Blackbirdonline journalFall 2010  Vol. 10  No. 2
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A joint venture of the Department of English at Virginia Commonwealth University and New Virginia Review, Inc.


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EDITORIAL STAFF

n11n2 12 Fall 2012 Blackbird Staff photo by Patrick Scott Vickers                                                    

(Left to right) Sitting: Brad Pearce, Patrick Scott Vickers; First Row: Mary Flinn, Susan Settlemyre Williams, Meagan J. Saunders-Spearman, Lena Moses-Schmitt, Gregory Donovan; Second Row: Leia Darwish, Taryn Chesshire, Emilia Phillips, M.A. Keller; Third Row: Meredith Spencer, Julie Pence, Helen Swineford, Julie Ward, Christian Detisch; Fourth Row: Annie Rudy, Lauren Miner, Abby Otte, Justin Carmickle; Fifth Row: Ben Orth, Kathryn Taylor, Jessica Stevens, Katelyn Kiley, Matthew Phipps; Sixth Row: Richard Pully, Randy Marshall, Dale Brumfield, Jordan Chu, Justin Belote, Ross Losapio, Zachary Marson (Not Pictured: Doug Fuller)

 

Blackbird joins individuals from its publishing partners—Virginia Commonwealth University and New Virginia Review, Inc.—with members of the Richmond, Virginia, and Doha, Qatar communities. To the best of our knowledge, this is the only venture at VCU that joins together international collaborators, undergraduate students, MA and MFA students, PhD students, alumni and community volunteers, and a regional non-profit.

spacer Lead Associate Editors
  Lena Moses-Schmitt 2012–2013
  Ross Losapio 2011–2012
  Emilia Phillips 2010–2011
  Grant White 2009–2010
  Matthew Baker 2008–2009
  Tarfia Faizullah 2007–2008
  Kate Beles 2006–2007
  Anna Journey 2005–2006
  Steven Collis 2004–2005
  Maria Hagan 2003–2004
  Tara Moyle    2002–2003
  Jamye Shelleby 2001–2002

Blackbird benefits from the contributions of student interns, as well as from MA and MFA Graduate Assistants from the VCU Department of English. Students from the interdisciplinary PhD program in Media, Art, and Text (MATX) have also worked with us over the past five years. We are grateful for everyone's contributions. Several MATX students remain with Blackbird as advising editors.

Each year, Blackbird awards the coveted lead associate editor position to a second–year VCU MFA graduate student; to qualify, the student must already have been awarded a graduate fellowship and must have worked as an intern for the journal. The lead associate staffs the Blackbird office and is at the center of all the journal’s activities, working to coordinate communication between literary and production editors, as well as between the editors and contributors.


Staff listings are by categories; individuals are listed alphabetically under each subhead.


EDITORS
Gregory Donovan
, senior editor, has been a faculty member in Virginia Commonwealth University’s graduate creative writing program since its inception and currently serves as the director of creative writing. Among other awards for his writing, he received the Robert Penn Warren Award from New England Writers as well as grants from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and fellowships from the Ucross Foundation and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Donovan is the author of Calling His Children Home (University of Missouri Press, 1993), which won the Devins Award for Poetry. His poetry, essays, and fiction appear in The Kenyon Review, The Southern Review, New England Review, 42opus, diode, Stone Canoe, Hayden's Ferry Review, Gulf Coast, Copper Nickel, and elsewhere. His work has also been anthologized frequently, most recently in Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets of Virginia (University of Virginia Press, 2003). Donovan has often served as guest faculty for summer conferences, such as those held by the Chautauqua Writers’ Center and the Other Words Conference of the Florida Literary Arts Coalition. He has also helped to establish VCU summer programs for writers and visual artists in Scotland and Peru.

Mary Flinn, senior editor, has been the director of New Virginia Review, Inc., since 1985 and is the editor, with George Garrett, of Elvis in Oz, New Writing from the Hollins College Creative Writing Program (University of Virginia Press, 1992). She facilitated the editing of The Gazer Within by Larry Levis (University of Michigan Press, 2001), and has served as poetry and fiction editor of 64 Magazine and as editor of New Virginia Review. Flinn has served as a participant on editors’ panels, as a literature fellowship judge for numerous art councils, and as a review panelist for the National Endowment and the Virginia Commission for the Arts. She was the first recipient of the Theresa Pollack Award for Words presented by Richmond Magazine.

M.A. Keller, senior online editor, is a technologist, web coordinator, and writing instructor for Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of English. He took an MFA in creative writing from VCU in 1989. His poetry has appeared in The Southern Review, New Virginia Review, Runes, and other publications. Most recently, his chapter “Meghan Sapnar’s “Car Wash’ as a New Media Sonnet” appears in RAW!: Reading and Writing New Media (Hampton Press, 2010). He has taught advanced writing, poetry workshops, and courses in hypertext and new media. His work currently centers on electronic writing, issues of materiality and multimodal writing, and the question of defining, supporting, and teaching online publishing and new media.

