Author: mjr100

Congratulations:

After hearing about Dr. Komi Begedou’s research interests and the lack of American Literature available at his home institution in Togo, Sigma Tau Delta organized a book drive for the University of Lome. For the past academic year, Sigma Tau Delta has been collecting books in the English Department as well as at all Sigma functions. As a result, they will be sending 269 books to Dr. Begedou’s university this May.

Cecily Parks’s second poetry collection, O’Nights, was published this month by Alice James Books.

Pinfan Zhu’s article “Against Cultural Influence on Structuring a Discourse for Cross-Cultural Communication” was published as the lead article in the March 2015 issues of International Journal of Liberal Arts and Social Science. “The Impact of Business Cultural Values on Homepage Design That May Affect International Business” has been accepted by the Journal of Technical Writing & Communication.

Marilynn Olson presented “Billy Whiskers: Frances Trego Montgomery’s Primer for Two-Legged Kids (1902-1930)” at the Child and Citizenship symposium of the Critical Childhood Studies Seminar, held at Texas A&M, March 27th.

Rob Tally was named Outstanding Professor of the Year by Sigma Tau Delta.

Gabriel Schnell, graduating MFA fiction student, has accepted a position as an 11th grade Writing teacher at Gestalt Community Schools in Memphis, TN.

On April 15, several former student teachers participated in a panel organized by Stephanie Noll, Lindy Kosmitis, Sarah Youree, Keith Needham, and Laura Sims. The panelists – Kylie Cooper, Zach Soto, and Michele Benage – spoke to current student teachers in English about their experiences as new teachers. The panelists were given books for their classrooms thanks to Stephanie’s project, Old Books for New Teachers, which helps recent Texas State graduates build their classroom libraries.

2007 fiction graduate Amelia Gray’s third story collection, Gutshot, has just been published by FSG. To read its NPR review, click on this link: http://www.npr.org/2015/04/14/397071343/gutshot-is-gloriously-grand-guignol.

Lindy Kosmitis has been name 2014-15 Honors Professor of the Year.

Susan Morrison has been awarded the title of Honorary Professor of International Studies for a three-year term, beginning in the 2015-16 budget cycle. This is a renewal; Susan was also an Honorary Professor of International Studies for the 2012-15 cycle.

Congratulations:

Rachel Snow, an undergraduate English major who will begin the MARC program this summer, has been awarded a Graduate Merit Fellowship of $2,500 for the 2015-2016 academic year. The fellowship is designed to help recruit students of the “highest quality’ to master’s programs at Texas State.

Miles Wilson’s story, “Tough,” appears in the current issue of The Georgia Review. An interview with Miles appears in The Georgia Review Online: http://garev.uga.edu/blog/mwilsoninterview.html.

On March 27th, MA-Literature graduate and current Lecturer Amanda Sabo, MFA poetry graduate Jeremy Bauer, and MA-Literature student Christine Zabala presented the panel “From Virginia Woolf to Batgirl: The Failure of Democracy’s Promise” at the Women and Gender Symposium, held at Texas State.

Rob Tally’s essay “Beyond the Flaming Walls of the World: Fantasy, Alterity, and the Postnational Constellation” appears in The Planetary Turn: Relationality and Geoaesthetics in the Twenty-First Century, edited by Amy J. Elias and Christian Moraru (Northwestern Univ. Press, 2015).

Libby Allison has been invited to participate in Multicultural Curriculum Transformation Institute, sponsored by Texas State’s Center for Diversity and Gender Studies.

MARC student Clare Murray presented “‘Suppose there were a Narnian World’: C.S. Lewis’s Rhetorical Use of Supposals” at the 18th Annual C.S. Lewis and Inkling Society Conference, held recently at Grove City College. Her essay received Honorable Mention in the competition for best Graduate student paper presented at the conference, for which Clare was awarded a small cash prize. On April 11 she will present “‘Well, That’s Your Opinion’ – Truth, Morality, and Religion in the Composition and Rhetoric Classroom” at the Texas State conference on “Religious Studies, the Liberal Arts, and the Public University.”

The English Department was well represented at the national Pop Culture Association / American Culture Association meeting held recently in New Orleans. MARC student Collin Couey presented “You and Your Crew: A Critical History of Rap Groups”; MFA fiction student Theresa Holden read her short story, “What Are the Vitals?”; MFA fiction student Graham Oliver presented “Renegade or Paragon: Narrative Choice in Contemporary Video Games”; and MATC student Amanda Scott presented “‘Shorty Wanna Be a Thug’: The Dynamics of Gender in Rap Groups.”

