GLaaS

Planning brunch Sunday!

2012-01-11T00:01:00.000-06:00

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It's that time of year again! Please join us on Sunday, January 15th for a New Year's Explosive Planning Brunch at Annette’s house 1202 Adams St. NE, 11:30 AM (please bring a dish to share).

We'll be discussing the next several months' events, and we'd like to have your thoughts to make this organization strong. Come to share your ideas or just to help vote. Our organization is nothing without you. We need you, and we need to continue to work toward being a successful organization. Won't you help us do that?

If you'd like to contact us for more information or to share suggestions or ideas, email our FB page or email us.

See you there!

- your glsbrd

Water~Stone deadline and next GLS Alumni Writers' Group meeting

2011-11-29T23:57:00.000-06:00

Water~Stone postmark deadline is Thursday, December 1. Now that we're not students anymore, we can submit. Yay!

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Monday, December 5, 2011

7-10 pm

The Sarah Hayes Residence

Please join us as we kick off the Hamline GLS Alumni Writers’ Group!

This multi-genre writers’ group meets the first Monday of every month at 7:00 pm, giving participants a chance to start the month off focused on writing.

The goals for this group are to build community, have fun, and support fellow writers as we strive to keep writing an active part of our busy lives. You are invited to bring pieces to share and/or workshop as well as any concepts or ideas you’d like to explore or get feedback on.

Come to one meeting, come regularly… It’s up to you. For more information, including directions, and/or to get on the Writers’ Group mailing list, email Sarah at sarah@innerrealms.net. You can also join the group on Facebook and get reminders sent.

This Thursday (Poetry), Friday (West Egg), and Saturday (Save the MALS program)

2011-11-17T01:15:00.000-06:00

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Thursday, November 17th
7:30 - 9pm

Poetry Book Club will be at Har Mar Mall Barnes and Noble Bookstore at the corner of Snelling and County Road B. Sarah Spleiss and a few others will secure some tables in Starbucks within the bookstore. Enjoy discussing Red Bird by Mary Oliver! Map here.

And for poetry book club lovers, Jean will email the nominations for next year out out for voting by the end of this coming weekend. (This gives any stragglers one last chance to submit.) Let her know!

Hamline GLS Alumni Poetry Book Club usually meets on the last Thursday of each month from 7:30-9 at Jean Larson's house (except for the Thanksgiving month exception). Read part, read all. Sit back or engage. Come monthly, come sometimes. Flexible and low key. (Unless someone decides to raise a ruckus.)

Email Jean at jeanielars@comcast.net for more information and/or to get on the Book Club's mailing list.

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Friday, November 18th
7:30pm - 9:00pm

Rock Paper Scissors LAUNCH PARTY and Liver Demolition at the Turf Club

Celebrate the launch of this year's r,p,s and hear some readers from its golden pages!

1601 University Ave.
Saint Paul, MN 55104

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Saturday, November 19th
3:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Satish Jayaraj invited you to
Save the MALS program Planning meeting

1600 Englewood apt 103
St Paul MN 55104

From Satish:

"As some of you may know, a decision was made by the VP of Hamline, David Stern, to halt new students entering the MALS program and to shut it down after current students (myself included) graduate. I am going to be fighting this tooth and nail. I always loved the MALS program even as an MFA because of how well our beloved faculty integrated the two programs. If the MALS program is shut down over frivolous reasons, ( reasons which we will discuss) how much will the MFA deteriorate as a result? I am very afraid of how far this slippery slope will go. Some of us MFA grads know how remarkable the Hamline program is when we talk to MFA's in other programs, so it is as much an MFA concern as it is a MALS."

"I am holding an emergency meeting at my apartment to brainstorm all the different creative ways at our disposal to put a plan into action and act on it. At the very least it will be a letter/essay writing workshop. At the most we'll do so much on multiple levels and reach several audiences that we'll overwhelm the V.P. into repealing his decision. I'm looking to hear big, small, cliche, repetitive, weird ideas and anything between and beyond."

"I have a decent amount of writing instruments, but bring your own in case and bring your laptops if you have any (For research) Food and beer to keep us going will also be appreciated. I lack furniture for a large crowd, but I have plenty of soft carpet, no I will not be insulted if you think it prudent to bring soft cushions, or anything else for that matter that my pad might be missing. RSVP (612-568-7660) so I know what to expect, and it's never too late to start shooting out ideas and asking questions."

Faculty Appreciation Potluck November 4th

2011-10-26T23:34:00.000-05:00

Friday, November 4

5:30pm - 7:00pm
Giddens Learning Center: Gallery Room

GLS alumni are getting together with our past faculty to thank them for their wonderful influence. Start thinking about what dish you'd like to bring. Post your ideas on Facebook or at glsalumnibrd@hamline.edu. Afterwards, you can head straight over to the Water~Stone reading if you'd like.

This is a great, low-key event where you can thank those great faculty members one more time for all they contributed to your education and growth as a writer. Also a great place to try some amazing food. And talk to your fellow alumni. We'd love to see you there.

- your glsbrd

Interview with Ann Iversion on her new book (reading at Hamline 15 October)

2011-10-10T14:20:00.000-05:00

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It's a busy month and a busy week for alumni! Here's another reading and an interview with the reader!

GLS alum Ann Iverson will be reading from her new poetry collection, Art Lessons, at Hamline on Oct. 15, 7:00pm, in Giddens Learning Center. Ann and I finished up our MFA programs about the same time and have been in a writer's group together for about the past 10 years. Her art and poetry has been such an inspiration to me that I wanted to talk with her a little more about this new book and share it with the readers of this blog. If you haven't had a chance to read Ann's work, you now have three great books to add to your reading list. --Teresa Boyer

Teresa: What inspired this third collection of poetry?

Ann: This book comes from a personal need to burn the torch for art and poetry, which often gets overlooked in a world saturated with technologies and gloomy forecasts. During the war of which my stepson served three tours of duty (the subject of my second book, Definite Space) I needed to find what God meant and how making art and poetry helped me to define what it means to exist. I am here and I am alive. Making art and poetry help me to exist in such a confusing world.

Teresa: It seems like such a short time since your last collection was published and I know you are creating art and working full-time, too. How do you manage to fuel and sustain such a rich body of work?

Ann: I have no idea! I have a motto: One by one I get things done, but ten by ten, I’m lost again. But really, the thought of getting messy with paints and putting on the last glazing effect keeps me energized and makes me whole. It’s a slow process, actually, depending on the situations that life offers us. I consider Van Gogh who painted over 900 masterpieces in a decade span and then consider what I’ve done in a certain way. My style at work is to keep those who follow energized with promise and acceptance, and, thus, that is returned to me. I believe in whimsy and whimsy energizes me. I have sisters and friends who believe in me and a wiener dog who keeps me laughing despite the pressures. And I don’t have small children, yet a stepson who has served three tours of duty in Iraq so the emotional strain is quite significant.

Teresa: How is this collection different from your previous ones?

Ann: This collection feels more like my first collection, Come Now to the Window, in that I did not have one topic, as I did in Definite Space. It’s a whirl of poems that came together gracefully only due to Kirsten Dierking’s extraordinary talent in vision and manuscript arrangement. But on the other hand, weaving through them are the gracious experiences of life and what it has to offer. When my second book was in publication mode, I began to write again, stretching towards a new understanding after the effects of the book Definite Space, based on my stepson’s three tours of duty in Iraq as a Military Police Officer and canine dog handler. Art offered and offers me solace. Like right now as I write, I’m thinking of my newest piece out in my makeshift garage/art studio and want to tackle it some more, but the job and life demands, this interview does not. I love it. Staying in the moment of what you love is important and I love this. Truly I do.

Teresa: How does your practice of art inform your practice of writing and vice versa?

Ann: It’s a peculiar, amazing exchange and happens either in the moment of working in both genres or just on a crazy day of work and then I see or hear something that triggers the connection. When I paint and my mind is clear of crap, often lines come to me. Yet when I write, my mind is not often cleared of crap and so…I think visual arts is often more freeing because you don’t have to worry so much about how it will be interpreted. That could be wildly debated, but in my experience in working in both creative activities, I just get less freaked out when I show a painting or collage to the world or even friends versus a poem.

Teresa: What poets and artists are you most interested in today?

Ann: Joyce Sutphen, Arlinda Henderson, Tim Flugum, Li Young Lee, Mary Oliver and the list goes. Sometimes I am very inclined about reading a book about war. The Holocaust haunts me.

Teresa: What subjects continue to interest you as an artist?

Ann: Big wild flowers. That’s the only thing I know how to do. I’m not a trained artist but just a person who likes color and add beauty to my small world.

Teresa: What advice do you have for other Hamline alumnus who are trying to pursue publication?

Ann: Be good to people, because people are good. Be generous with your love for the world. Start small, publish in local venues first. Don’t disregard what you might think is a trite opportunity. But then go for the gusto and try to crack the glass domes of prestigious journals. Poetry and life are strange and peculiar and beautiful and magnificent, and the best yet: unpredictable. Even in this world intoxicated with technology, there is a place and need for poetry. If it makes you happy to write, keep doing it. It’s your legacy. Throw your hand-held device into the pond and write.

Teresa: Where can we find your book, Art Lessons?

Ann: Hamline bookstore, Amazon, technical devices for reading books (whatever they might be and they are cool though I am not familiar with them,) and small local bookstores as well as mainstream.

Ann Iverson is a visual artist and poet and has worked in education for years. She holds Masters degrees in both fine arts and liberal studies from Hamline University in St. Paul, MN. Her work has appeared in several literary magazines. Ann’s poetry collections include Come Now to the Window published by Laurel Poetry Collective, Definite Space, and now the soon to be released Art Lessons published by Holy Cow! Press. A few of her poems have been featured on Garrison Keillor’s public radio segment, ‘Writer's Almanac.’ Ann's artwork was recently selected and installed in the new University of Minnesota Amplatz Children's Hospital.

If you'd like to conduct an interview or be interviewed for the blog, contact us.
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Book Festival this Saturday 15 October!

2011-10-08T22:32:00.000-05:00

This event is tons of fun, so if you've never been, give it a try this year. They have panels and lectures and readings and a book sale and tables set up by local publishers and literary magazines (including Water~Stone). Rain Taxi sponsors it, and they may still need some volunteers if you want to help out. See their website for all the fabulous details. (There is a lot going on.)

Some GLS-related folks are making appearances this year! If I missed anyone, let me know, so we can add them to the list.

Panel This Must Be The Place: Representing Minnesota
12:30 pm Rain Room
Mary Rockcastle

Morning Mixer
10:00–10:30 am
Geoff Herbachfor Stupid Fast
Lightsey Darst for Find the Girl

See you there!

Friday, October 14th Happy Hour and Reading

2011-10-08T22:22:00.000-05:00

Friday, October 14th

5-6:30 Happy Hour

7:00 Reading

You may have heard that Deborah Keenan and Barrie Borich will be part of a reading featuring contributors to American Tensions: Literature of Identity and Social Justice. (This is one star-studded anthology, holy cow!) The reading starts at 7:00 pm in the Kay Fredericks Ballroom in the Klas Center.

If you plan to attend the reading or if you just want to say hi, we'd love to invite you to join us at a happy hour at Old Chicago in Roseville before the event. (The 8" pizzas are $3 until 6!) We’ll be there from 5‑6:30 pm at the Old Chicago located at the corner of County Road B & Snelling Avenue.

Hope to see you there!

- your glsbrd

Call for poetry book club suggestions (due October 15th)

2011-10-03T22:31:00.000-05:00

Jean is taking nominations for next year’s poetry book club selections. Please send her 1-3 choices with a short sentence (or two or three) about why you’d like us to read the poet and/or book. When you’re choosing it would be helpful if you would do a search or call Micawbers (where we get a discount) to see if the book is available and in paperback.

Nominations: due by October 15th
Voting online by mailing list members: after that

Email Jean at jeanielars@comcast.net for more information and/or to get on the Book Club's mailing list.

Poetry Book Club meets September 29th (correction!)

2011-09-15T23:07:00.001-05:00

The Hamline GLS Alumni Poetry Book Club’s September book is Flood Song by Shewin Bitsui. We'll be meeting at Jean's from 7:30-9 and possibly taking advantage of the porch, if the weather cooperates.

Publisher's weekly describes Flood Songs as "a sequence of untitled fragmentary lyrics, which, taken together, form a long poem that is part stream-of-consciousness road movie of the Southwest and part visionary investigation of personal memory." Sherman Alexie likes it, too (high praise in my book).

