Two Roosevelt MFA events that will take the panic out of "post-graduation-panic"

One of the nasty bits of information which MFA students like to ignore is that MFA programs end.  Yes, there will be years and years of life after you cast off from the friendly shores of MFA-island, and what you do with that voyage can be a daunting task.  Especially, because, looking at the map, there are dragons out there.  

...Figurative dragons, of course.

 

Luckily, there  are two MFA-related events happening at Roosevelt next week designed to help make the terrifying post-grad school period ever-so-slightly-less terrifying.  First, on Monday, Roosevelt MFA Non-fiction fanatic Tovah Burstein (seriously folks, she’s so devoted non-fiction she looses every hand of poker she plays) will be leading a cover letter writing workshop. 

Cover letter fears?  Tovah's got your back!

 

The workshop will teach you how to wow prospective employers with both rhetorical flourishes and no-nonsense straight talk.   It will take place at noon this coming Monday, in the Roosevelt Writing Center Annex (Auditorium Building room 648).

Without publishers, these people would all be holding grapefruits or rubik's cubes.

But let’s say you’re not interested in cover letters.  You refuse to be bound by the shackles of “regular paychecks” and “health insurance”  and “gainful employment.”   For the uncompromising writers among us, we have, next Wednesday, a panel featuring a wide variety of publishing industry vets.   The panel will feature literary agent Ethan Bassoff, Random House editor Tim O'Connell, and Red Hen editor and publisher Kate Gale.  Bring your questions, your (publishing-related) dreams, your writerly nightmares, and hear from people who do this for a living how it is done.  That panel will take place next Wednesday, February 29^th in Auditorium Building room 232.  If you plan to attend that one, you should e-mail Scott Blackwood at sblackwood (at) roosevelt (dot) edu. 

Come to one, come to both, and be able to strut into the AWP conference with the confidence that you, good sir or madam, now know the tricks of the post-mfa-life trade.  

Michael Erard Reading from New Book, Babel No More!

Michael “hyperpolyglottery is the new black” Erard

The Roosevelt University Reading Series is proud to kick off our 2012 season with a reading from writer, journalist, and metaphor designer Michael Erard! He will be reading from his new book, Babel No More. See what all the buzz is about in this excerpt!

The reading will be in the Gage Gallery, Monday, January 30^th. Doors open at 4:30, reading begins at 5. Get there early for cookies, coffee, and conversation!

Michael Erard’s new book, Babel No More, deals with the controversial subject of hyperpolyglots, or people who claim to be able to speak multiple languages—anywhere from 11 up to a supposed world-record of 72 different languages. According to an article in The Economist, the book asks objective questions of what it truly means to be multilingual— “Is instant availability of native-like competence the only standard for knowing a language? How should partly knowing a tongue be tallied? What if you can only read it?”

Come ready to discuss these and other rhetorical questions in your language of choice as we welcome Michael Erard!



Janet Wondra Reading from New Chapbook, Bad Attitude!

Janet “Good Attitude, Great Poetry” Wondra

Another exciting night of poetry is upon us, as Roosevelt professor, poet, and creative nonfictionist Janet Wondra prepares to read from her new chapbook, Bad Attitude, from Finishing Line Press! We’re just happy she found time in between editing the Oyez Review and making award-winning films to write more of her high quality poetry!

Triple Fudge Cake! Dogs in hats! Poetry Excitement! Guaranteed at least one of those three things will be on the agenda. The reading will be held at the Tamale Hut Café, Saturday, January 28^th at 7pm. Come for the poetry, stay for the open mic. Good times had by all!

Burstein Review in Latest Bookslut

Tovah "The Granite Stater" Burstein

Proud New Hampshire native, and current MFA Non-fiction candidate, Tovah Burstein, has had an awesome semester! "How did she have an awesome semester?" You might ask. Well, first of all, thanks for asking! And if you must know, her review of the book, "Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal" by Jeffrey J. Kripal, has been published in this month's Bookslut!

Bookslut is a monthly web magazine dedicated to those who love to read! They are a constant supply of literary news, reviews, commentary, and insight! Check out their submission page to see how you can submit a review or article!

