by Christina Seymour

What makes Laura Kasischke’s poems mesmerizing is not just the artful juxtaposition of snapshots from daily life like “Also snow. And the sky, of course, the color | of gently stirred winter soup” with imagined moments like ”. . . while one | of the earthworm’s hearts, deep in the ground | fills up the rest of the landscape with longing,” but also their quiet resonance: “The inaudible thumping insisting without believing | one is enough is enough is enough.” Each poem in Space, In Chains feels like watching a bird’s eye camera view that continues panning out until the present time becomes distortedly glorious because present looks like so many different things. It’s not surprising that Kasischke’s work comes in movie form, too: indulge in the Vadim Perelman movie based on her novel The Life before Her Eyes.

by Ben Bishop

If you’ve haven’t been to a monastery lately, you’re in the overwhelming majority for many U.S. citizens. But for the minority that has, it’s an experience that is not easily translated—in any form. Among the minority, Kelly Moffett has been going frequently for the past four years to many Trappist Monasteries to, “gain a deeper understanding of silence (what’s hidden there).” I find myself in an even smaller minority, one that has had the privilege to be at a Trappist Monastery with Kelly Moffett, but she, being brave, has focused her efforts/learning/experience/wisdom into her new collection of poems When the God of Water enters your Basement, Bow (Salmon Poetry, Spring 2013). I bow at the thought of such an endeavor.

Kelly is a graduate of WVU, and left with her MA and MFA in in 2004. Her first book was published by Cinnamon Press in May of 2008, entitled Waiting for a Warm Body to Fill It. She is now waiting in the wing for the release of her new chapbook (Ghost Act) through Dancing Girl Press and the previously mentioned collection through Salmon Poetry. Outside of publishing, she started teaching at a small liberal arts college, Kentucky Wesleyan, shortly after her time at WVU, until she accepted a tenure track position teaching Creative Writing at NKU in 2010. She very much is enjoying her current position, and says “being able to talk with good students about what [she loves] every day.” And even with this rap sheet of academic accomplishments and commitments, she has found time to adventure into the “silence” of the monastery.

It’s obvious she still relishes her time at WVU, listing off faculty that touched her life and influenced her writing career—too numerous to name—and also being blessed by the Sturm Writer in Residence program that gave her the opportunity to work with Dean Young, Mark Halliday, and Stephen Dunn. Between these great opportunities with renowned artists and the broad range of classes she was able to take, WVU formed a foundation for her academic career and a nurturing environment for her writing style. It was this nurturing environment that was then passed on to me, when she was my advisor and mentor during my undergraduate career at Kentucky Wesleyan College.

It was a cool spring day in 2009, and after a long van ride we finally arrived at Gethsemani Abbey in Trappist, KY. My fellow students, the instructor for the course, Kelly Moffett, and I had been looking forward to this moment for quite some time. This particular monastery is the final resting place of Thomas Merton—in my opinion, one of the brightest Christian scholars of the 20th century. And while I could elaborate, ad infinitum, on what I learned about this man during our trip and reading one of his books, I also remember sitting with my instructors during one of the daily masses, reveling in the silence and song, feeling truly at peace. I could also go on about how the trees on the grounds seemed to look fuller and more vibrant, the water more still, the stone warmer, but what I took away was something else entirely: I felt value for my individual self. During an era of uncertainty, I found worth in my gifts and person, and felt valued for the work I was doing with poetry. As it stands now, I’m entering my third year of the MFA program here at WVU, and I really don’t think I can begin to quantify what I owe to Kelly for where I am in my own academic studies and poetry craftsmanship.

Her advice on publishing collections of poems (enter the publisher contests!) and on staying in, what Jane Hirshfield calls the “mind of concentration” is advice I take with heart and will be giving to my own students this fall while teaching at WVU. And I may tell them to go visit a monastery too, but we’ll see how well that goes over. In her poem “After a Miscarriage” she writes, “When my face appears in the glass, I’ll blink,” but after getting to know the distilled language and pure heart she bravely puts on display in her work, maybe something different will await you in the mirror. Or, perhaps, you may find peace with you have always found there.

