Alumni

Eric Gardner (’89), who is Chair, Braun Fellow, and Professor of English at Saginaw Valley State University, has written a book that is stirring up the field of African American literature and history. Unexpected Places: Relocating Nineteenth-Century African American Literature (University Press of Mississippi), recovers the work of early African AMerican authors and editors who have been left off maps drawn by historians and literary critics and calls for a large-scale rethinking of the nineteenth-century African American literary landscape.

“Unexpected Places is exactly the kind of book most needed in the field right now,” writes John Ernest, author of Chaotic Justice: Rethinking African American Literary History.”

According to Gardner, “The book was a natural outgrowth of my fascination with archival work—and so was several years in the making. When I ‘found’ Black journalist Jennie Carter and then early Black playwright William Jay Greenly in the midst of other scholars’ rediscoveries that have changed our sense of Black literature, I knew I needed to think through just why so many early Black writers still needed recovery and how that recovery might change . . . well, might change everything about the field.”

In addition to revisiting such better known writers as William Wells Brown, Maria Stewart, and Hannah Crafts, Unexpected Places offers the first critical considerations of several important figures, including Jennie Carter, Polly Wash, Lizzie Hart, and William Jay Greenly. The book’s discussion of physical locations leads to a study of how region is tied to genre, authorship, publication circumstances, the Black press, domestic and nascent Black nationalist idealogies, and Black mobility in the nineteenth century.

Gardner writes, “Geography was key to my thinking about this subject. Growing up in Illinois, I always assumed that I and my Midwestern ancestors were far from questions surrounding, say, slavery–and certainly far from the early development of Black literature in the urban centers of the Northeast. I was wrong—as were most critics in the field. Early Black struggles for literacy and literary culture happened across the nation. I’m hoping that the book will let folks in Ohio and Indiana and Missouri and Nevada and California and all sorts of other ‘unexpected places’ know that a Black literary past might be as close as their own backyard.

“I was already fascinated by historical digging when I got to Illinois Wesleyan, but when I had a chance to combine and build on those skills in one of Bob Bray’s classes to better understand an intriguing writer—Belle Owen, a little-known Illinois author—I was hooked on doing literary history.”

Walk into Barnes & Noble these days and you’ll see in the New Fiction section a copy of Spin, a first novel by Robert Rave (’96).

Rave, whose second novel, Waxed, will be released next summer by St. Martin’s, will be in Chicago on Nov. 4 for a booksigning, and he’ll return to IWU on Thursday, Nov. 5 to talk about Spin and his experience getting that first novel published. He’ll visit Professor DeVore’s 1:10 p.m. Senior Writing Project class, but other English majors are welcome to attend (location: Stevenson 103). Afterwards, Rave will answer questions. Spin (St. Martin’s Press) is based on Rave’s experience working PR in New York City. A reviewer for Publisher’s Weekly noted, “With its inside views of a corrupt yet glamorous lifestyle and its witty tone, the book is sure to please fans of the sub-genre.”

If you linger over the acknowledgments page you’ll notice that Rave includes Professor Kathie O’Gorman among those who’ve helped him along the way.

“I have many great memories of Dr. O’Gorman’s classes at IWU,” Rave said.  ”It’s where I discovered my love of Samuel Beckett and the theater of the absurd.  It’s where I trudged through Ulysses and made it to out alive—although just barely.  I met my lifelong best friend, Jennifer Gill in Dr. O’Gorman’s class.  Our fates were sealed as eternal friends when we both showed up wearing chocolate brown velour pants to British Literature. (Sad, but true).

“Synthetic fibers aside, Dr. O’Gorman’s class was where I began exploring the many layers of literature.  Not long after, I examined subtext like I had never quite done before. In fact, I was often looking for the subtext when none existed.   Yet one of the most valuable things that has stuck with me through today was repeatedly said by Dr. O’Gorman.  It was just a simple phrase that always proceeded an important point she was about to make: ‘the notion of.’  ’The notion of’ quickly became my catch phrase during my final two years of college especially when I tried to impress those who were, at the time, far beyond my intellectual reach.  Jennifer and I would attempt to use it in everyday conversation. I would ask her to grab a bite to eat and she would respond, “Let’s explore the notion of dinner,” much to my chagrin.  However, what started out as playful banter between two friends later evolved into something tangible. Whether I was simply reading for pleasure or researching ideas for a book I explored new ways of looking at the material and questioned the writer’s intent.  I kept hearing Dr. O’Gorman’s voice in my head “the notion of.”  So now, when I start a writing project I often think of challenging old notions or archetypes typically seen in books and I go against the grain.

