Thursday’s Notes, 54.3

Announcements

Department Awards

From the department’s Awards and Amenities Chair, Iswari Pandey:  just a quick and friendly reminder that the deadline for fall department awards is fast approaching—Nov. 21, by 4:00 p.m. Please remind your students and encourage them to apply on the department majors and minors Canvas site.

Creative Writing Reading Events

Join Martin Pousson’s English 308 & English 408 classes in welcoming two distinguished alumni for readings from their recent & upcoming book publications on Thursday, December 1. Moncho Alvarado & Douglas Weissman will read and will answer questions from current Creative Writing students in JR 115, 11:00-12:15, and then again in JR 242, 4:00-5:15.

Two CSUN star alumni authors, two reading events, all on the same day!

Moncho Alvarado (Class of 2016) is a first-generation Xicanx Cihuayollotl American trans queer poet, a graduate of the Sarah Lawrence MFA Creative Writing Program, and author of Greyhound Americans, her first collection of poetry, published in Summer 2022. Douglas Weissman (Class of 2010) is a Jewish American novelist, a graduate of the University of San Francisco MFA Creative Writing Program, and author of Life Between Seconds, his first novel, to be published on November 15, 2022.

Reminder

In lieu of a December department meeting, we will celebrate our students and colleagues at the holiday party and awards ceremony. Details are forthcoming.

Opportunities

English 494IP

We will be offering ENGL494, the English Intern Program, again this Spring.  Research shows that internships improve a student’s chance of full-time work after graduation and often lead to higher salaries, so we know this program plays an important role in supporting our English major and minors. In addition to internships in public relations, editing, and English-related fields, we will also feature internships this semester that are geared towards students interested in graduate school. Please encourage students to register, visit the website, or to contact Heidi.Schumacher@csun.edu with any questions they might have.

Winter eLearning Institute  

Achievements

~ With thanks to Martin Pousson ~

A retirement celebration for our friend and colleague, Dorothy Barresi

Stop all the clocks! Cut off the telephone! Join students, alumni & faculty in celebrating our legendary poet, Professor Dorothy Barresi, for her Retirement Party & Poetry Festival on Thursday, December 1, 7:00-9:00 PM, in JR 319, the Linda Nichols Joseph English Reading Room.

Author of five books of poetry, All of the Above, The Post-Rapture Diner, Rouge Pulp, American Fanatics, and What We Did While We Made More Guns, Dorothy’s poetry has won the American Book Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, two Pushcart Prizes, the Hart Crane Memorial Poetry Award, and the Los Angeles Poetry Festival Grand Prize, among many other honors. She has twice been a resident of the Yaddo Artist’s Colony and is a member of the Academy of American Poets. At CSUN, she won the Creative Accomplishments Award, the Jerome Richfield Memorial Scholar Award, the Polished Apple Award, and the Sigma Tau Delta Teaching Award.

Her Retirement Party & Poetry Festival is free and will feature readings by distinguished alumni. Food and refreshments will be on hand. The event will be held live, in person, but a virtual connection will be available too with Zoom ID: 821 9192 0493. All are welcome!  

Faculty Achievements

On October 26th, Irene Clark gave a talk at the University of Manchester, England. The title of her talk was “Imitation, Identity and the Brain” and she was invited by Dr. Alexander Bratta, Senior Lecturer, who received his MA in Rhetoric and Composition from our department in 2001. 

Kisa Schultz presented a paper, “Earth’s Mightiest Heroines, Then and Now: From Empowering Austenian Archetypes to Empowering Super-Women” at the “Rethinking Feminism” panel at the annual meeting of PAMLA on November 11.

Martin Pousson was invited to lecture at the University of California Riverside, where his PEN Award-winning novel, Black Sheep Boy, was the final book featured in a literature survey course titled Misfits, Miscreants, and Outsiders, taught by Tomás Rivera Endowed Chair Alex Espinoza. 

