Alumni Roundup
Balogh, Maria Teresa (2007, Fiction) had her short story “La mordida” published as a chapter in the anthology Más allá de las fronteras: cuento (Ediciones Nuevo Espacio, New Jersey, 2004). She received fellowships for the 2004 and 2006 Summer Literary Seminars in St. Petersburg, Russia with her short story “Sundays at the Gulf” and her poem “Before Beginning to Endure.” Her micro fiction story “Previews” was semifinalist in River Styx Schaffley Beer contest in 2006. She has two poems in Bellerive Magazine with a third coming out in the February 2008 issue. Also she has two poems coming out later this spring in the first issue of Untamed Ink.
Bancks, Melissa Gurley (2002, Poetry) was recently published in Poetry Southeast. In the past she has published in Hayden's Ferry Review, Big Muddy: A Journal of the Mississippi River Valley, Souwester, The U.S. Latino Review, A Teacher's Voice, The Cape Rock, Sudden Stories, Key West: A Collection, Boulevard and Natural Bridge. Melissa was awarded first place in Prentice Hall's fiction contest for students run in conjunction with Hayden's Ferry and received Honorable Mention in Boulevard's fiction contest, Issue 20. She is getting back in the submission game with a book of poems, Heading South, a compilation of new and revised work and is currently looking for a publisher for her novel. Melissa is director of the Howard Nemerov Writing Scholars, Washington University, and serves as judge and fund-raiser for the River Styx Founder's Award, an annual poetry award for high school youth in St. Louis. She is also on the auxiliary board for River Styx and meets with other writers in St. Louis to discuss work.
Bogard, Denise Pattiz (2003, Fiction) has been writing professionally for 30 years with publications in (among others) Oklahoma Literary Review, Teacher Magazine, Lady's Circle, Chicago Medicine, St. Louis Magazine, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and P-D Magazine, and the forthcoming anthology Are We Feeling Better Yet? Women's Encounters with Health Care in America. She has won a variety of writing and professional development awards, including: Best Program/Residency Artist Award, from Young Audiences; Best Paper in Graduate Composition Course, 1999, UMSL-Dept. Of English; Honorable Mention, Graduate Creative Writing, 2002, UMSL-Women’s Studies. During her "former life" as founding partner in the public relations agency, Bogard & Finkel Communications, she also won numerous writing, editing and publications awards from Advertising Federation of St. Louis, International Association of Business Communicators, Missouri Association of Hospital P.R./Marketing; United Way of Greater St. Louis. Denise’s current project is revising her first novel AFTER ELISE , which she will be sending out early this year. She is also on the third draft of her second novel, OUTSIDE THE LINES. Denise teaches writing and coordinates the writing and literacy program at Lift For Life Academy, a charter middle school in downtown St. Louis that services at-risk children of poverty. She has also taught writing in the Clayton School District and for Young Audiences and Springboard to Learning, was an adjunct instructor at Webster University, and periodically conducts professional development workshops on how to teach writing. Denise is founder and coordinator of St. Louis Writers Workshop, created in 1998.
Bowman, Deborah (1999, Fiction) is the Managing Editor of the international medical journal, Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. She is “the voice of GIE,” making recordings each month of abstracts for audio downloads, available through iTunes. She also runs her own publishing company, ImagineInk Publishing in Wentzville, Missouri, helping people who want to self-publish (including Becky Ellis, whose Cherry Pie Press published a number of authors). ImagineInk also publishes a bimonthly mailed magazine, Echo, about the city of Wentzville (circulation about 12,500 homes). As the Editor-in-Chief she is published every other month as author of many of the articles and an editorial each issue.
Brown, Trysh (2006, Fiction), during her seven years in the program, has published “Chipped” on Women’s Writers.net and “No Wake Zone” on Paw Prints Fiction Magazine. In 2003 she won the Graduate Prize for Prose and was nominated for a New Letters Literary award and the AWP Intro Journals Project literary competition. Since graduating, Trysh has taught the UMSL Continuing Education course “Minding Your Creativity.” She continues to reside in the St. Louis area, taking part in a new writer’s group and contemplating a collection of short stories.
