Photo from left: English Department alumni Mialise Carney, Alea Droker, and Mercedez Espino are all headed for advanced post-baccalaureate studies in the fall.
Kudos to #FresnoWriters is an ongoing series on the Fresno State MFA blog, celebrating the professional accomplishments of students, alumni, and faculty in Fresno State’s Creative Writing Program and Department of English. This compilation includes news between January and May 2025.
Compiled by Jefferson Beavers
6/03/25 – Republished from We Grow Writers
William Arce (faculty) — Nominated for an Outstanding Advisor Award by Fresno State’s Campus Advisors Network.
Stacey Balkun (alumni) — Her story “Open Up,” published in The Plentitudes, won the journal’s 2025 Plentitudes Prize in Flash. Published the poems “The Water, the Truth, the Water” and “In the Forest” in the ecopoetry anthology “Attached to the Living World” from Trinity University Press. Her poem “Lent in the Anthropocene,” previously published in the Mississippi Review, was longlisted for the 2025 Previously Published Poem Prize from Palette Poetry.
Stephen Barile (alumni) — Published the poems “Etiquette,” “Brasserie La Coupole,” and “Doyle White’s Wrecking Yard” in the Brussels Review; and “Spreading Paul’s Ashes” in Wild Blue Zine.
Kendra Barton (M.A. student) — Recognized by Fresno State’s Division of Graduate Studies as the M.A. English program’s 2025 exemplary graduate student.
Jefferson Beavers (staff, alumni) — Published the poem “Grandma Dorothy came to me in a dream” in Behemoth Magazine.
Deborah Mechele Bento (B.A. student) — Published the essay “Finding Your Voice” in The Collegian’s literary column, Recollections: Of Being.
Venita Blackburn (faculty) — Her novel “Dead in Long Beach California” was named a finalist for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award and the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel. The book was included on the Torrance Daily Breeze list of “12 noteworthy books by California authors that made an impact in 2024” and the Autostraddle list of “Queer Books to Read if You’re Already Missing Severance.” Published the flash essay “Writing Sex and the Apocalypse Novel: A Memoir” in Elastic Magazine.
David Borofka (retired faculty) — Published the story “To Save the World, Idiot, Start with Your Own Trashy Backyard” in the magazine The Thieving Magpie.
Mariah Bosch (faculty, alumni) — Awarded a Peter Taylor Fellowship for a summer residency at the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop in Gambier, OH. Also awarded a Theresa McCourt Memorial Scholarship for a summer residency with the Community of Writers in Olympic Valley, CA. Published the poems “Greenery” and “Vacancies” in the magazine Huizache.
Cindy Bradley (alumni) — Her unpublished manuscript was named a finalist for the 2025 Wandering Aengus Book Award in Nonfiction.
Audra Burwell (MFA student) — Published the poems “Abhaile {A-wall-ya}” and “Persona” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets; and “Inania (empty place)” in Wild Blue Zine.
Mialise Carney (alumni) — Accepted a fully funded Ph.D. admission offer to study creative writing and literature at the University of Cincinnati.
David R. Carrasco-Gomez (MFA student) — Published the poems “Machuahuitl on Megiddo,” “Chicano Dionysus Cleans Up, Finds Jesus, Promptly Gets Into Pro Wrestling,” “The Apocryphon of Country Bacon Western Cheeseburger,” “Payaso Leather,” and “Yaldabaoth Fills in on Fryer on a Karaoke America Friday Night” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets; and “And Every Night Animal Turns Yellow Eyes on Us” in Wild Blue Zine.
Daniel Chacón (alumni) — Won the 2025 Salinas de Alba Award for Latino Children’s Literature from Arte Público Press, which includes publication of his debut children’s book “Gecko Girl/Lagartijita.”
Gurmannat Chalotra (B.A. student) — Published the poems “it’s almost mango season” and “clinical experience” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Justine Corriea (alumni) — Published the poem “Мор. Утопия.” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Holley Cotham (B.A. student) — Published the poem “Seeking Closure from a Shovel” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Mallory Crow (B.A. student) — Published the poem “The Supernova of Old Friends” in The Collegian’s literary column, Recollections: Of Being.
Tiffany Crum (alumni) — Awarded a creative residency at the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences in Rabun Gap, GA.
Isabella De La Torre (MFA student) — Published the poems “Season of the Wolves” and “Rite of the Snow Leopard” in Behemoth Magazine. Named a finalist in Fresno State’s annual Art Song Festival poetry competition.
Valentino Di Pietro Hernandez (alumni) — Published the story “Funeral March” in Behemoth Magazine.
