Kyle Beachy Published in The Classical!

Kyle “rock'n steady” Beachy

Professor, Novelist, and overall nice guy Kyle Beachy has recently published the first two of what will be a series of essays: critical looks at the activity of skateboarding, what it may or may not mean to the world around it, an exploration into the subculture as a whole. Read the essays here!

The first essay, ‘You’re Not Me: Nyjah Huston and Inflationary Spectacle,’ deals with the marketability and aesthetics of skateboarding, as well as detailing the fallibility of an unlikely hero.

The second essay, ‘A Chronicle of Doing It,’ shows the corporate capitalization on skateboarding merchandise, and the subculture’s resistant embrace of this new attention.

Kyle’s writing serves as a great example of his ability to pursue the nontraditional, and to find markets underserved in the exchange of insightful, literary thinking. Let’s all give a warm congratulations to Kyle on his recent success!

Jake Wrenn Wins Friends of the American Writer's Scholarship

Jake "+ American Writer = BFF"  Wrenn

It's not a stretch to say that we're all friends here at the Roosevelt MFA Program. But there are some friendships at Roosevelt which are, shall we say, a little more valuble than others.  I speak, of course, of the coveted Friends of American Writer's scholarship, which is awared to one Roosesvelt MFA student each year. This year's winner is Chicagoland native Jake Wrenn.

The $1000 scholarship, given out by the Chicago based Friends of American Writers is given to a writer who best exemplifies the mission of the organization - "to study American literature, to encourage high standards and to promote literary ideals among American writers." 

In addition, Jake recently had a short piece published at The Point.  Jake's writing will be hobnobbing it up next to pieces by Roosevelt student James Orbesen and professor Kyle Beachy.  I guess you could say we're the appointed contributors to this magazine.  

Be sure to give Jake and James a big "tally-ho" (or just say congrats) when you see them next.

Beachy Essay on The Point

Kyle "The Point" Beachy

What a supremely minor thing! A button that says “like.” But what other habit so minor, besides breathing, or rinsing hands, or perhaps doubting oneself, do we respect with such tiny fervor?

-Kyle Beachy, The Point

Roosevelt Assistant Professor, Kyle Beachy, has a mini-essay on The Point, that can be read here! In Point "47", Kyle confronts modern punctuation, language, and more, in under 200 words! More Points at The Point, can be viewed here! 

Chicago-based The Point, publishes a print journal twice a year. Their website features content from the magazine and original articles. They are always looking for reviews, essays on contemporary arts and culture, and new Points, which is a short format for ideas.  Do you have something to say about literature, theater, film, philosophy, ethics, sports, economics, politics, nature, metaphysics, art, culture, or even...love?  Check out their submission guidelines, read their essays, and submit! 

Beachy Interview in New City

Kyle "The Beachy" Beachy

Have you checked out the latest issue of New City? Chicago's (free) news and arts weekly has an interview with tenure-tracked professor Kyle Beachy in their Lit section! Read as Rachel Sugar grills Kyle on his future projects, his daily writing routine, and things that he's excited about! He also talks about teaching at Roosevelt! Does he mention you? Who knows? I do! Because I read it! And it was great! Now you can read it too, online, right here!

New City is Chicago's only locally owned and operated cultural weekly, and has been around for more than 25 years! Have an art event that needs listing or an idea for a news story? Check out their guidelines here! But first check out their September 29th edition at your local newstand or newspaper vending machine!  

Welcome Back!

The 2011-2012 school year begins today for all of our wonderful MFAers! There are some exciting new additions to Roosevelt this year, so get excited for the coming Fall and Spring!

Kyle Beachy: Tenure Tracked Skateboarding Machine

Last year's Writer-in-Residence, Kyle Beachy has returned, fully secured in a tenure tracked position! He will be teaching Fiction I this Fall! If you haven't been in one of Kyle's classes yet, you are in for a treat! Besides many published short stories and essays, you can find his acclaimed novel, The Slide, at your bookstore today! And tomorrow too! 

Kathleen Rooney: Non-Fiction Poet Writer-in-Residence Machine

Speaking of Writer-in-Residence, Roosevelt welcomes Kathleen Rooney to that very position! Kathleen participates in many Chicago literary events, has her own press, and has books in both poetry and non-fiction! She will be teaching a non-fiction class this fall and a poetry class in the spring!

Christine Sneed: Fiction Writing Grace Paley Prize Winning Machine

Teaching Fiction III/IV this year is award-winning writer Christine Sneed! Her novel, Portraits of a Few People I've Made Cry was awarded the Grace Paley Prize in Short Fiction at AWP in 2009! She also teaches at Depaul! And has a wonderful blog here!