Carrick, Alison (2007, Poetry) has a poem ,"Exotica Mile," published in Touchstone.
Creighton, Allison (2005, Poetry) has work appearing in New Harvest: Jewish Writing in St. Louis: 1998-2005 and in Natural Bridge. She currently teaches at Fontbonne University.
Dahlheimer, Seema Mukhi (2006, Fiction) has stories appearing in Word Riot (e-zine) and Sidereality (e-zine). She is working on publishing a young adult novel entitled Strange Way Home. She is also working on a new novel, as yet untitled. Seema is Writing Programs Coordinator at Washington University, a freelance business writer, and part-time ACT/SAT tutor.
Earhart, Julie (2000, Fiction) has many fiction and nonfiction publications. Her fiction includes Home Sweet Home & Other Dangerous Places, a short story collection, and Kent’s Heavenly Adventure (A Toots Publication). She has stories in the following anthologies and on-line journals: Harvest, Cuivre River, Cuivre River Too, Echoes of the Ozarks I, II, III, Sweetgum Notes, Taj Mahal Review (three stories), The Storyteller, Insights: A Collection of Contemporary Short Stories, Well Versed (2004, 2003, 2002), The Color Gallery: An Anthology of World's Great Short Stories, Passions, Palimpsest, and a One-Act Play “Death in the Afternoon,” in Stirring: A Literary Collection. Her articles and essays can be found in Sauce Magazine, Show-Me Missouri Magazine, Armchair Interviews, Bookmarks Magazine, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 13 Traveling Journal Project contributor, PopCobbler Magazine, AAA Midwest Traveler Magazine, Frontier Airlines, AAA Southern Traveler, Spirit Seeker Magazine, and various newsletters. Julie is currently working on a second collection, as yet untitled, and revising her Master’s novel, tentatively titled The Walnut Box. She works in the St. Louis Public Library's Marketing Department; she also serves as board member of Walrus Publishing; as Judge for various writing contests on a local and state level, and as editor for various books. She teaches fiction at Chesterfield Arts.
Earney, Anne (2005, Fiction) has stories appearing in Hamilton Stone Review, Night Train, The Binnacle, Kennesaw Review, Versal, Kaleidowhirl, Interstice, NEB Publishing, Big Ugly Review, Flyway, and Murder, Mystery, Madness, Magic, and Mayhem II: Triskaideka. Anne is working on a collection of short stories tentatively called The Diamonds and is employed as a crew member at Trader Joe's in Brentwood.
Fortier III, George E. (2007, Poetry) has poems appearing in Pleiades, MARGIE: The American Journal of Poetry, Sonora Review, Cortland Review, Snow Monkey, Crab Creek Review, The Cape Rock, American Journal of Nursing, The Potomac, Triplopia, and Paper Street. He won two 1st place awards ($500) and two 2nd place awards in the Wednesday Club poetry competition. George is cofounder, with poet Kirk Swearingen, of “The Project,” a writers group that has promoted the exchange and public reading of poetry since 1994. He works as managing editor, Research Division, at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
George, Mark (2004, Fiction) has short stories appearing in The Greensboro Review, Green Mountains Review, The Beloit Fiction Journal, and The MacGuffin. His poems appear in The G.W. Review and River Styx. Mark’s awards include: First Prize, The Greensboro Review Literary Award for Fiction 2006; Pushcart Prize Nomination 2006; and Second Runner-up, Poets and Writers Writers Exchange Contest 2007. Mark’s current project is a novel under the working title Kill Rock Stars. He works as municipal arborist and grant writer for the City of St. Peters, Missouri Parks Department.
Goddard, Janet (2001, Fiction) received honorable mention for her first novel, Shake the Middle Tree in the 2006 Charles and Lois Cook Writing Prize (KOMENAR Publishing). Her short stories "Beare's Widow," and "Old Tyme" have been recognized by the University of Missouri-St. Louis' annual "Best Fiction" competition. Her story "I.A.C. Technical Support" was a finalist for Hourglass Books. The Associated Writing Programs recognized Janet's creative nonfiction piece "The Bee Weeks" in their "New Beginnings" competition. Janet has been teaching in a variety of venues for the past 10 years. She taught a variety of English and writing courses at the college level for UM-St. Louis, Washington University, and St. Louis Community Colleges at Meramec and Forest Park. Janet taught creative writing workshops for St. Louis Writer's Workshop, and was a creative writer Resident Artist for Young Audiences. Presently, Janet is working on her second novel, as well as a musical and teaches English and creative writing full time at Visitation Academy.
Goyette-Kreuter, Marie (2006, Fiction) has stories published in The Southeast Review ("Something to Be Removed") and in The North American Review ("Something Dreaming"). In 2005 she won UMSL's graduate prize in fiction for her story "One Pink, One Black," which was published in Feminist Studies. Her current projects include a novella titled "An Absence of Color" and a collection of stories. She resides with her husband and cat in the village of Wilder, Vermont, where she works as a freelance editor.
Hamilton, Angela (2001, Fiction) has stories appearing in Natural Bridge and the anthology Peculiar Pilgrims: Stories From the Left Hand of God. Her essays can be found in 52nd City, Sauce Magazine, and Ghoti Magazine; her essay “Outside of Trevi, a Car Approaches” was editors’ choice for Travelers’ Tales. She has also written a film script, Taking Orders, for Grand Moments, a film project devoted to the history of South Grand Boulevard. Angela is currently teaching at Fatih University in Istanbul on a faculty exchange and working on a collection of essays based on this experience. She is an Assistant Professor of English at St. Louis Community College at Meramec.
Hamlett, Laura (2001, Fiction) has put her M.F.A. to good use in writing band biographies, CD and concert reviews, and artist profiles...all in the name of music. In 2002, Laura and her husband Jim Dunn founded PLAYBACK:stl, a music & entertainment publication in print four and a half years before going web-only. She also heads up Bigfatcat, a music management and public relations firm. Though her submissions have been limited to nonfiction in recent years, she's had articles in print for her own magazine as well as STL Sound. This spring, she plans to join the adjunct faculty in Sports & Entertainment Management at Fontbonne University's Options Program. She knows she's got more fiction in her--”it's just a matter of time.”
Hayden, Kendra Paredes (2005, Fiction), adjunct professor at Lindenwood University, has works published in The Louisville Review at Spalding University, Natural Bridge, Upstreet, Hiss Quarterly, ESC! Magazine, Buffalo Carp, 21 Stars, and NorthernPros Finalist. She is currently working on a Mesoamerican myth project--a collection of short stories called Beyond the Colored Mountains. Kendra is a feature and advetorial writer for Lipstik Magazine, a magazine for women, and Lifestyle Magazine, a magazine for seniors, published by the daily Belleville News Democrat.
Hurst, Spencer (1999, Poetry) has poetry and stories appearing in Natural Bridge, River King Poetry Supplement, Blue Moon, Gigantic, Salamander Magazine, and Words and Dreams-Part 12; he also had four opinion columns published, competitive selection, in Suburban Journals. His awards include several poetry prizes sponsored by St. Louis Poetry Center: Third Prize--48th annual contest, Honorable Mention--44th annual contest, Honorable Mention--41st annual contest, Third Prize--40th annual contest, First Prize--37th annual contest, Honorable Mention--37th annual contest, and Honorable Mention-- 35th annual contest. He was selected as one of seven winners in a juried contest,“Portraits by Poets,” also sponsored by the St. Louis Poetry Center. He is currently working on a collection, Alibis and Penance. Spencer was Fiction Editor for Watermark, 1997, and has been a member of St. Louis Poetry Center since 1997. He is Associate Professor of English, Lindenwood University.
Jackson, Andrea (2007, Fiction) has poetry and short-shorts published online in Kaleidowhirl, The Hiss Quarterly, Triplopia Review, and Poetry Midwest. Her work has appeared in print in Margie, Rhino, caesura, The Sow’s Ear Poetry Review, The Eleventh Muse, Periphery: A Magical Realist Zine, and the anthology New Harvest: Jewish Writing in St. Louis 1998-2005. She was a finalist in the 2003 William Faulkner Creative Writing Contest, has received two Pushcart nominations, and was nominated for the Stanley Hanks Prize offered by the St. Louis Poetry Center and for Sundress Publications’ Best of the Net anthology. One of her poems was selected for the “Poetry Jumps Off the Shelf” program 2007, sponsored by Woodrow Hall Editions in Madison, Wisconsin.
Jones, Eve (2004, Poetry) has published poems in journals such as AGNI, Hotel Amerika, Nimrod, and Poet Lore, and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She teaches at Lindenwood University, where she is currently directing the MFA in Writing program.
Lindsey, Brian (2005, Poetry) has poems published in Primitive Archer Magazine ("The Hart") and Cranog ("Mechanical Graffiti"). He is busy as a house husband, works with Friends of Natural Bridge, and belongs to UMSL’s MFA writers group.
Lowery, Emily (2004, Fiction) won Cave Hollow Press’ 2005 Murder, Mystery, Madness and Mayhem anthology contest, and her story was published in 5M2: Triskaideka. Other stories and essays have appeared in two of The Binnacle’s Ultra-Short Editions, Big Ugly Review, Red Wheelbarrow, Cenotaph Pocket Editions, Opium Magazine, and Ladue News Magazine. Emily is working on a collection, tentatively titled Fifteen Ways to Leave Your Lover. She is Entertainment Editor for The Daily Sauce (thedailysauce.com) and a freelance writer and editor for Sauce Magazine.
Lowes, Robert (2007, Poetry) has publications in The Cape Rock, The Christian Century, Cooweescoowee, Hiram Poetry Review, The Jabberwock Review, The Marlboro Review, The New Republic, Perspectives: A Journal of Reformed Thought, Regeneration Quarterly, Sentence: A Journal of Prose Poetics, The Tampa Review, Blink, and The Worcester Review. He won the Graduate Poetry Prize in 2005 and 2006, first place in the 2005 Wednesday Club competition, and the 2003 Intro Journal Award, Associated Writing Programs. He is currently circulating a manuscript of poetry among publishers titled An Honest Hunger. Robert is a journalist for Medical Economics, a magazine for physicians, and is a past president and board member of the St. Louis Poetry Center. He organized two literary readings that focused on the natural world at The Green Center, an environmental education organization in University City, and he has conducted poetry workshops in elementary school classes.
McKee, Colleen (2005, Poetry) recently published her chapbook My Hot Little Tomato with Cherry Pie Press. Her poems also appear in Sonnet Writers, Harrington Lesbian Fiction Quarterly, Tattoo Highway, Breathing Out (Ed. Becky Ellis and Nan Sweet, Cherry Pie Press), Confluence, Inter-Action St. Louis, Bellevue Literary Review, Poetry Daily, Bridges, Eclipse, and Women Artists Datebook, 1998 ed. (Ed. Teresa Florack, Syracuse Cultural Workers, 2007). She has published personal essays in Harrington Lesbian Fiction Quarterly, Just Like a Girl (Ed. Michelle Sewell, GirlChild Press, 2008), Lit-Cast ( <www.lit-cast.com> with an audio webcast and a recording available on CDs), The Ecology of Absence, Under the Arch: St. Louis Stories (2004), Without a Net: The Female Experience of Growing Up Working Class (2004). Her fiction appears in Bridges: A Journal for Jewish Feminists and Our Friends (1996), and Salamander (St. Louis 1996). Colleen has also published literary reviews and worked as co-editor and news writer for The Circle and Confluence. Her awards include Honorable Mention, Sonnet Writers Contest 2006; Third Place, Wednesday Club Original Poetry Contest 2006; Honorable Mention, Ray Bradbury Poetry Contest 2006; Honorable Mention, Wednesday Club Original Poetry Contest 2004; Graduate Essay Award, 2004; Institute of Women and Gender Studies Graduate Creative Writing Award 2004; and Graduate Poetry Award, 2003. Colleen is currently co-editing, along with Amanda Crowell Stiebel, Are We Feeling Better Yet?, an anthology of personal essays about women and healthcare, which is currently under negotiations with a publisher. Colleen works as Adjunct lecturer at UMSL in English, Honors, and WGS, as tutor for Disability Access, and as freelance editor. She has done recent readings as benefits for Gravois Park Community Gardens and Black Bear Bakery and is a member of two women writers groups, It's My Monkey! and Loosely Identified.
