Life of a Writer: June 2025

EXCITING NEWS & UPDATES FROM SPALDING'S NASLUND-MANN SCHOOL OF WRITING STUDENTS, ALUMNI, FACULTY & STAFF

Students

Colleen Alles (P) published her debut short fiction collection, Close to a Flame, in March. Most of the book’s sixteen stories take place in her native state of Michigan. The collection is part of Cornerstone Press’s Legacy Series, which highlights Midwestern writers.

Kelly Cooper (P) has been accepted to the Chateau d’Orquevaux International Artists & Writers Residency in Champagne - Ardenne, France. She has been awarded The Denis Diderot Grant to apply toward the two-week residency this September. The application process is highly competitive with approximately twenty percent of the artists that apply accepted to the program. Read more about where Kelly will be making poems in the French countryside, one of which will become part of the Residency’s formal collection.

Amy Cornell (F, CNF) is leading an eight-part workshop this spring called “Memoir, Memory, and Family Lore” for Women Writing for (a) Change of Bloomington.

Hannah Grace Greer (F) was recently published in both fiction and poetry. One of her oldest short stories, "Under the Snowcaps," after much editing, was published in Dragon Soul Press’s Between Realms Anthology. Her poem "Unsalted Fries" was published in All My Relations Volume 8. Her poem "I saw a deer" was published in Issue 10 of Pensive: A Global Journal of Spirituality & the Arts. A few years ago, Hannah took an undergraduate seminar with Newberry Library. For her project, she made model manuscript pages inspired by a fifteenth-century devotional text and made corresponding poems on those said pages. The full faith-centric poetry & art pages can be found in As Surely As the Sun's Issue #6. You can find Hannah @hannahggpoetry on Instagram.

Lori Marra (PW) served as dramaturg for playwright Andrea Stolowitz’s world premiere of The Berlin Diaries at Center Stage in Rochester, New York, from October 2024 through February 2025. This production was part of a National New Play Network rolling world premiere. She also developed a twenty-page dramaturgical protocol that covered numerous topics including detailed information about all of the people and places mentioned, musical elements, pronunciation and dialect information, and a biography of the playwright. The play also premiered in Indianapolis and Buffalo and is playing in D.C. in June. The photo is, from left to right, playwright Andrea Stolowitz, director Lindsey Warren Baker, and Lori Marra.

Faculty & Staff

Whitney Collins’s (faculty, F, and alum, F ’18) most recent book, Ricky & Other Love Stories, was published in June 2024 by Sarabande Books. At the Spring 2025 Homecoming, she served on the Alumni All-Stars panel discussing how to sustain a writing career over multiple books.

Kathleen Driskell (faculty, Chair) On April 24, 2025, in the Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort, Kathleen Driskell was installed as the 2025-26 Kentucky Poet Laureate by Governor Andy Beshear. Later that day, she read with other Kentucky Poet Laureates at the Kentucky History Museum in Frankfort. Since, she has been interviewed and featured in various media outlets including WFPL 89.3 (Louisville’s NPR affiliate), The Courier-Journal, The Kentucky Lantern, The Oldham Era, The Lexington-Herald Leader and The Record, which serves the Central Kentucky Catholic community, among other newspapers and media sites. Kathleen continues to work in a support role with the Kentuckiana Youth Poet Laureate Program. President Anne Kenworthy of Spalding University asked Kathleen to read a poem at the 2025 Spalding University commencement; Governor Andy Beshear was the commencement speaker and was awarded an honorary doctor of law degree from Spalding. During his remarks, Governor Beshear noted that Spalding has been a source for a number of recent Kentucky Poet Laureates including MFA alum and faculty member Silas House.

Kathleen’s most recent book of poems, Goat-Footed Gods, was published in early March by Carnegie Mellon University Press and is now in its second printing. Goat-Footed Gods was named a best new book in March by Southern Review of Books, and the collection received a review from The Library Journal as well as other places. She was in conversation with noted Kentucky writer (and Spalding alumna) Crystal Wilkinson at the Kentucky Book Festival-Louisville Edition on June 14 in the Paristown neighborhood. In Kathleen’s role as poet laureate, she is now planning several projects to offer Kentucky writers, including a workshop called “Walk and Write with the Kentucky Poet Laureate” which will take place this October in the Parklands. She also plans to present a series of virtual craft talks and writing sessions with the Kentucky State Poetry Society. Other poet laureate projects are being organized.

