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MFA faculty member named poet laureate for her hometown
It has finally worked out for Tess Taylor to become poet laureate for her hometown of El Cerrito, California. “I’d wanted to do this for years but had been traveling a lot,” said Taylor, who has published five books of poetry. “I’m so happy to be able to do this.” Taylor, a member of the Ashland University MFA program’s Poetry faculty, will start her one-year term as El Cerrito poet laureate on April 1. She will be helping to build El Cerrito High School’s…
Ashland University grad looking forward to returning to campus for a reading of his debut novel
Jason B. Dutton can’t wait to return to a place Feb. 22 that gave him such wonderful memories. That place is Ashland University, where the AU grad will give a reading of his recently published first book, “How to Dance.” “I was very fortunate to be surrounded by countless people of great character, integrity and kindness,” Dutton said about his time as an undergrad student in the early 2000s, which eventually led to him returning in 2010 to earn his master’s…
English Professor Russell Weaver publishes his fourth book
Once Ashland University Professor of English Russell Weaver, Ph.D., stopped taking his kids to soccer games, he started writing books. Weaver keeps doing it because he said jokingly that it keeps him out of trouble. “It’s also fun to do,” added Weaver, who has been teaching at AU for almost 40 years. “And it’s helped my teaching because you learn things about texts when you write about them that you can’t learn teaching them.” On Monday, Jan. 22 in Ronk…
Ashland MFA graduate publishes his first book of poems
While searching for Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing programs with an emphasis on poetry, Adam Gellings said he felt very intimidated by the process. “I didn’t have that feeling when I was looking into Ashland,” said the poet and adjunct instructor for the Department of English Language and Literature at Columbus College of Art & Design. “It really felt like the right fit pretty early on in my exploration of the program.” That experience at AU…
MFA grad and CE instructor finding success writing dark fantasy, weird fiction stories
Growing up, Nathan Batchelor read many stories by horror writers Clive Barker and Stephen King. He decided to give writing his own spooky stories a try in 2017. “In some hybrid of a quarter-life/mid-life crisis, I took up writing because my friends and teachers always enjoyed my writing and my ideas,” said Batchelor, who earned his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing degree from Ashland University last year. “After I sold my first story in 2018, I just…
'Heart of It All' latest book written by Christian Kiefer, director of AU's MFA program
Christian Kiefer doesn’t like to pick a favorite book he has written. “I always love the thing I’m working on now the most,” said the director of Ashland University’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program. His most recent work is a fiction novel, “The Heart of It All,” which is available anywhere books are sold, as well as online.
Students, alumni showcase their varied interests and scholarly work during URCA Symposium
Tiffany Sims enjoyed combining three of her interests into one presentation. Jacob Owens liked sharing about a business he hopes to start. And Phillip Wages loved giving back to his alma mater. Those were just a few of the many reasons about 40 students and a couple of alumni from Ashland University’s College of Arts and Sciences presented their scholarly work at the 14th annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (URCA) Symposium on Tuesday, April…
AU department of languages and literatures presenting poetry reading March 22
ASHLAND, Ohio – The department of languages and literatures at Ashland University is sponsoring a poetry reading by visiting writer Saeed Jones on Wednesday, March 22, at 7 p.m. It will take place at the Student Center Auditorium inside the Hawkins-Conard Student Center (847 Claremont Ave.), and is free and open to the public. Jones will read excerpts from his critically-acclaimed book, “Alive at the End of the World.” A collection of poems that confront the…
Star of critically-acclaimed ‘Till’ received an MFA in Creative Writing from Ashland in 2017
Danielle Deadwyler’s acting career has taken her from the Atlanta stage in her hometown to many parts in television and film, including the lead role in the recent movie “Till.” Earning a creative writing master’s degree in 2017 from Ashland University has helped in her journey toward movie star status and talk of possibly winning a Best Actress Oscar with “Till.” “The potential of teaching and writing were given, however, I always sought to incorporate the…
Ashland alumna, faculty member each honored by Ohio Arts Council
ASHLAND, Ohio – An Ashland University alumna and an AU faculty member were recognized by the Ohio Arts Council with Individual Excellence Awards, a peer recognition program for a creative artist’s body of work. Ashley Bethard ‘08 (pictured left), who was recently promoted to editor and chief content officer of the Dayton Daily News, and Kelly Sundberg (pictured right), an assistant professor of English, were both honored for their work in the non-fiction…