Dominic Smith: Visiting Writer Gage Gallery Reading Machine

Mark your calenders! This September 19th, novelist Dominic Smith, will be our visiting writer at the Gage Gallery! You can read all about him on his website and welcome him as he reads some of his work and visits class! More details forthcoming!

More news and events to come! Keep up with this blog for updates! And send in your good news and publications! Get excited!

Beachy says Please Read

What do our professors do when they aren't at schools? Do they, like our second grade art teachers, live in the supply closet? How does new faculty member, Kyle Beachy, spend his time?

Well, as it turns out, when Beachy is not in class, and when he is not wildly marking student manuscripts with clever comments, or going over each weeks reading assignment for a third time, or writing short stories and essays, and when he is not answering the phone calls of acceptance that these stories and essays engender, or polishing his glasses, or praising his dog, Beachy is reading.  

Recently, Beachy read The Pale King by David Foster Wallace.  His impassioned review of this Little, Brown & Company novel can be found online at St. Louis Magazine.  Read the review now, and then add the novel to your summer reading list! If Beachy can do it, so can you!

image by haldhovedgaard

Beachy to Read at Tamale Hut Reading Series

Kyle Beachy, having recently accepted the tenure tracked Assistant Professor position here at Roosevelt, will be reading this Saturday, March 19th, at the Tamale Hut Cafe Reading Series.  The reading, which starts at 7pm, will be followed with time for questions and an open mic opportunity!  


This reading series, nestled in the suburbs, offers a great opportunity for both established and emerging writers to come together in a supportive literary community.  Come hear our new Assistant Professor and celebrate his new position at 8300 W Cermak Road, North Riverside, IL 60402!    

Hooray for Kyle Beachy!

Congratulations to Kyle Beachy, who has been awarded the new tenure track position at Roosevelt's MFA program.  Beachy has been a great addition to the fiction team this past year, and we are so excited to see him stay on.  It's like we've borrowed a book from the library, and then Harold Washington himself tells us just to keep it!

To read some of Beachy's work, check out PANK magazine, which has recently published his short story "Everett Pike, Nearly." You can also let Beachy read this story to you at PANK's website.  Hooray for Beachy, for this publication, and for the many wonderful ways you will enhance the MFA program in the years to come!

Beachy's Essay in The Collagist

Kyle Beachy, Roosevelt's current writer-in-residence, and author of the the acclaimed novel, The Slide, has a new essay on the Collagist, Dzanc's online literature site.  The Extent of Our Decline confronts the future of the novel in the age of the IPad, terror, and low attention spans.    


Here is an excerpt: 


"Today's poets strike me as heroic, standing as they do among the enlightened creators who know well to expect nary a dime for their art. Perhaps a dime. There's little space for illusion inside the pursuit of poetry, and the work, for better or worse, is created by and large free the burden of potential jackpot."


It will be published in the forthcoming The Late American Novel: Writers on the Future of Books this March from Soft Skull Press, but you can read it today and be a better person for it!     

Beachy concludes Fall Reading Series

Novelist Kyle Beachy, author of The Slide and Roosevelt's current writer-in-residence, will read selections from his novel and short stories at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, December 1st at the Gage Gallery to close up the Fall 2010 Roosevelt Reading Series. A discussion on the aesthetics and craft of fiction will follow. As always, coffee and cookies will be served at 4:30 p.m. 

Here's what one review from the Chicago Trib said of Beachy's novel and writing style:

Beachy writes with quiet force about innocence and corruption, about how even something as transparent as water can be a source of deception. In sizzling dialogue, madcap action and striking soliloquies, Beachy grapples with the toxicity of ambivalence and the complexities of inheritance, grief and the failure to communicate as his brooding young hero begins to discern what it means to be a man.

You are encouraged to check out Kyle's website (kylebeachy.com) to thumb through more of his writing, info, etc. Copies of The Slide will be available for purchase and signing at the reading.


Make it! It's the last Reading Series event of the year!

Beachy publishes shorts in Wigleaf, Black Boot

Resident writer and fiction prof Kyle Beachy has a few new pieces of short fiction out. "Without Realizing" was published on Wigleaf, a website of (very) short fiction. Shorts "Not Good" and "The Safety" are nestled within Issue 8 of The Black Boot, a journal hailing from Los Angeles.

image from kylebeachy.com

2010-11 Writer-in-residence: Kyle Beachy

The Roosevelt MFA program is proud to announce its first writer-in-residence, novelist Kyle Beachy. Kyle will be teaching the new Fiction III/IV course on Monday nights.

Kyle Beachy's debut novel, The Slide, was published in 2009 by The Dial Press. Hailed as “Suspenseful, erotic, and terribly sad,” it is a ghost story, a love story, and a story of the American Midwest (set in St. Louis). He received his M.F.A. from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. He has taught writing and literature at The School of the Art Institute, the Graham School at The University of Chicago, and the University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival.