Faculty:
“Takimi-no-chaya, Rikugien,” the seventh of eight poems in MFAW- VT faculty member Kenny Fries‘s “In the Gardens of Japan” cycle set by Japanese composer Kumiko Takahashi had its world premiere on September 16 as part of “The Traditional in the Contemporary — Ninety Years of Japanese Compositions,” at Orvis Auditorium, University of Hawaii – Manoa, in Honolulu. The song was sung by Mika Kimula, Kenny’s long time Japanese collaborator; Hidejirō Honjō played the shamisen.
MFAW-VT faculty member Kyle Bass is working as dramaturg with renowned visual artist and MacArthur “Genius” Carrie Mae Weems on the creation of her first-ever theatre piece Grace Notes: Reflections for Now. Following its premiere earlier this summer at Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, NC, Grace Notes was recently presented in sold-out performances at Yale Rep. Here is a link to a short documentary on Grace Notes.
Alumni and Students:
MFAW-VT alumna Lucy Snyder’s story, “While the Black Stars Burn” is in the new issue of Turn to Ash, and her poems “Scary”, “Dangerous” and “turnt” are in the new anthology Scary Out There (Simon & Schuster).
MFAW-VT student Anne Boaden’s mini-graphic novel, The Adventures of Captain Leatherneck, published in “Unexpected,” has received the Highly Commended recognition (top ten of the short-listed group) in the Yeovil Literary Prize in the Writing Without Restriction category.
MFAW-WA student Darlene Reilley‘s poem “We Are The Explorers” was launched into space on the OSIRIS-Rex Asteroid Sample Return Mission. Darlene’s name and poem is going to the asteroid Bennu and is due back on Earth in 2023. Darlene writes, “I can’t go into the stars yet, but my words are! @OSIRISREx ”
MFAW-WA student Lydia Valentine had three poems, “Snohomish School Board Meeting,” “Requiem for a Mother,” and “Dread,” as part of the Tacoma art gallery display Check the Volume: A Revolution of Self-Love , a free art gallery and community event.
MFAW-VT student Jarrett Mazza‘s short story “The Man Behind The Door” will be in The Wake of the Moon, a short story anthology published by the Poetry Institute of Canada, to be released in February 2017.
MFAW-VT alumna Christine Kalafus was named Assistant Director, Avon Programming for Westport Writers’ Workshop in Connecticut. Westport Writers’ Workshop is a non-profit adult literary center that until now had been located only in Fairfield County. The expansion of a new studio into Hartford County at the Farmington Valley Arts Center is the first of four satellite studios around the state Christine will be spearheading. Christine says, “My experience at Goddard, from completing the graduate requirements to being Editor-in-Chief of The Pitkin Review gave me the necessary credentials to perform in my new role.”
MFAW-WA student Scott Morris his essay “Costa Rica,” published in coldnoon.
MFAW-WA alum Will Sweger was hired by the Richard Hugo House in Seattle as their new Registration, Membership & Engagement Director. The Hugo House is a community writing center in Seattle offering classes, literary events, and scholarships.