Poet Haley Lasche, who suggested the book, says:

I’m starting to realize that in my literary tastes, I’m being drawn more frequently to the same publishers. I didn’t mean for this to happen; however, in the last six months, I’ve accidentally bought four books from Copper Canyon Press. The poetry collection Flood Songs is one of those titles. At first, it was the landscape of the page, how the white space created in the bloated top margins meet the first lines which began to feel like the morning horizon. And then it was how the human body senses the world surrounding it: both what is natural and what is man-made. In Bitsui’s acts of lyricism, I forget about my own needs for narrative. I am reminded that there are many ways to meditate.

Sound like something that makes you want to read and come discuss with us?! Pick up your copy from Micawber's in St. Paul (sale price for members of our club - yet another great reason to support your local bookstores).

Hamline GLS Alumni Poetry Book Club meets on the last Thursday of each month from 7:30-9 at Jean Larson's house (Barnes and Noble at Har Mar in case of emergency). Read part, read all. Sit back or engage. Come monthly, come sometimes. Flexible and low key. (Unless someone decides to raise a ruckus.)

Email Jean at jeanielars@comcast.net for more information and/or to get on the Book Club's mailing list. (We'll be taking suggestions for the next year of poetry goodness soon, so be sure you're on the list!)

Come to Jean Larson's Book Release Party This Thursday

2011-09-11T22:57:00.000-05:00

Thursday, September 15 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm

Broadcraft Press has just published Jean's book of poems about the Boundary Waters and Lake Superior. Please come hear a few of the poems from The Superior Life and celebrate with her!

Micawber's Books

2238 Carter Ave

St. Paul, Minnesota 55108

GLaaS Fall Planning Meeting Monday September 12th

2011-08-30T23:44:00.000-05:00

September 12

6:30

Ginkos Coffeehouse (just across Snelling and one block south of the Hamline campus)

Want to get involved in talking about ideas for and creating events for fall semester?

See you there . . . :)

Poetry Book Club meets August 25th

2011-08-20T22:14:00.000-05:00

The Hamline GLS Alumni Poetry Book Club’s July book is The House of Belonging by David Whyte. We'll be meeting at Jean's and possibly taking advantage of the porch, if the weather cooperates.

Reviewers seem to universally agree that this is powerful stuff. "We owe a debt of gratitude to David Whyte for work which lacks the obscure, murky, digressive qualities often associated with poetry and which are responsible for turning large segments of the reading public away from quality literature. He writes with exquisite simplicity about life's monumental concerns: love, creativity, aloneness, beauty. These are the very things which, by virtue of their universality, should be easily perceptible, but which we have made endlessly complicated," B.A. Brittingham says.

Here's what Beth Gedatus, who suggested this book for the club, has to say about it:

"Perhaps I read some of his work during National Poetry Month. I am not sure. One thing is certain whatever it was I read/heard struck a cord in me. When this happens I become compelled to research the poet/writer. Anyway, shortly after that I found his book, The House of Belonging in a women's clothing store- they probably had 3 different books in the entire store but as Whyte had just come to my attention I viewed the discovery as clandestine and happily paid the clerk.

"I am drawn to the poetry of the common day, the common life and the commonality of human emotion. For example in the poem THE WINTER OF LISTENING, Whyte speaks of solitude 'No one but me by the fire,/ my hands burning/ red in the palms while/ the night wind carries/ everything away outside.' He goes on to call our attention to, 'All this petty worry.' And that is exactly what it is, 'petty worry' and I imagine each and every one of us can lay claim to spending countless minutes and hours within our days on just that, petty worries. I like to be reminded of this so perhaps in the future I will recognize when I am uselessly burdening myself with petty worries.

"Further on in the poem the exquisite stanza; 'Inside everyone/ is a great shout of joy/ waiting to be born.' Whyte's poetry is accessible which is important to me. At times I find myself adrift in some contemporary poetry, questioning whether I am 'getting it'. As an apprentice to poetry I enjoy work that allows a gentle immersion into the art form; work that rewards with insight and perspectives worth pondering.

"I learn so much from the group discussions and I look forward to hearing how others feel about the book. I rely on others to help me deepen my appreciation for, and understanding of, this magical genre we call poetry."

Sound like something that makes you want to read and come discuss with us? Pick up your copy from Micawber's in St. Paul (sale price for members of our club - yet another great reason to support your local bookstores).

Hamline GLS Alumni Poetry Book Club meets on the last Thursday of each month from 7:30-9 at Jean Larson's house (Barnes and Noble at Har Mar in case of emergency). Read part, read all. Sit back or engage. Come monthly, come sometimes. Flexible and low key. (Unless someone decides to raise a ruckus.)

Email Jean at jeanielars@comcast.net for more information and/or to get on the Book Club's mailing list.

Gatsby Party August 31st

2011-08-16T22:34:00.000-05:00

Join us on Wednesday, August 31st when GLS and West Egg Literati host the annual Gatsby Party to kick-off another academic year. It’s a great way for students, faculty, and alumnae/i to re-connect and welcome new students to our community. The party starts at 6:15 pm in the backyard of the GLS house at 1500 Englewood Ave. We’ll be serving some refreshing beverages and delicious finger food. Activities include the ever-popular haiku contest and croquet on the lawn.

If you think you’ll be coming, we’d love an RSVP to help with our planning. Just respond back to this email if you can join us. In the case of inclement weather, the festivities will be moved to East Hall 5.

We hope to see you all there. It really is an a great way to welcome new students and say hello to those you've missed over the summer.

- Jenny McDougal (President of West Egg)

Cracked Walnuts on a Rampage

2011-08-09T23:18:00.000-05:00

Readings from Hamline alumni and others all over the Twin Cities are still happening. Hope you got a chance to see us On Ice or elsewhere. Check the Cracked Walnuts Facebook page for the most updated information and additional details. Here are a couple upcoming readings.

Writers Honoring the Dead

Friday, August 12 · 6:30pm - 9:00pm

Join us to hear a range of literature from poetry to prose from writers who are addressing concepts of death in this very unique location.

Karen Youso hosts. Featured readers will include Jim Rogers, Donna Isaac, Karen Youso, Victoria Peterson-Hilleque and Didi Koka.

Doors open at 6:30; reading starts at 7 and ends at 8:30. (The chapel closes at 9 sharp.)

For more information on the Cracked Walnut Reading series click on the link at satishjayaraj.tumblr.com.

Chapel Information:
(612) 781-1999
hillside-cemetery.com

Midtown Global Market

Monday, August 22 · 6:00pm - 7:30pm

Midtown Global Market
920 East Lake Street

Join us for an international bazaar of literary readings from local Twin City writers.

The reading starts at 6:00 and ends at 7:30, but feel free to come early to mingle and explore the wonders of the Global Market.

Satish Jayaraj will be hosting. Featured writers will be Alison Morse, Kevin Z Yang, Saymoukda Vongsay, Shannon Gibney, Satish Jayaraj, and Christian Villarroel.

For more information on the Global Market visit http://www.midtownglobalmarket.org/ or call (612) 872-4041

For some more details on this reading series, check out the comments from this post.

July Poetry Book Club Rescheduled to August 10th: Don't Miss It!

2011-08-01T23:16:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, August 10th

7:30-9 PM

The Hamline GLS Alumni Poetry Book Club’s July book is Waterlight by Kathleen Jamie. We'll be meeting at Jean's and possibly taking advantage of the porch, if the weather cooperates.

Indiebound says, "Her poetry--rendered sometimes in the Scots dialect, sometimes in the descriptive bursts of a naturalist's field guide --confronts gender, sex, landscape, and nationhood with the vivacity of an essential poetic voice."

Here's what Paulette Warren, who suggested this book for the club, has to say about it:

'The London Sunday Times called Kathleen Jamie "the leading Scottish poet of her generation." This collection of her poems, from Graywolf Press, begs to be read aloud as her words resonate from the reader's ear to the soul. Jamie's landscape is both simple and exotic through her command of language and brogue -- ultimately celebrating the mysteries and musicality of life.'

Sound like something that makes you want to read? Pick up your copy from Micawber's in St. Paul (sale price for members of our club - yet another great reason to support your local bookstores).

Hamline GLS Alumni Poetry Book Club meets on the last Thursday of each month from 7:30-9 at Jean Larson's house (Barnes and Noble at Har Mar in case of emergency). Read part, read all. Sit back or engage. Come monthly, come sometimes. Flexible and low key. (Unless someone decides to raise a ruckus.)

Email Jean at jeanielars@comcast.net for more information and/or to get on the Book Club's mailing list.

Check out Alison Holland's blog: Not Your Church Cookbook

2011-07-22T22:30:00.000-05:00

Name of your blog: Not Your Church Cookbook

Link to your blog: http://www.alisonandersonholland.com/home/Not_Your_Church_Cookbook/Not_Your_Church_Cookbook.html

What your blog is about: It's a journal of food and faith by a vegetarian with somewhat Unitarian Universalist views living in a rural Minnesota town with few vegetarians and perhaps even fewer Unitarians.

Your name (if you're not blogging anonymously): Alison Anderson Holland

Years you were in the program (year you graduated from Hamline): 2006-2009 ('09)

When you started blogging: May 2011

Why you blog: I started blogging to get myself writing again. Since the completion of my MALS degree, I haven't found/made the time to write much. This was my solution.

Who your intended audience is: Those interested in reading about vegetarian cooking, a faith journey, and its relation to raising kids and relating to family and friends in a rural Minnesota town. While I often talk about my family, I don't aim to be a "mommy blogger." When I mention my kids, I relate it back to food and/or faith.

Blogs you like to read: I read a lot of blogs. That's one reason I was prompted to do this. The Chaos Chronicles, On Being, Spousonomics, and Dinner: A Love Story are a few of my favorites.

Advice to or question for bloggers: Don't be shy about sharing your work with friends. They'll no doubt encourage you. I am a true introverted Minnesotan, but once I got up the courage to begin posting links on my Facebook page, I was amazed by the positive response my friends expressed.

PS: I also began writing a blog for work (December 2010) on the latest news, events, and issues in (rural) regional healthcare: http://staffblog.healthcare-allianceorg/

Thank you for this opportunity to share my new blog(s)!

TIC Reading July 9th: check this line-up out!

2011-07-08T23:56:00.000-05:00

Saturday July 9th
8pm
the Soap Factory

TalkingImageConnection and The Soap Factory present

"Erasers and Other Memories, a TalkingImageConnection reading"

Writers Lightsey Darst, Sarah Hayes, John Jodzio, Katie Leo, Alison Morse, G.E. Patterson, and Annette Schiebout spin poems, stories and more in response to "The Erasers," an international exhibit of artists curated by Corinna Kirsch. According to Kirsch, "The works in this exhibition are all ‘erasers’: both objects imagined as something more important and mysterious than their physical shape might suggest and objects which contain the action to efface, censure, and delete the past."

at the Soap Factory

514 2nd Street SE Minneapolis

free admission

For more information contact 612.623.9176 or email yackmor@talkimage.org. TalkingImageConnection brings together writers, contemporary art and new audiences in art galleries around the Twin Cities. For more information call 612.623.9176 or email yackmor@talkimage.org.

Writer Bios:

Originally from Tallahassee, Lightsey Darst writes, dances, writes about dance, and teaches in Minneapolis. Her Find the Girl, published by Coffee House Press in 2010, was selected for a Minnesota Book Award. Her other awards include fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Minnesota State Arts Board. She hosts the writing salon “The Works”.

Sarah Hayes is a writer and visual artist, working in the forms of poetry, creative non-fiction and photography. Her recent writing focuses on the coalescence of science and emotion, physics and attraction, relationships and mathematics, and other such juxtapositions. Her work has appeared in Zenith City Arts, The Muse, and Dust & Fire.

John Jodzio is a winner of the Loft-McKnight Fellowship. His stories have appeared in One Story, Barrelhouse, Opium, The Florida Review and various other places in print and online. His short story collection, If You Lived Here You’d Already Be Home, was recently published by Replacement Press. He lives in Minneapolis. Find out more at www.johnjodzio.net.

Katie Hae Leo is a playwright, poet, and essayist. Her work is published or forthcoming in Water~Stone Review, Kartika Review, Midway Journal, Asian American Poetry & Writing, and Asian American Plays for a New Generation, among others. Her latest play Four Destinies will premiere at Mixed Blood Theater in October.

Alison Morse’s poetry and prose have been published in Water~Stone Review, Natural Bridge, Rhino, Opium Magazine, and The Pedestal, among other places. She also runs TalkingImageConnection when she's not teaching or tutoring English or writing about the arts for mnartists.org.