Alea Droker (alumni) — Accepted a Ph.D. admission offer to study English literature at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Ronald Dzerigian (alumni) — Published a new poetry chapbook, “A Lie in the Refrain,” with Flat Land Publications.
Seth Ervin (M.A. student) — Published the story “Highs and Lows” and the essay “Smothering America’s Soul” in Behemoth Magazine.
Mercedez Espino (MFA student) — Accepted a fully funded admission offer to the Master of Library and Information Science program at Simmons University in Boston, MA. Won Fresno State’s annual Art Song Festival poetry competition for her poem “for Wonder es un Secreto para Descubrir: an Incantation,” which was performed live, six times in six original compositions, by student composers and vocalists. Recognized by Fresno State’s Division of Graduate Studies as the MFA Creative Writing program’s 2025 exemplary graduate student. Under the pen name meche olvera, published the poems “when grief became a journey” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets; and “The Mental Catch” in Wild Blue Zine.
Eduardo Espinoza-Gonzalez (B.A. student) — Published the poem “UFOy” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Lillian Faderman (emeriti faculty) — A film adaptation of her nonfiction book “Scotch Verdict” began filming in Edinburgh, Scotland, with media coverage in Edinburgh Live and the Edinburgh Reporter. Her research was quoted in the CounterPunch article “Jerry Falwell and the Christian Culture Wars,” and the GayCities article “The legend of the lesbian wolf girls at Vassar College,” as part of the site’s Pride in Places series.
Kathy Fagan (alumni) — Published the poem “January 6th” in the Plume Poetry series Dissent: A Feature.
Yeiri Farias (B.A. student) — Published the poem “How can I be enough for you?” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets. Independently published the novel “Love Me Under the Stars.”
Olivia K. Ferro (B.A. student) — Published the poem “It’s Cold in Plymouth” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets. Independently published the poetry collection “The Goddess of Luck Turns Her Cheek.”
Analaura Flores (B.A. student) — Published the poem “Sangre Café” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Rebecca Abidail Flores (alumni) — Co-created the installation “Flores Couch, 2025. Rest. Play. Rest.” at Acción Latina in San Francisco, with Danielle Revives.
Mariah Gabler (B.A. student) — Presented the paper “A Father’s Trauma: Family, Masculinity, and War Trauma” at Fresno State’s Arts and Humanities honors symposium.
Madylin Garcia (B.A. student) — Published the poems “Family Portraits,” “Inheritance” “Curbside Enlightenment,” and the visual artworks “Lost on Shaw Avenue Bus Route 9” and “joy/love/revolution” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Pilar Graham (alumni) — Published the essay “Control Burn” in the Cold River Press anthology “Voices: Mysticism, Prophecies and Marigolds.”
Bonita Jewel Hele (alumni) — Published the stories “The Bloodvoicer” and “Tale of a Mirror Dragon” in Havok Magazine.
Hermelinda Hernandez Monjaras (alumni) — Published the poems “I-765” in Poetry magazine; “Excerpt from ‘Zapoteca’” in the Michigan Quarterly Review; and “N St. Mottled Bark” and “Today I Visit Heaven, Punch Its Door, and Measure Its Memory” in the magazine Huizache.
Soreath Hok (MFA student) — Won the graduate Fresno Creative Nonfiction Prize for the essay “Hard Climb,” as selected by Brooke Champagne. Published the essay “My Father’s Apple Fritters” in Wild Blue Zine.
Uvllia Ibarra (MFA student) — Published the essay “The Bean” in Behemoth Magazine.
Vienna Ingrassia (B.A. student) — Accepted an admission offer to the M.A. program in English Literature at Sacramento State.
Celeste Jones (B.A. student) — Named honorable mention for the undergraduate Larry Levis Poetry Prize for the poem “If you ever go looking for my heart, you’ll find a boat out where the whales breach,” as selected by William Archila. Published the poems “I Caught the Moon,” “Let me remind you…” and “Taste of Pride” in The Collegian’s literary column, Recollections: Of Being. Presented the short film “Dear Andy” at Fresno State’s Arts and Humanities honors symposium.
Jared Joseph (alumni) — Published the story “Bounty” and the essay “Crossfire” in Behemoth Magazine.
Scott Knoll (alumni) — Published the story “The Moons Divide” in Behemoth Magazine.
Angelina Leaños (MFA student) — Named honorable mention for the graduate Ernesto Trejo Poetry Prize for the poem “All the Flowers the Moon Keeps Hoarding,” as selected by William Archila. Published the poem “Amor de otro mundo” in The Collegian’s literary column, Recollections: Of Being. Interviewed the author William Archila for The Normal School magazine.
