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As a creative writer at K-State, I was often caught between two worlds. Whenever I read a book, watched a movie, or even heard a bad joke, I asked one of two questions: Can I write a paper about this? or Can I write a story about this? So when Dr. Anne Longmuir had us read … Continue reading Tale as Old as Time
Touchstone enjoyed a rebirth this year. Almost a year ago, I decided that I’d put my extra semester of graduate school to use and thrust the magazine into the lit-mag world with new gusto. In the ever-digitizing world of literature, our first two goals were to establish an online presence at touchstonekstate.org and to archive digital … Continue reading Touchstone Literary Magazine Offers New Issue, Digital Archives
Before coming to grad school, I had actually only written one poem, and I had no real intentions of getting deeper into poetry – but when I got an email at the start of my first enrollment saying, “Hey, do you want to be in my class?” I was so excited to be included in … Continue reading Grad Student Spotlight: Maia Carlson
National Poetry Month began in 1996 through the Academy of American Poets. In their own words, “it has become the largest literary celebration in the world with schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers, and poets celebrating poetry’s vital place in our culture.” Here are 30 ways you can celebrate National Poetry Month here in Manhattan, KS, starting … Continue reading How to Celebrate National Poetry Month
On Wednesday, March 14, more than 50 people gathered in Union 227 to share perspectives on recent news stories concerning the author Sherman Alexie, such as the one published with NPR on social media, such as the one by Deborah Miranda. Faculty, staff, administrators, and students from across Kansas State University, as well as local … Continue reading Complicated Conversations
Thousands of creative writers descended on Tampa this week for the annual AWP Conference. We asked three Kansas State graduate students to weigh in on their conference highlights -- so far anyway. The Fifth Annual Rock and Roll Reading took place in Ybor City — a pocket of Tampa where stray roosters strut past strip … Continue reading Dispatches from #AWP18
All right, y'all, we're taking our shelfie game up a notch. In this new, somewhat regular feature called Office Space (yes, that's reference to the cult movie famous for "pieces of flair"), we'll take you into the the native habitat of the English professor, the somewhat cluttered office, and give you a tour of objects … Continue reading Office Space: Dan Hoyt
There’s this troubling question I’ve been getting since my second book came out. Maybe I should have seen it coming, but my first book, which is stories and not a novel, came out with a small press and didn’t get the fanfare. There were no interviews or Q&As at reading events. So I was caught … Continue reading Alumni Spotlight: R. Dean Johnson
For my M.A. thesis, I'm writing a novella, a political thriller set in Kansas, which is a goofy idea. Not because political threat isn’t real in Kansas, but because no one ever writes political thrillers set in Kansas! It follows a guy named Hollis—the assistant campaign manager to a congressman who is running for governor. … Continue reading Grad Student Spotlight: Peter Williams
On December 9, 2017, Kevin Rabas (M.A. '98) provided the commencement address for the College of Arts and Sciences at Kansas State University. Below is the text of his speech. Many thanks to Kevin for allowing us to share it here. (You can view his presentation through the university's archived video as of 22:40.) … Continue reading Return to the Arts