Kelly Moffett teaches in the undergraduate and graduate programs at Northern Kentucky University. Her work has appeared in national journals such as Colorado Review, Cincinnati Review, Laurel Review, and Rattle and international journals such as Envoi and Versal. Her books include Waiting for a Warm Body (Cinnamon Press), When the God of Water enters your Basement, Bow (Salmon Poetry, Spring 2013), and Ghost Act (Spring 2013).

by Christina Seymour

After John Ernest’s departure from the WVU English Department, there is a new man behind the inner-workings of Colson Hall, and he is none other than our very own Jim Harms. This is the first time a creative writing faculty member has served as chair at WVU! Knowing that Jim has been an active member of the department for 19 years—founding the MFA program, involving himself in administrative processes and creating courses, earning many distinct teaching and writing awards, publishing nine books of poetry, and always being a positive presence on campus—we know we are in good hands.

Of his long-term devotion to the dwellers of Colson (formerly Stansbury) Hall, Jim says, “I really feel a sense of duty and loyalty to my colleagues. I’ve made a lot of good friends here, and I’m very proud of what we’ve created together. That sense of responsibility provides me with a lot of motivation to do a good job. I value the interpersonal aspect of being a chair, the importance of building and maintaining good relationships with lots of different people.” As evidenced by his sense of pride, Jim is both grounded and easygoing enough to manage the demands of work and life that drive most of us to our vices. I think Jim’s secret is that he wouldn’t call it “managing” but “balancing”; and he wouldn’t call them “demands” but “duties” and “joys.”

Some of the concrete changes I’ve noticed since Jim has become chair are frequent updates on faculty and student achievement, e-mails that encourage spirit (t-shirts!) and that kindly remind us to get on the ball (driver training!), and—drumroll—the addition of doorstops on Colson classroom doors. Our trashcans will no longer be bent down the middles from propping open doors! (Don’t worry though, as per MFA tradition, trashcans may still be used as podiums.) Demonstrating his common sense approach to problem-solving, Jim explains, “How did we go so long without those doorstops, when all we had to do was ask?”

Indeed, Jim says his favorite part of the day to day job is “finding ways of making everybody’s life a little easier in the context of their work within the department.” But it’s not just the little things, he emphasizes: “the big picture is just as important, and one of the things that makes any group of people engaged in a shared enterprise happy is a sense of ownership, the feeling that they have a stake in that bigger picture. So helping the department plan for the future in a way that allows everyone to see his or her role in that future is crucial.” Well said.

According to The Role of the Modern English Department Chair, great chairs possess the qualities of “honesty, interpersonal skills, problem-solving, a sense of humor” and the abilities to “make independent decisions and maintain an open information policy.”

Sensible, honest, rational, funny, decisive, friendly—sounds like Jim, doesn’t it? His example gives me hope that a laidback appreciation for life does not have to be sacrificed for incredible productivity in the workplace. I’m not sure how he remains so calm, but I bet all you have to do is ask.

Christina Seymour’s poem “It’s Just a Dark Hill” will be published in the upcoming issue of Third Wednesday. She not only gets a contributor copy as a reward but also a “small check,” which makes Christina, an MFA candidate in Poetry, a paid poet! The editors say, “Third Wednesday attempts to establish and maintain a balance between what is being written – and read – today and what anticipates changes in creative expression . . . Our editors always have an eye on what readers enjoy today as well as tomorrow.” Congratulations, Christina!

It’s Friday. It’s steamy. Cool off your soul and start your weekend with some beautiful poetry. MFA Alumna Amanda Cobb has four wonderful poems over at Verse! Follow the link and start your Friday off right. Congratulations, Amanda! We can’t wait to read more!

We thought Mary Ann was the tops when she won the prestigious Benedum Distinguished Scholar Award this year. As the highest honor a WVU Faculty member can receive for research, it is a pretty big deal.

But now we know that Mary Ann wasn’t done for the year. The news just came in, hot off the internet presses, that Mary Ann’s manuscript My Life in Heaven is the winner of the 2012 Field Poetry Prize.

