Life of a Writer: October 2026
EXCITING NEWS & UPDATES FROM SPALDING'S NASLUND-MANN SCHOOL OF WRITING STUDENTS, ALUMNI, FACULTY & STAFF
Students
Domenic-Michael Andolina (MFA, PW ’26) received publication of his short story “Four Birds, Two Snakes” in Mother-Monster, Father-Fiend: An Anthology of the Monsters Who Raised Us, published by Elderfly Press. This work started off as an assignment during the fiction cross-genre semester and is proof that taking those assignments seriously can really pay off! Check out Elderfly Press, and follow Domenic-Michael’s writing journey on Instagram @domenicmichaelwrites.
A.S. Coomer (P) is nominated for a Best of Net Award for his poem “in which the sculptor advises,” which was published in Afterimages back in April. Links to the poem, including a wilderness reading video, can be found here.
Morrow Dowdle's (P) first full-length poetry collection, Heartsick Requiem, will be released by Riot in Your Throat Press in late October. Learn more and order a copy here.
Sarah-Marissa Marquez (P) published a lyric poem titled “Those Eyes,” which is featured in Issue 9.1 of Oyster River Pages. Another of her lyric poems, “Ravel/Unravel,” which was composed during the 2026 virtual summer residency, will be published later this fall in Issue #3 of Purple Stallion Review. Follow Sarah-Marissa on Substack @sarahmarissapoet, Instagram @readpauserepeat, and X @Sarahmarissa338.
Mable Buchanan Palmer (P) is excited to share a blog post about virtual residency with AWP, forthcoming in The Writer’s Notebook! Since summer she also has new poems in The Threepenny Review (“Frankenstein’s Creature, Persuaded to Get Down”) and Pinch (“Saltatory”), as well as a review in the Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association.
Katie Andrews Potter (W4CYA) released a new middle-grade novel titled Heirloom Rose, available on Amazon. Based on the history of the communities displaced by the construction of southern Indiana’s Lake Monroe, Heirloom Rose ultimately tells the story of a family’s heartbreak and healing.
Emily Samples (P) will have her poem “That Old Mountain Dew” published in November in an anthology from June Road Press, Places on the Way: A Poetry Road Trip. The book is available for pre-order.
Summer Shelton’s (SW) screenplay Praying to a Laughing God, an adaptation of Kevin McColley’s novel by the same name, was a finalist in the Nashville Film Festival screenwriting competition. A live scene-read was performed as part of the festival’s creator conference. The script was also recognized as a semifinalist in the 2026 Dallas International Film Festival screenwriting competition. Follow Summer on Instagram @s_d_s and learn more about her work at https://www.summershelton.com/.
Gabrielle Shiozawa (CNF) published a personal essay in The New York Times’s weekly “Modern Love” column, available online and in print. “Nothing Could Purify Me After What I’d Done” was originally written for a Spalding workshop, and she’s especially grateful to mentor Nancy McCabe and classmate Jennifer Fulton for their support in polishing the essay. You can reach her on Instagram @gabrielleshiozawa.
Sarah Yost (P) has just had a chapbook accepted for publication with Sabre Lake, a small independent publisher in Minnesota. The Glass Coffin and Other Grim Tales, Reclaimed is anticipated for release in audio and paperback formats in the winter of 2027.
Faculty & Staff
Dianne Aprile (faculty, CNF) will read from her new book of poetry, No Place (Larkspur Press), at 11 a.m. November 14 at the 10th annual Kentucky Arts & Letters Day at The Berry Center in New Castle, Kentucky. She will also read with Spalding writers at 11 a.m. Saturday, October 24, at the Louisville Book Festival at Kentucky International Convention Center (main author room stage). The book is available at Carmichael’s Bookstore (Louisville) and from Larkspur Press in Monterey, Kentucky. Dianne will appear at the Naslund-Mann School’s pop-up bookshop on Thursday, November 19, to sell and sign copies of her new book as well as older titles.