Phoua Lee (MFA student) — Won the graduate Mireyda Barraza Martinez Prize for Social Justice Writing for the poem “My Dead Twin Returns and Guts Her Killer, Because Girlhood,” as selected by Anthony Cody; won the Soul Vang Prize Prize for Poetry for the poem “Orphan Boy; Destiny Unconstellated,” as selected by Yia Lee; and named honorable mention for the graduate Fresno Fiction Prize for the story “My Ancestors Say I Can’t Be Gay,” as selected by Tanya Nichols.
Joseph LeForge (M.A. student) — Named the English Department’s 2025 M.A. Student of Distinction.
Stefan Romeo Leiva (MFA student) — Won the graduate Fresno Fiction Prize for the story “El Gallo Catracho,” as selected by Tanya Nichols.
Olga Y. Lopez-Villegas (B.A. student) — Published the poem “Father’s Love Without Words” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Jasmine Maldonado (B.A. student) — Published the poems “Tus Sueños” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets; and “Las Malenchistas” in The Collegian’s literary column, Recollections: Of Being.
Carolina Mata (alumni) — Published the story “Christened Red” in Black Fox Literary Magazine. The story was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Shannon C. Matalone (MFA student) — Published the story “A Moment on the Lake” in Wild Blue Zine.
Sharon K. McClain (MFA student) — Published the essay “Concentric Circles” and three “Skyscapes” photographs in Wild Blue Zine.
Ruben Mejia (alumni) — Published the poem “Behemoths in Babylon” in Behemoth Magazine.
Vanessa Mejia (B.A. student) — Published the visual artworks “Looking Forward (Self Portrait)” and “Mi Catrina” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Sarah Fawn Montgomery (alumni) — Published her new essay collection “Abbreviate” with Small Harbor Press. The collection was featured in the MER Bookshelf series for the journal Motherhood, Literature and Art; and it was included in the CLMP list of “Books Launching in May 2025.” Interviewed about the collection for Sweet Lit. Published her new craft chapbook “Nerve: Unlearning Workshop Ableism to Develop Your Disabled Writing Practice” with Sundress Publications. The chapbook was reviewed in the Independent Book Review. Published the writer’s diary “Chronic Pain, Disabled Community, and Navigating a Book Launch” for Write or Die Magazine. Published the essays “In Praise of Writing the Small Story” for Writer’s Digest; “To Tell My Disabled Stories, I Needed to Unlearn Ableist Workshop Critiques” and “7 Poetry Collections About the Disability Experience” in Electric Literature; “Mess with Electric” in Witness Magazine; “Snapdragon” in Zone 3 Press; “It Takes Nerve” in The Writer’s Chronicle magazine; “The Nerve to Unlearn” in the Chicago Review of Books; “Claw” in the journal Hunger Mountain; and “Don’t Lose Your Nerve” and “Mystery House” in Brevity. Published the four-poem series “Letters to America” in Terrain; and the poems “My Partner Bathes Me When I am A Body Too Broken” in the Crab Orchard Review; “Chronic Pain as Archipelago” in the Indianapolis Review; “In the Natural History Museum” and “Mollusk” in the Split Rock Review; “Lure” and “Sever” in Rowan Glass Works; and “Brine” in the Ghost City Review. Her story “Leap,” previously published in Necessary Fiction, was included in the Best Small Fictions 2024 anthology.
James T. Morrison (MFA student) — Named the English Department’s 2025 MFA Student of Distinction. Published the graphic essay “A Very Brief Memoir in Acronyms” in Diode Poetry.
Olivia Muñoz (alumni) — Published the prose poem “They are a circle” in the Westchester Review.
Samina Najmi (faculty, MFA student) — Her debut essay collection, “Sing Me a Circle: Love, Loss, and a Home in Time,” was included in the CLMP list “A Reading List for Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month.” The book is forthcoming in October 2025 from Trio House Press.
Janet Nichols Lynch (alumni) — Published her new children’s novel “Ellen of Allensworth” on the Dragonfeather Books imprint of Bedazzled Ink Publishing.
James O’Bannon (alumni) — Published the poems “Search + Result” and “Street Magic: Thirteen Considerations on Illusions, Possibility, and the Inevitable” in Wild Blue Zine.
