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Hello, I am Zyen Smoot<\/strong>, and I am also very happy to be one of the editors for Revise This!<\/em> as well as The Writer\u2019s Life<\/em>. I began my graduate journey this year, so I am now in 512 and 514 courses for poetry, drafting my thesis and making my way through my reading list. When I am not processing the world’s emotions through metaphors and double-consciousness, I am figuring out the best way to better the institutionalization of our school systems as a 9th grade ELA teacher. Nice to meet you all!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Please contact us at elizabet.cunningham1@wilkes.edu<\/a> <\/strong>or zyen.smoot@wilkes.edu<\/a><\/strong> if you have any story suggestions, interview opportunities or want to contribute!<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Two Accomplishments for Two Working Genres<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kimberly Heiman is a professor of biology in her daily life. Currently, she is in her second semester at Wilkes. Her master thesis is a nonfiction memoir, but she is doing a side project in fiction. The following conversation is a brief meditation of one publication and one producing she received for her work in fiction and nonfiction. <\/em> ZS: First, how does it feel to have your essay published?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n KH: It is an essay from my foundations unit, so it feels really great to hold the paper version of the journal, and see my name in print.When I got the first copy, my name was misspelled. That\u2019s how excited I was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ZS: I can imagine, but you got another publication in fiction, too. A short-story turned into a podcast?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n KH: It will not be published, it will be produced as a podcast. The interesting part was the two different contracts. You do sign away some of your rights\u2026that\u2019s a little different than publishing something in a literary journal. They actually did a bit of rewriting to make it fit their production needs. The language of production is different from the language of words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ZS: Do you feel the publication of the essay that is close to home is more exciting or vulnerable than the production of the short fiction piece?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n KH: I am seeing that I can do both\u2014fiction and nonfiction\u2014there is a little pride knowing I have the capacity to do both genres. In creative nonfiction, you are sharing parts of yourself, and you do have to be willing to be vulnerable. Being selective about how much you put out there and being prepared is something to consider when submitting to literary journals. I shared it to my school, my alma mater, my family and that was revealing my own personal experiences. There is some pride and a little vulnerability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ZS: What is the essay about? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n KH: The essay is called Quaking<\/em> and was published in the third quarter issue of the Internal Human Rights art journal <\/em>with the theme of \u201cChildhood Dreams and Aspirations: Reflections on Youth Empowerment.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n This essay is about my experience as a foreigner living in Japan during the 1995 Kobe earthquake. I was a junior in high school, [so] one of things I was playing around with and reflecting on was when my mother and I were releasing supplies into the Kobe zone. 5,000-6,000 people died. When we got to the elementary school that was now a refugee camp, a woman looked at me with an accusatory face and she didn\u2019t say thank you\u2014which is important in Japanese culture. It felt to me, in this essay, Japan is closed off. Even in moments of great trauma at a country level, it doesn\u2019t open itself to foreigners, even if they were there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That is the moment I was exploring in Quaking<\/em>. I used that experience in my college application and got into every college I applied to, and I wonder if it was sympathy for Japan or for that moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ZS: That is deeply moving in so many contexts. What about the short story? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n KH: It\u2019s called a \u201cRainbow.\u201d It is about a whale being beached and two scientists going to investigate and being infected with alien parasites. It was accepted for the Creep Podcast<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ZS: Wow, to be a biologist who happens to be a writer, but it is all so cool. What do you have planned next?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n KH: I do have three more submissions out there being considered right now that I am waiting to hear back from. Another two that I am polishing for 512 and 514. I am hoping this illustrates my capacity for potential publishers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kimberly’s essay, \u201cQuaking” got nominated for inclusion in the \u201cBest American Short Stories\u201d anthology<\/em>. <\/em>Kill Subs Website is where Kimberly found all of the locations to submit to.