arroz: a cross-disciplinary meta-analysis,” “tortillas infladas en el comal,” and “una tortilla atascada, por favor” in hais: a literary journal; and “maíz desgranado y secado por el sol que adora tu piel,” “mas quebrada,” and “consejos de la abuela al amasar” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Steven Sanchez (alumni) — Selected for the month-long 2023 Tin House Summer Residency in Portland, Oregon.
Steven Sandage (B.A. student) — Published the poems “When Her Boyfriend Leaves” in the journal Bourgeon; and “Complex” and “Lunch Program” in the magazine Wingless Dreamer.
Thomas Sepulveda (alumni) — Published the poem “The La Moneda Palace Bombing, July 1986” in the journal Pigeon Pages.
Emily Jo Scalzo (alumni) — Served as editorial consultant for the new Vallentine Mitchell anthology “New Voices: Contemporary Writers Confronting the Holocaust,” edited by Howard Debs and Matthew Silverman.
Kassidy Thao (B.A. student) — Published the poems “Ode to you(rself)” in hais: a literary journal; and “emotion” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Lejla Tricic (faculty, alumni) — Earned an Ed.D. degree in Organizational Change and Leadership from the University of Southern California, with honors. Her dissertation was on trauma-inspired care in higher education.
Brian Turner (alumni) — Published his fourth book, the poetry collection “The Wild Delight of Wild Things” with Alice James Books. His fifth and sixth books, the poetry collections “The Goodbye World Poem” an “The Dead Peasant’s Handbook,” are scheduled to be published by Alice James Books this fall. Published the story “a day in the life of a cobra lily” in the Kyoto Journal. Interviewed by Chris Margolin for The Poetry Question podcast; and by Daniel Chacón for the Poets’ Cove podcast from Words on a Wire.
Natalie Vasquez (B.A. student) — Published the poems “Loving Being All” and “La Toronja” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Aron Vang (B.A. student) — Published the poem “What I See” in hais: a literary journal.
Bo Vang (MFA student) — Published the poems “Respiration” and “An Unspoken Letter” in hais: a literary journal.
M.L. Williams (alumni) — Published the poems “Soak,” “Scarlet,” and “Intentional Fallacy” in the magazine Live Encounters.
Chou Xiong (MFA student) — Published the poems “Boiled Chicken” and “I Still Remember” in hais: a literary journal.
Jer Xiong (alumni) — Published the essay “Koi” in hais: a literary journal.
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