A published review is not the only reason it's been an awesome semester for Tovah! She has just completed her Fall Internship for Roosevelt's Oyez Review (look for Volume 39 this spring!)! AND she's managed to juggle a variety of jobs on top of that! Including (but not limited to) tutoring at Roosevelt's Writing Center and working with a great reading program called WITS!

WITS (Working in the Schools) is a literacy organization that seeks to increase the reading proficiency and learning capacity of low-income and minority students in Chicago Public Schools! WITS brings together committed and cheerful volunteers to give consistent tutoring and mentoring services to students in need! It's a rewarding program, one that Tovah has spent a lot of time working with! Check out their many different programs and talk with Tovah if you want to volunteer! And then congratulate her on her published review and for her amazingly awesome semester!

James Orbesen Published in Helix Magazine.

A Double Helix-

Choosing good writers must be in their DNA!

Roosevelt MFA Student, creator of both textual and visual wonders, and all around bang-up guy James Orbesen has a story featured in the new issue of Helix Magazine. James' piece is entitled “Proper Assembly,” and, unfortunately, it is not available (yet!) for viewing on Helix's colorful website.

What's that on the horizon, James?  A future National Book Award?

The magazine is distributed nationally, so go down to your local book store and pick up a copy. In fact, pick up 7, and distribute them to your seven best friends. As the old saying goes, “There's nothing better for the holiday blues than James Orbesen.”

Congrats James!

End of Semester Reading Tomorrow

We're 20 times cuter than this guy. And waaay more eloquent.  

 

Alas and Alack, another Roosevelt semester bites the dust. But before us MFAers part ways (for a few weeks) into the tundra that is wintertime Chicago, we shall do what we were meant to do-  read.  

The Roosevelt MFA End Of Semester Reading is tomorrow night, Saturday the 10^th of December, at 7 PM at the Book Cellar in Lincoln Square.  See you there.  

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! 

Bernard Cox Published in Up the Staircase Quarterly...and more!

Bernie "Getting Published Everywhere Lately" Cox!

Fiction MFAer, Bernard Cox (or, as we call him here at Roosevelt, Bernie), has been enjoying the publication wave lately! His story, "The Memory of a Salt Shaker" has been published in Up the Staircase Quarterly. It's his first publication! His second, "A Summer Friend" is forthcoming in Blood and Lullabies this month! 

That's not all! His work has also been accepted and will be appearing throughout next year in Collective Fallout, A capella Zoo, and Red Lightbulbs! Check back here for details as the stories and poems (yes, poems!) are published! Did you also know that Bernie is the Assistant Artistic Director at the Tamale Hut Cafe Reading Series? Read more about the wonderful monthly series here! 

Just this past Thursday, Bernie was one of the proud Graduates reading from their theses at the Graduate Reading, and was able to show his fantastic oratory skills! He will end his studies at Roosevelt with a bang (!) by carrying the processional banner for the College of Arts and Sciences during commencement! If you're lucky enough to go, make sure to wave at him! 

Kolak Published in Latest Inertia

Marynia Kolak's non-fiction piece, "El Zopilote", is published and live at Inertia! Marynia, a recent MFA Graduate in Non-Fiction, and former (legendary) Graduate Assistant, says that she's excited to have her second piece of creative writing published! What was her first creative writing published you may ask? In OVS Magazine! You can read more about that publication here!

Inertia is based out of New York! Their ultimate goal is to publish the best materials, and "to seek out, discover, and encourage new talent." Check out this online literary journal right here! And submit something! Ask Marynia for advice! But first, say, "Congratulations, Marynia!" She'll know what you're talking about!

Roosevelt's 2nd MFA Graduate Reading is Tomorrow!

Whoa there, Santa's Little Helper.  You've got plenty of time!  The reading's not 'till tomorrow!

That's right, we're sending our second batch of graduating MFA-er's off in style.*   Tomorrow at 5:00 in the Gage Gallery, The Roosevelt MFA program will hold its second and final Graduate Reading of the semester.   Please join us to bid adieu to five fantastic writers who have all graced the Roosevelt MFA programs with their presence for the last several years:

Bernard Cox!

