Thanks to the efforts of Skip Willman, the English Department has received a grant of $700 from USD's Office of Research for the next lecture in the English Department Speaker Series, to be given this spring by Marina van Zuylen. Dr. van Zuylen teaches at Bard College; her most recent book, Monomania: The Flight from Everyday Life in Literature and Art, was published earlier this year by Cornell University Press. More details about this event will be available at a later date.

The Vermillion Literary Project Poetry Festival will be held on February 23, 2006. It will feature writers Jim Coppoc and USD alumna (PhD) Pen Pearson For details, visit http://www.usd.edu/orgs/projlit/poetryfestival.
posted by Michelle Rogge Gannon at 2:54 PM

In October, undergraduates Jamie Barnett, Adriane Raba, and Amber Wegehaupt presented papers at the International Writing Centers Association conference in Minneapolis. Their panel was organized by Dr. Christopher Ervin and was entitled "Breaking down Boundaries and Barriers: An Ecology for Writing Centers."

Former English major (now English minor) Kerry Hacecky is putting finishing touches on a guidebook about USD that will be published through College Prowler. The guidebook will be sold at Borders and at Barnes and Noble. Kerry is currently Online Editor at The Volante.

English major Jake Mailander did a spoken word/musical performance at a music festival in Wisconsin called the Tuckered Outing. Jake tells us, "My band and I were the late night set for both nights. It was a wonderful time, and in the future we will be performing in and around Minneapolis."

Undergraduate English major Philip Squires is on exchange at the University of Glamorgen in Wales.

MA student Matt Christensen writes: "I am busy teaching College Bound English and Applied English to Brandon Valley High School seniors--some of the nation's finest--in Brandon, SD (just east of Sioux Falls). Recently, we made the transition from Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest to Cervantes' Don Quixote. The students found the texts more connected than one would realize at first glance. I am also busy coordinating the defense of our varsity football team."

Joseph Raiche, who is an MA student, has a story published in The Best American Mystery Stories 2005, edited by Joyce Carol Oates (Houghton Mifflin). Joseph invites anyone who reads his story "One Mississippi" in this collection "to let me know what they think."

Annie Christain, a doctoral student and MA graduate, was chosen one of the recipients of a USD Faculty Woman's Club $300 scholarship for the 2005 fall semester. Annie also read a poem at the brunch and business meeting where the scholarship winners were announced.

All This Town Remembers, a novel written by doctoral student Sean Johnston, will be published in the fall of 2006 by Gaspereau Press (Nova Scotia). Some of Sean's short fiction and poetry has recently been published in The Fiddlehead, Bywords Quarterly and The Windsor Review.

PhD student Brian Twenter spent his summer studying abroad at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, a constituent college of Cambridge University. He reports that he took "courses on James Joyce's Ulysses and on Shakespearean performance, and visited London, Stratford upon Avon, Dover, Canterbury, Edinburgh, and Dublin." This semester Brian will present a conference paper on "The Importance of Reaffirming Native Cultures" at the Sixth Native Symposium.

Amy Walsh, a doctoral student who teaches part-time at Simpson College in Indianola, IA, received the Alpha Sigma Lambda Award for Excellence in Adult Education from Simpson.
posted by Michelle Rogge Gannon at 2:40 PM

Brian Bedard was a featured reader at the South Dakota Festival of Books, held in Deadwood at the end of September.

The just-released Greenwood Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American Literature, edited by Emmanuel Nelson, includes three entries by Patricia DiMond, who is also a PhD student in English. Patti wrote about American Indian writers James Welch, Wendy Rose, and Janet Campbell Hale.

Christopher Ervin organized a panel, "Breaking down Boundaries and Barriers: An Ecology for Writing Centers," at the International Writing Centers Association conference in Minneapolis in October. The other presenters were USD undergraduate English majors mentored by Chris. At this conference, Chris was elected as an at-large representative on the board of the Midwest Writing Centers Association.

Professor emeritus Gervase Hittle, who is the foreman of a bison ranch, tells us, "I do everything there is to do whenever it has to be done."