Ross Losapio, associate editor emeritus and lead pagebuilder, is a third-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University. His poems appear in Copper Nickel, The Emerson Review, Italian Americana, Milk Money, the minnesota review, Naugatuck River Review and elsewhere. His reviews have appeared in Rattle and Verse Wisconsin. He holds a BA in writing and English from Loyola University Maryland.

Randy Marshall, senior literary editor, earned his MFA in poetry from Virginia Commonwealth University. His poems, essays, and reviews have appeared in the Richmond Arts Magazine, New South (formerly Georgia State University Review), Cream City Review, and Blackbird. He, along with Mary Flinn, Andrew Miller, and John Venable, edited The Gazer Within (University of Michigan Press, 2001).

Lena Moses-Schmitt, lead associate editor, is a second-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University. She graduated from the University of Mary Washington in 2010 with a BA in English. She has worked as an editorial assistant at National Public Radio.

Patrick Scott Vickers, online editor, is a technologist and instructor for Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of English and a PhD student in the Media, Art, and Text program. He graduated in spring 2006 with an MFA in poetry from the University of Alabama. His poetry and fiction have been published in Strange Horizons, Mid-American Review, Touchstone, and miraclemonocle.com. His Flash art has appeared in the online journal failbetter.com.

Susan Settlemyre Williams, book review editor and literary editor, is the author of a poetry collection, Ashes in Midair (Many Mountains Moving Press, 2008), as well as a chapbook, Possession (Finishing Line Press, 2007). Her poetry has appeared in Prairie Schooner, diode, Mississippi Review, Sycamore Review,and Shenandoah, among other journals, and been anthologized in Letters to the World: Poems from the Wom-Po Listserv (Red Hen Press, 2008) and Best New Poets 2006 (Samovar Press). She is a member of the National Book Critics Circle.

 

ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Doug Fuller
, associate production editor and lead audio editor, is a second-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he also earned a BA in English with a minor in creative writing.

Emilia Phillips, associate literary editor, is the author of Signaletics (University of Akron Press, 2013). She is the recipient of The Journal’s 2012 Poetry Prize, selected by G.C. Waldrep; a fellowship from the Vermont Studio Center; and a scholarship from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Her poetry appears in AGNI, Colorado Review, DIAGRAM, Hayden’s Ferry Review, The Journal, The Kenyon Review, Third Coast, and elsewhere. She is the coordinator of the De Novo Poetry Prize and social media for C&R Press.

Meagan J. Saunders-Spearman, associate production editor and lead copyeditor, is a third-year MFA student in fiction at Virginia Commonwealth University. She earned a BA in English from the College of William and Mary. Her work appears in Richmond Noir, a collection of short stories published by Akashic Books.

 

ASSISTANT EDITORS
Katelyn Kiley
, assistant production editor for copyediting and volunteer, is a third-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University. She earned a BA and an MA in English language and literature from the University of Virginia. Before joining the staff of Blackbird, she worked as an editorial intern at albemarle Magazine and on the staff of Meridian.

Lauren Miner, assistant production editor for copyediting and volunteer, is a first-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University. She earned an MA in English research from Virginia Commonwealth University and a BA in English from James Madison University.

Ben Orth, assistant production editor for copyediting and volunteer, earned an MA in English literature from Virginia Commonwealth University. He earned a BA in fiction writing with a minor in literature from Columbia College Chicago.

Brad Pearce, assistant photo editor, is a third-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University.

 

INTERNS
Justin Belote, literary intern and photo editor, is a first-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University. He holds a BA from Principia College. His poetry can be found at justinbelote.com.

Dale Brumfield, literary intern and pagebuilder, is a first-year MFA student in fiction at Virginia Commonwealth University. He earned a BFA in fine arts from Virginia Commonwealth University. He has published one collection of essays, two novels, and two eBooks. He is currently working on an illustrated history of Richmond.

Justin Carmickle, literary intern and bio editor, is a first-year MFA student in fiction at Virginia Commonwealth University. He earned his BA at Indiana University–Bloomington. His fiction has been nominated for the Ruth Halls Fiction Prize and has appeared in Louisiana Literature.

Taryn Chesshire, literary intern and audio editor, is a first-year MFA student in fiction at Virginia Commonwealth University. She earned her BA in creative writing from Texas Tech University.

Jordan Chu, literary intern and audio editor, is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University studying creative writing. His poems have appeared in Poictesme and Amendment.

Leia Darwish, literary intern and pagebuilder, is a first-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University. She earned her BA in English and creative writing at the University of Colorado Denver, where she was managing editor at Copper Nickel. Her work has appeared in Copper Nickel and Blackbird.