A featured poet-performer in New York’s Panasonic Village Jazz Fest, G.E. Patterson is the author of two books of poems. His work has garnered a Minnesota Book Award and fellowships from the Jerome Foundation and the Minnesota State Arts Board. Last year, he was honored by New York City’s Fund for Poetry. His writing can be found in several magazines and anthologies, including Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry, Blues Poems, Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam, Poetry 180, Isn’t It Romantic, American Letters and Commentary, nocturnes: (re)view of the arts, Open City, Provincetown Arts, Seneca Review, Swerve, Xcp: Cross Cultural Poetics, and St. Mark’s Poetry Project’s Poets and Poems.

Annette Schiebout writes and performs with TalkingImageConnection, Spiked Coffee, Urban Hillbilly, Story Slam and is published in rps. She is a 2009 SASE Writer to Writer mentee. She received her MFA from Hamline University where she served as the president of the student organization West Egg Literati. She teaches writing and communications classes at the University of Wisconsin – River Falls.

How could you miss it?!

Jessica Fox-Wilson's new book!

2011-06-07T23:21:00.000-05:00

Dave Bonta started his review by saying, "There are — it occurs to me as I finish this book — too many love poems in the world, and not nearly enough poems about desire." Another reviewer said, "Poet Jessica Fox-Wilson knows a basic and important truth: we are made of stories.. . . But this poet knows something even more important—we have the ability to re-tell and re-shape those stories, to configure them in line with our own experience and to find a truth in them that isn’t the 'received' truth of their packaging." (A thoughtful reflection on the themes of wanting and needing can be found here.)

Jessica Fox-Wilson, MFA '05, has released her debut book of poetry, Blameless Mouth. The book explores the cycle of hunger, consumption and satiety. The collection traces the poet’s relationship with hunger from childhood to womanhood, uncovering what it means to feel forever wanting. Her work also considers the cultural legacy of hunger, through stories of starving children and hungry women, like Hansel and Gretel, Persephone, Eve, and others. Blameless Mouth illuminates the struggle of living daily with the contradictory pressures to want less but take more and searches for satiety in a culture that encourages insatiability.

Using retellings of the familiar stories - Grimm's fairy tales, Adam and Eve - Fox-Wilson investigates the female body, its appetites and injuries, the relations between fathers and daughters and between a woman and her own image. Obsessed with violence and its repercussions, these poems imagine an alternate creation myth in which a woman struggles to take control of her own destiny. – Jeannine Hall Gailey, author of Becoming the Villainess

Jessica Fox-Wilson’s poetry casts seasons of light on what it means to be human. She elevates plain spoken story to elegance, seamlessly weaving narratives to create a lovely kaleidoscopic image. – Darci Schummer, whose fiction has appeared in Conclave: A Journal of Character, Paper Darts, and Volume One

Jessica Fox-Wilson has written a ferocious, elegant, tough-minded collection of poems. Her exploration of what it means to be hungry, of what the culture asks of its girls and women, compels the reader's attention and a kind of allegiance with the fierce voice of the narrator. Braiding myths, tales, and sacred texts with her own compelling present-time narratives, we travel with a poet unafraid to speak truth to power, wherever that power resides, however evident or hidden. In the poem where she explores the definition of the word, lacuna, the poet gives us this definition: an empty space, a missing portion, in something which is otherwise continuous. I think of the deep and continuous traditions of poetry, and I think Jessica Fox-Wilson has filled an empty space, a missing portion, with her exceptional, beautifully crafted poems. Buy this book. Consider it food, a full portion which will leave you satisfied and inspired by her gifts as poet. – Deborah Keenan, author, most recently, of Willow Room, Green Door: New and Selected Poems, Milkweed Editions

If you're interested in learning more about Blameless Mouth, visit the book's Facebook page and the book's website. Blameless Mouth is currently available on Lulu, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.com.

Poetry Book Club May 26th

2011-05-18T22:51:00.000-05:00

Thursday, May 26th

7:30-9 PM

The Hamline GLS Alumni Poetry Book Club’s May book is Dogged Hearts by Ellen Doré Watson. We'll be meeting at Jean's and possibly taking advantage of the porch, if the weather cooperates.

Tony Hoagland says, "Dogged Hearts reminds us why the arts are called the humanities: because they remind us how to be human." Wow.

Here's what Haley Lasche, who suggested the book, has to say about it:

As a reader, of course, I have a few favorite authors: the ones whom I know will inspire me and let me get lost in their thoughts. I don’t have a lot of favorite poets, but the ones whom I love the most are poets I am instantly drawn to, without rhyme or reason ;) In general, though, when I shop for poetry books, I don’t look for that same comfortable kind of inspiration; I know that kind of inspiration is rare for me.

Instead, when I look for books of poetry, I look for the first poem to open my eyes to a new puzzle. It might be something I’m confused about in my own writing or it might be something in the poem that I just don’t feel 100% confident that I understand. This is how I came to choose Ellen Dore Watson’s Dogged Hearts for our book club.

In reading the poem “Lew’s Late Love,” I was in the puzzle from the first line. The poem sated my need to see how Watson would use my current year’s obsessions (line breaks and narrative), but also, it reminded me of how effortlessly a good poet can use musicality and how a rebel poet can push a reader off center leaving him or her with just enough breath to approach the poem again.

Remember that Micawbers Books in St. Paul has a sale price for members of our club (another great reason to support your local bookstores), and they do have this hard to find volume just for us.

Hamline GLS Alumni Poetry Book Club meets on the last Thursday of each month from 7:30-9 at Jean Larson's house (Barnes and Noble at Har Mar in case of emergency). Read part, read all. Sit back or engage. Come monthly, come sometimes. Flexible and low key. (Unless someone decides to raise a ruckus.)

Email Jean at jeanielars@comcast.net for more information and/or to get on the Book Club's mailing list.

- your glsbrd

Do you like adventure? Want to do a reading this summer?

2011-05-11T23:11:00.000-05:00

Dear writers of Hamline,

Whether you are a fiction writer, essayist, poet, or CNF writer. I am in the midst of organizing a summer reading series that will take place in as many different locations throughout the twin cities as possible. My plan is to put people into little groups of 4 and 5 where each group will perform a reading in either a local library, coffee shop, or generally any place that will welcome our art into their establishment. My goal is to make this fun and easy for all participants.

If you are interested in being a reader for this event then e-mail your name and e-mail address to me at sjayaraj01@hamlineuniversity.edu. I will later send everyone a survey that asks for more specific information so that I can sort people into groups and areas that will make this an overall convenient and enjoyable event series.

Satish Jayaraj
Hamline MFA Graduate 2009
Current Hamline MALS student

Create keepsakes for new graduates on May 7 (also a planning meeting)

2011-05-02T23:58:00.001-05:00

The Best Gift You'll Ever Make

(Book arts with Su Smallen)

Saturday, May 7

3 - 6 PM

GLaaS would like to create a beautiful gift for our 2011 graduates. We'lll be hand-binding books that will include wisdom from GLS faculty. In addition to creating a gift for a graduate, you will also be learning (or polishing) valuable bookmaking skills.

Don't worry if you have never done anything like this. This event is the perfect time to give it a try. Meet us at the GLS House, and bring an open heart and willing hands (exact-o knives and glue sticks if you have them). Hope to see you there.

Summer GLaaS planning meeting

Saturday, May 7
after book arts completion (around 6 PM)

If you have ideas for summer, please be sure to be there around 6 to share and help plan. If you can't make it but still want to be involved, let us know. Send your ideas or an email about how you'd like to help.

Green Light Sendoff

Saturday, May 21

4:30 PM

If we don't see you at either of these, we hope to see you at the GLS House for the Green Light Send-off. Be the first to congratulate the newly minted GLS grads. Say hello to friends (and professors). Bring a fantastic dish to share!

- your glsbrd

MALS forum this Saturday! (April 30th)

2011-04-24T20:06:00.000-05:00

MALS Spring Forum

Saturday, April 30

1:00 pm

East Hall, Room 106 (former Law/Grad building)

MALS Grads Share Synthesis Projects

I went to this last year, and it was amazing. It's the MALS equivalent of MFA thesis readings. Graduates get a chunk of time to talk about their research and findings and read out loud a bit. Come and listen to what they've been thinking about for years. You won't regret it.

The following students will be sharing the critical research and analysis from their synthesis projects:

Jason Maher You Are Here: Lessons from the Evacuation of British Children During World War II
Cynthia Rapacz From Resistance to Trust: Empowering the At-Risk Student through Sustainable Teaching
Gabrielle Rose Once and Future Rebels: A Lyric Inquiry into the Roles of Myth and Disobedience in the Human Endeavor Towards the Divine

Other details: Free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be available throughout the afternoon. Please RSVP to aeide02@hamline.edu.

- your glsbrd

Poetry Book Club Thursday April 28th

2011-04-23T00:20:00.002-05:00

Thursday, April 28th

7:30-9 PM

The Hamline GLS Alumni Poetry Book Club’s April book is “Thistle” by Melissa Kwasny. We'll be meeting at Jean's and possibly taking advantage of the porch, if the weather cooperates. (I know; I'm a dreamer.) The porch would be a great place to sit while talking about this meditative work that deals with vegetation, humanity, and springtime.

Remember that Micawbers Books in St. Paul has a sale price for members of our club (another great reason to support your local bookstores).

Hamline GLS Alumni Poetry Book Club meets on the last Thursday of each month from 7:30-9 at Jean Larson's house. Read part, read all. Sit back or engage. Come monthly, come sometimes. Flexible and low key. (Unless someone decides to raise a ruckus.)

Email Jean at jeanielars@comcast.net for more information and/or to get on the Book Club's Mailing list.

- your glsbrd

Poetry Reading with JIM COPPOC and KRIS BIGALK Wednesday!

2011-04-10T21:51:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, April 13

12:00pm - 1:00pm

"The Nest," located on WEST campus, lower level in the New Student Space
3300 Century Avenue North
White Bear Lake, MN

April is National Poetry Month, and Century College is going all out with a reading by Kris Bigalk and Jim Coppoc!

Kris Bigalk has recently published poetry in Water~Stone Review, The New York Quarterly, and the cream city review, and has work forthcoming in Mead: A Magazine of Literature and Libations. She serves as Director of Creative Writing at Normandale Community College, and curates the Banfill-Locke Reading Series.

Jim Coppoc ('09) is an award-winning poet and performer, a Lecturer in the English Department and the American Indian Studies program at Iowa State University, and the author of three books and three chapbooks of poetry (with a couple other genres mixed in).

For more details about these great poets, go to www.jimcoppoc.org or www.krisbigalk.wordpress.com/about.

See you at the reading!
.

Come to our GLAAS-TIC Mini-Writing Retreat!

2011-04-05T22:52:00.001-05:00

Line to Line: A GLAAS-TIC Mini-Writing Retreat in response to Tim Carroll

April 9th

The Soap Factory

noon-1:45

Please join GLAAS and TIC at the Soap Factory as Tim Carroll performs-draws his new installation for the entire afternoon. We plan to be there dressed in our warmest clothes (the Soap Factory is not heated) and writing new stuff using Tim's artwork to inspire us (we may get him to talk to us, too, but he has to keep drawing at the same time).

Wilde Roast

1:45-?

We'll head to a room at Wilde Roast where we can recharge, revise, and read work to each other. It'll be a great way push the boundaries of our writing, build community, and hear each other's voices.

(There is no charge but we strongly suggest buying at least a cup of coffee at Wilde Roast.)

Please let us know you're coming by April 7th. See you there!

Join us for drinks after Richard Bausch's reading this Tuesday

2011-03-05T23:47:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, March 8 · 8:30pm - 11:30pm
Turf Club Inc

The GLS alumni Association (GLaaS) invites students and other alums to join them for libations and camaraderie at the Turf Club on Tuesday, March 8, following the Richard Bausch reading that night (see below). The Turf Club is located at 1601 University Avenue West (just west of Snelling). GLaaS will spring for the first round of drinks (beer or wine), so be sure to stop by after the reading and join in the fun!

Award-winning author Richard Bausch will be presenting a reading of his work on Tuesday, March 8 at 7:00 pm in the Kay Frederick’s Room of the Klas Center. Bausch is on campus March 7 & 8 as a visiting writer with the Graduate School of Liberal Studies.

A Georgia native, Bausch is the author of eleven novels and eight collections of stories, including the novels Rebel Powers, In The Night Season, Hello To The Cannibals, Thanksgiving Night, and Peace; and the story collections Spirits, Someone To Watch Over Me, The Stories of Richard Bausch, and the most recently Something is Out There. An acknowledged master of the short story form, Bausch's work has appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, Harper's, The New Yorker, Playboy, The Southern Review, The Best American Short Stories, O. Henry Prize Stories, and The Pushcart Prize Stories.