Patrick Garret!

Kasey Mather!

Esley Stahl!

AND

Kelli Worral!

Come down to congratulate these graduating writers and hear them read their sensational writing.  

*Style, in this case, being boxed wine and cake.  

Rooney and Sneed Reading this Monday!

KATHLEEN ROONEY

&

CHRISTINE SNEED

READING AT THE GAGE GALLERY!

This coming Monday, November 28th, Roosevelt's MFA Fall Reading Series proudly welcomes Writer-in-Residence, Kathleen Rooney, and this year's Fiction III/IV Professor, Christine Sneed, for a fabulous Joint Reading! Come at 4:30 for the 3 C's: coffee, cookies, and conversation! At 5:00, the reading begins! After their respective readings, you can even ask them questions! 

Like: Hey, Kathleen Rooney, I heard that you are a founder of Rose Metal Press! How come you are so awesome? 

Or: Hey, Christine Sneed, I already know that your short story collection, Portraits of a Few of the People I've Made Cried, has won numerous awards. Everyone knows that! But I also heard that your novel, Little Known Facts, was recently acquired by Bloomsbury Press! How come you are so awesome? 

Or you can get more in depth and ask questions about Kathleen's books of Poetry and Non-fiction, including, but not limited to: Oneiromance, For You, For You I Am Trilling These Songs, Reading with Opera, and Live Nude Girl, which will be sold at the reading, and which she will gladly sign!  

Christine's collection, and winner of the Grace Paley Prize in Short Fiction, Portraits of a Few of the People I've Made Cry, will be sold and signed too! 

If you need to learn more about the event, check out the Facebook event page here! Burn that extra Thanksgiving weight by coming to the reading this Monday! Readings burn calories! They feed minds and hearts! 

The Future of the Oyez Review, Today!

The Oyez Review, Roosevelt's award-winning, nationally-recognized, student-run, oft-hyphenated literary journal has just announced its editorial interns for the next three semesters.  While most of the key decisions are made by the students who take the Literary Magazine internship class, these three specialized internship positions allow students to gain in-depth knowledge of different elements of the operation of a literary journal.


Presenting our starting lineup-

Dee "the only canon I can stand is the Literary Cannon!"  Hogan

 For the Spring 2012 Internship (which focuses on marketing, specifically the journal's presence at the upcoming AWP conference), we have, straight from Kansas, the heart of the heartland- Dee Hogan. 

OK, fine, so this isn't Eric Balaz, but this is absolutely something he would do.  So, close enough.

For The Summer 2012 Internship (which focuses on the submission process as well as the magazine's new-media presence), we have the program's food-truck conoisseur; you'll likely see him with his feet on his bike pedals and his fingers on the pulse of Chicago's literary scene- Eric Balaz.

Zach "Backwards is so the new forwards"  Tavrin

Rounding out the team, for the Fall 2012 Internship (which focuses on the production of the magazine itself) we have, from the buckeye state, the man who put the e-book in "probably some day soon, we will all be reading e-books," Zach Tavrin.

CityFiles Press Conversation at DePaul University

Interested in alternative publishing?! Place-based writing? Photography? This coming Monday, November 14, at 6pm, DePaul University is hosting an event to students interested in all those things! Writers Richard Cahan and Michael Williams, the founders of CityFiles Press, will be speaking at the DePaul Art Museum, at 935 W. Fullerton. Miles Harvey, author of The Island of Lost Maps and friend of Roosevelt, will be hosting! And DePaul is Roosevelt's Joint Sponsor of the AWP "pregame reception"! So many connections! 

Chicago's River is Crazy!

Frustrated by the creative constraints of working with traditional publishers, Cahan and Williams decided to set out on their own. Since 2005, they have been publishing wildly ambitious and renown books! The latest of those is The Lost Panoramas: When Chicago Changed its River and the Land Beyond, a collection of photographs of early Chicago and its surroundings, many of which have never been seen before! 