Congratulations:

MFA poetry student Ashton Kamburoff’s poem “Russet County” has been published in Portage Magazine: A Review of Upper Midwest Writing, Art, and Culture.

The Many Cinemas of Michael Curtiz, a collection edited by Murray Pomerance and Barton Palmer, will be published by the University of Texas Press in 2016 and includes a chapter written by Rebecca Bell-Metereau.

Annie Shepherd presented “Accepting the Inexplicable: the Relationship Between Style and Content in Tony Earley’s ‘The Prophet from Jupiter'” at the American Literature Association’s “God and the American Writer” conference in late February.

John Blair has won the 2014 Dana Award, awarded for a group of poems.  He will receive $1,000 as winner.

MFA fiction student Emily Smith has been awarded a scholarship to attend the New York State Summer Writers Institute, to be held at Skidmore College.  Only 51 out of 300 applicants received an award.

Texas State was well represented at the 36th International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, held recently in Orlando. Brandy Eileen Allatt presented “Herbert and Jodorowsky: The Unintentional Meta-Messiah in Jodorowsky’s Dune“; Suparno Banerjee presented “Ghosts, Aliens, and Machines: Epistemic Continuity and Assemblage in Shirshendu Mukherjee’s Science Fiction”; and Graeme Wend-Walker presented “The Scientific Imagination and the Imaginary Science.”

Trey Moody’s short short story, “Permission,” appears in the current issue of NANO Fiction, and two of his poems are in the newest OmniVerse.

MFA fiction student Shannon Perri’s story, “You’re Never Alone Until There’s Nothing,” has been published in Queen Mob’s Teahouse: http://queenmobs.com/2015/03/youre-never-alone-nothing/.

MFA fiction graduate Marc Watkins’ first book, Middle West, will be published by Queen’s Ferry Press this June: http://queensferrypress.com/blog/marc-watkins-middle-west-to-be-published-in-june-2016/ [archived]

Congratulations:

The College of Liberal Arts has nominated the following English faculty for 2015 Presidential Excellence Awards: Kitty Ledbetter, for teaching; Rob Tally, for scholarly / creative activity; and Steve Wilson, for service.

Octavio Pimentel’s latest book, Racial Shorthand: Coded Discrimination Contested in Social Media, has been accepted for publication by Computers and Composition Digital Press.

Columnist Ken Herman of the Austin American-Statesman featured Texas State University’s Common Experience and the Common Reading Program in his Metro/State commentary column on Wednesday, February 25th: http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/local/herman-in-coincidence-texas-state-students-read-ph/nkH8H/#4839166c.3593031.735654. He discussed the 50th anniversary of Texas State’s integration, as well as the history of the school. In addition, the piece highlighted Common Reading Program director Twister Marquiss, who is a lecturer in the Department of English.

Komi Begedou will present “Navigating the Intersections of a Christian Organization and a West African Public University” at the Texas State University conference, “Religious Studies, Liberal Arts and the Public University,” taking place this coming April.

Scott Mogull’s article “Direct-to-Consumer Advertising and Health Consumerism” has been accepted for publication in Fall 2015 as part of a special issue of Communication Design Quarterly exploring health and medical discourses. CDQis the peer-reviewed journal of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Special Interest Group on Design of Communication.

Michael Noll’s story, “The Tank Yard,” was accepted by Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine for the June/July issue. In addition, Michael was invited by the journal American Short Fiction to write an essay about a text that portrays poor parenting. His essay, discussing Murray Farish’s story “Inappropriate Behavior,” was published along with essays by other writers at ASF‘s blog series, Bourbon & Milk: http://americanshortfiction.org/2014/12/25/bourbon-milk-truth-flags-secret-knowledge-need-sometimes-stomp-around-raise-voice-carry-television-garage/ [archived].

Congratulations:

Scott Mogull’s presentation, “Practices of Visual Inscriptions in Science and Engineering Discourse: Implications for Teaching,” has been accepted at ProComm 2015, the annual conference of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Professional Communication Societ, to be held in Limerick, Ireland on July 12-15, 2015.

Steve Wilson’s poem “Six Storms” will be among the texts used by visual artists to create new work during a series of spring workshops sponsored by the renowned Kinsale Pottery & Arts Centre (Kinsale, Ireland). The project will culminate in an exhibition entitled “Trading Words: An exploration of the relationship between visual arts and creative writing”: https://tradingwords2015.wordpress.com/2015/02/14/steve-wilson/.

MA-Literature student Tyler Dukes presented “The Searchers and Dallas Buyers Club: Social Upheaval on Two Frontiers” at the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association (SWPCA) Conference, held recently in Albuquerque, NM.

