"I grew up in rural Kansas, and as a teen reader, I was always disappointed that books were rarely set in a place that was recognizable to me": This week, we feature an online interview with Miranda Asebedo (BA '07, MA '09), who has just published her first novel, The Deepest Roots, with HarperTeen. … Continue reading Alumni Spotlight: Miranda Asebedo
Two writers who recently visited Kansas State made the 10-writer longlist for the 2018 National Book Award in Fiction. Hell yeah, I cheered. Rebecca Makkai visited Kansas State in March of 2012. At that point, I considered her one of the modern masters of the short story (I'm not alone in that assessment: her stories once … Continue reading The National Book Award’s Fiction Longlist
Over the summer I went to the Equator where the sun rises straight up and twelve hours later it sets straight down, like it really means it. Always. I went to the ancient city of Quito, high in the Andes, where a Franciscan church from the brutal Spanish colonial period lies above an Incan temple … Continue reading Summer Study in Ecuador
They've made it (almost) though their first week of grad school at Kansas State, so please meet and welcome and maybe even buy a drink for our new group of English graduate students -- Name: Katie Cline Hometown: Jacksonville, Alabama Alma mater: Jacksonville State University Area of study: Children’s Literature Please tell us something … Continue reading Meet the New Grad Students
The roads are a bit harder to navigate, the lines at the grocery store are a bit longer, and the campus sidewalks bustle with activity -- it's the start of the fall semester at Kansas State University, and we're looking forward to a number of great events in the weeks ahead. Here are a few … Continue reading Fall Preview
Last Saturday, May 5, we celebrated student and faculty success at our 2017-2018 Annual Awards Banquet. We'll have photos soon from Autumn Shoemaker (BS '10, Journalism Mass Comm), but for now, here are our award recipients. (Information about the student awards below is available from our department's web site.) Brink Memorial Essay Award: Jackson Wright … Continue reading 2017-2018 Annual Awards Banquet
In the ENGL 663 "Advanced Creative Writing: Poetry" class this semester, we have focused on developing a reading practice, a writing practice, and a strong sense of community. We’ve written fan letters to the poets we’ve read; students have taught great books to each other through a variety of exercises; and we have written and … Continue reading Creation Nation: A Week in the Advanced Poetry Classroom
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