I wish I was in this edition! Better luck next century!

Come for the conversation! Leave knowing the secrets of alternative publishing! 

Would you like some Gender Discourse with your Tamales?

This Saturday, the Tamale Hut reading series (Run by current fiction MFA-er Bernie Cox) continues its run of combining thought provoking, always-entertaining readings with Michelle Obama's favorite food.  This month's reading features two editors of the recently released anthology Men Undressed: Women Writers on the Male Sexual Experience, Cris Mazza and Gina Frangello. 

Science has proven that readings are 300 percent more riveting in the presence of Tamales.

Both Cris and Gina are authors in their own right.  Cris Mazza has authored sixteen books, most recently Various Men Who Knew Us as Girls, a novel.  Her other fiction titles include Waterbaby, Trickle-Down Timeline, and Is It Sexual Harassment Yet?  In 1995 & 1996, Mazza was co-editor for the original Chick-Lit anthologies: Chick-Lit: Postfeminist Fiction, and Chick-Lit 2: No  Chick Vics.  In 2006, her essay “Who’s Laughing Now: Chick Lit and the Perversion of a Genre,” explaining the co-opting and corrosion of the title, appeared in Poets & Writers Magazine.  In addition to fiction, Mazza also has published a memoir, Indigenous: Growing Up Californian, and has another hybrid memoir, Something Wrong With Her, forthcoming from Jadid Ibis Press.  A native of Southern California, Mazza grew up in San Diego County.  She currently lives 50 miles west of Chicago and is a professor in the Program for Writers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Gina Frangello is the author of three books of fiction: My Sister’s Continent; Slut Lullabies, a ForeWord magazine finalist for 2010′s Best Book of the Year; and A Life in Men, forthcoming from Algonquin Books in 2013.  The longtime editor of the literary magazine, Other Voices, she now serves as the Executive Editor of its book imprint, Other Voices Books, which she co-founded in 2004.  She is also the Fiction Editor of the popular online literary collective, The Nervous Breakdown.

To miss out on this would lead to a saturday night devoid of intellect, humor, and most terribly, tamales.  The reading happens this Saturday, November 12, at 7 PM at the Tamale Hut.  

Tackett's Radio Show is Ablaze!

MFA Fiction Candidate, Jenna Tackett, is embracing her Nerd! Between 4-5 every Friday, she can be found on Roosevelt University's WRBC The Blaze. Nerdtastic is a show dedicated to YOUR inner nerd. All of the music is from (or about) the internet, books, television, movies, and comic books. And it's all incredibly nerdy!

That's not the only place you can find Jenna, the Nerdiest Nerdster who ever nerded in the Nerdy World! You can follow her on Twitter! You can follow her Tumblr blog, On the Big Adventure! Or her vlog on Youtube! And her other blog (what a nerd!) on Wordpress (an awesome nerd!), quiet in the grasp! If you catch her THIS Friday (November 11th, you nerd!), you can catch her interview with the indie Chicago band, Driftless Pony Club! They are fronted by notrorious YouTuber WheezyWaiter! If you don't know who that is, you need to nerd it up!

Driftless Pony Club!

Writing, off the page.

Aaron "Look for this name on the silver screen" Coats

Not to belittle every writer's good friend, the bleached sheet of paper, but there are an extraordinary amount of ways writing can thrive off the page. Aaron Coats, a current Roosevelt MFA student focusing in fiction, co-wrote the screenplay for the currently-in-production short film Faux Pas. The film follows the complex, touching, and sometimes-painful evolution of the relationship of two close friends over the course of several years. The film itself is the result of collaboration between a wide variety of Chicago-based artists, musicians, and actors, and one can sense the communal spirit by watching the trailer. Aaron has always been interested in the connection between fiction and film, and Faux Pas is the first of what will almost certainly be many film projects that he works on.

The film is currently still in the works, but its creators are looking to bring the film to the festival circuit by early 2012.

You can find out more about the movie by checking out its Official Site, Facebook, or Twitter page!