“Many people were surprised I wrote a book, which some have dubbed “chick-lit,” with a male protagonist.  However, I liked the idea of challenging readers of the genre to open themselves to something different not only because he’s a guy, but he’s also flawed and by the end of the novel he becomes someone completely different from who we met at the beginning.  Dr. O’Gorman was the one who turned on the light switch for me.  She assigned material that I can say with great certainity that I would have never picked up at a library or bookstore. I feel that I am not only more enlightened as a reader and author because of it, but as a human being.  I can almost see the proverbial eye-rolling and hear the snickers from cynics from here.  But for me, it’s all true.  Simply because, with some prodding, I explored ‘the notion of.’”

Jac Jemc (’05) writes,

“I went to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago right after graduation to get my MFA in creative writing.  I finished that about a year ago.  I’m writing fiction and poetry and having good luck publishing in lit mags.  In May I found out that my first novel, My Only Wife, will be published by Dzanc Books, a young press out of Ann Arbor.  They have their authors lined up far in advance right now, so it won’t be out until 2012, but I don’t mind the wait.

“I’m working for a couple of online magazines.  I’m poetry editor for decomP and a fiction reader for Our Stories.  I just guest-edited a print magazine called Little White Poetry Journal, in which two other IWU students had work appear: Diego Baez and Megan Thoma.  I’ve been on a couple of artist residencies: Ragdale and right now I’m actually writing from the Vermont Studio Center.  This summer I went on a reading tour of 11 cities with 7 people from small US presses and magazines.  It was a hit and we’re already planning our trip for next year.

“I think that’s the gist of my writing update.  I am forever grateful to all of you at IWU for the education, support and encouragement I received while there.  It seems things are on the right track for me (or at least an enjoyable one) and I feel I owe much of this ’success’ to the foundations I built while there.”

Our congratulations to Jac, who adds that she has a blog that includes links to her writing. Do check it out.

It’s only been three weeks since graduation, but Allegra Gallian writes that she already has her first writing “gig.” She’s covering theatre in the Chicago area for Examiner.com—one of 379 Chicago Examiners and 1238 Arts & Entertainment Examiners nationwide. As newspapers continue to struggle and lay people off, journalism seems to be shifting toward the Web, and the Examiner is a perfect example. You can access Allegra’s articles through her Examiner.com home page.

Eric Gardner (English, ’89) will share his discovery of an early African American book of plays in a piece titled “Forgotten Manuscripts: William Jay Greenly’s Antebellum Temperance Drama,” which will appear in the next issue of African American Review. Greenly, a Black teacher in New Albany, Indiana, published the collection of plays titled The Three Drunkards in early 1858; as Greenly’s book seems to pre-date the publication of William Wells Brown’s play The Escape by a few months, it may well be the earliest book of plays published by an African American yet discovered. Greenly’s book is also an important example of early Black temperance literature and of Black literature in the Midwest.

“My speculation—mainly from internal evidence in the plays—is that they were designed either as ‘closet drama’ (and so not meant to be performed) and/or as plays for a kind of readers’ theater (say a church group or a class) where the parts would be read aloud, but not paired with costumes, sets, props, etc.,” Gardner said.

Gardner is Professor, Braun Fellow, and Chair of English at Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan. He also edited Jennie Carter: A Black Journalist of the Early West (2007) and Major Voices: The Drama of Slavery (2005), and wrote Unexpected Places: Relocating Nineteenth-Century African American Literature, which will be published this October by the University Press of Mississippi. 

This past weekend Gardner, who was an editor at The Argus while at IWU, presented a paper at the 20th annual conference of the American Literature Association in Boston on “Rethinking the Occasional: 19th Century Black Women’s Newspaper Poetry.” He’s pictured here with Elizabeth Alexander, who was at the conference to receive the 2009 Stephen Henderson Award from the African American Literature and Culture Society. Alexander, of course, is best known for “Praise Song for the Day,” a poem written for and read at the Inauguration of President Barrack Obama.

In an interview for IWU Online, Gardner said he was “well prepared” for graduate school and beyond. “Certainly Bob Bray’s early instruction in critical reading and recovery, Pam Muirhead’s on African American lit, and Paul Bushnell and Mike Young’s on historical method all shaped what I’m doing now,” he said.

The Hart Career Center will host an English Crystal Ball Coffeehouse at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10, in the Myers Welcome Center Auditorium. On hand will be former English majors who are now in the “real world,” panelists who will explain how they used their English majors to land jobs. And of course they’ll also answer questions from current students, who can start networking pronto.