Dawn Parker (B.A. student) — Won the undergraduate Larry Levis Poetry Prize for the poem “Arachnophobia,” as selected by William Archila; and won the undergraduate Fresno Fiction Prize for the story “Con Joined,” as selected by Tanya Nichols. Published the story “Late Bloomer” in 50-Word Stories, and the poem “Ode to Bloody Knuckles” in Behemoth Magazine. Featured in the story “Writing Center tutor imagines a career, plans to graduate in three years” on Fresno State’s Arts and Humanities blog.
Michelle Patton (alumni) — Published the poems “Horoscope Collected in the Net of Your Longing” and “Horoscope in the Liner Notes” in the journal Poetry Super Highway.
Aura Peredia Garcia (B.A. student) — Presented the novella “Azul’s Film” at Fresno State’s Arts and Humanities honors symposium.
Aissa Perico (alumni) — Published the poem “The Nagual” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets. Her poem “The girl who left Chiapas” was included in the multimedia arts project and exhibit “A Eulogy for Jane Doe” in San Diego, CA.
Sasha Pimentel (alumni) — Her poem “In Every Immigrant Home That Tin of Royal Dansk Butter Cookies, Blue as Old Water, Without Cookies, Filled for Sewing with Buttons and Notions” won the 2025 Emily Dickinson Award from The Writer Magazine.
Shelby Pinkham (alumni) — Awarded a CantoMundo Fellowship for a summer workshop at the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University. Also awarded a fellowship with Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver, CO, studying with Solmaz Sharif. Published the poem “Birdmurmuring” in the Queer Ecology issue of Fruitslice magazine.
Katie Quigley (B.A. student) — Accepted an admission offer to the M.A. program in Creative Writing at San Francisco State. Published the essay “How to make the first move when you’re both women” in The Collegian’s literary column, Recollections: Of Being.
Leslie Kay Quintana (alumni) — Under the pen name lkq, published the poems “A way to define love,” “another word for girl,” and “about hair” in The Collegian’s literary column, Recollections: Of Being.
Monique Quintana (alumni) — Published the stories “Vallejo” in the magazine Huizache, “Fruit Etymology” in The Solitude Diaries, and “The Ache” in the Flame Tree Press anthology “Latin American Shared Stories,” edited by V. Castro. Served as moderator for the Big Texas Author Talk featuring Octavio Quintanilla.
Rahaf Qutob (B.A. student) — Named the English Department’s 2025 B.A. Student of Distinction.
Lizette Ramirez (B.A. student) — Published the story “For a Pack of Gum” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Jacob Reina (alumni) — Published the poem “The New Year” in Behemoth Magazine.
Benjamin J. Rigby (B.A. student) — Published the poems “Crutches,” “Notes on Becoming,” and “The Weight of Air” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets; “If I Were a Fresno State Squirrel” and “voicemail to my eighteen-year-old self” in The Collegian’s literary column, Recollections: Of Being; and “The Moths Have Learned to Read, Anyway” in Behemoth Magazine.
René M. Rodríguez-Astacio (faculty) — Invited to co-chair the CLA Early Career Award, which recognizes early career individuals who show extraordinary promise as researchers and leaders in the field of children’s literature, by the Children’s Literature Assembly of the National Council of Teachers of English. Published the co-authored articles “Teaching Miles Morales Suspended in a Time of Book Bans” in English Journal, the publication of NCTE; and “Striving for Truth, Justice and Racial Diversity: a Critical Race Content Analysis of DC Graphic Novel for Young Adults,” in the journal English Teaching: Practice and Critique. Published the poem “The Old Lady That Lived in the Bathroom” in Rhizomag.
Zeyda Romero (alumni) — Published the photograph “Nana’s House” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Kaylee Ruiz (B.A. student) — Named a finalist in Fresno State’s annual Art Song Festival poetry competition.
Pauline Sahakian (alumni) — Published the essay “A daughter’s struggle to protect her father with Parkinson’s” in The Fresno Bee.
Brynn Saito (faculty) — Published the new anthology “The Gate of Memory: Poems by Descendants of Nikkei Wartime Incarceration” with Haymarket Books, co-edited with Brandon Shimoda. The anthology was reviewed in the International Examiner, and it was featured in the Alta Journal list “13 New Books for April” and the Electric Literature list, “7 Books Reflecting on the Internment of Japanese Americans During World War II.”
Guadalupe Salgado Partida (MFA student) — Published the poem “Fire” in the Heart Flames anthology from Four Feathers Press.
Steven Sandage (B.A. student) — Won the undergraduate Fresno Creative Nonfiction Prize for the essay “Circling Fences by August Wilson: Tracing the Contours of Love and Loss,” as selected by Brooke Champagne; and named honorable mention for the graduate Fresno Fiction Prize for the story “Legend of the Sunken Throne,” as selected by Tanya Nichols. Published the poems “Lamplights and Cobblestones” for the WILDsound Writing Festival collection; and “Le timbre, toujours le timbre” in The Collegian’s literary column, Recollections: Of Being. Published the story “Seasonal Graveyard Shift” in the magazine Libre.