Lee Ann Roripaugh has fiction appearing in the most recent issue of North American Review, and poetry in the newest issue of Beloit Poetry Journal. She was one of twenty poets selected to appear in Digerati, a Three Candles Press anthology of poetry by poets who have established an online presence in the form of online journals, workshops, publications, or blogs. Ten of Lee's poems will be reprinted in Digerati. In September, Lee traveled to Minnesota State University-Moorhead, where she met with the graduate M.F.A. poetry workshop, presented a lecture on craft, and gave a poetry reading and book signing.

Skip Willman delivered a paper called "DeLillo's Fiction of Distillation: Cosmopolis and Capitalism" at the American Literature Association convention in Boston at the end of May. He assures us that "it rocked."

On October 22, professor emerita Norma Wilson received the Annual Doris Dodge Reconciliation Award from the South Dakota Peace and Justice Center. It was presented to her "for dedication in her writing, in her witness as a Humanist and in her personal example to the cause of healing between indigenous and non-indigenous" people, and was signed by Rosalie Little Thunder, Chair of the Board.

Nancy Zuercher's paper "Navigating the Sea of Information: Orienting and Empowering Student Research in Advanced Composition" was accepted at the 2006 Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities. Dennis Sjolie will be presenting at the same conference; his paper is called "Phrase and Clause Grammar Tactics for the ESL/ELL Writing Classroom."
posted by Michelle Rogge Gannon at 2:35 PM

Julie (Reisch) Gassman lives in St. Peter, MN with her husband and two children. She has been working as an editor with Compass Point Books in Mankato, MN since February, 2005. This company publishes non-fiction books for middle-school libraries and schools, specializing in history and biographies. Julie adds: "If you know of anyone interested in children's or educational publishing, I would always be more than willing to answer questions. This job is what I majored in English for . . . it just took me five years to finally land it!" If you would like to contact Julie, you reach her at j.gassman (at) compasspointbooks.com.

Megan Jensen is attending the USD School of Law.

Amanda (Greiner) White Thunder got married in May 2004. Since then, she has been working in Boulder, CO as a patient coordinator for a laser eye surgery center, among other things: "I do all of the document editing here. I have also been doing a ton of writing on my own. The literary scene in Boulder is very encouraging because writing and the arts is an important fixture for this liberal city. It's a great place to write!"

Kelly (Meyer) Ybarra got married last winter and is an adjunct instructor for Bismarck State College, teaching grammar and working in the tutoring center. "I'm enjoying it very much," she says. "I guess I just couldn't stay out of the college environment. Every day that I teach my grammar students I silently thank and praise Sally Hanson! Maybe I should let her know that!"

Renee Ghazi (MA) is a technical writer/editor at Science Applications International Corporation, a research and engineering company in Virginia.

Jacinta (Wang) Kilber (MA) has moved Portland, OR. She is an attorney specializing in family law.

Daniel Steele (MA) is a major in the United States Air Force. After more than two years as Chief of the Command and Control Functional Capabilities Branch at the US Strategic Command in Omaha, he is being reassigned to the Army Command and General Staff College in Ft. Leavenworth, KS. In addition to his degrees in English from USD, Daniel has an MA in Administration from George Washington University.

Amber Wilde (MA) is working at the State Library in Pierre, SD. She has a confession to make: "I didn't think I'd ever say this, but I kind of miss Vermillion, USD, and seeing everyone at the library. It's funny how we grow attached to places in such a relatively short amount of time."

At the West River History Conference in Rapid City, SD in October, John Nelson (PhD) read some of his memoir-in-progress, "Bad River Boys: Growing up Free Range in Fort Pierre, SD." John also has three publications forthcoming: an article, "Implementing Wireless Network Communities: Or, IM Always Online," in International Journal on Knowledge, Technology, and Society; an entry, "I Remember The Fallen Trees: New and Collected Poems, by Elizabeth Cook-Lynn," in The Encyclopedia of Native American Literature (eds. Jennifer McClinton-Temple and Alan R. Velie); and an essay to be published simultaneously in Chinese, "An American's Thousand-Li Journey," in Cultural Bridge, a Chinese online journal at www.culbridge.org. One of the co-authors of his article is Justin Blessinger (PhD).
posted by Michelle Rogge Gannon at 2:28 PM

Beginning October 7, Project Radio, the Vermillion Literary Project's radio show, aired every Friday, from noon to 2:00 p.m. on KAOR, 91.1 F.M. Project Radio staff included Bryan Bonhorst, Mary Dodson, Sara Kniffen, Jake Mailander, Doug Murano, and Kimberly Raaphorst. (Note: As of right now, the radio show is on hold, but it should resume in some form later in the spring semester.)

