In the Spotlight – Page 2 – Graduate Writing Studies

Four Questions for Professor Eleanor Stanford

By Heather Foster In Faculty Contributions & News, In the Spotlight February 24, 2016

Here are Professor Ellie Stanford’s responses to our four questions. (Sorry about the delay, Professor Stanford).

Courtesy of Bartram’s Garden

What is your current writing project? (Or do you have a link to a recent publication you’d like to share with our grad students?)

I’m currently working on poems that come out of my recent Fulbright experience in rural Bahia. Ostensibly the poems are about traditional midwifery–but they’re also about questions of marriage, the female body, birth, and death…with a few folk remedies for snakebite and toothache thrown in.

Here’s a link to a recently published (unrelated) poem:

http://subtropics.english.ufl.edu/eleanor-stanford-poetry/

What are you reading, for work or pleasure?

Poetry by Adrienne Su, Sarah Blake, Louise Gluck, and Pablo Neruda; essays by James Baldwin; Patti Smith’s new memoir, M Train.

What are you listening to (music/podcast/radio program)?

Music: Hank Williams, Gillian Welch, bossanova, Gilberto Gil, whatever jazz standards my kids are practicing (currently Night in Tunisia and Blue Monk)

Podcasts: This American Life, Radiolab, Longform, Dear Sugar

When you’re not on campus, where’s your happy place?

Before it gets too cold: at the park, playing frisbee and practicing handstands with my kids.

After it gets too cold: hot yoga studio!

In the Spotlight – Alum John McManus

By Heather Foster In In the Spotlight, Student & Alumni Contributions February 4, 2016

A bit of good news from SJU Writing Studies alum John McManus

Photo Courtesy of John McManus

My name is John McManus and I am a proud alum of the Writing Studies program at Saint Joseph’s University. I graduated in May 2015. I have searched the SJU Career Center Job Database many times since I graduated. Earlier this month, I found a position with isportsweb.com to be a Sports Writer. I have been a Philadelphia Flyers’ and Philadelphia Phillies’ fan for thirty years. I applied to the position and asked the isportsweb.com team if I could write about the Flyers and the Phillies, and they agreed. You can view my articles on the site if you visit http://www.isportsweb.com/author/mcmanus. I do not have a set posting schedule, but right now I am writing two articles per week for isportsweb. As of this writing, I have posted one article about the Phillies and two about the Flyers. I am really enjoying this opportunity and working with the isportsweb team has been a pleasure.

John’s latest post, dated January 26, 2016, can be found here. Thanks for keeping us up to date, John, and congrats on your new gig!

If anybody else out there would like to share news about themselves, shoot me an email at hfoster@sju.edu. We love hearing all your success stories. Thanks!

Four Questions for Dr. Aisha D. Lockridge

By Heather Foster In Faculty Contributions & News, In the Spotlight, Stuff You Oughta Know December 15, 2015

Dr. Aisha D. Lockridge

We have absolutely the best professors in the Writing Studies program! Read on for Dr. Lockridge’s take on our four questions:

What is your current writing project? (Or do you have a link to a recent publication you’d like to share with our grad students?)

Much of what I write springs from common practices: teaching, participating in Black popular culture, and reading widely. Currently I am working on a manuscript chapter which examines the limits of racial passing set against the potential relief available in the vexed relationship between strategic essentialism and Afro-Pessimism in Matt Johnson’s Loving Day and will debut part of it at the 2016 College Language Association (CLA) Annual Conference. Initially inspired by Love and Hip Hop Atlanta, I am also completing a Revise and Resubmit article for Palimpsest on the performative possibilities of ignorance and ratchetedness as strategic tools for survival. And finally, I am providing a link to an article, “Practice and Performance: Teaching Urban Literature at the Less than Liberal Arts,” published in Hybrid Pedagogy on my experience discovering the real value of, and methods for, teaching difficult texts in inhospitable environments for the good of students, teachers and institutions of higher learning: http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/journal/practice-performance-teaching-urban-literature-less-liberal-arts/

What are you reading, for work or pleasure?

I just finished Lev Grossman’s The Magicians and am making my way through Margo Jefferson’s Negroland, Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric, and a stack of undergraduate essays examining the gendered and technological connections between Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and Alex Garland’s film, Ex-Machina.

What are you listening to (music/podcast/radio program)?