Larry Brenner (faculty, MFA, PW ’10) and Andie Redwine’s (MFA, SW ’20) book, Once Upon a Disney: Screenwriting Lessons from the Studio Canon, was published by McFarland and is available for purchase. The book discusses the use of storytelling elements in beloved Disney films and contains several craft exercises to help aspiring writers develop their craft. The seventh season of their podcast, Once Upon a Disney, launches in October. Larry will also be presenting a lecture at MultiverseCon in October titled “A Side of Spider-Ham: The Existential Horror of Meeting Yourself as a Cartoon Pig,” an essay from his upcoming book of essays on Marvel’s Spider-Verse franchise.
Whitney Collins’s (associate programs director, faculty, F) story “The Problem,” which originally appeared in Chatterbox! Literary, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
In August at the National Book Festival in Washington D.C., Kathleen Driskell (chair) was invited to read and participate as an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow. Also in August, she visited the Hopkinsville (Kentucky) Public Library to present a talk on the writing life; afterward she had a wonderful visit with MFA alum Elizabeth Burton. In early October, she read poetry in Louisville at a program that presented singer-songwriter Ben Sollee as a fundraiser for the James Baker Hall Foundation for writers. She was the featured writer at Gateway Regional Arts Center on October 10 in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky. She will read with Spalding MFA alumni Amy Foos Kapoor, Katy Yocom, Lennie Hay, Kelly Hill, and Dianne Aprile at the Louisville Book Festival on Saturday, October 24; and she will present a session with Whitney Collins at the Kentucky Book Festival on November 7 in the Kentucky Writer’s Room, which Naslund-Mann annually co-sponsors with the James Baker Hall Foundation. Her work will appear in an anthology of Pegasus celebrating the 6oth anniversary of the Kentucky State Poetry Society. Other Spalding faculty and alumni who appear in the anthology are Lynnell Edwards, Frank X Walker, Katerina Stoykova, Jeremy Paden, and Danni Quintos. Her work will appear soon in Sand & Silt and the Appalachian Review. She was asked to provide comment on the literary work of Wendell Berry after his recent death for WFPL 89.3 FM (Louisville) and WORT 89.9 FM, Wisconsin Public Radio. She reads with former Kentucky poet laureate Joe Survant and best-selling author Bobbie Ann Mason at “An Evening with Kentucky Authors,” presented by the John Hager Family Fund in Owensboro, Kentucky, on October 22. Kathleen continues to work on her poetry trail projects at Joe Creason Park in Louisville and in Pine Mountain Resort State Park, where she returns October 30 - November 1 to lead a poetry workshop for the Kentucky Cabinet of Tourism, Arts, and Heritage. On November 14, she will read at the annual Kentucky Arts and Letters Day sponsored by the Berry Center in New Castle, Kentucky. On December 5, she will serve as a judge for the Louisville Youth Poets Laureate at the Brown School in downtown Louisville.
Nathan Gower (faculty, F) gave a public reading at Unnameable Books in Brooklyn on July 22 as part of the Les Bleus Literary Salon. From November 9-12, he will support the organization of the annual Writer’s Week festival at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. On November 13, he will read with fellow Naslund-Mann School graduate Dave Harrity on the occasion of the launch of Harrity’s new poetry collection at Monnik Beer Co. in Louisville.
Roy Hoffman (faculty, F, CNF) wrote a feature on fellow Mobile, Alabama, native Jimmy Buffett, his career start and lifelong friendship with Mobile songwriter Milton Brown, for Mobile Bay Magazine, to coincide with a Jimmy Buffett exhibit at Mobile’s Maritime Museum.
Erin Keane (faculty, CNF, P) announces her next nonfiction book, BIRTHDAY GIRLS: The Untold Story of the World’s Most Popular Song, will be published by Belt Publishing in 2028. In September she appeared in conversation with novelist Kevin Wilson at a Kentucky Author Forum event held at the South Central Regional Branch of the Louisville Free Public Library. You can watch their conversation here. You can hear her read “In the Fluorescent,” a new poem about the popular gas station chain Buc-ee’s, in the Indianapolis Review. Her lyric list, “State Fair Vanitas,” was published in Essay Daily in August, right before she won a blue and a red ribbon in the Kentucky State Fair (not for essays, for baked goods). Her essay “The Nightmare on Christmas: Riverbottom’s Hooligan Anthem that Defeated Emmet Otter and Produced a True Holiday Miracle” is forthcoming as an “extracurricular” (not competing) in the lead-up to the March Xmas Tournament of Christmas Songs. Her poem “The Morning Line” can be read in the fall 2026 issue of North American Review.