On September 29, Randal Greene emceed at the VLP's first poetry slam of the school year; Annie Christain, Sara Kniffen, and other VLPers helped out. Guests Elliot Harmon (USD English major alumnus) and Alex Charalambides were the featured poets. The Coffee Shop Gallery was packed for this event, which Randal says was "great fun." Lynda Letona won the slam, with Kimberly Raaphorst coming in second. The poetry slam on October 27, with standing room only, featured Wayne State's J.V. Brummels. Twenty-one people participated in the slam, including some poets from Nebraska. Annie Christain organized the slam, with Doug Murano as emcee and Sara Kniffen, Kimberly Raaphorst, Heather Howitz, Daniel Sanow, and other VLPers assisting. David Leaneagh won, followed by Jesse Kai in second place.

Twenty-three people, including USD students, faculty, staff, and members of the general public, participated in the VLP Three-Hour Short Story Contest Saturday, October 22, with first place going to Sean Johnston for "Have At It" and second place to Sandra Kern for "Elvis is Still in the Building." Both winners will be published in the 2006 magazine; the first-place winner also received one hundred dollars. The special phrase, chosen by VLP magazine editor-in-chief Annie Christain, which had to figure prominently in the story, was "shower curtain." A special thanks to VLP judges Annie Christain (VLP magazine editor-in-chief), Brian Bedard, Marcella Remund, Lee Ann Roripaugh, and Dennis Sjolie. VLP members involved in organizing, promoting, and running the contest included Annie Christain, Bryan Bonhorst, Janet Davison, B. Anne Fanning, Charlotte Henning, Heather Howitz, Sara Kniffen, Abby Hurlburt, and Kimberly Raaphorst.
posted by Michelle Rogge Gannon at 2:18 PM

We thank Nedra Lundenberg of Frankfort, KY, for her generous donation to the U. English Department.
posted by Michelle Rogge Gannon at 2:16 PM

Professor Skip Willman was featured at the University of South Dakota's monthly Humanities Research Forum on November 10, 2005. He lectured on "Don DeLillo's Fiction of Distillation: Cosmopolis and Capitalism."

The biennial John R. Milton Writers' Conference was held on the University of South Dakota campus October 27-29. More than 70 people registered for the conference; many others attended events open to the public. MA alumna Linda Hasselstrom joined Kent Meyers in giving the keynote reading. Other alums participating included Justin Blessinger (PhD), Tricia Currans-Sheehan (PhD), Thomas Gannon (MA), John Nelson (PhD), Melinda Obach (MA), and Penni Pearson (PhD). Presenting their work and serving as panel moderators were current graduate students Ryan Allen, Theo Bohn, Annie Christain, Mary Honerman, Courtney Huse-Wika, Sean Johnston, Jennifer, Moskowitz, Doug Murano, and Brian Twenter. U. faculty members were well represented, too: Ed Allen, Brian Bedard, John Dudley, Amanda Emerson, Christopher Ervin, Michelle Rogge Gannon, Kenneth Green, Marcella Remund, Lee Ann Roripaugh, Dennis Sjolie, Susan Wolfe, and Melanie Wood all shared their work. Special acknowledgement is due to Lee Ann Roripaugh and Brian Bedard, who co-organized this very successful conference.

The Dakota Writing Project enjoyed a fine reunion on Saturday, October 1, with nineteen teachers from around the state in attendance. Director Nancy Zuercher led a writing activity that adapted National Public Radio's "This I Believe" series, with the teachers writing their own "This I Believe" statements. Participants included U. English instructor Michelle Rogge Gannon and alumna Nancy Kampfe (MA). In the afternoon, Lindsay Sorben from Bennett County High School presented on continuity opportunities that DWP teachers could pursue.
posted by Michelle Rogge Gannon at 1:57 PM