David Walker, one of the prize’s judges, said that the judges “kept coming back to Mary Ann Samyn’s manuscript, which is striking in its subtlety, complexity, and utterly distinctive voice. Even readers who know Samyn’s earlier books will be dazzled by the wit and incisiveness of My Life in Heaven. We were moved and excited by it, and feel fortunate to be able to add it to our list.”

Fortunate is an appropriate word. We over here in Colson Hall feel pretty fortunate to be able to work with and study under Mary Ann. Mary Ann is the author of six books of poems, four of them full-length (Captivity Narrative, Inside the Yellow Dress, Purr, and Beauty Breaks In) and two chapbooks (Rooms by the Sea and The Boom of a Small Cannon). She is the recipient of multiple awards such as the Emily Dickinson Prize from the Poetry Society of America, the James Wright Poetry Award from Mid-American Review, and has won a Pushcart Prize. She has also won numerous awards for teaching here at WVU.

We feel even more fortunate that we will get to read Mary Ann’s new collection soon. My Life in Heaven) will be published by the FIELD Poetry Series in the spring of 2013. Congratulations, Mary Ann!

Big things are happening for MFA candidate in poetry, Andi Sout. At the last AWP in Chicago, Andi opened for Natasha Trethewey at the Connotation Press reading. A month later, she took second place in the Hungry Poet Contest in April. _ Scissor and Spackle_ will publish one of her poems later this month. If that’s not enough news, Nicelle Davis picked one of Andi’s one-line poems for Nicelle’s poetry in motion project. As I write, the poem has been made into a car magnet and is traveling around So. Cal. There will be photos of the journey on the Bees Knees blog soon. Finally, Andi was nominated by the department for the _Best New Poets 2012 anthology. She’ll hear back soon. Good luck, Andi! Keep up the good work!

Looking for a wonderful read this hot summer’s day? Check out Heather Frese’s (MFA ‘11 Fiction) latest short story, “An Open Letter Written to Patricia Ballance,” in Barely South Review. This is not your usual epistolary. This is written by Heather’s lovable protagonist, Evie, and the title of the letter is really “An Open Letter Written to Patricia Ballance (and Her Stupid Fat-Headed Son Ronnie, Who I Know Will Read This Anyway Since He’s Such a Mama’s Boy) on this the Twenty-Ninth Day of September, Two Thousand and Nine, in Fulfillment of the Assignment to “Write a Letter to Someone Who Has Wronged You, Employing Ethos, Pathos and Logos.” If that doesn’t entice you to read more, I don’t know what will. After all, nothing beats the heat like some sassy prose!

Last night, the heavens broke, lightening flashed over the mountains, and thunder shook my house’s foundation. We stood in wonder at what could cause the sky to cause such a ruckus. My hypothesis? The sky was jealous it couldn’t participate in this year’s West Virginia Writers’ Workshop. It should be jealous, too, because this year’s lineup is pretty phenomenal. Are you just as jealous as the sky? Don’t worry. Public readings for the workshop abound. The lineup is pretty amazing.

Colson Hall 130, 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 19. Mark Brazaitis, Mary Ann Samyn, and Faith Shearin will read.

First floor E. Moore Hall, 1:30 p.m. on Friday, July 20. Renée Nicholson and Mike Czyzniejewski, the author of two books of fiction, will read .

Colson Hall 130, 8 p.m. on Friday, July 20. James Harms and Stephen Amidon will read.

Colson Hall 130, 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 21. Kevin Oderman and John Hoppenthaler, the author of two full-length poetry collections, will read.

Learn more about the West Virginia Writers’ Workshop.

It’s a good day to be an MFA Mountaineer. Kelly Sundberg’s (MFA in Nonfiction ‘12) creative nonfiction essay, “Indian Creek Solitaire” was just accepted by Mid-American Review, and Rebecca Schwab (MFA in Fiction ‘11) has a new short story, “Thick on the Wet Cement,” out in The Future Fire.
Congratulations, Kelly and Rebecca! We can’t wait to read more of your work!

Read Rebecca’s fabulous story here.