Last download: Erykah Badu’s But You Caint Use My Phone. In current heavy rotation: Adele’s 25, Sza’s Z, Alice Smith’s She, B.O.B’s Strange Clouds, Bryson Tiller’s Trapsoul. I regularly listen to, and liberally quote from, the weekly podcast “The Read”.

When you’re not on campus, where’s your happy place?

Today, it’s reading a good book, completely undisturbed, in bright, natural light.

Website: aishalockridge.com Twitter: @AishaDamali_PhD

Thanks for participating, Dr. Lockridge! Think I’ll check out those books you mentioned.

Ryan Halligan’s Parting Words for Writing Studies

By Heather Foster In In the Spotlight, Student & Alumni Contributions December 3, 2015

Ryan Halligan is our next volunteer for the Parting Words questionnaire.

Ryan Halligan

Do you have any parting words or shout-outs to share with current students and faculty?

Thanks to the director, faculty, and administrative staff of the Writing Studies program—all of them top notch. Thank you as well to my classmates who dedicated thoughtful responses during workshops and raised the bar by sharing their fantastic writing.

A special thank you to Father Brennan for his guidance and valuable input as my thesis advisor.

Which Writing Studies course or course reading was most interesting or useful to you? Why?

Creative Nonfiction with Dr. Spinner and Poetry with Professor Stanford. Both were workshops, and both invaluable. The genres share a real kinship: writing as a journey to discovery.

How do you plan to use your Master’s Degree in your career?

I plan to teach as an adjunct for a part-time second job. Coursework like The Writing Teacher Writing with Dr. Green has motivated me to consider teaching again. Also, I’m going to keep up my practice of writing and submit, submit, submit.

Do you have any tips for future students about choosing classes, juggling the workload, or writing a thesis?

If you work full time, go easy on yourself and maybe take one or two classes at a time. Working inside of your available time and space allows for getting the most out of the course. The program’s catalogue offers a good range, so choose the classes that suit your needs/tastes/career goals. Don’t forget to try something new, as well.

Thanks for your input, Ryan, and congratulations!

Parting Words by SJU Writer Don Philbrick

By Heather Foster In In the Spotlight, Student & Alumni Contributions November 23, 2015

Don Philbrick
(Nice beard)

Don published Uglyville under the name Sawney Hatton.

Do you have any parting words or shout-outs to share with current students and faculty?

I didn’t know what to expect from a graduate writing program—besides the degree—but I can honestly say all my classes were engaging, enlightening, and enjoyable. This can be attributed to the outstanding professors in the program. Every one of them deserves commendation of the highest order.

I would like to spotlight a couple of folks: Tenaya Darlington, Graduate Director of Writing Studies and a damn fine professor, for all her guidance throughout my time in the program; and Dr. Paul Patterson, my thesis advisor, who helped me polish my novella UGLYVILLE into the shiny opus it is today. Both deserve extra credit for putting up with my nonsense. (As do all of my professors, come to think of it.)

Which Writing Studies course or course reading was most interesting or useful to you? Why?

The most invaluable part of my classes was the feedback from my instructors and peers, a talented bunch who really contributed to improving and encouraging my work. I hope I was able to return the favor in equal measure.

How do you plan to use your Master’s Degree in your career?

In addition to earning a living wage writing and editing, I would also love to teach. Pursuing my Master’s Degree has already opened more doors for me in all these arenas.

Do you have any tips for future students about choosing classes, juggling the workload, or writing a thesis?

Choose the classes that interest you. Don’t procrastinate about getting assignments done. Write the best thesis you can. Eliminate anybody who gets in your way.

Any advice about writing in general?

Pay attention. Pay attention to everything you read, everything you watch on TV and at the movies. Pay attention when you are strolling down the street, driving in traffic, or eating at a restaurant. The world—all the people, places, and things you encounter—is your source of information and inspiration. Greedily accept everything it has to offer.

Write. Write fearlessly. Write powerfully. Write diligently. Write.

Be your own cheerleader and champion. Successful writers put themselves out there. After you have your work thoroughly critiqued and edited, submit it to literary magazines, query agents and producers, self publish (gasp!) it. Whatever you have to do to get people to read your writing, do it. Do not be afraid to promote yourself. Do not be afraid of rejection. There are many great writers out there who are floundering in obscurity, and many not-so-great writers who have become popular and prosperous. The difference between a successful writer and an unsuccessful one often lies in how they sell themselves. Shine your light as far as you can cast it.

Graduate Writing Studies

Category: In the Spotlight