While on the ferry between Vancouver and Vancouver Island, a First Nations man in his sixties, held out the postcard I had given to his granddaughter a few moments earlier. It was the postcard my publisher had created with the cover of my book, Tears in the Grass, on one side, a brief summary of the novel on the other side. I had a few seconds of panic until he asked where he could buy my book.
Frances Nicholson graduated from Spalding’s MFA program in the spring of 2004 – a part of the second full class of grads – in the genre of poetry. His wife, Cynthia Allar, also graduated that year (they met at Spalding).
Frances runs a blog, but not in poetry. He is (as you can see below) a theatrical critic in the greater Los Angeles area, and a member of the LADCC, which – among other things – issues awards to the large theatrical community in L.A. every March.
On this episode of A Day in the Life we Summer 2015 grad Anna Urquhard. She is a fiction writer from Schaefferstown, PA. She is one busy woman with many writing and English-related jobs. She also has the dream of most writers, I think: a small writing house separate from her home. (I am extremely jealous). It was great to hear from Anna and learn more about her daily routine and writing process.
Now let’s hear from Anna
On this episode of A Day in the Life we meet 2016 grad Emily Vander Ark. She writes for children and young adults and is a writing and composition teacher. Emily lives in Southwest Michigan. It was great to hear from Emily and learn more about her daily routine and writing process.
Now let’s hear from Emily.
Want to meet up with agents and editors?
Want to hone your writing skills with other dedicated writers?
This list can help.
I’ve put together some upcoming conferences and residencies for the first half of 2018 to help you reach your writing goals this year. If you’re going to attend any, let us know in the Spalding Alumni Facebook group so we can meet up with fellow alumni while there.
On this episode of A Day in the Life we Spring 2017 grad Jill Cox- Cordova. She is a fiction writer with a background in journalism, and an interest in nonfiction. Jill lives near Atlanta and works as an English Comp. teacher when she’s not writing. It was great to hear from Jill and learn more about her daily routine and writing process.
Now let’s hear from Jill.
With the new year fast approaching, I wanted to put together a list of contests with deadlines in December and some into January. You can start 2018 off on the right foot by getting your work out there and maybe getting a little prize money and the recognition your work deserves in 2018. Here is by no means an exhaustive but it’s definitely a good place to start if you want to get your work out there.
Fall 2017 Residency in Louisville just wrapped up and has sent us our newest alums. I was able to catch up with a few of them during the crazy few weeks leading up to their graduation residency to ask some of them a few questions and welcome them into the alumni association.
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On this episode of A Day in the Life we meet newbie alum (as she calls it) Annie Frazier Crandell, a Spring 2017 graduate. She is mostly a fiction writer (that’s what she studied at Spalding), but she also writes poetry and hopes to one day dabble in both Writing for Children and CNF. Annie lives in Central Florida where, she says, the air is almost always steam shower thick. It was great to hear from Annie and learn more about her writing process. I think you’ll all enjoy this interview because, as you can already see with a few quotes I give, she has a great voice that makes her writing so fun to read.
Now, let’s hear from Annie:
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NaNoWriMo is an acronym for National Novel Writing Month. Every November the NaNoWriMo foundation encourages would-be novelists to just sit down and finally write that novel in a supportive environment. Writers from all over the world sign up for the challenge and commit to trying to write 50,000 words in just one month. It may sound impossible, but last year alone almost 400,000 writers signed up.
Spalding MFA Alumni 