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mid-Atlantic Emmy Winner: Julie Sidoni Yelen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Julie Sidoni Yelen received a Mid-Atlantic Emmy for her work in producing and moderating panels in \u201cHolocaust Warnings: Antisemitism and Extremism in America.\u201d The WVIA-TV program won the regional Emmy in the Interview\/Discussion-Long Form category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sidoni Yelen has served as the director of journalism at WVIA for the past three years. \u201cI was approached by the station to help with this project because of my role,\u201d Sidoni Yelen said. \u201cIt was my first big project that I worked on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The project took around a year, starting in mid-2022. It was a lot of research, bringing in and interviewing experts from all over the country. \u201cI had to make sure I was asking the right questions and do my own research before interviewing the panelists,\u201d Sidoni Yelen said. \u201cEveryone I talked to was emotional and passionate about the program\u2019s topic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to hosting panels, Sidoni Yelen was a producer for the program. \u201cI had to make sure certain graphics and elements got to air.\u201d The program is still being shown across the nation. WVIA created curriculums and events when the program was first released.<\/p>\n\n\n Sidoni Yelen came to WVIA-TV as a writer first, which has helped her every single day. \u201cIn journalism, there\u2019s a lot of writers, and good writers are valuable at organizations and companies. I use what I was taught at Wilkes to make news more creative, better written and better told.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sidoni Yelen is working on a similar project in terms of moderating panels and researching. \u201cI just did a recent panelist interview and have another coming up soon. We hope that it will take the same amount of time as this one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The program aired in July 2023 and can be viewed here: https:\/\/on-demand.wvia.org\/video\/holocaust-warnings-american-antisemitism-and-extremism-kehn0o\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Maslow Family Graduate Creative Writing Program Updates<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Next Residency!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The winter residency will feature readings from our faculty and alumni, along with visiting writers Rebecca Makkai, Rion Amilcar Scott, and Marisa de los Santos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Scholastic Writing Awards are coming to Wilkes!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Wilkes University is now the official host of the Scholastic Writing Awards for high-school students in the northeast PA region. Volunteer readers and judges are needed! The entries will be read in December and judged in January, with the awards ceremony scheduled for mid-April in the Jean and Paul Adams Commons (JPAC) in the Henry Student Center. Students and alumni who would like to volunteer as readers should email Cynthia Kolanowski (MA Publishing) at cynthia.kolanowski@wilkes.edu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Faculty Updates<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ursula Villarreal-Moura\u2019s<\/strong> novel, Like Happiness<\/em>, has been named a Best Book of 2024 (So Far) by ELLE Magazine<\/em>, Bookshop.org, and Libby, the library reading app. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dania Ramos <\/strong>was commissioned by Montclair State University and New Jersey Play Lab to write an original play about the fourth ward of Montclair, New Jersey. The play will be co-produced by Montclair State and Vanguard Theater in the fall of 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gregory Fletcher\u2019s <\/strong>novel, Tom and Huck Sitting in a Tree<\/em>, came out in January 2024, and my latest novella, The Never Land Hoax,<\/em> came out in October, both of which are part of the series Inclusive Bedtime Stories. Also, I happily spent 7 weeks this summer stage managing a new play at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater on Cape Cod. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nancy McKinley<\/strong> was a finalist judge for the James Jones First Novel Fellowship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dawn Leas (MFA 2009)<\/strong> has a poem, “The House on Frink Street,” included in Currents in the Electric City: A Scranton Anthology (<\/em>Belt Publishing) edited by Brain Fanelli (MFA 2010) University of Scranton English Professor, Dr. Joe Kraus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Student and Alumni Updates<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Chuck Mains (MA in progress): <\/strong>I have completed my foundational courses. I still like creative writing on the odd days. I still have good eyesight, more wrinkles, and a sense of humor that is heading towards the uncanny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From Jason Macey (MA in progress)<\/strong> had three poems published in the Spring 2024 issue of Door Is A Jar<\/em> Literary Magazine. I was also a paid feature in June 2024 for the Delaware Free Library (Callicoon, NY) Contemporary Poets Reading Series. <\/p>\n\n\n\n From John Roberts (MFA in progress)<\/strong>: My first poetry chapbook The Cobblestones I Know <\/em>has been published by Foothills Publishing. I’m a new artist in residency with aieNEPA and am pursuing a Fulbright Scholarship to be an ETA in Romania in September of ’25. Instagram: @JCRoberts1962<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brain Fanelli (MFA 2010)<\/strong> along with University of Scranton English Professor Dr. Joe Kraus, recently edited an anthology entitled Currents in the Electric City: A Scranton Anthology<\/em>, out now via Belt Publishing. The anthology features creative nonfiction and poetry from several alums from the Wilkes University M.A.