Nathan Gower (faculty, F, and alum, F ’08) recently accepted a position on the creative writing faculty at University of North Carolina Wilmington. He begins teaching in the MFA and BFA programs this fall.

Jason Kyle Howard (faculty, CNF) was recently named Senior Editor, Ideas at Salon.com, where he will lead and reimagine commentary and analysis of politics and national affairs. His feature on a 200-year-old Charleston home (and its unforgettable chatelaine), titled “I Pledge Allegiance to This House,” appeared in the March issue of Town & Country magazine. In February, his essay “Was ‘Little House on the Prairie’ ‘Woke’? The Answer Explains American Politics” was published by POLITICO magazine.

Angela Jackson-Brown (faculty, F) visited eight Alabama cities in early 2025 to celebrate the release of her fifth novel and sixth book, Untethered. Her tour included events with Naslund-Mann faculty Roy Hoffman (Page & Palette, Fairhope), Jeanie Thompson (NewSouth Bookstore, Montgomery), and Alabama poet laureate Ashley M. Jones (Little Professor, Homewood). Additional stops included Huntsville, Birmingham, Auburn, Troy, and Mobile. In April, Jackson-Brown served as keynote speaker at Butler College (Asante Art Institute) and the Eckhart Public Library Author Fair in Auburn, Indiana. She also appeared on a publishing panel hosted by Indiana University’s Publishing and Editing Club. Other highlights included a Q&A with the Alabama Writers Forum Book Club, a Spotlight on an Author session with the American Historical Novels group, a talk with IU’s Canvas Creative Arts committee on artists as truth tellers, and a May 7 discussion of Untethered with the Brown Girl Collective Book Club.

Erin Keane (faculty, CNF, P) appeared in conversation at Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville with Spalding’s own Kathleen Driskell in March in celebration of her new collection of poems, Goat-Footed Gods, and with Sarah Schulman, author of The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity, in May. The Louisville Free Public Library featured her memoir, Runaway: Notes on the Myths That Made Me, as a book club selection in February. Her essay for the 2022 March Faxness Tournament of Cover Songs, “There Are Many Atlantic Cities and One Belongs to Levon Helm,” will be published in Hit Repeat Until I Hate Music: The March Xness Anthology, due out in March 2026 from Split/Lip Press. For Salon, she executive produced a short documentary, “Here Lies a Dream,” about an artist’s decade-long mission to honor migrant deaths in the Sonoran Desert, and her new personal literary podcast, The Blair Water Literary Society, all about re-reading L.M. Montgomery’s Emily of New Moon, will launch later this summer. (You can subscribe now!)

Robin Lippincott (faculty, F, CNF) has been named an Associate Editor of The Louisville Review. His essay, "A Confluence" was recently solicited by and published in TLR 96, Spring 2025.

Karen Mann (Administrative Director) belongs to five book clubs, so she is always reading! Here is a book she found particularly timely: The Immortal King Rao by Vauhini Vara examines the quality of a near future life where decisions are made by Master Algorithm. This world includes discussions of global warming and an oligarchical future. Thought-provoking and chilling, a complicated story where you pay attention to each word. And on Karen's shelf coming up to read: These Worn Bodies by alum Avitus B. Carle ('16) and Fires Burning Underground by faculty member Nancy McCabe. Karen recently received in the mail The Lucky Spot Dance by alum Sandra Evans Falconer ('05).

Lee Martin (faculty, F, CNF) published his novel, The Evening Shades, with Melville House and has been busy doing events at independent bookstores and public libraries. Also, his essay, "The Down-Low," appears in the spring issue of The Cincinnati Review.

Lesléa Newman (faculty, W4CYA) is featured in the Sydney Taylor Awards blog tour, discussing her Honor Book, Joyful Song: A Naming Story. Additionally, she has had two poems recently published. "The Morning After" appeared in Second Coming, and "Disarmed" appeared in Of the Book.