TIC Reading This Saturday

2011-02-07T20:02:00.001-06:00

If you haven't been to a TIC reading, come to this one! Dress warmly and bring a blanket to keep you toasty while you look and listen to readers responding to art. There's great energy here, and I recommend bringing a notebook, so you can write as the inspiration strikes (and it will strike).

"ALL OUR BE-LONGINGS, a TalkingImageConnection reading"

Saturday, February 12 · 8:00pm - 10:00pm

The Soap Factory

514 2nd Street Southeast

Minneapolis, MN

Writers Sarah Fox, Didi Koka, Alison Morse, Andy Sturdevant, Bryan Thao Worra, and Stephanie Wilbur Ash invent poems, songs, and stories in response to Rosemary Williams' installation "Belongings" at the Soap Factory.

Free admission and hot cider. For more information call 612.623.9176 or email yackmor@talkimage.org.

TalkingImageConnection brings together writers, contemporary visual art and new audiences in art galleries around the Twin Cities. For more information contact yackmor@talkimage.org.

Writer Bios:

Sarah Fox is a teacher, student, and doula. Her poetry collection Because Why was published by Coffee House Press, and her poems, essays, and reviews have been published in a variety of literary magazines and anthologies, most recently Conduit, Rain Taxi, ElevenEleven, Spout, LUNGFULL!, ActionYes, and Tammy. She's received grants and fellowships from the Bush Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Jerome Foundation, and the Minnesota State Arts Board and was awarded the 2010 Academy of American Poets James Wright Prize for poetry. She lives in NE Minneapolis where, with John Colburn, she co-imagines the future Center for Visionary Poetics and nurtures a relationship with entheogenic plants.

Didi Koka is writer, Healer, Mother, recent MFA grad. Winner of the 2010 Best Poetry Thesis from Ham, she has published essay in Confluence, interviews in Water~Stone, and poetry in Minnesota Medicine and rock, paper, scissors. She has conducted poetry groups for healing professionals and has performed poetry with the Heal the Earth Collective. She is interested in the voicing of beings, sensate, imagined and inanimate, and the interplay of life and its aftermath, public and private lives, natural and human-created forms or systems. Briefly. anything and everything that defines itself in opposition.

Alison Morse’s poetry and prose have been published in Natural Bridge, Water~Stone, Rhino, Opium Magazine, The Potomac, and mnartists.org, among other places. She also runs TalkingImageConnection when she's not teaching or tutoring English.

Andy Sturdevant is a writer, artist, arts administrator and layabout based in South Minneapolis. His writing has appeared in mnartists.org, Rain Taxi, Mpls. St. Paul, Art Review and Preview! and Heavy Table. He is the host of Salon Saloon, a monthly live-action arts magazine held every fourth Tuesday at the Bryant-Lake Bowl. Andy also recently wrote an essay on the visual culture of the Midwest that will appear in the catalog for The Spectacular of Vernacular exhibition, opening at the Walker Art Center in January 2011. A book of his illustrations, Handsome Liberals, will be published in 2011 by Location Books.

Bryan Thao Worra is a Laotian American poet whose books include On the Other Side of the Eye, Winter Ink, My Dinner With Cluster Bombs and Touching Detonations. He has received support from the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Loft Literary Center and the Playwrights Center. He holds a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Literature and the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans Leadership Award for excellence in the arts. His work is taught internationally and appears in over 100 publications around the world including Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, Europe and the United States. He resides in North Minneapolis.

Stephanie Wilbur Ash lives in Mankato and Minneapolis. She is the co-creator of more than 45 episodes of the Electric Arc Radio Show and PowderKeg Live!, and co-creator of the full-length musical Don't Crush our Heart! When she's not writing musical theater and scripted radio, she is writing short stories. When she is not writing short stories, she is writing a novel. When she is not writing a novel she is very sad and hard to live with. She has two boys and an X-box that they bought with their own money, which they pooled together with their friend Leo's money, so what could she say then, huh? What was she supposed to say then?

GLaaS Planning on Fun January 23rd

2010-12-19T20:03:00.000-06:00

Please consider joining us for a New Year's Explosive Planning Brunch! (Bring a dish to share.)

January 23rd

at Annette's house:

1202 Adams St. NE

MPLS, MN

11:30 AM

We'll be discussing the next several months' events, and we'd like to have your thoughts to make this organization strong. Come to share your ideas or just to help vote on what to do next. Our organization is nothing without you. We need you, and we need to continue to work toward being a successful organization. Won't you help us do that? (Also, the food is always awesome.)

If you'd like to contact us for more information, email our FaceBook page or our email address glsalumnibrd@hamline.edu.

Remember, without your help, the GLaaS is only ever half full or empty. Or something. :) See you there!

Want to do a reading with another poet?

2010-11-29T22:14:00.000-06:00

Poet Wendy Brown-Baez has a chapbook called transparencies of light forthcoming by Finishing Line Press, but they can't start the print run until she has advance sales. She thought up the idea of a poetry salon, like a jewelry party or Tupperware party but with poetry. She is happy to do this in tandem with another poet.

Her book is mainly persona poems of women telling their stories, and she would love to organize readings in the spring with a male poet, so the two voices would be a contrast or interweave with each other. She is happy to do everything she can to set up readings in cafes, bookstores, etc. (wherever it is free).

If interested, contact Wendy Brown-Baez at poetaluna@yahoo.com or call 612-437-3355.

www.finishinglinepress.com * www.wendybrownbaez.com

Winter Wassail: Possibly the coolest event ever December 12th

2010-11-19T21:24:00.001-06:00

Meet at "The Magnolia"

2101 Randolph Ave

St. Paul, MN

Sunday, December 12

4:00-7:00 PM

Join us for the first-ever West Egg "Winter Wassail"--- a twist on the usual end-of-semester reading and social.

Originally derived from the Old Norse term ves heill meaning "be well" or "be in good health," wassailing is the tradition of wishing good fortune on one's neighbors by paying them a visit (Oloffson 1). By the 19th century, wassailing evolved into the singing of Christmas carols on the doorsteps of neighbors and friends, with the hope that a singer would receive a gift in return ("figgy pudding," anyone?).

To celebrate the end of the semester, we are going to do some wassailing of our own:

We will begin at The Magnolia (home of a couple of MFA students) then visit a handful of homes in the Mac-Groveland/Highland Park area in St. Paul. Instead of singing carols, will read 2-3 poems or prose excerpts from our own work. We hope that having a mobile reading like this will help us share literature in a new way and engage with a community beyond ourselves. (Walking in a winter wonderland could be pretty fun, too.)

The stops on our wassailing route will be established ahead of time. We will know some of the patrons we visit, but others will be neighbors who simply volunteered to have a bunch of writers stop by and share some meaningful work. Be sure to dress appropriately for spending time outside.

As usual, all GLS students, alumnae/i, and friends of West Egg are welcome. Snacks and hot beverages will be provided, so please RSVP so we know how much/many goodies to prepare. When you RSVP, let us know if you plan to read.

Work Cited

Oloffson, Kristi. "Christmas Caroling." Time. Time Inc., 21 Dec. 2009. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1949049,00.html#ixzz14uS7pHDj

This is such an awesome idea that I hope it's really well-attended. Bring your literature and your holiday cheer!

Collage with Deborah Keenan November 14th

2010-11-05T23:19:00.001-05:00

As if that weekend couldn't get any more packed with great opportunities to connect with GLS folks!

Collage Afternoon with Deborah Keenan
November 14th
GLS House (1500 Englewood Avenue)
12:30 - 4:00PM

Dear Students and Alums,

We hope you will join us for the fifth annual Collage Afternoon. Please bring

the scissors you most love that let you be the most accurate with your cutting.
a glue stick.
any preferred backings to anchor your images.
at least a couple of visions for the afternoon.
images that are small enough that they feel private to you (I want all of us to work on collages that are personal, almost enclosed in our own reveries about our own imagined and real life and spirit).
images that feel bold, generic, large (in some way, size or meaning), so that you can, the same afternoon, be working toward a collage that could become a public work of art by 4 p.m. that day.
some thinking about color.
three written portraits of three different colors that you are willing to share with our group.

I look forward to seeing many of you on November 14th at 12:30. If you would like to bring something calm and non-messy to eat and drink and to share, that would be great. We will have a table set up for food and drinks to keep us going through the afternoon.

- from an invitation by Deborah Keenan (find the full text on Facebook)

You need more Dhoom in your Minnesota November

2010-11-05T23:10:00.000-05:00

It's your lucky day!

Saturday, November 13
5:00 pm
GLC 100E

After what is sure to be a stimulating event that is Colloquium, come to GLC 100E for a casual movie night where we will be watching and often laughing at the fabulously entertaining Bollywood Movie Dhoom 2. The film stars Bollywood's superstar dancer Hrithik Roshan and one-time Miss World Champion Aishwarya Rai.

If you have never seen a Bollywood movie before, this is where you want to start, as this will be the most fun culture shock you ever experience. The word 'Dhoom' itself can mean anything from 'get your freak on' to 'rejoice and make merry.' Whatever the true definition, Dhoom 2 is appropriately named.

Dhoom 2 comes with high endorsement from Hamline writers of all genres (and my film buff friend who has been telling me I must see it), so it offers something for everybody because everybody, no matter the genre, likes to--that's right--DHOOM. Hamline students, professors, and alumni are all invited to bring friends and loved ones to the show.

There will also be popcorn! What more could you ask for?!

More info can be found on Facebook.

See you there!

Fall Colloquium Saturday, November 13th

2010-11-05T22:59:00.000-05:00

Fall Colloquium
1:00 – 4:00 pm

Saturday, November 13th

The annual GLS Colloquium is in the Kay Fredericks Room of the Klas Center. The afternoon program will showcase award-winning MALS and MFA capstones projects, illustrating the breadth of interest and disciplines, and artistic excellence of our graduates.

This year’s presenters are:

Jerilyn Jackson, Proseminar Essay: Undermining American Political Compassion
Deborah Meissner, Synthesis: Elasticity of Faith: Making Peace with Religion as Culture
Joshua Wodarz, Fiction Thesis: The Tug of Water
Didi Koka, Poetry Thesis: Lost Breath Sung
Vanessa Ramos, Creative Nonfiction Thesis: The Rooster and the Crow: Cuentos y Casos

This event is free and open to the public, but we ask that you RSVP. Please send RSVPs to Anika at aeide02@hamline.edu. Be sure to include your name and your school/program affiliation if you have one (ie. MFA Student, MALS Student, GLS Faculty, MALS/MFA Alum, etc.).

Great readers and fun times here again! Don't miss it!

Fall GLS Exchange

2010-10-31T21:19:00.000-05:00

Look what's up!
It's the Fall 2010 GLS Exchange.
There's all kinds of good stuff in here, including some lovely muse news from fellow alumni.
Check it out!

Bonfire Potluck this Saturday

2010-10-20T20:07:00.000-05:00

West Egg Literati Autumn Potluck and Bonfire
Saturday, October 23rd at 6:00-10pm
Location: Sarah Hayes' House

Please join your fellow GLS students and alumnae/i for an autumn potluck and bonfire! Some drinks -- there was mention of mead and wine -- and finger food will be provided by our illustrious hosts, but please feel free to bring something to share. I suggest something warm.

There will be an opportunity to read what we've been working on these past weeks, so feel free to bring something you would like to share with your fellow potluckers. If you'd like directions, contact West Egg Literati or check out their Facebook page.

Two great events on Friday, October 22

2010-10-13T22:13:00.000-05:00

5:30-7:30

Friday, October 22

Faculty Appreciation Pot Luck Dinner: Made With Love

GLC Art Gallery

GLS alumni are throwing a potluck to thank faculty for the wonderful teaching and inspiration they have provided over the years. The event takes place on Friday, October 22 from 5:30 – 7:00 pm in the GLC Art Gallery. It's that big, old, columned former-library building the GLC was built around. Come for the architecture, come for the faculty, come for the Water~Stone reading, come for the company, just come!

Yes, it's before the Water~Stone Reading, so you might happen to be on campus already anyway to snag a good parking spot. If you’re interested in bringing a dish to share, post your ideas on the Facebook invite OR email glsalumnibrd@hamline.edu. This was a really fun, low-key event last year. We had a blast, and the faculty who came seemed to have a great time, too. With you there, it will be even better. See you there!

7:30

Friday, October 22

Water~Stone Reading

Sundin Hall

The annual Water~Stone reading will be held on Friday evening, October 22 at 7:30 pm in Sundin Hall. The new edition should be here in about two weeks and it is going to be fabulous! (Take a sneak peek here and be the first to see the new issue at Rain Taxi’s Twin Cities Book Festival, Saturday, October 16 at MCTC in downtown Minneapolis.) Also, don't forget that now that we're alumni, we can submit to Water~Stone! (Deadline December 1!)

