VIRTUAL HOMECOMING

 Thursday, May 27, 2021 – Saturday, May 29, 2021

Thursday, May 27

12:30 – 1:15 p.m. Eastern / 11:30 – 12:15 CT / 10:30 – 11:15 MT / 9:30 – 10:15 PT.
Mixer with Faculty, Alums, and Graduating Students! No sign-up needed.

  • Alums Meet with Faculty.
  • Alums Meet with Graduating Students.


1:30 – 2:30 p.m. Eastern / 12:30 – 1:30 CT / 11:30 – 12:30 MT / 10:30 – 11:30 PT.
Faculty Reading: Silas House, Maggie Smith, K. L. Cook, Crystal Wilkinson, and Kathleen Driskell.
 
2:45 – 4:00 p.m. Eastern / 1:45 – 3:00 CT / 12:45 – 2:00 MT / 11:45 – 1:00 PT.
Alumni-led sessions

  • B. Carle (F ’16), “The Daily To-Do: A Generative Workshop in Writing the Flash Listicle.” (75-minute generative workshop)
  • Farah Casalini (CNF ’17), “A Fickle Mind: Writing Outside of Your Memory & Inside Emotional Truth.” (60-minute lecture)
  • Precious McKenzie (W4C ’20), “Using Your Senses: World Building in Writing for Children and Young Adults.” (75-minute generative workshop) 

4:15 – 5:15 p.m. Eastern / 3:15 – 4:15 CT / 2:15 – 3:15 MT / 1:15 – 2:15 PT.

  • Elizabeth Burton (F ’16), “So You Want to Publish a Literary Journal: Advice You Never Knew You Needed.” (60-minute lecture)
  • Beatrice Bowles (W4C ’03), “Into the Numinous: Primal Myths for Children.” (60-minute lecture)
  • Bobbi Buchanan (CNF ’04), “How to Build a Writing Program for Inmates, Substance Abusers, and People Recovering from Trauma.” (60-minute lecture)

5:30 – 6:45 p.m. Eastern / 4:30 – 5:45 CT / 3:30 – 4:45 MT / 2:30 – 3:45 PT.
Distinguished Visiting Writer Sena Jeter Naslund, author of Ahab’s Wife and co-founder of the MFA program. Introduction by Kathleen Driskell.

7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Eastern / 6:00 – 7: 00 CT / 5:00 – 6:00 MT / 4:00 – 5:00 PT.
LOBBY TIME! Drop in anytime and stay as long as you like!

  • By the Piano, hosted by Marjetta Geerling (W4C ’11) and Omar Figueras (F ’13)
  • Across from the Elevators, hosted by Jeffrey Fischer-Smith (PW ’17)

7:30 – 9:00 p.m. Eastern / 6:30 – 8:00 CT / 5:30 – 7:00 MT / 4:30 – 6:00 PT.
Trivia Night! Sharpen your brains, friends—we’re playing trivia! Teams of 3-5 people will compete, answering questions about writing, reading, and Spalding. Hosted by Jessica Evans (F ’15), Amy Foos Kapoor (W4C ’19), and Melanie Haws Sakalla (F ’19).

9:00 – 10:15 p.m. Eastern / 8:00 – 9:15 CT / 7:00 – 8:15 MT / 6:00 – 7:15 PT.
Café MFA. Five-minute readings by alumni. Hosted by Nancy Chen Long (P ’13). We’ll send around a sign-up sheet!

 

Friday, May 28

10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Eastern / 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. CT / 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. MT / 7:00 – 8:00 a.m. PT.
Alumni Celebration of Recently Published Books, Session 1. Nancy Chen Long (P ’13) hosts.

  • Kimberly Garts Crum (CNF ’03) and Bonnie Omer Johnson (F ’04), eds., The Boom Project: Voices of a Generation
  • Barry George (P ’09)), Sirens and Rain
  • Teddy Jones (F ‘’12), Slanted Light
  • Amy Clark (P ’04), Roundabout
  • Katy Yocom (F ’03), Three Ways to Disappear

11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Eastern / 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. CT / 9:15 – 10:15 a.m. MT / 8:15 – 9:15 a.m. PT.
Alum-led sessions

  • Claudia Love Mair (CNF ’17), “Writing to Inspire: What You Need to Know to Succeed as a Spiritual Writer.” (60-minute lecture)
  • Philip Cohen (F ’16), “Marketing Your Work.” (60-minute lecture)
  • Brett Niethamer (SW ’17), “How It All Begins: An Examination of Origin Stories in Film and Television.” (60-minute lecture)

1:30 – 2:30 p.m. Eastern / 12:30 – 1:30 CT/ 11:30 – 12:30 MT / 10:30 – 11:30 PT.
Faculty/Guest Lectures.