Alumni Achievements

Moncho Alvarado (CSUN: BA in Creative Writing, 2016, Sarah Lawrence College: MFA in Creative Writing, 2018) recently had her poetry collection, Greyhound Americans, published by Saturnalia Books, as selected by Diane Seuss for the Saturnalia Books Poetry Prize. Moncho is a first-generation Xicanx Cihuayollotl American trans queer poet, activist, and educator. At CSUN, she served as Co-Editor of the Northridge Review, was a member of the Northridge Creative Writing Circle, and won the Academy of American Poets Prize. Her poetry has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and she has won the Thomas Lux Scholarship for community service, as well as fellowships and residencies from The Helen Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, Lambda Literary, Poets House, Troika House, and other places. She lives with her partner in Queens, New York. Find Moncho online @moncholapoet & @ monchoalvarado.com 

Christian Barragan (CSUN: BA in Cinema & Television Arts and Creative Writing, Summa Cum Laude, 2021) recently sold three short stories for publication: “The Last Observer” in the Summer issue of Clamor Literary & Arts Journal, “Written by a Robot” in the Summer issue of Book XI: A Journal of Literary Philosophy, and “Ghost Writer” in the Fall issue of The Raven Review. Christian is a first-generation mixed-race Mexican American writer. At CSUN, he took classes in the Creative Writing Program, and he served as Drama Editor then Fiction Editor of the Northridge Review. He was a member of Northridge Creative Writing Circle, Sigma Tau Delta, United We Serve, and the 50mm Club. He also served as Submissions Reader for Open Ceilings, the literary magazine of the University of California, Davis. He has published more than a dozen stories in regional and national literary magazines, and he’s currently applying for admission to MFA in Creative Writing programs for Fall 2023. 

Khashayar Khabushani (CSUN: BA in Philosophy & Creative Writing, Summa Cum Laude, 2016, Columbia University: MFA in Creative Writing, 2020) sold his first novel in a major deal after competitive bidding to Hogarth Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. His novel, I Will Greet the Sun Again, will be published in the USA in Summer 2023, with simultaneous publication in the UK. He also sold translation rights in France, Germany, and Italy. Khash is a first-generation bisexual queer Iranian American novelist & educator. At CSUN, he took classes in the Creative Writing program, served as Associate Students Senator, and won both the One Amazing Community Service Award & the Outstanding Graduating Senior Award. At Columbia, he worked with writers from The New Yorker, including Hilton Als. He has taught in Pacoima in the San Fernando Valley and in The Bronx in New York. He currently lives in San Francisco, where he’s at work on his second novel. Find Khash online @ khashayarjkhabushani.com 

Travis Rand (CSUN: BA in Philosophy & Creative Writing, Cum Laude, 2022, Hamline University: MFA in progress for 2024) has begun his graduate studies in the Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing at Hamline University. At CSUN, he served as Supplemental Instruction Leader for the Learning Resource Center, and his first story was published in the Northridge Review. He also appeared on the Dean’s List. He now lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota and is at work on his first novel. 

August Samie (CSUN: BA in Creative Writing, Summa Cum Laude 2011, University of Chicago: MA in Middle Eastern Studies Magna Cum Laude 2013 & PhD Magna Cum Laude 2020) has been hired as Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies at Ohlone College. He also completed his doctoral dissertation, The Shibanid Question: Reassessing 16th Century Eurasian History in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan. Auggie is a first-generation Islamic Persian American historian and educator. Previously, he taught at Loyola University Chicago, the University of Chicago, Lewis University, and Arizona State University. At CSUN, he was the first out gay President and first Persian President of Sigma Tau Delta and worked as a student activist in founding the Pride Center. He won both the Dean’s Scholar Award and the Wolfson Scholar Award. At the University of Chicago, he founded Lights: The MESSA Quarterly. He now lives in the East Bay with his husband, Dr. Lester Hu, an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Find Auggie online @ augustsamie.com 

Douglas Weissman (CSUN: BA in Creative Writing 2010, University of San Francisco: MFA, 2013) has two upcoming novel publications: Life Between Seconds, to be released by Addison & Highsmith in Winter 2022 and The Girl in the Ashes, to be released by Between the Lines in Spring 2023. Doug is a Jewish American novelist, essayist, and educator. He won second place in a national travel essay contest and recently had short stories published in several literary magazines, including “Blackbird” in Kingdoms in the Wild, and “Whistle in the Baobab” in Wild Musette. He is currently Lead Travel Writer for Zicasso and Creative Writing Instructor for Southern New Hampshire University. He and his wife, Lisa, are the proud parents of a lovely daughter, Eloise. Find Doug online @ douglasweissman.com