Alaina Schneider (B.A. student) — Presented the paper “The Vampiric Vessel in Le Fanu’s Carmilla: Why We Want to Kill the ‘Monster’” at Fresno State’s Arts and Humanities honors symposium.
Taylor Seals (MFA student) — Won the graduate Ernesto Trejo Poetry Prize for the poem “reMothering,” as selected by William Archila. [see YouTube performance]
Jacob Simmons (MFA student) — Published the essay “Five-Legged Spider” in Behemoth Magazine.
Navdeep Singh Dhillon (alumni) — Published the story “The Big Rig Rules” in the new “Home Has No Borders” anthology on Harper Collins, edited by Samira Ahmed and Sona Charaipotra.
Tim Skeen (faculty) — Published the poem “Recommendation for Myself” in Behemoth Magazine.
Jordan Solis (B.A. student) — Named a finalist in Fresno State’s annual Art Song Festival poetry competition.
Carol Spaulding-Kruse (alumni) — Under the pen name Carol Roh Spaulding, published her second book and debut novel, “Helen Button,” with Sowilo Press. The book won an Eludia Award from Hidden River Publishing.
Daniel Speechly (alumni) — Published the story “The End of Instruction” in the Sandy River Review, and the essay “The Hedonists’ Checklist” in the magazine LIT.
Diara Spencer (B.A. student) — Published the essay “On Living with Dead People 2012” in The Collegian’s literary column, Recollections: Of Being.
Michael Steiner (alumni) — Published the poem “The Handsome Monkey King” in Behemoth Magazine.
sami h. tripp (alumni) — Published the poem “Naj Tunich” in the magazine Huizache.
Bo Vang (MFA student) — Published the poems “Dreamscape” and “before his departure” in the journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.
Hope Vang (M.A. student) — Awarded the distinction of honorable mention for the Sally Casanova scholarship in the CSU Pre-Doctoral Program. Interviewed the author Trinity Nguyen in The Normal School magazine. Featured in the story “Children’s literature scholar opens her boundaries, builds a community” on Fresno State’s Arts and Humanities blog.
Mai Der Vang (faculty) — Published her third poetry collection, “Primordial,” with Graywolf Press. The book was reviewed in Literary Hub and New City Lit, and featured in The Student Life newspaper. The book was included in the Alta Journal list “10 New Books for March,” the CLMP list “A Reading List for Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month” and the Washington Post list “4 new volumes of poetry that help restore nuance to our chaotic world.” Interviewed about the book by Mandana Chaffa for the Chicago Review of Books; and by Mitzi Rapkin of the First Draft Podcast for Literary Hub. Published the essay “U.S. Proxy War Displaced My Family 50 Years Ago, and We Still Live in the Wreckage” in Truthout. Published the poems “Otherworldly” in Poetry Daily; “Departures” in diaCRITICS; “One Nation Under Shadow Warfare,” “Era of Retreat,” and “Node: Remnants of Ash” in the Michigan Quarterly Review; and “Death in Captivity, a Surrender” in The Nation. Was featured in the Poets and Writers magazine series Writers Recommend.
Lisa M.C. Weston (faculty) — Published the photographs “Untitled (London 2024)” and “Arctic Imaginary” in Wild Blue Zine.
M.L. Williams (alumni) — Published the poems “Gone Home” and “How to Pick Cotton,” and a review of Margaret Gibson’s play “Draw Me Without Boundaries” in the journal SALT.
Tara M. Williams (alumni) — Published the story “The Children” in the journal Studies in the Fantastic.
Brenna Womer (faculty) — Published the nonfiction comic “Only” in the journal Blackbird. Announced the publication of a new chapbook, “Dear Mom,” forthcoming this fall as part of the Petrichor chapbook series.
Katie Xiong (B.A. student) — Presented her undergraduate thesis, “Strength in Storytelling: A Second Generation Hmong American’s Reflection on Maxine Hong Kingston’s ‘No Name Woman’ and Cultural Inheritance,” at the annual Hmong National Development Conference in Minneapolis, MN.
Did we miss your accomplishment? If you’re a student or alumni of the English Department and you have a special announcement, a new job, a professional or creative success, or an inspiring story that you’d like to share, please submit this short “Share Your Success Stories” form, or contact staff Jefferson Beavers by email or at 559.278.1569.
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