Blackwood Recieves Prestigious Whiting Writers' Award

Scott Blackwood, with wife, Tommi, at the Awards Ceremony! Exclusive Pic!

Scott Blackwood, novelist, assistant professor of literature, and famed Director of Roosevelt's MFA in Creative Writing, has received the prestigious $50,000 Whiting Writers' Award, given annually, to emerging writers! The award has been given to the likes of Denis Johnson, Jonathan Franzen, Lydia Davis, Ben Fountain, and Stuart Dybek, to name just a few! Scott is one of ten writers (four fiction, four poets, one non-fiction, and one playwright) to receive the award this past Tuesday, October 25th, in New York City, from the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation.

The Legend. The Novel.

The award is not just based on past accomplishments, though Scott has many! His novel, We Agreed to Meet Just Here, released in 2009, won the Texas Institute of Letters Award for Best Fiction, was a winner in the AWP Award Series in the Novel, and was a finalist for the 2010 PEN USA Award! His first book, the story collection, In the Shadow of Our House, was published in 2001. 

He's also the Director of our growing program here at Roosevelt! Says Scott, “My hope is that this award will also bring the Creative Writing Program some attention, partly for our focus on our values." 

But what are our values, Scott? 

This is not what a Roosevelt Writer looks like! No Lone Wolves here!

 

“Creative writers are not lone wolves. We’re very interdependent and the Whiting Award process, in some ways, is about this interdependence. It’s anonymous and outside the writers’ control, meaning there are no applications, no ambitious writers schmoozing for better positioning, none of that. It’s ultimately about your work and how it affects others. That is the kind of community of writers we are building at Roosevelt University and the kind of community of writers I have been fortunate to have been a part of since my writing career began.”

This is what Roosevelt writers look like! Wolf Pack!

Ah, I remember now!

The Whiting Writers' Award also looks at a writer's exceptional talent and promise. Which works just fine, because Scott is working on his new novel, probably at this very moment! Ask him about it or read about it on the bottom of the Roosevelt article, here! This is a huge award, reported by the likes of the NY Times and Washington Post and Chicago Sun-Times - so, the next time you see Scott, congratulate him enthusiastically!

Graduate Reading this Thursday!

Graduate Reading, this Thursday, October 27th! At the Gage Gallery! Coffee and Cake at 5:00. Reading starts at 5:30!  

WHAT A LINEUP!

 

Heather Cox. Published Poet, Founding Editor at Ghost Ocean Magazine, Chronic Hugger!

Adam Morgan. Fiction Writer, Published Author, Chronic Hiker!

Arielle Nelson. Published Poet, Full Time Working Machine, Chronic Creeper!

Kim Robbins Oclon. Fiction Writer, teacher, Chronic Smiler!

Lauren Stacks. Fiction Writer, Roosevelt Professor, Chronic Florist!

Watch in amazement as they read from their carefully constructed theses! Celebrate their hard work! And then show them the love they deserve! Check out more event details here! 

Cox Published in Midwestern Gothic

Heather "Million Dollar Smiles Machine" Cox

Roosevelt MFA Candidate, Poet, and Ghost Ocean Magazine Founding Editor, Heather Cox, can now be read in the latest Midwestern Gothic fall publication! Her poem, "This town is a photograph", lies in the coveted final slot in the journal and can be purchased here today!

The Midwest Done Right

Midwestern Gothic is a quarterly literary journal based out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, seeking work about or inspired by the midwest! They've published, along with Heather, the likes of Molly Gaudry, Aaron Burch, Roxane Gay, J.A. Tyler, and many more!

Red Lightbulbs: Online and Dangerous

Heather is coming off a string of big news! She has recently been published in Red Lightbulbs! Her poems, "Fire When Ready" and "What She Told Me From The Brigg" can be viewed here! Her literary magazine, Ghost Ocean Magazine, recently announced the winners for it's first Chapbook contest! And she is currently, probably at this very moment, hard at work on her thesis, and will be reading a selection at the Gage Gallery, with other Graduates, next Thursday! But more details on that later! For now, congratulate Heather on her publications! And give her a hug! She loves hugs!