We hope you will be able to join us for the reading and reception celebrating the 13th volume of Water~Stone Review on October 22.

Twin Cities Book Festival October 16th!

2010-10-05T22:31:00.000-05:00

It's October and that means it's time for Rain Taxi's annual Twin Cities Book Festival.

Yes, it's that time already. This free extravaganza showcasing all things literary is

Saturday, October 16, 2010
10:00 am to 5:00 pm

at Minneapolis Community & Technical College

Have you seen the author list?! There is seriously someone for everyone. Good grief! We're talking

M.T. Anderson (co-sponsored by the Hamline University Creative Writing Program, no less!) at 3:30
Mary Catherine Bateson
Richard Paul Evans
James Howard Kunstler
Frederic Tuten
Jean Valentine
Jeffrey Zaslow
Bruce Lansky
Alexander McCall Smith (10-11)
and more, if you can believe it.

On top of that, there are panels on

Minnesota Debut Fiction
The Changing World of Publishing: Getting Books to Readers
The Great Midwest: Regional Writing
Views From The Loft (featuring our own Barrie Jean Borich!)

I would be remiss as a comics fan not to mention the panel on Minnesota Comics at 1:30. Bill Willingham of Fables (if you haven't read it, go read it now) will be there along with several other excellent panelists.

But wait! There's more! Seriously!

A children's pavilion
Book sales and signings
Lit mag fair (be on the lookout for Water~Stone staff members and a huge variety of literary magazines)
Publishers
Literary organizations

How can there be so much literary goodness in one place?! How can such an amazing thing occur?! Find out for yourself! (Volunteers are appreciated. :) See you there . . .

If you have an event you'd like us to mention here on the GLaaS blog, just let us know.

Call for Writers/Readers and Submissions

2010-10-05T22:04:00.005-05:00

Libby Casey Irwin (MFA 1995-2000) and ArtWorks of Art St Croix want your creative writing!

What they're looking for

any creative writing genre (including songs and novel excerpts)
family-friendly, yet vibrant, keen, original works
authors able to attend a rehearsal on 3 December 2010
authors willing to read their pieces on 4 December 2010 (probably under 5 minutes, depending on participation)

If this sounds like you

Submit up to five literary pieces

by November 15, 2010
by email to libbycaseyirwin@live.com or
via snail mail at Libby Casey Irwin; 2710 Mallard Drive; Woodbury, Minnesota 55125.

Please include

e‑mail address
snail mail address
phone number
a brief description of yourself and your work as a writing artist.

If you have any questions, call Libby at (651) 738‑7223. (Libby teaches creative writing and coordinates this literary event at the end of the year. She thanks you for your support of a worthy recitation.)

If you have an event or a call for submissions, we'd love to post it on the GLaaS Blog. Get in touch with us, let us know you'd like us to post on the blog (and what you'd like to post), and we'll do our best to shine the spotlight on you!

Mark your calendars now: Donna Isaac invites you to two readings

2010-09-22T23:55:00.000-05:00

You are invited two poetry readings by Donna Isaac.

Saturday, October 9th

Fresh Grounds

1362 W. Seventh

St. Paul

1:00 p.m.

and

Saturday, November 20th

Jerabek's New Bohemian

63 Winifred St.

St. Paul's West Side

1:00 p.m.

For more information, check out Donna's website at www.donnaisaacpoet.com.

(Do you have a reading you'd like to share about? Send it along, and GLaaS will be happy to spread the word!)

This just in for the poetry book club on September 30th!

2010-09-15T19:42:00.000-05:00

We'll have a guest with us this month! Oliver St. John, an intern for MinnPost.com, is writing about book clubs around town. Mark your calendars and head to Micawber’s to pick up American Smooth by Rita Dove if you haven’t already!

See you Thursday, September 30th

7:30-9PM

on Jean's porch (if it's warm enough).

Have questions? Need directions? Email us.

Have a great September!

Check out alumni blog: KunstKitchen

2010-09-09T22:41:00.001-05:00

Name of your blog: KunstKitchen

Link to your blog: http://kunstkitchen.wordpress.com/

What your blog is about: Sharing cooking, dining and eating Slow food, as opposed to fast food. Recipes and humorous antidotes for a post modern really fast world.

Your name (if you're not blogging anonymously): Catherine Katt

Years you were in the program (and year you graduated from Hamline): 2000-2006 ('06)

When you started blogging: June 2010

Why you blog: Blogging to make the connection between food as the source and art as the spiritual source. Inspired by my niece who is a culinary writer. She likes what I write.

Who your intended audience is: Anyone interested in the Slow Food movement and real food.

What blogs you like to read: My friends' blogs.

Advice to or question for bloggers: "Just do it."

September and October Poetry Book Club

2010-09-02T19:42:00.000-05:00

In September and October, we will be meeting the last Thursday of the month, so mark your calendars for

Thursday, September 30: Rita Dove's American Smooth

Thursday, October 28: Stanley Plumly's Old Heart

7:30 to 9:00 pm
at Jean's

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to let us know, and we'll get you in touch with Jean. See you there.

Alumni Spotlight on Aaron Wilson ('08)

2010-08-25T12:39:00.000-05:00

In the last couple of months, Aaron M. Wilson (class of 2008) has started to succeed in finding a home for a few of his stories. He's placed stories both online and in traditional print media: most notably in Twin Cities: Cifiscape Vol. I (late August 2010) and The Last Man Anthology (which includes stories from Barry N. Malzberg, C.J Cherryh, and Ray Bradbury, and is available to pre-order). He was also awarded the June author spotlight in the third issue of eFiction Magazine that included an interview and publication of three of his stories.

He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he attempts to understand life, others (including his two cats – one good and one bad), himself, and especially his wife – in that order. He writes about books, stories, movies, and his experiences as an adjunct instructor of English, Literature, and Environmental Science on his blog: Soulless Machine.

Here is what Aaron has been up since April 2010:

The Last Man Anthology, published by Sword & Saga Press, (forthcoming October 2010, pre-order NOW) - “The Paperless Doctrine of 2152”
Eclectic Flash. (forthcoming September 2010) - “Recession Love”
eFiction Magazine: The Premier Internet Fiction Zine (forthcoming September 2010) - "Apophis"
Twin Cities: Cifiscape Vol. I., published by Onxy Neon Press. (forthcoming August/September 2010) - "What's For Dinner"
Evolve, 2 August 2010 - "Spilling Sunlight" Read Online
The Hive Mind, 18 June 2010 - “Beyond Peaking” Read Online - “The Methuselah Project” Read Online
eFiction Magazine: The Premier Internet Fiction Zine. Vol. 3, 2 June 2010

Download PDF

Pow Fast Flash Fiction 25 April 2010 - "Dog Fight” Read Online

So what have you been up to lately? We'd love to hear about it! Just email us, and you could be the next person basking in the glow of the GLaaS alumni spotlight . . .

Gatsby Lawn Party August 25th at 6

2010-08-18T22:37:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's that time: the Gatsby Lawn Party is here again! West Egg Literati, the GLS student org, is hosting this new student welcome bash once more! Alumni are quite welcome.

Join us on the GLS House back lawn on Wednesday, August 25

at about 6:00 (5:30 if you want to help us set up).

Connect with new students. Reconnect with alumni of yore. Play some croquet, write some haiku, and maybe bring some money for West Egg merchandise and their always delightful and artistic lit mag rock, paper, scissors.

If you think you’ll be coming, we’d love an RSVP to help with our planning. Just email Kelly at kkrebs@hamline.edu. (In the case of inclement weather, the festivities will be moved to East Hall 5.)

See you there!

These brd members will be there. Will you?

Help keep yourself accountable for writing (and have fun doing it)

2010-08-10T21:40:00.000-05:00

A friend in the writers' group I'm in recommended the site 750words.com. If you want to get cracking on being disciplined and really make the writing habit part of your everyday life, there's nothing like signing yourself up to be on a Wall of Shame. Just kidding.

There are some great tools here to help you keep track of your goals. You also get points and badges and some really interesting features, one of which is like a mood ring based on your writing.

3 pages a day might be how you start getting back into the practice of writing if you've fallen out of it. You can do 3 pages a day. And everyone likes penguin badges, right?

Do you use this site? Any tips or tricks for those who might be interested?

This Tuesday big meeting (and no WHH)

2010-08-08T21:43:00.000-05:00

Tuesday night

August 10

6:30

GLS house

We'll be meeting to toss around ideas for the coming year of GLaaS. We'd love to get your ideas. We'd love if you would bring your ideas and come yourself because we'd love to see you and have you join the board. (WHH will not be meeting that night since your faithful blog editor can't be two places at once. Yet.)

If you can't make it, but you have a suggestion for a great event or want to help us plan future events, please let us know (preferably before the meeting, but we love hearing from you any time).

We hope to see you there!

Love,

GLS Alumni Board/glsbrd/GLaaS board

Check out David Oppegaard's blog: Deep Thoughts With Blogagaard

2010-08-03T19:27:00.000-05:00

Name of your blog: Deep Thoughts With Blogagaard

Link to your blog: www.blogagaard.blogspot.com

What your blog is about: The voice I blog in is a slightly insane version of myself that often refers to itself as “Blogagaard” or “We here at Blogagaard.” Sometimes I review books or movies, sometimes I talk about writing, but mostly I just post on the world around Blogagaard and the skewed way Blogagaard perceives it, with the occasional posting or plug of my own writing along the way.

Your name (if you're not blogging anonymously): David Oppegaard

Years you were in the program (and year you graduated from Hamline): 2004-2006 ('06 grad)

When you started blogging: August 2005

Why you blog: I started a different blog when I was traveling in Europe to keep my friends updated. By the time I came back, I was already addicted to instant gratification of seeing your words on the web instantly.

Who your intended audience is: My intended audience, at the beginning, was pretty much just my friends. Now that I’m a published author, I try to aim my posts at a more general audience and discuss the craft of writing more than I used to. Hopefully my blog amuses as many people as possible.

What blogs you like to read: I used to read a lot of blogs, but then many of my friends stopped blogging, and I drifted away from blog reading in general. In some ways I see blogging as a big fad that reached its height in the ought’s, but there are obviously many hardcore bloggers still going strong and new blogs popping up every day.

Advice to or question for bloggers: I suppose my only advice is that blogging is a marathon, not a race, so if you’re just starting a blog, don’t pour your whole soul/life story into it in the first couple of months, because you’ll burn yourself out pretty fast and suddenly you won’t feel like blogging anymore.

P.S. from GLaaS: Be sure to check out David's blog because he's also experimenting with publishing some of his best blogging moments over the years. All hail drunken blogging, indeed. If you're new to blogging, there's a lot of material to laugh about here. In a good way.

Alumni Spotlight on Laura Littleford in 2010 Minnesota Fringe Festival

2010-07-29T19:49:00.000-05:00

"Romeo and Juliet Go to Winnipeg"
One Woman Show by Laura Littleford

Laura Littleford, MFA 1998, premieres her latest one woman show, "Romeo and Juliet Go to Winnipeg" on Friday, August 6, at 5:30 p.m. at the Playwrights' Center (2301 Franklin Avenue E, Minneapolis) as part of the 2010 Minnesota Fringe Festival (visit www.fringefestival.org for details). Stay tuned for opening night festivities at www.lauralittleford.com. Also, check out her event page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/edit/?id=105567592822663#!/pages/Laura-Littleford/105567592822663.

This autobiographical work features "misadventured, piteous overthrows" by two teens who try to escape bickering Baptist families in bucolic Burnsville. Old dogma breaks into new insanity in 1969, while Romeo and Juliet make out for 491 miles on a high school choir tour to Winnipeg.

"Romeo and Juliet Go to Winnipeg" plays at the Playwrights' Center at the following dates and times:
·

Friday, August 6 at 5:30 p.m.
·

Sunday, August 8 at 4 p.m.
·

Wednesday, August 11 at 7 p.m.
·
Saturday, August 14 at 10 p.m.
·
Sunday, August 15 at 1 p.m.

It sounds hilarious, so we hope to see a lot of you turning out to support your fellow alumni and enjoying gobs of all-around artistic talent at the Fringe Festival. This year, the Minnesota Fringe Festival runs August 5th-15th.

July Poetry Book Club: July 27

2010-07-20T22:24:00.000-05:00

Don't forget! In just a little under one week, we meet to discuss In the Bird Museum by Kristy Bowen.