Jeremy Paden (faculty, Translation, P) recently served as guest poetry editor for The Ilanot Review and for a special issue of The Southern Humanities Review that focused on Appalachian poetry. Also, Tupelo Quarterly recently published a portfolio of 16 Latin American poets that he selected, introduced, and translated. In Fall 2024, the Mexican publisher Alcorce Ediciones published his collection Imágenes del mundo flotante, a book of ekphrastic poems he wrote in Spanish; and his Spanish language translation of Ada Limón's The Hurting Kind was published by Valparaíso Ediciones. In February, his translation of “Waiting for Perec” by the Chilean poet Mario Meléndez won the Action, Spectacle publishing competition and will be published later this year.

John Pipkin (faculty, F) was recently promoted to Associate Professor in his continuing role as Director of Undergraduate Creative Writing at UT-Austin, and he has also been appointed as Co-Chair of UT's Dobie-Paisano Fellowship Program. In April he was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters, which is kind of like the "hall of fame" for writers in Texas, but without the football-shaped trophies and giant pinkie rings.

Katy Yocom taught a craft class online for the California Writing Workshop on June 13. In May, she hosted the twelfth-season opener of Voice and Vision reading series at 21c featuring five wildly talented local authors and playwrights. She will appear in a local author showcase hosted by the Mercer County Public Library at the Mercer County Farmers’ Market on July 26 at Ford Harrod, Kentucky.

Sam Zalutsky (faculty, TVSS) is currently enjoying the month of June in Mexico City for an artist's residency for a new photo project. He will also be looking to pursue Mexican producers for his new horror film, Colonial Dreams.

Alumni

Roy Burkhead’s (F ’04) short story “A Pass for the Brokenhearted” appears in the Spring issue of The Louisville Review. The story is part of his work from the Post-Master’s Certificate in Writing Enrichment (fiction) from the Sena Jeter Naslund-Karen Mann Graduate School of Writing. Roy continues to serve as an English adjunct professor at Western Kentucky University. Find Roy online at https://royburkhead.substack.com/

Avitus B. Carle (F ’16) read from her debut flash-fiction collection, These Worn Bodies (Moon City Press), at the Alumni Celebration of New Works during Homecoming in May. The collection was the winner of the 2023 Moon City Press Short Fiction Award. Find her at her website.

Kelly Creagh (W4CYA ’08) celebrates her third year as an instructor and creative writing mentor with Drexel University’s MFA in Writing program. She also recently sold her debut adult novel, A Date with Death, to Simon and Schuster (Gallery) in a two-book English rights deal with publication slated for Summer 2026. Her sixth YA novel, a romantasy mashup retelling of Hades and Persephone and Orpheus and Eurydice, titled A Promise to Hades (Penguin Random House/Viking), is also slated to be published next year. A Date with Death, a cozy paranormal romance where the Grim Reaper falls in love with a children’s librarian, was also featured as “deal of the day” in Publishers Marketplace on March 20. Kelly also continues to craft exclusive and original middle-grade and young adult short stories and flash fiction for various educational publishers and online learning platforms.

Ann Eskridge (PW/W4CYA ’08) gave a lecture on musical theater at the Naslund-Mann School’s Spring 2025 residency. She is currently working on a musical about a fictional all-black town in Oklahoma, Echoes Across the Prairie, and another musical, Trouble in Mind (working title), about exiled Black Americans in Cuba. 

Carolyn Dawn Flynn (F/CNF ’12) read from her debut memoir, Boundless (Atmosphere Press), at the Alumni Celebration of New Works in Louisville during Homecoming.

Robert X. Golphin’s short film “Chest Candy” had its world premier in June at the 14th annual The People’s FILM Festival in Harlem, where it won Best Short Film (Honorable Mention).

Courtney Hill Gulbro’s (CNF ’22) essay “After Jimmy” appeared in Appalachian Review.