Mead, Beth (2004, Fiction) is Assistant Professor of Humanities at Lindenwood University, teaching composition, literature, and creative writing. She received Honorable Mention in River Styx Micro-Fiction Contest 2007 for her story "Sketching Venice." She is currently writing poetry and prose poems in between grading papers, until her “fiction muse returns.”
Niederlander, Carol (2005, Poetry) has published poems in Delmar and Natural Bridge. In 2007 she reviewed Jerry Harp's last book of poetry for Pleiades, and her review of Janet McAdams' Feral will appear in the summer 2008 issue of Pleiades. She plans to continue reviewing and to finally submit more of her own work for publication. Carol is a board member of River Styx and recently retired from teaching composition, technical writing, and American Literature at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park. She also chaired the Art Department there for six years and later directed the Writing Center.
Nye, Michael (2006, Fiction) has stories published in Sou'wester, Timber Creek Review, and Thin Air, and is currently working on a novel and a collection of short stories. Michael is Managing Editor of River Styx, a Lecturer in Pierre Laclede Honors College, and Director of Washington University's Summer Writers Institute.
Pastor, Rebecca (2007, Fiction) is a St. Louis-based writer and editor. She has published a variety of work, including feature articles and book reviews. Her work has focused on cooking, health, diabetes, sustainability issues in food production, green living, ecology, heirlooms, botany and gardening. Her most recent publications include three cover stories and several features for Sauce Magazine. She copyedited the books in the St. Louis Metromorphosis Book Series, including the recently published St. Louis Plans: The Ideal and the Real St. Louis (December 2007). Her previous writing projects have included work with Barnes-Jewish Hospital’s Diabetes Education, the Clayton Farmer’s Market, Abundant Life Seed Foundation and Seeds For Tomorrow. She is accomplished in grant writing, public relations and community collaboration. Rebeccca’s current project is her web site http://beckyandthebeanstock.com, dedicated to a celebration of food. It is about “hailing the beauty and diversity in the plant world and the joy of cooking and eating with friends, and the stories that emerge from those experiences.” Rebecca works for the University of Missouri - St. Louis Public Policy Research Center as writer and editor.
Pleimann, John (2003, Poetry) has recently published in The Gettysburg Review, Poetry Daily, Antioch Review, The Evansville Review, The Connecticut Review, The Atlanta Review, Natural Bridge, and Margie. He is preparing to send out a manuscript to several book contests and is also writing short stories. John is a professor of English at Jefferson College in Hillsboro, Missouri.
Poché, Reggie (2005, Fiction) has stories appearing in River Styx and Making It Up As We Go: Students Writing and Teachers Reflecting on Post-K New Orleans. He has an article forthcoming in Reflections: A Journal of Writing, Service-Learning, and Community Literacy. His current projects include Working on a collection based on his graduate thesis, tentatively titled Antediluvian Men. He is also working on a novel tentatively titled Grand Terre. Reggie is English instructor at the University of New Orleans and English instructor for UNO Upward Bound program, a federally-funded, college preparatory program for disadvantaged youth.