The Hamline GLS Alumni host a Poetry Book Club on the last Tuesday of each month from 7:30-9pm at Jean Larson's house. This is an incentive for graduates interested in poetry to read a whole book of poems, to come up with questions/insights/what works what doesn't/ favorite moments, and discuss them with alumni. We have a deal going with one of the local bookstores to get each month's book at a discount. You can sit back, engage, read part, read all. Come monthly, come sometimes. Flexible and low key (unless someone decides to raise a ruckus; you know how poetry can affect some of us).

Please email Jean at jeanielars@comcast.net for more information.

Check out Beth Greshwalk's blog: Coffee with a Koala: My Realities of Relocating from Minneapolis to Melbourne

2010-07-13T22:47:00.000-05:00

Name of your blog: Coffee with a Koala: My Realities of Relocating from Minneapolis to Melbourne

Link to your blog: http://www.bethinoz.wordpress.com/

What your blog is about: In narrative essay form, this blog explores the journey of a 30-something American woman who packed up three suitcases, two cats, and a fist full of hope and ventured to Melbourne, Australia, to live. I was driven by the one thing women’s magazines and girlfriends have warned us about for years: a long distance relationship. My Aussie boyfriend (a travel writer) and I met at an Indonesian writer’s festival, fell in love over email and phone calls, and spent seventeen months of correspondence, visits and travel before I moved to Australia to see this adventure through. The purpose of this blog isn’t to (a) tell overly sentimental stories or (b) focus on love relationships. It’s about exploring the flip-sides to the fantasy of moving abroad.

Your name (if you're not blogging anonymously): Beth Greshwalk

Years you were at Hamline: 2001-2008 (M.F.A.)

When you started blogging: June 22, 2010 (still new; several entries and growing)

Why you blog: It allows me to write in the way I enjoy most (memoir) and be published, in a sense. This cathartic outlet also gives me confidence and keeps me writing on a regular basis. Great practice!

Who your intended audience is: It's possible that women may relate most, but I think it may work for anyone who tends to take chances and "follow their heart," over their head. Travelers or anyone else who is currently or has lived abroad may also be interested.

What blogs you like to read: I'm still pretty new to the blogging scene - would love some suggestions.

Advice to or question for bloggers: Just do it. It's a great platform for writers who want to get their voices out there. I think you'll be surprised by its hidden benefits. I'm still a newbie, and am sure to have questions for other bloggers soon!

Anything else you'd like to add: I was actually in the MFA program from 2001-2008, so a smattering of people may remember me, though I was only in one evening class per semester. Also, I did spend 2005-2006 living in Athens, Greece, where I completed my final MFA capstone project, a memoir about immersion in a foreign country (I did a long distance, independent study/correspondence with Barrie Jean Borich). And THAT was actually inspired by a MALS/MFA arts course in 2001, where we'd spent 11 days in Athens! So I can honestly thank the GLS program for changing my life in this way - inspiring me to live abroad and to write about it! :) Sorry for the gushing, but I seriously do owe this to GLS! :)

Come meet the low-residency folks on July 12th at 7

2010-07-06T21:04:00.000-05:00

GLS Low-Residency Reading and Reception: Monday, July 12 7:00 pm
A Meet and Greet for the GLS Community

Did you know that GLS offers a low-residency MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults? Twice a year, students in this program come from across the nation to the Hamline campus for a 10-day residency full of seminars, workshops, lectures, and readings. At this summer’s residency (July 8 – 18), faculty, visiting writers, graduating students, and guest editors/publishers will deliver lectures and offer seminars that examine a broad range of issues for writers in the field. Because these low-residency students and faculty are only on campus for a short time, they rarely get to meet other students in our programs. But this summer, we're opening the doors and bringing everyone together!

We’d like to invite all members of the GLS community to a special residency reading and reception on Monday evening, July 12 at 7:00 pm in the Kay Fredericks room, 3rd floor of the Klas Center. The reading will feature our faculty/authors Ron Koertge, Jane Resh Thomas, Anne Ursu, Lisa Jahn-Clough, and Jackie Briggs-Martin. A book signing and reception will follow. We hope you can join us for this special event. It will be a great way to meet these students and the wonderful faculty who teach in our low-residency program!

These are really great authors with tons of writing experience and books under their belts, not to mention all the great students you've never met. So come on out and meet them all!

Scriptwriting opportunity

2010-07-04T22:09:00.001-05:00

One of our alumni let us know about this opportunity. Be sure to check it out if you're interested.

"Seeking someone who would be interested/have experience/capability in writing a script for a family entertainment film. Work with a scriptwriter and computer animator to develop The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister to develop the character into a 3D computer animation film. The story would appeal to 8 - 12 years old and family. They are pretty far along in the development process and are looking for people who can write dialog. The bones of the story are somewhat worked out. Character must change quite a bit (grow up) to appeal to a more grown up audience. For more information send your contact information to Joan Stavely."

The new GLS Exchange has arrived!

2010-06-25T16:19:00.001-05:00

If you didn't receive the new GLS Exchange through email on Thursday 24 June, you can check it out here.

I'd also recommend letting GLS know your preferred and current email address, as well, so you can be notified of future issues as they are published.

This new, turbo-charged version of the Exchange contains all the content you looked forward to in the paper version and more. Be sure to check out fun additions like The View from West Egg and the Alumni Corner for updates on how you can connect. I'm looking forward to the In the Classroom and the Beyond the Classroom features, myself. Maybe all this community news will inspire you to send us an alumni update or a reading list or book review of your own.

Just because you've graduated doesn't mean you can't still be part of the great GLS community. :)

Michael Kiesow Moore ('99) invites you to write peace into your life this summer

2010-06-15T22:57:00.002-05:00

Hi there,

I'm a Hamline MFA alumnus (1999), and I'd like to let everyone know about a week-long class I'll be teaching on Madeline Island this summer. Here are the details:

Writing Peace into Your Life
August 8 to August 13, 2010
All levels / multi-genre

At the peaceful setting of Madeline Island we will spend a week exploring many aspects of peace. If you had peace in your life, what would it look like? How can you use your own inner peace to benefit your family, community, and world? The goal of this class is to have students consciously explore the nature of peace through writing. In the process, we can discover deep truths about ourselves and how we relate to the world.

We'll read and discuss writings by Thich Nhat Hanh, Mohandas Gandhi, and others. Guided meditations and walks in the beautiful island setting will return students to their own sense of inner peace. Students will pull from their own craft toolkits of poetry, creative nonfiction, or fiction, at all levels of writing.

As writers-and as caring human beings-we will meet at the crossroads of peace, creativity, and imagination to inspire hope for the future, deepen our connections to ourselves and others, and inspire each other to use our creativity for peace.

For further information and registration, see http://www.madelineartschool.com/. (NOTE: You might want to use Internet Explorer to view this site, not Firefox .)

If you have any questions, let me know. Thanks!

best,
Michael

Come to next year's MALS Forum

2010-06-08T23:26:00.000-05:00

If you didn't make it out to the MALS Forum in April, be sure to be on the lookout for this event next year. It was frankly fascinating to see what MALS graduates have been writing about. Seriously. From even this small number of presenters, I got to hear about topics from history to sociology to religion to politics to family and beyond.

The only irritating thing about these MALS graduate presentations is the same thing that's irritating about the parallel graduate readings for MFA students: you want to hear more!

Be on the lookout next spring for this intriguing event, and be sure to come hear smart people talk about things they've been thinking hard and writing beautifully about. It's well worth your time.

TalkingImageConnection (TIC) reading June 17th

2010-06-01T23:41:00.003-05:00

Fitting the Profile
a reading presented by TIC and the Tychman Shapira Gallery

Thursday June 17th @ 7PM
Sabes Jewish Community Center
4330 S. Cedar Lake Road
Minneapolis, MN

writers
Naomi Cohn * Geoff Herbach * Rebecca Kanner * Judith Katz * Alison Morse * Margie Newman

respond to

the exhibit "Profiling: Exploring The Faces of Diversity Within The Jewish Community"

For more information, email yackmor@talkimage.org.

These performances are always a blast and usually have at least one of your fellow alumni. Be sure to experience a reading this summer, and remember that TIC is always looking for new participants. Email TIC a story or piece of creative non-fiction or three poems, along with a description of your past experience as a reader and your interest in visual art.

Maya Washington '06 wants your creative writing

2010-05-28T23:48:00.000-05:00

Dearest Friends and Creative Fam-

I am editing the White Space Poetry Anthology and I don't have any poems to edit! I sent out the following call for submissions a few weeks ago and have only received a few submissions. Please spread the word, submit your own work and forward this to colleagues. And for all my teaching artist friends, please encourage your star students to submit.

White Space Poetry Anthology
Deadline extended 6/15/10

The White Space Poetry Anthology is a collection of poetry, creative non-fiction, and art that use white space, literal or metaphorical to connect to thoughts and ideas.

We are also interested in voice as it pertains to the artist's point of view: be it regional, cultural or individual perspectives. There are no guidelines with regard to subject matter--we are mostly interested in how you use white space in your work and how it relates to your artistic point of view. Simultaneous and previously published work is welcome. If you are a multi-genre artist, please include pieces that include text and visual art.

Poetry: submit up to 6 poems.

Creative non-fiction: submit up to 6 short prose poems, or short creative non-fiction.

Art Work: submit up to 6 images.

Please send your electronic submission, along with your name, email, postal address, and a brief bio (60 words or less) to whitespacepoetry@gmail.com. Selected submissions will appear in print and online. There is no pay for contributors. If your work is selected you will receive a contributor copy of the anthology and recognition on our site.

- Maya Washington

Spotlight on Michele Campbell '07

2010-05-25T16:03:00.001-05:00

Michele Campbell - MFA Creative Nonfiction - 2004-2007

I blog at http://voixdemichele.blogspot.com.

I wrote a screenplay and turned it into a movie with Todd Wardrope (MFA 2010). It can be seen on the YouTube, and there's a link right here with all the credits. It was created for the Women Stand Up and Shoot comedy short film competition through IFP Minnesota. We didn't win, but it's a fantastic movie anyway, and we're still entering it into contests.

Also, I am writing a one woman show for the Fringe Festival.

Title: Pardon My French.
Venue: The Playwrights' Center (2301 Franklin Ave. E)
Performance times:
Thursday, August 5 - 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 7 - 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, August 8 - 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday, August 11 - 8:30 p.m.
Friday, August 13 - 7:00 p.m.

For more information about the Minnesota Fringe Festival, please click http://fringefestival.org/.

There you go!

- Michele

It's not all fish in acid: Why Robert Desnos matters (to me)

2010-05-18T22:43:00.002-05:00

Before GLS, I had only a glancing acquaintance with Surrealism. It consisted of my firm dislike for Dali paintings, which always made me feel slightly ill. Then I met Robert Desnos in one of Deborah Keenan's classes, and I fell in love with what Eddie Hirsch referred to as his “deeply joyous and wildly stubborn” self. One of my assignments was to research Desnos, and I did so enthusiastically. Now, years later, I think I finally understand those Dali paintings, and I owe it all to Desnos.

Very Brief Summary

He had somewhat humble beginnings, a dramatic life in an interesting time and place surrounded by interesting people and ideas. (You should read about them.) He wrote whatever he wanted, however he wanted, and no one could tell him what he could or could not write, not Breton (the leader of the Surrealist movement) and not even the Nazis. He died a tragic death.

Why I love Desnos

He wasn't afraid of forms or free verse. He wasn't afraid of being labeled a commercial sellout when he started working in radio and advertisement, using writing to, gasp, make a living. He wasn't afraid to call the Surrealists out when he thought they were being ridiculous ("Comrades" is pretty great). He didn't think he could only write with one voice, and there was no experiment he woulnd't try. He laughed at people who looked down their noses at him, and he kept doing what he wanted: writing whatever he wanted however he wanted. He didn't care if you understood; he didn't care if HE understood. He just wrote.

From a poem I wrote to Desnos

I want to read everything you wrote
so maybe I can be brave like you
some day maybe I can write
fearlessly like you whatever however
I want with a merry smirk
at all of those who say you can't

"Love like fish swims in acid"

I got my chance to read what he wrote when we looked at The Voice of Robert Desnos for the April Poetry Book Club meeting. Finally, I had the excuse I needed to read a somewhat comprehensive and chronological selection of his work. It was like watching someone grow up. From that irritatingly incomprehensible automatic writing poetry (whose practitioners started going a bit crazy) to his tediously extensive love affair with unrequited love to his mostly sometimes slightly more comprehensible later works, Desnos was all over the place, and there's always something to like.