Amy Foos Kapoor (W4CYA ’19) presented her debut picture book, Into the Blue: A Counting Adventure, illustrated by Jennifer Ard (BeaLu Books), to the Naslund-Mann community at the Alumni Celebration of New Works this past residency.

Lennie Hay (P ’19) read from her debut poetry collection, Lost in America (Broadstone Books), at the Alumni Celebration of New Works at the Spring residency.

Marci Rae Johnson (P ’05) participated as an Alumni All-Stars panelist at the MFA program’s Homecoming. Her latest poetry collection, Questionable Baggage, was recently published by Main Street Rag.

Michelle Tyrene Johnson (PW ’22) spoke on the Alumni All-Stars panel about sustaining a writing career at Homecoming this spring. Her most recent play, Horse Power: Tom Bass’ American Story, debuted at the Coterie Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri, in September 2024. She is the lead producer of Louisville Public Media’s talk shows.

Quincy Gray McMichael (CNF, P ’22) is uncovering new ways of being as her brain takes her on an unexpected cognitive adventure. Her daily American Sentence practice keeps her grounded even when she can’t write much else. Still, Zone 3 Press selected Quincy’s poem “Pig Brains”—which explores the practicality, legality, and morality of pork from the perspective of a former pig farmer—for publication in Volume 39, Issue 1. The University of Mississippi’s Yalobusha Review nominated Quincy’s short, elegiac essay “Jimmy” (published in Issue 39) for Best of the Net. In early March, Quincy decamped to Ragdale, in Lake Forest, Illinois, for a three-week residency. She wrote, revised, and dipped in the icy water of Lake Michigan (which was sometimes warmer than the air). Find Quincy on her website or (infrequently) on X or Instagram.

Andrew Najberg’s (P ’10) new sci-fi horror novel, Extinction Dream, comes out August 1.

Brett Neveu’s (PW ’15) 2023 feature film Eric LaRue (dir. Michael Shannon), starring Judy Greer, Alison Pill, Tracy Letts, and Alexander Skarsgard, is available for streaming. Brett delivered a lecture on adapting stage plays into screenplays at the Naslund-Mann School’s Spring 2025 residency. He currently teaches screenwriting as an Assistant Professor at Northwestern University.

Tammy Oberhausen (F ’17) presented her debut novel, The Evolution of the Gospelettes (Fireside Industries/University Press of Kentucky) at the Alumni Celebration of New Works during Homecoming, May 29, in Louisville.

Mamie Pound (F ’20) will be the artist-in-residence at the Kerouac House in Orlando in November.

Andie Redwine (SW ’20) lectured about the sequence approach to screenwriting at the Naslund-Mann School’s Spring 2025 residency. She co-hosts the Once Upon a Disney podcast to make screenwriting accessible for beginning writers. Currently, Andie is in post-production on her latest documentary feature, The Tenderness Tour, funded in part by The Lilly Foundation.

Taylor Riley Geiser (CNF ’19) has accepted an Assistant Professor position in Fayetteville State University's Department of English: Literature, Teaching, Pre-Law, and Creative & Professional Writing.

Susan P. Ryan’s (CNF ’15) book Brainstorm: Navigating Life with Chronic Migraine, a medical memoir, is available for preorder now on Kindle and paperback, with release date of June 23, 2025. Susan says, “Since I have tried most mainstream treatments as well as explored other less-traveled tracks, I can offer an insider’s guide through this brain-pinched life. I share parts of my journey in hopes that this insight may help others to find relief from this all-too-common affliction.”

Katie Williams (SW ’23) has sold her script, The Christmas Writer, to A Baker Productions. The script is about a successful novelist known for her Christmas-themed lesbian romance novels. She is grieving and lacking in spirit and has nothing to write about until she meets an emerging writer and finds the magic and love for Christmas again. Filming begins this June, and it will be out for Christmas 2025!

Rabiah York (W4CYA ’18) teaches English at a middle school in Virginia and spends her free time with her husband, Jeremy, three children, two cats, and a memoir-in-progress. This March, she celebrated the release of her ninth picture book: The One and Only Rumi (Penguin 2025). The story celebrates the renowned poet and reimagines his early childhood.