  • Poetry. Maggie Smith, “On the Line.”
  • Professional Writing. Andrew Soliday, guest. “Keeping a Louisville Legacy Company in the Spotlight During the Time of COVID.”
  • Professional Enrichment. Annie Frazier (F ’17), “Envisioning Revision: How to See Your Own Writing with Editors’ Eyes.”

3:00 – 3:30 Writing sprint.

2:45 – 4:00 p.m. Eastern / 1:45 – 3:00 CT / 12:45 – 2:00 MT / 11:45 – 1:00 PT.
Alumni-led sessions

  • Michele Zakis (W4C ’18), “Write Out of the Graveyard.” (75-minute generative workshop)
  • Shawna Casey (PW ’12), “Write Like a Child.” (75-minute generative workshop)
  • Kim Shaver (P ’18), “Birds and the Bees: A Generative Poetry Workshop.” (75-minute generative workshop)

3:00 – 3:30 p.m. Eastern / 2:00 – 2:30 CT / 1:00 – 1:30 MT / 12:00 – 12:30 PT.
Writing sprint. Join host Donna Gay Anderson (PW ’18) for a writing sprint using the Pomodoro method. A writing sprint is all about creating momentum by getting words on the page! Come with a writing project in mind, or just plan to free-write for 25 minutes straight. At the end, we’ll take five minutes for a quick check-in. If you feel inspired, come back tomorrow—same time, same place—for a second sprint!


4:00 – 5:15 p.m. Eastern / 3:00 – 4:15 CT / 2:00 – 3:15 MT / 1:00 – 2:15 PT. Break.


5:15 – 6:30 p.m. Eastern / 4:15 – 5:30 CT / 3:15 – 4:30 MT / 2:15 – 3:30 PT.
Alumni Celebration of Recently Published Books, Session 2. Hosted by Clint Martin (CNF ’20).

  • Scott O’Connor (F ’16), Zero Zone
  • Catherine Anthony Foy (F ’13), Bartleby: A Scrivener’s Tale
  • Connor Bjotvedt (P ’18), A Contemporary Portrait of the Southwest
  • Angela Elson (CNF ’11), Sleeping Together (as Kitty Cook)
  • Jessica Love Kim (W4C ’16), This Is for Tonight (as Jessica Patrick)
  • Angela Jackson-Brown (F ’09), When Stars Rain Down

7:00 – 8:15 p.m. Eastern / 6:00 – 7: 15 CT / 5:00 – 6:15 MT / 4:00 – 5:15 PT.
LOBBY TIME! Come hang out in the (virtual) Brown Hotel lobby. Drop in anytime and stay as long as you like!

  • By the Piano, hosted by Jenny Luper (F ’11) and Marjetta Geerling (W4C ’11)
  • Across from the Elevators, hosted by Clint Martin (CNF ’20)

9:00 – 10:15 p.m. Eastern / 8:00 – 9:15 CT / 7:00 – 8:15 MT / 6:00 – 7:15 PT.
Café MFA. Five-minute readings by alumni, including PGRAs Amy Foos Kapoor (W4C ’19) and Andrew Najberg (P ’10). Open-mic reading for other alums. Nancy Chen Long (P ’13) hosts.  We’ll send around a sign-up sheet!

 

Saturday, May 29

10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Eastern / 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. CT / 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. MT / 7:00 – 8:00 a.m. PT.
Alumni Celebration of Recently Published Books, Session 3, hosted by Marjetta Geerling (W4C ’11).

  • Jonathan Weinert (P ’05), A Slow Green Sleep
  • Alicia Anthony (F ’16), Inherent Truth
  • Precious McKenzie (W4C ’20), Ruffian
  • Jill Kelly Koren (P ’08), Though the Word Is a Lie
  • Amy Oden Simpson (PW ’13), Jeremy Plays the Blues
  • Whitney Collins (F ’18), Big Bad: Stories


11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Eastern / 10:15 – 11:15 CT / 9:15 – 10:15 MT / 8:15 – 9:15 PT.
Faculty/Guest Lectures.

