Keith Montesano’s (MFA, Poetry, 2007) second collection of poetry, Scoring the Silent Film, will be published by Dream Horse Press in 2013. New poems from the collection are forthcoming in Nimrod, Bellingham Review, Sonora Review, Sugar House Review, Weave Magazine, and elsewhere. His third manuscript, Sirens and Wildfire, has been a recent finalist for The National Poetry Series and The New Issues Green Rose Prize. He anticipates graduating from Binghamton University in 2013 with a PhD in English and creative writing.

Recent MFA grad, Katy Resch, won a $500 artist grant from the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund.  Additionally, her published story, “The Fawn Skull” was selected as a Million Writers Award Notable Stories of 2011.

Congratulations to MFAlum, Dana Crum, who won the the Eva Jane Romaine Coombe Writer’s Residency at The Seven Hills School.   The Coombe Fellowship provides a one-year writing and teaching residency for a person contemplating or pursuing a career as writer. The fellowship includes an academic year stipend of $12,000, housing, and breakfast and lunch when school is in session. In addition to carrying out their own literary projects, the Writer-in-Residence teaches one creative writing elective each semester in the Upper School and maintains a presence on campus that allows for informal interaction with students and members of the community. During the tenure of the Fellowship, Crum plans to complete a poetry collection.

More good news from MFA alums: Unoma Azuah was recently awarded the Aidoo-Snyder Book award for 2011 for her body of works and for her latest novel Edible Bones.   For more information on the award, check out the website.

Congratulations to MFA alum Marie Potoczny who is a recipient of the 2011-2012 Artists Fellowships from the Virginia Commission for the Arts. Fellowships are awarded annually to artists residing in Virginia in recognition of creative excellence and to support their pursuit of artistic excellence. This year, four Virginia artists have been honored in the field of fiction. The awarded artists will each receive fellowships of $5,000.  For Further Information: see Virginia Commission for the Arts.

Congratulations go out to current MFAer Audrey Walls who was recently chosen as a finalist for Shenandoah‘s Graybeal-Gowen Prize for poetry.   MFA alum Anna Journey was also on the finalists list, and current student Joey Kingsley was on the list of semi-finalists.
There’s more information on the Shenandoah website, and their blog.

MFA alum Jeannette Drake’s recent poetry publications include “Victory Garden” in Tough Times Companion, Volume 3 published by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, and “Cakewalk” and “Welcome to the New World,” in ChickenBones: A Journal.
Drake has also recently published an e-book, Promise: Inspirational Fantasies at Amazon.com. She is completing a writing residency with fourth graders at Swansboro Elementary School under a Partners in the Arts Grant sponsored by the University of Richmond School of Continuing Studies.

Randy Jones (MFA poetry, 1989) recently completed a slide show featured during Black History Month for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
The show presents text and images relating the history of a “reconstruction-era chapel, built after the Civil War in rural Rockingham County” in the community known as Old Athens and later Zenda, Virginia.
In addition to being this show’s creator, Randy is also the contact person for the Virginia Department of Historical Resources for anyone interested in collaborating with DHR on future “Historic Virginia, Site of the Month” slide shows.
More information and Randy Jones’ contact information can be found on the “Sources slide” at the end of the Longs Chapel slide show.

Slide show of Longs Chapel