Christian Detisch, literary intern and copyeditor, is a first-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University. He holds a BA in English from Allegheny College and served as senior managing editor of The Allegheny Review.

Kathryn Rebecca Taylor, literary intern and media editor, is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University. She will earn her BA in English with a minor in creative writing in December 2012.

Zachary Marson, second-semester literary intern and copyeditor, is a first-year MA student at Virginia Commonwealth University. He holds a BA in English from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Abby Otte, literary intern and public relations coordinator, is a first-year MFA student in fiction at Virginia Commonwealth University. She earned her BA in creative writing and BS in mass communications from the University of Kansas.

Julie Pence, literary intern and media editor, is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University. She will receive a BA in English in December 2012.

Matthew Phipps, literary intern and copyeditor, is a first-year MFA student in fiction at Virginia Commonwealth University. He earned a BA in creative writing from Florida State University.

Richard Pully, literary intern and audio editor, is a senior studying English and creative writing at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Annie Rudy, literary intern and page builder, is a first-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University. She earned a BA in English and art history from the University of Virginia.

Meredith Spencer, literary intern and copyeditor, is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University and is expected to earn a BA in English and a BS in psychology in May 2013.

Jessica Stevens, literary intern and pagebuilder, is a senior and English major at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Helen Swineford, literary intern and copyeditor, is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University, graduating in May with a BA in English and minor in history.

Julie Ward, literary intern and copyeditor, is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University, graduating in December with a BA in English and a minor in religious studies.

 

VOLUNTEERS
Ian Bodkin, volunteer manuscript reader, is working on his MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts. He teaches English and Latin at Benedictine High School.

Remy Elmore, volunteer media editor, is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University. He is expected to earn a BA in English from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2013.

Raina Fields, volunteer manuscript reader, is a graduate of the MFA program in creative writing at Virginia Tech. She earned a BA in fine arts, writing, and English from Loyola University in 2008. Her poetry appears or is forthcoming in Callaloo, Gargoyle, Sweet, PANK, Diverse Voices Quarterly, The Bakery, and Emerge, among others. She is a former creative writing editor of The Minnesota Review.

Sallie Lupton Jennings, volunteer manuscript reader, holds an MA in psychology from The New School for Social Research.

Brittney Scott, volunteer manuscript reader, holds an MFA in creative writing from Hollins University. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Crab Orchard Review, Poet Lore, The Malahat Review, Water~Stone Review, Salamander, Folio, The Journal, Copper Nickel, KNOCK, Jabberwock Review, and Quiddity. She is a book reviewer for The Los Angeles Review.

 

ADVISING & CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
John Bresland
, contributing editor for video essays, works in video, audio, and print. His audio essays have aired on public radio’s Weekend America, and his video essays can be seen at Ninth Letter and Requited. His print essays can be read in North American Review, Hotel Amerika, and elsewhere. He teaches creative writing and new media at Northwestern University.

Vera Kononova Brown, advising production editor for the Blackbird index, is a PhD student in the Media, Art, and Text program at Virginia Commonwealth University. A native of Russia, she has a BA in English with an emphasis on technical/professional writing from Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas, and an MA in English with an emphasis on writing and rhetoric from VCU. Her interests include the use of new media in language instruction, iconography, and stereographic imaging.

Katie Lynch, advising web developer and css programmer, is a PhD student in the Media, Art, and Text program at Virginia Commonwealth University. She has a BFA in crafts from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and an MFA from The Ohio State University. Her work focuses on the presence of text in visual art and the relationship between art, science, and technology.

María Lourdes De Panbehchi (Lulú), advising production editor, is a PhD student in the Media, Art, and Text program at Virginia Commonwealth University. She earned her BA in Spanish literature from the University of Chihuahua, Mexico, and her MA in Spanish from New Mexico State University. Her work focuses on the relationship between smart phones and simulation, nostalgia, and remediation.

 

& MANY THANKS
to all the editors, staff members, interns, and volunteers who made Blackbird volume 11, number 2 possible.

Thanks to Doug Fuller, for his meticulous sound editing and for leading the audio team; Meagan Saunders-Spearman for taking charge of the copyediting team; Brad Pearce for his assistance on the photo team; and Ross Losapio for serving as lead pagebuilder during his term as associate editor emeritus.

Thanks to Michael Beskin and Emilia Phillips for their labors toward an updated index, and to Katelyn Kiley, Lauren Miner, and Ben Orth for their scrupulous copyediting of our most challenging texts.

Thanks to Randy Marshall and Emilia Phillips for their extensive work with submissions and for running reading groups.

Thanks to M.A. Keller for his work on designing the pages for a wide array of gallery pieces, all under tight deadline; and for his help on social media projects.

And to all others—manuscript readers, content converters, pagebuilders, audio editors, transcribers, and copyeditors everyone, our sincere appreciation.  bug


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