Student News

Colby Cuppernull very recently accepted a fully funded position in Western Michigan University's MFA in Fiction program. He will begin the program in the fall and will teach Writing and Thought as a part of his TA award.

Aaron J. Diehr had a poem, "Illusive Pastoral," published in KSU's Touchstone Magazine in this Spring's issue. Also, he has been accepted to present a paper at the International Student Byron Conference this June in Messolonghi, Greece.His paper is tentatively entitled, "Byron, Juan, and the Narcissistic Narrator: Reformulating Homoeroticism in Don Juan as Self-Love." 

Jill Dudones will be a contributing freelance writer for the Chicago Tribune (Sunday Q Section). Her first article is on "Boot Camp Fitness Programs Order Chicago to Get in Shape" and the second is on how the "New Chicago Baby Boom Spurs Luxury Pre-natal Specialty Services."

Somy Kim has accepted a Pre-emptive Fellowship to study at the University of Texas at Austin in their PhD program for Comparative Literature. She hopes to explore theory of the Novel pertaining to modern Persian and post-colonial Arabic narratives.

Bryant Manning is a contributing classical music critic at the Chicago Sun-Times.

Michael McCarthy (first-year MAW) has published his first book, The Sun Farmer, a story about Ted Fink, a farmer so badly burned in a tractor accident that only his feet, protected by his new steel-toe boots, were spared the flames. His book is due out next month. Michael was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing by editors at the Wall Street Journal for his two-part series on life-and-death decisions caused by medical advances.

Kelly Muisenga recently accepted a teaching position at Downer Grove South High School. She will be teaching 3 junior English classes and 2 writing classes.

Maxine Olhava (MAW) has been hired on as the Public Relations Manager at AthletiCo, a Chicago-based leader in outpatient orthopedic rehabilitation, and co-authored I Was There and Didn't Know It: The Bob Krolak Story, independently published by Brooks Books, a small boutique publisher.

Aaron James Ottinger will present his paper, "Byron's Retreat to Action in 'Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte'" at the 5th International Student Byron Conference at the Messolonghi Byron Research Center, Greece, June 25-30, 2007.  This year's theme is: "Byron: Humanism, Liberalism, Philhellenism," and Ottinger's paper will focus on Byron's politics, his paradoxical relationship with Napoleon, and the poet's admiration for George Washington, as expressed in deleated stanzas from the ode's premiere.

Melanie Yergeau has accepted a graduate teaching associateship at The Ohio State University. She will begin this fall and work toward her PhD in English with a concentration in Rhetoric, Composition, and Literacy.