Robin Lippincott (faculty, F, CNF) gave a reading on September 19 with three other writers at Unnameable Books, a sister of the Brooklyn store, in Turners Falls, Massachusetts.
Jennie Malboeuf (faculty, P) received the Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship from the commonwealth of Kentucky for 2027. She will also present a panel at AWP 2027 in Chicago titled “Biting the Bullet: Poets Respond to Gun Violence” alongside US Inaugural Poet Richard Blanco, Michael Kleber-Diggs, Brian Turner, and Alison Granucci.
Karen Mann (co-founder and administrative director) recently read two alums’ books, which she thoroughly enjoyed, and hopes you will read them also. Maria Steinmetz’s (MFA, W4CYA ’14) The Bone Bridge, and Archer Sullivan’s (MFA, F ’10) Brimstone Hollow. Maria’s is a YA book and will be a duology. It’s a fun fantasy read for any age and has many twists and turns. Brimstone Hollow is the second of the Annie Gore novel series and is set in Appalachia. The mystery takes Annie on a deep dive looking for a murderer but also analyzing her own childhood. @karenmannedits.
Lesléa Newman (faculty, W4CYA) is proud to announce her newest poetry collection for adults. The Last Flame Last, a suite of eighteen poems written in response to October 7 and the ensuing antisemitism that has followed, will be published in November 2026 by Finishing Line Press. Lesléa is donating a portion of her royalties to Beth Israel Congregation to help them rebuild their temple after an arson attack and to restore their belief in the kindness of strangers.
Katy Yocom (associate director, MFA, F ’03) appears at the Louisville Book Festival along with Kathleen Driskell, Dianne Aprile, Kelly E. Hill, and Lennie Hay in a Naslund-Mann “all-stars” reading, 11 a.m. to noon Saturday, October 24, at the Kentucky International Convention Center. She also reads at the launch of Dave Harrity’s newest poetry collection on November 13 at Monnik Beer Company. With Amy Foos Kapoor, she wrapped up Season 13 of Voice & Vision reading series at 21c Museum Hotel in Louisville in August and is looking forward to Season 14, which kicks off in May 2027. She recently returned from Scotland and England’s Lake District, where she led an enrichment trip abroad for Naslund-Mann students, alumni and guests, along with faculty members Whitney Collins and Leah Henderson. Highlights were visits to the homes of William Wordsworth, Beatrix Potter, and the Brontë sisters. She continues to offer developmental editing services.
Alumni
Natalie Axton (MFA, F ’19), founder and director of programs at Appalachia Book Company, recently produced The Storied Song, an audio drama series that transforms traditional Appalachian ballads into fully produced radio plays featuring original sound design and live musical performances. Four playwrights adapted “Lord Bateman,” “Tom Dula,” “The Farmer’s Curst Wife,” and “The Wreck of the Old 97,” working with a director and actors from Southwest Virginia. Listen and learn here. On October 13, Appalachia Book Company published These Dreaming Hills: Dark and Wondrous Tales from Appalachia, an anthology of speculative fiction by Central Appalachian writers, guest-edited by Noah Ashley Blooms. Learn more at https://www.appalachiabook.co/.
Lesly-Marie Buer (MFA, F’26) published her first short story in the anthology These Dreaming Hills (Appalachia Book Co.). Follow her on Instagram @leslymarieb.
Roy Burkhead (MFA, F ’04) volunteered at the Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s 2026 Shakespeare in the Park. In October he served as a session room monitor volunteer at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, ensuring that author events ran smoothly. In addition, Roy continues to teach literature and academic writing at Western Kentucky University, and he’s working on a memoir (Baggage Claimed: On Becoming a Merely Decent Global Citizen.) Find Roy online at https://royburkhead.substack.com.