In the earlier poems, it was usually a single phrase that made sense amidst the seemingly randomly assembled flotsam of the unconscious mind. I could grab onto that weird and beautiful bit and hold on for dear life, letting the rest of the poem wash past me. Later, when he was being viciously political or sly or playful or in reciprocated love (finally), sometimes a whole poem could keep me in its world. But those earlier ones . . .

Why GLaaS matters

And then, that moment of insight I never could have had if I hadn't been sitting with a group of smart people discussing why I still liked Desnos even when he didn't make any sense to me. "I can't see pictures in my head," I said. "I can't visualize like most people can. People have tried to explain Surrealism to me, and I have stared at Dali's paintings for as long as I could bear, and they meant nothing to me. But when I read this early stuff by Desnos, when I see these ideas as words thrown down in a poem randomly together, suddenly, I understand what Surrealism is; I feel like maybe I understand Dali paintings now that I've seen them as text."

I even got a poem out of the evening, one of those muse-gift ones where something you've been reading and something else you've been contemplating collide just right, and you complete the poem right then!

Always at least half-full

Anyway, one of the reasons we started GLaaS is to make sure alumni can continue to have those discussions that lead to those moments of insight we remember so well from our classes. Just because we have our degrees doesn't mean we can't still experience that kind of learning. I, for one, am glad. Also, Jean's porch is outstanding. Hope to see you there this summer.

Q & A with the Poetry Book Club

2010-05-11T15:13:00.001-05:00

May 25th, we're discussing Towards the Forest by Holaday Mason. In case you haven't made it out to a Poetry Book Club meeting, I asked Jean Larson, one of the leaders, some questions about the book club and the upcoming meetings.

How are the books chosen? The original attendees nominated options by email last August and September and brainstormed a great list. Then we voted for our top picks. So far this effort continues to provide us with a reading list.

What can you tell us about May's author? Holaday Mason lives in California, and even emailed me after she googled herself and found that we’d chosen her book to study.

Any particulars you're excited about discussing? Holaday’s line, “I might have been anyone”

What’s next?
Tuesday, June 29th: The Wellspring by Sharon Olds
Tuesday, July 27th: In the Bird Museum by Kristy Bowen
Tuesday, August 31st: National Monuments by Heid Erdrich

See you at the next Poetry Book Club meeting. (last Tuesday of every month)

Please email Jean at jeanielars@comcast.net for more information.

Alumni Poetry Book Club: May 25

2010-05-04T22:58:00.000-05:00

The Hamline GLS Alumni are hosting a Poetry Book Club on the last Tuesday of each month from 7:30-9pm at Jean Larson's house. On May 25, we will discuss the book Towards the Forest by Holaday Mason.

This is an incentive for graduates interested in poetry to read a whole book of poems, to come up with questions/insights/what works what doesn't/ favorite moments, and discuss them with alumni. You can sit back, engage, read part, read all. Come monthly, come sometimes. Flexible and low key--unless someone decides to raise a ruckus!--you know how poetry can affect some of us.

Please email Jean at jeanielars@comcast.net for more information.

"Green Light Send-off" Graduation Reception : May 22

2010-05-04T22:43:00.003-05:00

Saturday, May 22
3:00 pm

GLS Backyard (1500 Engelwood Ave.)

May 22 is graduation day at Hamline University, and we’d like to invite our alumni to come back and help us celebrate at the annual Green Light Send-Off. The party will begin around 3:00 pm in the backyard of the GLS house immediately following the commencement ceremony (which begins at 1:30 pm.)

The reception is open to all members of the GLS community--graduates, their guests, faculty, and alumni.

The Green Light Send-Off is the bookend experience to our annual Gatsby Party that welcomes new students into the program each fall. If you'd like to attend, please RSVP to glsalumnibrd@hamline.edu or the Facebook event page, so we can get idea of the number of people to expect. And don't worry if you can't attend graduation; the real party begins afterward at GLS anyway!

Does anyone read reviews anymore?

2010-04-25T23:37:00.000-05:00

Here's a great article about the state of reviewing I ran across in Publishers Weekly. I've been reading a lot of reviews online lately, and this bit really resonated with me.

"When I read a scathing, thinly veiled ad hominem attack, or a prolonged act of self-aggrandizing cleverness at another's expense, or a condemnation of a single book for the bigger tendency--or tradition--that it would seem to represent, I tend to think negative reviews are ultimately embarrassing and ruinous for everyone, no matter how exciting they may be to read or gossip about. But when a reviewer manages to point out a book's shortcomings even-handedly, with care and dignity, and with an eye to raising the bar a little higher for readers and for writers, too--that's another story. I'd love to see more reviews like that."

Timothy Donnelly quoted in
Craig Teicher's "What Poetry Reviews Are For (and Up Against)"
in Publisher's Weekly March 29, 2010

Rain Taxi got mentioned, too, which was kind of thrilling.

The article as a whole is about whether book reviewing--specificially poetry book reviewing--matters in today's culture. Be sure to check out the full article for several different perspectives on the issue.

What do you think? Do you read reviews? What do you look for in them? Do you write them? What would make you want to read professional reviews? Are there any reviewers or sites you really trust for consistently high quality reviews?

Calling all Terry Tempest Williams fans

2010-04-13T23:07:00.000-05:00

Wow. Finding Beauty in a Broken World is exciting to read. I'm captivated by the unusual formatting, the careful structure/form, and the fascinating content. I admit a bias toward mosaic, mixed-genre, creatively-formatted forms, but I think this book would draw most any serious reader into its meticulously and seemingly-effortlessly crafted world of beauty and disaster.

I've read a couple of Williams' essays, too, and I'm wondering if you have a favorite you could recommend. Which of her books do you love most? Which articles? Which essays? If you have any suggestions to share in this week before she comes to visit Hamline (someone pinch me), please do.

And don't forget all of her events on campus; this is a rare chance. :)

No WHH this Tuesday (20th)

2010-04-13T22:58:00.001-05:00

There will be no WHH on Tuesday, April 20, so I can enjoy Terry Tempest Williams' Mahle Lecture at 7:30 in the Hamline United Methodist Church (HUMC). If you've never been to HUMC, it's really lovely with lots of intricate stained glass that has its own particular character as the light changes and fades to night. It will be a great place for Williams to talk about mosaics and her newest book Finding Beauty in a Broken World.

Alumni Poetry Book Club: April 27

2010-04-06T22:14:00.005-05:00

The Hamline GLS Alumni are hosting a Poetry Book Club on the last Tuesday of each month from 7:30-9pm at Jean Larson's house. On April 27, we will discuss The Voice of Robert Desnos: Selected Poems.

This is an incentive for graduates interested in poetry to read a whole book of poems, to come up with questions/insights/what works what doesn't/ favorite moments, and discuss them with alumni. You can sit back, engage, read part, read all. Come monthly, come sometimes. Flexible and low key--unless someone decides to raise a ruckus!--you know how poetry can affect some of us.

Please email Jean at jeanielars@comcast.net for more information.

MALS Forum: April 24

2010-04-06T22:09:00.006-05:00

MALS Forum
Saturday, April 24
1:00 PM

Sorin Hall Rooms A & B

In a new tradition GLS is starting this year, selected students graduating from the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (MALS) program will be presenting their final capstone/synthesis project at the MALS Forum on Saturday afternoon, April 24. The event starts at 1:00 pm and will be held in Sorin Hall rooms A & B.

Similar to the Grad Readings for our MFA students, the MALS Forum gives us an opportunity to hear some of the projects that our MALS students have researched and written for their capstone work. Please RSVP to Kelly Krebs if you think you'll be joining us.

Four events the week of April 18th

2010-03-30T21:21:00.001-05:00

Does GLaaS have a week of fun for you!

April 18th: Book Arts Class with Georgia Greeley at 2 PM
April 20th: Terry Tempest Williams Aperitif at 5:30 PM

Hamline has some fun for you, too!

Terry Tempest Williams is coming to Hamline University and will be doing two events you might love.

Mahle Lecture in Progressive Christian Thought: “Finding Beauty in a Broken World”
Tuesday, April 20
7:30 PM
Hamline United Methodist Church
1514 Englewood Avenue
Saint Paul, MN

“A Writer’s Interview with Terry Tempest Williams”
conducted by faculty member Barrie Jean Borich and MFA student Nuria Sheehan
Wednesday, April 21
7:30 PM
Sundin Music Hall
1531 Hewitt Avenue
Saint Paul, MN

We hope to see you there!

Alumni Happy Hour: April 21

2010-03-30T21:10:00.003-05:00

Author Terry Tempest Williams is coming to Hamline!

We’ll be at Sweeney’s Saloon (96 North Dale Street in St. Paul) starting at 5:30 pm. Around 7:00 we’ll head over to campus for the “Author’s Interview” program that begins at 7:30 pm in Sundin Hall. GLS Alumni Board will buy the first round of drinks (beer or wine).

The Best Gift You'll Ever Make: April 18th

2010-03-30T20:30:00.002-05:00

The Best Gift You'll Ever Make

Book arts with Georgia Greely

Create keepsakes for graduates
April 18 @ 2 PM
GLS House

More details to come . . . Stay tuned!

15 Books Pete Heiden ('09) liked in 2009

2010-03-21T13:05:00.002-05:00

From the last six months or so . . .

My Self, My Muse: Irish Women Poets Reflect on Life and Art edited by Patricia Boyle Haberstroh
True at First Light by Ernest Hemingway
No Boundaries, an Anthology of Prose Poems edited by Ray Gonzales
Unpacking the Boxes, A Memoir of a Life in Poetry by Donald Hall
The Winged Life, Writings of Thoreau edited by Robert Bly
Reaching out to the World, New and Selected Prose Poems by Robert Bly
A Hundred White Daffodils by Jane Kenyon
Where Our Food Comes from: Retracing Nikolav Vavilov’s Quest to End Famine by Gary Paul Nabhan
Wolves and the Wolf Myth in American Literature by S.K. Robisch
To and From by G.E. Patterson
Eccentric Islands by Bill Holm
Grass Dancer by Susan Power
A Wilderness Within, the Life of Sigurd Olson by David Backes
Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich
First Words by Joyce Sutphen

Check out Kathleen Cassen Mickelson's blog: One Minnesota Writer

2010-03-19T23:02:00.000-05:00

Name of your blog: One Minnesota Writer
Link to your blog: http://oneminnesotawriter.blogspot.com/
What your blog is about: I talk about writing, submitting, sharing, and the kindnesses that writers and other artists can offer each other. This is not a site for complaints about various editors or writing groups or the multitude of things that can make people upset. But, if you have a story about a kindness that helped you in your creative career, by all means, chime in. What blogs are really about, deep down, is community.
Your name (if you're not blogging anonymously): Kathleen Cassen Mickelson
Year you graduated from Hamline: MFA, creative nonfiction, 1998
When you started blogging: March 2010 (yup, brand new)
Why you blog: I started blogging as a result of my work as a reader, then an editor, at Every Day Poets, an online daily poetry journal. We went through a period where we got some really rude comments from readers who clearly did not write poetry themselves, and I began to ponder why people feel they can be so much ruder online than in person. I'd like to be a kinder presence on the blogosphere.
Who your intended audience is: Anyone interested in writing, making art, or the creative process. I post links to my blog weekly via Facebook, LinkedIn, mnartists.org, ning, and other places on the Internet as I discover them.
What blogs you like to read: Some of my favorites are Brevity's Creative Nonfiction Blog, Poetic Asides with Robert Lee Brewer, Life on the Periphery, and New Pages Blog.
Advice to or question for bloggers: No advice - I'm too new. But please visit my blog and leave some comments. I'd love to hear from you. Thanks!

Alumni Poetry Book Club: March 30

2010-03-07T12:42:00.001-06:00

The Hamline GLS Alumni are hosting a Poetry Book Club on the last Tuesday of each month from 7:30-9pm at Jean Larson's house. On March 30, we will discuss the book Little Boat by Jean Valentine.

This is an incentive for graduates interested in poetry to read a whole book of poems, to come up with questions/insights/what works what doesn't/favorite moments, and discuss them with alumni. You can sit back, engage, read part, read all. Come monthly, come sometimes. Flexible and low key-unless someone decides to raise a ruckus!-you know how poetry can affect some of us.

Please email Jean at jeanielars@comcast.net for more information.

Wonderful worlds

2010-03-07T10:40:00.001-06:00

Since we're having a world-building night, I figured I'd ask the three folks leading it to talk about some books they love that have wonderfully crafted worlds. Here are there responses . . .