Featured will be Jim Stahly (’91, advertising analyst, State Farm Insurance), Joshua Shull (’02, CEO, JoshuaOneNine Marketing House), Laura Sahn (’04, merchandise planning manager for textiles, Crate & Barrel), Rachael Marusarz (’04, manager of grant writing/direct marketing, Aids Foundation of Chicago), Karin McDowell (’00, communications project manager, Country Financial), and Mary Hilbert (’04, English teacher, with a Master’s in writing and publishing).

This past Friday and Saturday I accompanied Argus staffers to Chicago, where we attended the 27th Annual Illinois College Press Association Convention. Though we didn’t do as well as we’d hoped at the annual awards, the staff enjoyed sessions on all aspects of journalism presented by working professionals in the Chicago area. One highlight was keynote speaker John Kass. The page two Chicago Tribune columnist inspired students with his tell-it-like-it-is advice. For those who want to go into political journalism he stressed, “Don’t become friends with these people. In politics there are no permanent friends, no permanent enemies; there are only permanent interests.” And for those wanting to break into the profession, period, he said they weren’t going to do it by blogging in their pajamas. You do it by reporting, Kass said, telling them they shouldn’t be trying to get a foot in the door; they should be trying to knock it down by working on their own stories on Sundays when everyone else is watching football, and keep pitching stories based on investigation and written in a voice that’s all their own, using plenty of detail. “But you see this?” he said, pulling out a reporter’s notebook. “Don’t use this like a weapon. Keep it in your pocket. Talk to people.” Though Kass said the business is changing right under his feet, he explained, “It’s not that news is dying, it’s just that the delivery system is failing.” He added, “It’s all about storytelling, and that never changes.”

Another highlight came before we even checked into the convention hotel. Argus alum Chris Fusco (’94) offered to give us a tour of the Chicago Sun-Times, where he’s an award-winning general assignment reporter. Duty called and he had to cover Pat Quinn’s press conference. We were left in good hands, though, and students appreciated being able to sit in on Editor-in-chief  Don Hayner’s editorial board meeting, during which time Metro editor Shamus Toomey left the room and returned to announce, “Breaking news from Argus alum Chris Fusco: Pat Quinn just called for Roland Burris to resign.” Students were impressed by how Hayner talked directly to them at times and explained the process as each section editor was called upon to report what they had going on. Hayner said their best chance of breaking in was to become multi-talented in an increasingly multi-media world, urging them to become proficient at photography and web programming in addition to their reporting skills. When Chris returned from the press conference, students got the chance to talk with him, too, about his job. “It’s a lot of stress,” he said, but quickly added that he loves it.

Congratulations to Chinny Ekwulugo for winning Honorable Mention in the Critical Review (Film) in the open category (all schools), and to Jessica Hinterlong for taking 3rd Place in the Sports Game Story category among schools with fewer than 4000 students. Here the staff poses for a picture at the awards luncheon: (back row, l to r) editor-in-chief Garrett Rapp, photo editor Erin Tobin, opinions editor William Hanzel, (front, l to r) chief copy editor Chinny Ekwulugo, managing editor Laura Spradlin, and news editor Nicole Travis.

IWU was well represented at the Associated Writing Programs conference in Chicago last week. Professors Alison Sainsbury, Mike Theune, Joanne Diaz, Lynn DeVore, and Brandi Reissenweber all attended, as did current students Jessica Block, Leila Whitley, and Andrew Dorkin.

A number of alums were present as well. At an off-site reading sponsored by a group of Chicago writers at Innertown Pub, Mike Theune reconnected with former students (from left) Cathy Gilbert, Megan Thoma, and Jac Jemc (who read earlier in the evening).

And what a surprise it was for them to see alum Diego Baez manning the table for the Rutgers-Newark MFA program, where he’s a first-year grad student.

Kudos to Mike are in order, because a short pedagogy paper of his (“Trust the Turn: Focusing the Revision Process in Poetry”) was named one of this year’s top 20 by AWP. 

Jeff Stumpo (’03), who will come to IWU on Feburary 17 to perform and talk to classes, has announced a free download of his new performance poetry album, Arts & Crafts. Stumpo made the album with the help of grad school friends, and it includes several poems that are already being taught in university classrooms:  “ADD TV” and “There will be no reinvention of the wheel.” Included is footage of Stumpo and the Bryan slam team at NPS 2007. You can download Arts & Crafts at his website link.