Amy Cornell (MFA, F ’25) published short stories in Louisiana Literature and Good River Review. She won a prize for a micro memoir called “What I Need to Tell You,” forthcoming from table/Feast Lit Mag. She currently chairs the Board of Directors for Women Writing for a Change-Bloomington, which just won the 2026 Indiana Humanities Award for their writing outreach programs to marginalized communities in Indiana. She and writer Emily Bobo have launched a new literary magazine featuring prose and poetry by women titled Tandem Lit Mag.
Ann Eskridge (PW/F/W4CYA ’08) participated in the 2026 Michigan Playwrights Festival with The Sanctuary, a stage adaptation of her novel of the same name. Her comedy, Last of Ken, received a staged reading through Extra Mile Playwrights Theatre’s Rush Hour Reads series, providing an opportunity to hear the work performed and receive audience feedback. She was also honored to receive an Honorable Mention for Librettist in the 2026 Roger Allers Legacy Scholarship Awards, recognizing her work in musical theatre. Learn more about Ann at https://newplayexchange.org/users/93674/ann-eskridge.
Jeffrey Fischer-Smith (MFA, PW ’17) continues the development of SMALLTOWN BOY | The New Wave Musical, for which he is the creator, wrote the book, and serves as a producer. Following a successful inaugural London workshop in March, the musical returned for a second developmental workshop, October 12–16, featuring a thirteen-member company of West End performers and culminating in a private industry presentation at Nederlander House in London. Set in New York City’s East Village in 1983, the musical features twenty-two iconic New Wave tracks and tells a story of identity, survival, and chosen family against the backdrop of the emerging AIDS crisis. The production is directed by Jonathan O’Boyle. Julie Nichols (MFA, SW ’15) continues her role as a producer of the musical. The next stage of development will be a New York City industry reading in January, with the ultimate goal of bringing the musical to London’s West End, followed by a Broadway production. Learn more at www.smalltownboymusical.com.
Karen George’s (MFA, F ’09) short story “Implosions” won the Grand Prize in Gemini Magazine’s Short Story Contest. She had a poem, “What Falls Your Way,” published in the Ekphrastic Review’s Writing Challenge, and a poem, "Liminal Place/Space,” in Sheila-Na-Gig Online. Her flash fiction, “Obelisk,” was published in The Louisville Review Spring Issue 98, and another, “Abandoned,” in Main Street Rag Spring 2026 issue.
Carroll Grossman’s (MFA, CNF/F ’21) play, “Hell’s Fire,” was part of the Tentucky Festival of Plays at the Bard Theatre in Louisville in late August and early September.
Lisa Hockstein (MAW, F ’22) had her short story “What Followed” published this September in issue 22.3 of Pacifica Literary Review.
Lynn Hoffman’s (MFA, DW/W4CYA, ’15) full-length play, Cc:, was a finalist in the 2026 Utah Shakespeare Festival's Words Cubed New Play Development Workshop.
Laura Johnsrude (MAW, PW ’21) attended Kenyon Review’s Residential Writers Workshop in Creative Nonfiction in June.
Williamaye Jones (MFA, F ’16) announces the publication of her novella, The Last Room, the first book in her new Villa Fiorita series, releasing November 10. Set in the heart of Tuscany, the story follows Lucinda Blake, an American woman seeking a fresh start at a charming Italian villa. But when she is assigned a room she never booked, she discovers a mysterious journal that seems to know more about her life than she does. Blending contemporary women’s fiction with a touch of magical realism, The Last Room explores grief, second chances, and the unexpected places where healing begins. Published through Jones’s independent imprint, Lioness Press, the novella paperback is available for preorder through Barnes & Noble, and paperback and ebook through Amazon. Learn more at https://williamayejones.com or follow her on Instagram @williamayejones.