Powers, Nancy (2006, Poetry) has poems in Re)verb, Main Channel Voices, Poetry Southeast, Melic Review; Fugue, Mankato Poetry Review, Small Spiral Notebook, Fan Magazine, and 5 poems in Harvest Anthology: Jewish Writing in St. Louis, 1998-2005, Brodsky Library Press, 2005. Her memoir “From the Mudville Diary” appeared in Fan Magazine. Nancy has received many awards: Wednesday Club Poetry Contest--First Prize 2006, First Prize 2004, and Runner-Up, 2003; UM-St. Louis Graduate Prize in Poetry, runner-up, 2005; St. Louis Poetry Center-- Open Category, Third Place 2000; James H. Nash Category, First Place 1999; Portrait Category, Second Place 1998; and Art in Transit Winner, 1998. Nancy is Communications Manager at Moneta Group in Clayton and teaches poetry to middle-school students as an enrichment specialist for Springboard to Learning/Young Audiences. Prior to joining Moneta Group she was a senior writer at Ladue News writing on a variety of topics including travel, design, medicine, business and not-for-profit.
Rizos, Jason (2005, Fiction) was named the 2007 runner-up for the Adirondack Review Fulton Prize. His short fiction has appeared in Fourth River, Snow Monkey, and several online literary journals, including Heavy Glow, Raving Dove, and Small Spiral Notebook. He continues to craft short fiction that is “completely out of touch with the human condition, if not mockingly so.” One day last December he talked to Tampa Press editor Richard Mathews and was told he needs to write a novel if he is ever going to go anywhere, so he hopes to do this shortly. Going nowhere, he has taught fiction writing, literature, and composition at the University of South Florida, the University of Tampa, and Stephens College. Jason manages the audio literary journal Lit-Cast, as well as the online newsstand Fiction on Demand.
Rosen, Ann Lesley (2006, Poetry) has poems appearing or forthcoming in Sambatyon, Animus, The Cape Rock, and the anthology New Harvest: Jewish Writing in St. Louis, 1998-2005. She was runner-up for the MFA Prize in Poetry in 2006.
Ryan, John (2003, Poetry) has poems appearing in Black Buzzard Review, U.S. Latino Review, River Styx, Delmar, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and a set of 5 poems in Locuspoint poetry project. His Chapbook Elements of Surprise was published by Sungrazer Press in '02; his Shakespeare sonnet parody won Honorable Mention in the Wergle Flompf Humorous Poetry Contest in '06, and his story "Andrew Chow's Bakery" appeared in MARGIN: Exploring Modern Magical Realism. He is on hiatus from working on a third hard-boiled detective novella featuring private eye Ed Darvis, tentatively titled Late Night with Coma. John is Chair of the Clayton High School English Department and is sponsor of The WORKS, Clayton High School's literary/arts magazine.
Schmeer, Matthew W. (2001, Poetry) published his chapbook, Twenty-One Cents, in 2002 (Pudding House Press); he also has numerous poems forthcoming or recently appearing in Cream City Review, The Heartland Review, Talking River, Natural Bridge, Rockhurst Review, No Tell Motel, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Kansas English, and elsewhere. He is currently working on a collection tentatively titled Thrice. Another manuscript, Once, and two chapbook manuscripts, Burn and Jerkwater, are seeking publishers. He regularly contributes book reviews to Sentence, Verse, and other small press literary journals. Matthew is an Associate Professor of English at Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, Kansas. He is also editor and publisher of Poetry Midwest <http://www.poetrymidwest.org>, book review coordinator for The Great American Pinup <http://greatamericanpinup.blogspot.com>, and editor of Johnson County Community College's Center for Teaching & Learning Centerpiece. He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for Cheryl Glenn's forthcoming textbook The Harbrace Guide to Writing.
Schroeder, Mike (2002, Fiction) published two stories in 2003: "Ten Reasons" in Hawaii Review and "The Slow Creep of the Sun" in Newport Review. As part of Tin Ceiling's annual 7/24 production in St. Louis, he has written two one-act plays: "Remote Control," co-written with Seema Mukhi Dahlheimer (2002) and "Sonic Joyride," co-written with Angela Hamilton (2004). He is an adjunct instructor in the English Department at Washington University, where he uses fiction to teach leadership concepts. Mike is the immediate past chair of the River Styx board of directors.
Smith-Jackson, Patti (2007, Fiction) was runner-up for the 2002 Graduate Fiction Prize for her story “Shoot the Swans,” which appeared in Our Stories, an on-line literary magazine in 2007. Her work appeared in Guilty Pleasures, 2002, a collection of essays from eight woman writers. Patti currently is a project manager and copywriter at Werremeyer, a creative design agency in Webster Groves, Missouri.