Cyrus Cassells has been named a “Guest Director” for the Drama Department’s current production of A Streetcar Named Desire.

Mark Busby has been selected as the “featured author” for Texas A&M-Commerce’s launch of its annual literary magazine, The Mayo Review.  Two of his stories will appear in the issue, and he will do readings and workshops as part of the event. Mark presented “Leavening Humor in Cormac McCarthy’s Cities of the Plain” at the Texas/Southwest Popular Culture Association meeting in Albuquerque, February 11, 2015.

The 19 February 2015 issue of the Austin American-Statesman featured on the first page of “Austin 360” “Homegrown,” the collection of posters celebrating the Austin music culture that is on view at the Wittliff Gallery through July 3. Alan Schaefer, lecturer in the Department of English, has curated the exhibit and authored the related book, Homegrown: Austin Music Posters 1967 to 1982 (Austin: UT Press, 2015), which features essays by Joe Nick Patoski and Nels Jacobson.

Congratulations:

On January 30, Rachel and Matt Greengold welcomed their new son Sebastian Scott Greengold. He was born 8lbs and 19 inches long.

MATC alumna Alexandra Podwalny has accepted the Communications Executive position at Mercom Capital Group in Austin, Texas. Alexandra graduated from the MATC program in fall 2014.

MFA fiction student Allison Grace Myers will present “Idiosyncrasy and Isolation: The Pleasures of Language in Lorrie Moore’s ‘Which Is More Than I Can Say About Some People'” at the University of Wisconsin – Madison’s conference, “Dirty Talk: The Forms and Language of Pleasure.”

MFA fiction student Jane Hawley had a story published by Day One, Amazon’s literary journal for emerging authors. “The Suitcases of San Leon” is available at http://www.amazon.com/The-Suitcases-Le%C3%B3n-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B00Q7H3FLQ.

At this year’s Southwest Popular Culture Association / American Culture Association Conference in Albuquerque, Lecturer Anne Winchell will present “Female Representation and Sexualization in Tabletop Gaming”: Lecturer Laura Sims will present “Gender, Gamergate, and the Middle Ages: Second Verse, Same as the First”; and Undergraduate English Major Brittany Mari Landgrebe, “Healing Potions: Video Games as a Tool for Coping with Loss and Trauma.” Anne Winchell’s article “Video Games as a New Form of Interactive Literature” appears in a special issue of Syllabus Journal: http://www.syllabusjournal.org/.

Lecturer and MFA graduate Logan Fry has a poem forthcoming in Fence.

Deb Balzhiser’s article, “Participatory Media & Culture: The Spirit of the Human,” written with Caroline Jones and former MATC students Julie Good and Tate English, appears in the latest issue of Technoculture.

2007 MFA fiction graduate Amelia Gray has a story in the February 9 issue of The New Yorker. It is from her story collection, Gutshot, which will be published by Farrar, Strauss & Giroux in April.

Congratulations:

MFA fiction student Heather Lefebvre’s story’s “Baby” appears online at Story|Houston: http://www.storyhouston.com/?page_id=1921.

Pinfan Zhu’s article “On the Right Strategy for Translating Technical and Business Information” was published in the latest issue of the International Journal of Education and Social Science. His “Translation Criteria: How They May Affect International Business” was accepted by the Journal of Technical Writing and Communication for a forthcoming issue.

MARC graduate and MFA fiction student Graham Oliver has an essay entitled “How to Write Like George R. R. Martin” at Fiction Advocate: http://fictionadvocate.com/2015/01/28/how-to-write-like-george-r-r-martin/.

MFA fiction student Anabel Graff was named one of three winners of the 2014 Prada-Feltrinelli Prize, which celebrates emerging writers.  The ceremony was held on January 19 at Prada headquarters in Milan. Her story, “The Prom at the End of the World,” released by Italian publishing house Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore, is available at http://www.prada.com/en/eyewear/special-projects/prada-journal-2014.html.

Eric Leake’s interview with Nancy Sommers, “Enter the Process in Uncertainty,” written with David Masiel, appears in the latest issue of Writing on the Edge.

MFA fiction graduate Katie Angermeier Haab is the new Executive Director of the Austin Bat Cave, which offers guidance to young creative writers: http://austinbatcave.org/.

MFA poetry student Autumn Hayes has been invited to read at Houston’s Public Poetry reading series this spring and fall.

MFA fiction student Allison Myers’ short story “Conditions” has won the John Steinbeck Award. The prize is sponsored by Reed Magazine, which will publish the story later this spring.