Amy Foos Kapoor (MFA, W4CYA ’19) is participating in several book events this fall with her debut children’s book, Into the Blue: A Counting Adventure. These include the Kentuckiana Book Creator’s literacy event in Louisville, SCBWI Midsouth’s Conference and Autograph Party in Nashville, the Louisville Book Festival, and the 20th Anniversary Kentucky Women’s Book Festival, where she is part of the children’s book author panel on Saturday, October 24. She also wrapped up the 13th season of Voice and Vision, the summer reading series presented by Spalding’s Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing and 21c. Amy co-directs and produces the series with Spalding’s Katy Yocom (associate director, MFA, F ’03). In addition, she produced the short film “Following in Her Footsteps: A Kentucky Story” with Spalding alum and director/writer Ron Schildknecht (MFA, SW ’12), set for release later this fall.
Katrina Kittle (MFA, F ’08) is offering her “Writer’s 12-Step: Draft Your Novel (or Memoir) in a Year” again starting in January. Spalding alum Julie Stewart (MFA, F ’10) is currently enrolled in this yearlong course and says: “Throughout the past year, Katrina has simultaneously held my hand and pushed me out of my comfort zone.” The group meets monthly on Zoom with lots of guidance, community, and accountability between the meetings. Get full description at https://www.wordsworthdayton.com/.
This last summer was a busy season for Mary Knight (MFA, W4CYA ’13), highlighted by the audiobook release of her middle grade novel, What the Seahorse Told Me, available on most platforms. The printed version won a 2026 Green Earth Book Honor Award. In June, Mary delivered a keynote presentation at Chautauqua Lakeside on Lake Erie, speaking on the power of words and story. Also that week, she offered a workshop for children featuring her picture book The Cat's on My Lap! which was illustrated by her husband, Jonathan Scott. In September, Mary was featured on a podcast called “Grace, Grit, and Hope,” where she talked about her writer’s journey, including her time at Spalding. Watch or listen to the full episode on YouTube or Spotify. Currently, Mary is delighted to be writing poetry again and working on her memoir, All of These Things Are True. Discover more at www.maryknightbooks.com.
Maryann Lesert's (MFA, F ’03) environmental novel Land Marks, a Foreword Indies Finalist for Book of the Year (Fiction, 2024), recently received two additional awards: a 2026 Silver Nautilus Book Award (Fiction) and a National Indie Excellence Award for Regional Fiction (Midwest). In her July 21 Climate Fiction Writer’s League article “Can Eco-Resistance be Feel Good Literature?” Maryann ponders the rarity and timeliness of fiction that features direct action. She has been busy touring Michigan bookstores, wineries, and breweries with friend and Michigan poet Katie Kalisz, with a discussion on “Women, Nature, & Resistance.” Upcoming events are posted at https://www.maryannlesert.com/.
John Maclay’s (MFA, PW ’22) plays and musicals had a number of productions this fall. The Revolting Teens of Sherwood had productions open in New Jersey and Shanghai, China. Arthur & Friends Make a Musical had productions at the Derby Dinner Playhouse across the river from Louisville in Indiana, and at Young Harris College, directed by Spalding alum Gina Marie Dropp (MFA, PW ’21)! Goosebumps The Musical: Phantom of the Auditorium had multiple productions across the country, including one at Stage One in Louisville. Stage One also recently announced that John would be writing book and lyrics for a world premiere musical based on the popular graphic novel series Batcat. The new musical will premiere in Louisville in the fall of 2027.
Mark Madigan (MFA, P ’17) has had three poems accepted recently: “Moving to England” is forthcoming in Broad River Review. “Why I’ll Always Remember Edward” will appear in a future issue of The Main Street Rag. “A Quiet Connection” is available now at Third Wednesday Magazine.
Lori Marra (MFA, PW ’25) is a playwright, and her Spalding thesis play, Zip It: The Real-Life Drama of an Italian-American Lesbian, was named a finalist in Echo Theater’s New Play Competition. On the strength of that work, the theater commissioned her to write an original piece for its ten-minute play festival, offering a single prompt: “Don’t mind if I do.” The result was Fish On: The Aquatic Fable of Walter and Tai, a comic fable about a bass and a carp and their very different approaches to life. Lori lives in Asheville, North Carolina, where she is at work on her first adaptation of a Greek classic.