\/M.F.A. Graduate Creative Writing Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From Julie Sidoni Yelen (MFA 2019):<\/strong>\u00a0 I have just won my first Emmy! I was awarded a Mid-Atlantic Emmy in September for best “longform interview\/discussion,” for a show I produced and moderated for WVIA called \u201cHolocaust Warnings: Antisemitism and Extremism in America.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cindy Dlugoecki (MA 2011)<\/strong> was invited to speak to seniors living at Landis Homes in Lititz about her one-woman play \u201cViolet Oakley Unveiled.\u201d In mid-October, she spoke to a sold-out audience at a Mechanicsburg gift shop about researching and crafting \u201cGhosts of Mechanicsburg.\u201d At the end of October, Cindy researched, crafted, and produced \u201cTalking Tombstones,\u201d a walking tour of a local cemetery where costumed actors portrayed the movers and shakers of nineteenth-century Mechanicsburg. Proceeds of the latter benefited the Mechanicsburg Museum Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From Jason Donnelly (MFA 2009)<\/strong>: I put out three books recently that you can find on Amazon, Cold Feat: How I Froze My Mid-Life Crisis Right Off\u2026<\/em>, ADHD ROCKS: 99 Short Reminders for the Days it Doesn\u2019t<\/em>, and How the F&%# to Human: A Guide for Anyone Going Through it For the First Time<\/em>. Go buy them, I need the money. \ud83d\ude00 <\/p>\n\n\n\n From Iris Oullette (MFA 2019)<\/strong>: My short nonfiction piece, “Doehood” was published in Where Meadows<\/em> issue 2.2 in September. I was also accepted as an artist-in-residence at the Bischoff Inn’s Microresidency in Tamaqua, PA. I’ll be participating in the residency in January 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From Jack Wolflink (MA 2023)<\/strong>: I have three short stories coming out in 2025. \u201cThe Winnower\u201d is forthcoming with Kinsman Quarterly<\/em>, \u201c<\/em>The Subject’s Name\u201d will be with the Lighthouse Community Anthology<\/em>, and \u201cTiangguis\u201d is forthcoming with Suspect Literary Magazine<\/em>. Instagram: @-jwolflink <\/p>\n\n\n\n From Lori Myers (MA 2009)<\/strong>: I have been very active with the theater scene in the New York area. During 2024, I’ve created\/produced \u201cThat’s (Not) All She Wrote\u201d, a women’s playwright festival with a unique format of interaction and improvisation at Westchester Collaborative Theater (WCT). My play, \u201cRuthie Lives Here,\u201d was also staged at WCT. My play, \u201cCivil Disobedience,\u201d a re-imagining of the January 6 insurrection, was performed at Axial Theater in September 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Linda Nguyen (MFA 2014)<\/strong> was the principal writer on \u201cPrince of Persia: The Lost Crown,\u201d a 2.5D side-scrolling action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montpellier. She continued writing for the DLC (downloadable content) titled \u201cMask of Darkness\u201d which launched on September 17th, 2024. \u201cPrince of Persia: The Lost Crown\u201d is nominated for two Unity Awards: The Golden Cube Award and Best 3D Visuals. The game is also nominated for Console Game of the Year at the 42nd annual Golden Joystick Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENTS, WRITERS!! \ud83d\udc4f<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Meet the editors! Hi! I\u2019m Elizabeth Cunningham, and I\u2019m very excited to be one the editors for Revise This! and The Writer\u2019s Life! I started my graduate journey in June 2023 straight out of undergrad, and I\u2019m currently working on my M.A. capstone project in fiction. When I\u2019m not reading and writing, I can be… Read More »Publication to Production<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revisethis.wilkes.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revisethis.wilkes.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revisethis.wilkes.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revisethis.wilkes.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revisethis.wilkes.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=706"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/revisethis.wilkes.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":711,"href":"https:\/\/revisethis.wilkes.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706\/revisions\/711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revisethis.wilkes.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revisethis.wilkes.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revisethis.wilkes.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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