Congratulations:

Roger Jones’ poetry chapbook Familial has been accepted by the Finishing Line Press, with publication set for 2015.

MARC graduate Amanda (Rice) Rawlinson is the new Human Resources Manager for the International American University-College of Medicine, in Dallas, TX.

MFA fiction graduate and current Lecturer Chris Margrave’s “Covington is the Non-Place for Me: Walker Percy’s Topophilia in the Deserts of Theory and Consumption” appears in Reconstruction: http://reconstruction.eserver.org/Issues/144/Margrave.shtml.

Octavio Pimentel has signed a contract with Palgrave Macmillan for his book Historias de Éxito with Mexican Communities: Silenced Voices, which is scheduled to be out in print by June 2015. He also has agreed to serve as a “Featured Panelist” on a panel entitled “Dialog about Language,” to be offered at the Conference on College Composition and Communication in Tampa, Florida this spring.

Deb Balzhiser’s article, “Community Guides: Disrupting Oppression in Comment Threads on Social Sites,” written with Stephanie Vie (University of Central Florida) and Devon Fitzgerald Ralston (Miami University, Ohio), appears in the latest issue of Technoculture.

Rob Tally has been elected to the Executive Committee of the MLA’s Division on Literary Criticism. His book Poe and the Subversion of American Literature: Satire, Fantasy, Critique (Bloomsbury) was named a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title 2014. He recently published “Song of Saruman” in the Los Angeles Review of Books (December 27, 2014), a critique of the representation of the wizard in the Peter Jackson films: http://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/song-saruman. “Topophrenia: The Place of the Subject” appears in Reconstruction 14.4 (2014): http://reconstruction.eserver.org/Issues/144/Tally.shtml.

The MARC program will be well-represented at the 2015 South Central Writing Centers Association Conference (“What Starts Here Writes The World”), taking place at the University of Texas-Austin this February. Presenters include current students, graduates, and faculty: Cresta Bayley, Collin Couey: Shaun Ford, Nancy Wilson, Rachel Snow, Rebecca Jackson, and Kristin Riggs.

Trey Moody’s poem “My Sound Story” appears in the current issue of Pleiades.

Eric Leake’s chapter “The (Un)Knowable Self and Others: Critical Empathy and Expressivism” has been published in the collection Critical Expressivism: Theory and Practice in the Composition Classroom: http://wac.colostate.edu/books/expressivism/.

Congratulations:

Administrative Assistant Danielle McEwen and her husband Ross are new parents. Emma was born January 6.

MFA fiction student Patrick Cline’s story, “Maybe a Calamity,” will appear in the upcoming winter issue of Zoetrope: All Story.

The Department received the good news recently that the estate of the late L. D. and Laverne Clark has bequeathed to the Department of English municipal bonds in the amount almost of $659,000 that the university will convert and add to the L.D. and Laverne Clark Literary Endowment. This bequest is in addition to the more than $800,000 the endowment received at its inception. In 2012, L. D. Clark authorized a revised memorandum of understanding that provided for an endowment dedicated to the creation of a writer-in-residence for the MFA program and a fiction-writing contest. The department will be working this spring to honor the terms of this MOU. Years ago, Mark Busby made contact with L. D. and Laverne Clark and fostered their interest in Texas State, the Southwest Writers Collection, and our MFA program. Since then, Mike Hennessy and Tom Grimes helped to maintain contact with the Clarks, at one time inviting L.D. to talk about writing to students bussed to campus from a nearby public school. More recently, we had occasions to be in contact with L.D. and, after Laverne’s death, his niece, Mrs. Colleen Clark Carri. The Department is very grateful to Mrs. Carri, who served as the executor of her uncle’s will, and we look forward to honoring the wishes and memory of L. D. and Laverne.

Miriam Williams and Octavio Pimentel’s edited book collection, Communicating Race, Ethnicity, and Identity in Technical Communication, was favorably reviewed in the December 2014 issue of the Society for Technical Communication Journal.  The reviewer noted, “Communicating Race, Ethnicity, and Identity in Technical Communication has wide-reaching potential for readers and uses. Possible readers include scholars in technical communication and intercultural communication, practicing technical writers, and graduate students. Numerous possibilities exist for using this book in graduate courses, such as introduction to technical communication, intercultural rhetoric, proposal and grant writing, and courses that incorporate discussion about social justice.”

MATC alumna Emmelyn Wang has accepted a position as Director of Web Product Marketing at Mouser Electronics in Mansfield, Texas. Mouser Electronics is an authorized distributor of semiconductor and electronic components for over 500 industry-leading suppliers.

Miriam Williams accepted an invitation to serve on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Technical Writing and Communication.