Dave says

The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula K. Le Guin: The original "waterworld."
The Dark Tower series: Roland the Gunslinger is hands down Stephen King's greatest character, even if the series got wobbly after Wasteland.
1984 by George Orwell: Big brother is watching you...everywhere.
Ringworld by Larry Niven: A very detailed book about a (literally) manufactured world.
Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith: Set in a futuristic city where every neighborhood has a different theme. One neighborhood changes color constantly, another is run by cats. Not talking cats-just cats.
The Great Gatsby: With this one short book, F. Scott Fitzgerald created a glittery world of 1920's wealth and longing. When the narrator attends a party, you can taste the cocktails.
Don Quixote: Miguel Cervantes creates vivid, dusty Spain-then he sets an old dreamer loose upon it who is living in a world of his own.

Jeff says

Hobbit / Lord of the Rings / Silmarillion: Tolkien's Middle Earth is probably the seminal and most well constructed fantasy world there is. He spent most of his life (decades) creating it, its history, the history and movement of its people, and even a number of the different languages, down to syntax, sentence structure, and alphabets. Seriously, the guy was a language professor who wanted to create new languages, and made a world and a new history to fit them. I don't think we can talk about world building without mentioning Tolkien.
Chronicles of Narnia: Not nearly as well constructed as Middle Earth, but I think Narnia also merits mentioning because for quite some time it was the pre-eminent fantasy world for children. It's been supplanted by Harry Potter, but it's still very relevant (they're still making movies of it!).

Satish says

His Dark Materials Series by Phillip Pullman: Though I loved the Harry Potter series, I do feel the world of 'His Dark Materials' is much more sophisticated. I loved that it really portrayed the ideas of 'outer and inner self' in some fantastic ways. By using the 'Daemon' Pullman characterized one individual using 2 beings.

I do love comic books, but due to their ongoing nature, they are extremely wild where anything goes, and many times contradict any structure that they have. However, limited series comic books have a much tighter hold of things as it is meant to be one story with a beginning middle and end. Such as...

Transmetropolitan: I don't think there is a single page where there is not a trail of cigarette smoke, and it is a must for any fans of Gonzo reporting that was started by Hunter S Thompson. The corrupted use of Nano technology, dirty politics, and vicious media are all things that the disgruntled crude reporter 'Spider Jerusalem' is fighting
Y: the Last Man: A great series about a world where every male has died except for a man and his monkey. Enough said.

What do you say?

What book worlds do you love best? Which ones do you revisit over and over again? Do share. :)

Welcome to our Worlds!

2010-03-07T10:35:00.000-06:00

Join Hamline MFA Alumni David Oppegaard, Jeff Smieding and host Satish Jayaraj as they present their respective sci-fi and fantasy worlds.

The writers will each do a short presentation about their worlds and the inspirations and thought process that has gone into its creation before taking questions from the audience. Though the presenters may read from their work, their creative process will be the primary focus.

March 11 @ 7 PM
Giddens Learning Center 100 E

Hamline University
This event is open to the public.

David Oppegaard lives in St. Paul, MN. He is the author of the Bram Stoker-nominated The Suicide Collectors and the newly released Wormwood, Nevada. Each novel he writes is different- they range somewhere between literary fiction, speculative fiction, horror fiction, and dark fantasy-and the worlds he builds for each is subsequently different as well. Even David is sometimes confused by the genre mishmash inside his head.

Jeff Smieding is a graduate of the MFA program at Hamline University. His debut novel, And In Their Passing, A Darkness, is a dark fantasy fairy tale in the style of the Brothers Grimm, and is represented by Red Sofa Literary. Throughout the past ten years, Smieding has performed live in local bands Kentucky Gag Order and Belles Of Skin City, as well as given literary performances in art galleries, bars, and bookstores with The Lit 6 Project, Electric Arc Radio, Talking Image Connections, and the Riot Act Reading Series. Truly, Smieding is a Minneapolitan Man-about-town. He's pretty cool.

Satish Jayaraj is a 2009 Hamline Alumni whose thesis was Secret Of The Naga Dragons a young adult fantasy novel. He is inspired primarily by global mythology and is always striving in his fiction to find a balance between universal mythological symbolism and individuality while also honoring the pure joy of storytelling.
Of late, more to his surprise than anyone else's, he has also found himself hosting other literary events such as Chris Title's "Barbaric Yawp" Open Mics. This is the second event he has hosted through the Graduate Liberal Studies Alumni Association (GLAAS).

Peter Hoeg

2010-02-02T21:32:00.000-06:00

Haley said...

Okay. So I'm not a girl who reads a lot of fiction...I like fiction, I just usually get drawn to other things first. I'm saying this because I'm a little behind the times when it comes to what's 'hot' in the fiction world.

However, I just started reading Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg...and omg, I'm obsessed.

I'm wondering if anyone out there has read other works by him. This novel is so harsh and ornate. Are the rest of his writings so awesome?

WHH February 2nd

2010-02-01T22:30:00.000-06:00

I'm going to read more of Ploughshares, again. I know I will. But I will also endeavor to use my will power and draft a bit about a trip I took last spring to see my sister overseas. I will NOT just read great literary magazines the whole time. I won't.

Someone, please come make sure I don't. :)

See you at the HU Library's second floor by the periodicals for an hour of literary bliss from 6-7. (More details here.)

Poetry Book Club

2010-01-26T23:29:00.002-06:00

GLaaS is hosting a Poetry Book Club on the last Tuesday of each month from 7:30-9pm at Jean Larson's house.

This is an incentive for graduates interested in poetry to read a whole book of poems and come up with

questions
insights
what works
what doesn’t work
favorite moments

Then you get to discuss all this with other alumni! It's like class, only without the grading.

You can sit back, engage, read part, read all. Come monthly, come sometimes. Flexible and low key. Unless someone decides to raise a ruckus! You know how poetry can affect some of us . . .

This spring the group will meet on January 26, February 23, March 23, and April 30. Stay tuned for next month's book

P.S. If you'd be interested in hosting another kind of book club, do let us know.

Writers' Happy Hour every Tuesday night!

2010-01-26T22:16:00.002-06:00

For those times when you no longer have class to get you to write and submit for publication, every week there's Writers' Happy Hour!

At first, I thought of calling it PubDates (you and me together for one night every week). I decided on Writers' Happy Hour. I was then informed that we have GLaaS Happy Hour sometimes, so I figure we can refer to this particular weekly activity as WHH (pronounced Whuh?).

What are the details?

* Tuesday Nights (when Hamline is open)
* Hamline University Library
* 6 - 7 PM
* Second Floor (next to the main stairs near the end of the magazine alphabet)
* Look for the sign.
* We're saving a place for you . . .

What is the WHH?

Maybe you want to get published, but you need some help. WHH is there to potentially offer the following services:

an encouraging hand of support.
a swift kick in the rear and someone to keep you accountable about your submissions.
a critique partner.
60 minutes a week to just write.
a regular time to research/read all the journals and literary magazines out there.

Browse the literary journals, trade suggestions, get advice, or head upstairs to the quiet study floor for an hour of solid writing. Whether you want support or a challenge or someone to keep score with, GLaaS is here for you. Waiting. So lonely . . .

Kimberly Eridon is the contact person for this ongoing event, and you can reach her at kaendermiles@gmail.com.

Read anything great online about writing or thinking?

2010-01-26T21:07:00.001-06:00

If you stumble on a great website for writers, thinkers, artists, etc., please pass the wealth along. Just email us a brief paragraph and a link to the content (website, blog post, online article, or whatever), and we'll pass it on to your fellow alumni.

Have you witnessed an incredible event?

2010-01-26T21:02:00.001-06:00

If you've been to an event in the Twin Cities area that knocked your socks off, we'd love to read your thoughts on the experience. Be it that wonderful Pre-Raphaelite exhibit at the MIA last year or a particularly energetic Barbaric Yawp reading, we'd like to hear about it.

Just email us, and tell us where and when and why it inspired you to read or write or create in some other way. Let us know if it was a one-time thing, part of a series, or an ongoing exhibit (please provide the closing date). If there's a website, please include it.

And if there's some event you are waiting for with bated breath, feel free to send that to us, too. We'll post that you're anticipating it, and maybe you can find some like-minded folks to talk to in the comments section.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

-GLaaS

Did you get something published?

2010-01-26T20:47:00.002-06:00

Tell us all about it. :) We want to rejoice with you (and check it out at the library or buy it at a book store)!

Please email us and include the following information:

Your name
Your graduation year
Name of publication
Issue/volume
Name of your piece
Kind/genre(s) of piece
Tell us about your piece
Tell us how you got it published
What advice from this particular process you would like to pass on

Can't wait to hear from you.

- GLaaS

What is GLaaS up to?

2010-01-26T17:25:00.000-06:00

We'll talk about our (usually upcoming) events, so you can get them on your calendar. We'll ask for help if we need it, talk about our planning meetings, and generally keep you updated about our activities (so you can come to them). We sure do like spending time with you.

We want to serve as both a social network and a resource to help you keep reading, writing, and thinking even though you've graduated (and maybe moved far away).

We can't wait to see you again! Until then, please stay in touch. :)

Sincerely,
GLaaS

Do you have an organization we should know about?

2010-01-26T17:19:00.001-06:00

We're interested in finding out what our alumni are up to. If you've started an organization (charity, literary magazine, theater company, reading series, etc.) or are a part of one that you think we'd be interested in finding out about, supporting, or joining, do share.

Email us, so we can post a profile of your organization. Please include the following information:

Your name
Grad year
Organization name
What your organization does
How you got involved
How others can get involved
Org website and email/contact info

We hope to hear from you soon. :)

Are you doing a reading or performance in the Twin Cities area?

2010-01-26T17:11:00.001-06:00

Share the details with us; we're all ears!

Email us the info and any links (and your name and grad year), and we'll post a blog entry about them.

Are there any authors you love?

2010-01-26T17:07:00.001-06:00

You know how sometimes you find an author you love? You can't talk about the author and his/her works enough. You wish everyone you knew would read that author's work, and then talk with you for hours about the author (or at least love that author as much as you do, if that's even possible).

We would love to hear about that author (or those authors) from you. What elements of their craft send shivers down your spine? Which of their characters do you have literary crushes on? What settings do they bring to life so vibrantly you want to visit them? Feel free to wax as eloquent as you want. Any author is fair game, any genre, any age range.

Email us your passionate musings, and be sure to send some links to the author's home or fan pages, if you have any.

Sincerely,
Future Fans of Your Favorite Authors

Heard any great music lately?

2010-01-26T16:51:00.001-06:00

Do you have a (list of) musician(s) you wish more people listened to? A song or an album that inspired you to write for some reason? Do share.

Watched a great movie or TV show lately?

2010-01-26T16:48:00.001-06:00

Did it have great writing or a really engaging plot or well-crafted characters? Did it make you want to write?

We'd sure love to hear about it.

Do let us know.

- GLaaS

Do you have a list of books you love?

2010-01-26T16:42:00.001-06:00

We would love to hear about 10 books you've loved lately. It could be a simple list or an annotated list. It doesn't have to contain your favorite literary classics. It could be guilty pleasure reads, books you wish more people had read, your favorite childrens' books, or any kind of mixture. Be creative. You're welcome to submit more than one list, too.

(If your list has a few more or less than 10, we don't mind.)

Be sure to give your list a title and include authors.

Thanks,
Your Fellow Alumni

Do you want to be in the Alumni Spotlight?

2010-01-26T16:29:00.002-06:00

Hi.

What have you been up to lately? We'd love to know. Feel free to tell us.

Be sure to include things like your name and the years you were in the program. We'd also be interested in knowing why you chose Hamline's GLS program. Really, we just want to know anything you want to tell us.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,
GLaaS

Do you blog?

2010-01-26T16:02:00.004-06:00

Do you have a blog? Do you want more people to read your blog? Do you want intelligent and interesting people to read your blog and comment on it? Are you looking for blogs to read?

GLaaS is here for you. Not only do we want to post a link to your blog on our blogroll, but we also want to give you a chance to tell other alumni all about your blog. If you'd like us to post a profile of your blog, please email us with the following information, and watch for a blog post about you coming soon!

Name of your blog: My Awesome Blog
Link to your blog: myawesomeblog@blogspot.bloop
What your blog is about: A paragraph or two or a list or something telling what your blog talks about. Be as creative as you want.
Your name (if you're not blogging anonymously): Chris Shmoe
Years you were in the program (and year you graduated from Hamline): 1996-2000 ('00 grad)
When you started blogging: month year
Why you blog: If you want to talk about what made you start writing your blog, please feel free.
Who your intended audience is: If you have one, please let us know who it is and how you target it.
What blogs you like to read:
Advice to or question for bloggers: If you have a piece of advice to share or a question to ask other GLS alumni bloggers, please do.