Stone, Ryan (2004, Fiction) has stories in or forthcoming from the strange fruit, Natural Bridge, Wisconsin Review, Whiskey Island, Fresh Boiled Peanuts, Under the Arch: St. Louis Stories, and The Madison Review. Recently he had two stories accepted by Karamu (Eastern Illinois University) and Natural Bridge. He currently has a collection that he is submitting to publishers and entering in contests, and another collection that he is starting. Ryan currently teaches writing for Danville Area Community College where he directs the creative writing program and serves as faculty advisor for Waiting for Rain, DACC's student literary magazine.
Van Doren, Sally (1999, Poetry) is winner of the 2007 Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets. She has published a book of poems, Sex at Noon Taxes (Louisiana State University Press) and has poems in many literary journals, among them Barrow Street, Boulevard, Cincinnati Review, Colorado Review, LIT, Margie, Parthenon West Review, Poetry Daily and Pool. She is working on a long poem entitled "The Sense Series," as well as two other book-length collections. Sally teaches for Springboard to Learning/Young Audiences, serves as reader for Boulevard, and is Curator for poetry workshops for St. Louis Poetry Center.
Watson, Frank (2003, Fiction) has earned his living as a writer for his entire adult life as a journalist, business writer, and fiction writer. Fawcett published historical westerns under his own name: A Cold Dark Trail and The Homecoming of Billy Buchanan. He wrote several other novels under a pseudonym for a series published by Zebra/Kensington. He earned his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in an effort to further hone his art and craft. During his studies, one of his short stories, “Where the Yellow Flowers Grow,” won the Graduate Fiction Prize and has been published in Mysteries of the Ozarks, Volume 1 by Skyward Publishing. Among his other awards is a First Place prize in the 2006 writing competition at the Heartland Writer's Conference, which was blind-judged by professional writers and editors. He is currently developing projects with literary quality writing and popular genres mysteries, westerns, and young adult novels. He has taught writing with Writer's Digest Schools and the University of Missouri-St. Louis and presented at numerous conferences and workshops. Frank is open to speaking at workshops, conferences, or other gatherings of writers because he believes that writing is more of a calling than a job and that writers must join together for mutual support.
Wendling, Linda (2000, Fiction) has been a Starr Novel Fellowship winner, an H.E. Butt Writer-in-Residence (Laity Lodge, Frio River Canyon), and a Milton Fellow in Fiction (Seattle Pacific University). She is a Best New Stories from the South winner (Algonquin), a William Faulkner Prize for the Novel finalist, a James Jones First Novel Prize finalist, and a Bellwether Prize for the Novel finalist (“Literature for Social Change”—sponsored by Harper/Collins and Barbara Kingsolver). She has won the Heartland Fiction Prize (New Letters) and was a finalist for Scribner's Best of the Fiction Workshops and the AWP Writers Award. She has been honored in the Carson McCullers Fiction Prize (Story Magazine), World's Greatest Short Short Story Award (Florida State University Press), and the Writer's Digest Literary Fiction Prize. Linda’s stories and novel excerpts have been published in a number of literary magazines and have been anthologized in such books as Microfiction: An Anthology of Really Short Stories (W.W. Norton) and New Stories from The South: The Year’s Best (Algonquin Press). Her first short fiction anthology, Peculiar Pilgrims—Stories from the Left Hand of God, was released by Hourglass Books in 2007. She has taught editing and writing at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, St. Louis Writers' Workshop, and most recently at Seattle Pacific University. She has been an editor and a private writing coach since 1989 and has taught courses in fiction writing and the novel as a visiting professor since 2000. She works as an education writer and editor, as well as a writing coach.
White, Kellie (1998, Poetry) is a Senior Acquisitions Editor with Elsevier/Mosby publishers in St. Louis; she has been with the company for 15 years. While raising a blended family of four, she continues to write poetry and hopes to be more diligent about writing and submitting for publication in coming years.