Jason Lee Miller (MFA, F ’08) has been published in numerous publications, was nominated twice for Critical Thinking Teacher of the Year at Eastern Kentucky University, published a poetry book, and won two awards for feature writing from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE): one for the Southeastern United States, and another on the global level. He won the bronze. Miller has finished a new poetry book and a collection of short stories and is looking for publishers. The executive chef at Rupp Arena invited him to be the special guest storyteller at Central Bank Center’s Supper Club in September, themed “From the Hills to the Table.” The menu was Appalachian-inspired and also super fancy-pants.
Andrew Najberg (MFA, P ’10) published his novel Eat the Light in April and has a forthcoming novel, The Graveyard Well, set for an April 2027 publication. His publishing company Aethon: Wicked House has published more than thirty titles in 2026.
Candice Renee Person (MFA, F ’14) has continued building her body of published fiction while living and writing in Mexico. Her short story “The Bee Side” was published in Letter to My Younger Self, and “Papabear” appears in Our Fathers: Love. Life. Legacy. Her short story “Inheritance” will be featured in the forthcoming anthology The Power in Her Bones, scheduled for release in late 2026. Across these works, Person explores themes of family, memory, identity, legacy, and the experiences that shape our understanding of ourselves and one another. She currently lives in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where she continues her work as a writer, educator, and curriculum designer. Learn more at www.theedututorhub.com.
Lindsey Pharr (MFA, CNF ’24) recently received the 2026 Broad Ripple Review Prize in Creative Nonfiction for her essay “Lungs.” In 2027 she is looking forward to participating in an AWP offsite reading with Ghost Parachute, Bending Genres, and Cowboy Jamboree alongside fellow alumni Mamie Pound (MFA, F ’20) and Avitus B. Carle (MFA, F ’16) before heading to Ballinskelligs, County Kerry, Ireland, for a residency at the Cill Rialaig Arts Centre in November.
Bridgette Dutta Portman (MFA, PW ’18) will participate in a workshop of her play Pilgrimage, cowritten with Humaira Ghilzai, at the Lab at Georgetown University in November. The workshop will culminate in a staged reading with an invited audience. Follow Bridgette on social media (@bdportman on Facebook and Instagram) for updates.
Melissa Shepherd (MFA, P’26) completed the Teacher Training program at Brooklyn Poets in September and was a guest lecturer in October at Pace University in New York on the topic of workshop and revision strategies. She was longlisted for the 2026 Ploughshares Emerging Writers’ Contest and a finalist for the 2026 Lois Cranston Memorial Poetry Prize from Calyx Press. Her poem “Girl in Winter” appears in the Fall 2026 issue of Good River Review.
Melanie Weldon-Soiset (MFA, P ’24) published her debut poetry collection, Welcome Calm, Silence Tyrants: Adult Lullabies on September 29 with Shanti Arts. Endorsers include Naslund-Mann faculty Kathleen Driskell, Erin Keane, and Maggie Smith. Another Chicago Magazine recently published a review of Melanie’s book. In “Lullabies for the Insomniac Soul: Melanie Weldon-Soiset’s ‘Welcome Calm, Silence Tyrants,’” Sara R. Burnett writes, “Weldon-Soiset employs lullabies to build containers—eighty-four poems altogether—meant to hold our shared grief, delight, calm, and fear, raking daylit nightmares smoothly against the timeless currents of meter, rhyme, and song.” Learn more about Melanie at https://melanieweldonsoiset.com/. Or purchase Welcome Calm, Silent Tyrants at Bookshop.org.
Colleen Wells (MFA, CNF ’10) published In the Mood: Tools for Promoting Mental Health & Well-Being, available on Amazon. She gave a presentation of journal prompts with a focus on wellness titled the “Art of Self-Care" to Calumet College of St. Joseph through the Text Nest Wellness Series run by English & Media Communications on October 14. In September, Colleen completed requirements to become a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS), where she plans to use writing as an intervention, weaving her passion for words and people together.