  • Fiction. Crystal Wilkinson (F ’03), guest. “Still Life in Motion: Creating the Illusion of Movement in the Quiet Story.”
  • Professional Enrichment. Alicia Anthony (F ’16), “Weighing the Options: An Author’s Guide to (Reluctantly) Self-Publishing.”
  • Professional Enrichment. Keith S. Wilson, “Getting Interactive: Writing Digital ‘Choose-Your-Own-Adventure’-style Stories and Games.”

1:15 – 2:30 p.m. Eastern / 12:15 – 1:30 CT/ 11:15 – 12:30 MT / 10:15 – 11:30 PT.
Alumni-led HC sessions.

  • Joseph Schmidt (P ’03), “In defense of Coleman Barks: Considerations of Islamic Aesthetic after the Success of Rumi in America.” (60-minute lecture)
  • Angela Jackson-Brown (F ’09) and Katrina Kittle (F ’08), “Keeping it Real: How We Use Research as a Tool in our Writing.” (75-minute generative workshop)
  • Rosanna Staffa (F ’13), “Revising Our Lives.” (75-minute generative workshop)

 

2:45 – 3:15 p.m. Community Story reading. Listen to the story we created together! Sena wrote the first sentence, and each subsequent sentence was authored by a different alum. Hosted by Kimm Stammen (F ’19).

3:00 – 3:30 p.m. Eastern / 2:00 – 2:30 CT / 1:00 – 1:30 MT / 12:00 – 12:30 PT.
Writing sprint. Join host Donna Gay Anderson (PW ’18) for a writing sprint using the Pomodoro method. A writing sprint is all about creating momentum by getting words on the page! Come with a writing project in mind, or just plan to free-write for 25 minutes straight. At the end, we’ll take five minutes for a quick check-in.

3:30 – 4:30 p.m. Eastern / 2:30 – 3:30 CT / 1:30 – 2:30 MT / 12:30 – 1:30 PT.
Commencement Ceremony, Class of Spring 2021.

4:30 – 5:00 p.m. Eastern / 3:30 – 4:00 CT / 2:30 – 3:00 MT / 1:30 – 2:00 PT.
Speed Congratulations. Pop into our small-group “celebration rooms” and congratulate the graduates!

  • MAW graduates: Michelle Barger, Laura Johnsrude, Sarah Duncan Sloane.
  • MFA graduates: Christy Talbot Potvin, Rachel Phillippo, Maureen Mullins-May.
  • MFA graduates: Shirley Dees, Alisha Lavender, JoAnne Lehman.
  • MFA graduates: Jasmine Lomax, Ashley Taylor, Dana VanderLugt.
  • MFA graduates: Brent Coughenour, Patti Charron, Alexis York.
  • MFA graduates: Carroll Grossman, Brittni Caudill.
  • MFA graduates: Erin Adams, Mackenna Johnson, Joshua Smith.
  • MFA graduates: Jacqueline Aguilar, Drew Dunlop, Veronica Mattaboni.


8:00 – 9:15 p.m. Eastern / 7:00 – 8:15 CT / 6:00 – 7:15 MT / 5:00 – 6:15 PT.
Literary After Party and Homecoming Farewell. A reading by alumni who signed up in advance with Teneice Durrant (P ’06), host. After the readings, we’ll say farewell with a celebratory toast.

 

This Virtual Homecoming is brought to you by the MFA Alumni Association Steering Committee:

Donna Gay Anderson (PW ’18)
Theresa Carey (SW ’20)
Jill Cox-Cordova (F ’17)
Jeffrey Fischer-Smith (PW ’17)
Marjetta Geerling (W4CYA ’11)
Meghan Holsclaw (SW ’19)
Pat Hudson (CNF, F ’19)
Andrea Kilpatrick (W4CYA ’18)
Nancy Chen Long (P ’13)
Clint Martin (CNF ’20)
Amina McIntyre (PW ’09)
Terry Price (F ’06)
Andie Redwine-Becker (SW ’20)
Cappy Rush (PW ’12)
Katy Yocom (F ’03)

With thanks to the chair, directors, and staff of the School of Creative and Professional Writing.