Just a month and half after graduating from Fordham in 2016, Amy Glasser packed her bags and went to teach math in Tanzania with Peace Corps for two years. She had come into Fordham fully expecting to pursue a career in publishing, but at the very beginning of her senior year—fall 2015—she had a conversation that suddenly changed her career trajectory.

At a back-to-school barbecue, Amy found herself talking to the new graduate assistant for the honors program, who had just returned from working with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. “It had never occurred to me that this kind of work was an option,” said Amy in our interview. “I went back to the dorm that afternoon and immediately looked up the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. I quickly realized that the JVC wasn’t quite right for me, but during that research, Peace Corps came up. And I just knew that that was what I wanted to do. That day, I knew that this was it.”

Once she knew that she wanted to pursue this new direction, Amy immediately started pouring time into volunteer work to strengthen her application to Peace Corps. She emphasized that volunteer experience goes a long way towards creating a successful Peace Corps application. “I really focused on my volunteer work outside of the school,” she told me. “I joined a new volunteer organization my last semester at Fordham, and I started volunteering twice a week instead of once with another organization I had already been working with.”

Amy’s efforts paid off: Peace Corps accepted her application. Amy already knew she wanted to teach math, and she began teaching secondary math in Tanzania just six weeks after finishing at Fordham. She started off teaching early high school (O-level) math, but after fifteen months she switched to a different school where she began to teach A-level classes, which she described as being “more like our AP calculus.” “I taught everything from basic algebra to calculus,” she said.

Amy spoke appreciatively of how she had learned to think differently about doing aid work. “A misconception that westerners sometimes have of foreign aid work is that we’re the experts and it’s a one-sided thing we’re doing to go over and help these communities. But really, it’s a lot more complicated than that. It’s a partnership.”

Amy’s experience with Peace Corps led her directly to her current career. She now works as a grants manager for the federal government (specifically, the Health, Resources, and Services Administration, or HRSA). Her first exposure to grants work came through her work on the Peace Corps Tanzania HIV Education Committee, where she watched her fellow committee members write grants and read templates. “I thought, man, I have no idea how to do any of that!” She laughed. “And I thought that this would be a really useful skill to have if I do go into educational development at any point.” Amy’s first job after returning from Peace Corps did not allow her to work with grants—she worked in HR for the Department of the Navy. Once she was into the federal government, though, it didn’t take her long to find her way into grants work.

Now, Amy is setting her sights on a new goal: a graduate degree in public policy. She loved teaching with Peace Corps, but it also taught her that she was more interested in educational development and policy than in classroom teaching. “I don’t mind teaching, and I love doing volunteer work that has to do with teaching, but I also didn’t want that to be my career,” she said. “And this degree is a great way for me to further my interest in education without being limited to teaching.”

Amy also emphasized how her Fordham English major prepared her for her current work in grants and educational policy. “Studying English—and just getting the liberal arts background in general—it’s made me a much stronger writer who can think critically about things,” she said. “For me, a big part of the English degree was reading books and enjoying books, but also learning to think about them in a way that you might not be able to if you didn’t have that specific training.” She finds that her background in both English and math has helped her hone her critical thinking skills in ways that have prepared her perfectly for her work with grants and policy.

As Amy reflected on her time as an undergrad at Fordham, she shared a few pieces of advice for current students. “Students who want to study abroad with Fordham definitely should,” she said, reflecting on how much she had appreciated her semester in London in 2014. “Also, take advantage of the fact that you’re in the Bronx, that you’re in New York City. There’s so much Fordham has to offer, but also so much New York has to offer. I live in Philadelphia now, and I love it, but I’m always trying to come back to New York, so enjoy it while you’re there!”

Finally, Amy had some advice for those interested in Peace Corps (or any kind of aid work). She stressed how important it is to think of aid work not as one-sided charity, but as an opportunity to partner with and learn from different communities. “You are always going to be the learner, and you’re going to be working with counterparts in the community who have a lot to offer, whose insight is very valuable. I think that’s something that tends to be forgotten in the western narrative, but it’s something that Peace Corps very strongly stresses: we can’t get anything done on our own. It has to be with the community, it has to be community-driven, and we’re just there to assist in whatever way we can.”

On a cold-but-sunny October afternoon––the first Saturday of the month––Fordham students  met outside the entrance of the New York Botanical Garden for Tulips Turn To Me, an event sponsored by the Poetic Justice Institute, led by its director Sarah Gambito and organized by student fellows and PJI’s graduate assistant, Diana Marino. At the gardens, we were joined by Meghan Dahn, a newly-published poet and English professor at Fordham.

Before everyone entered the garden, Sarah directed the students to a series of nine nature-inspired writing prompts, and advised us to take time and connect to the stillness of the garden rather than talk amongst ourselves. The time we have alone with nature, she told us, is precious, and should not be wasted. For most of the students, her words rang true––between swiftly approaching midterms and the receding summer sun, the reminder to ground ourselves was both timely and necessary.

Once the event began in full, most of the students split up into small groups or pairs and began to wander around the garden. The structure of the event allowed for around ten minutes for each prompt, some of which asked the participants to respond to other poets’ work, write about a particularly inspiring part of the landscape, or perform an exercise in connecting to the space around us. While some students rushed to complete every prompt, others spent more time on their favorite exercises over others, just like some decided to switch locations for each prompt and others preferred to stay grounded in their favorite spot.

Here’s a look at Writing Prompt #6:

Wander until you find a location in the garden that beckons to you. 

Read the below poem by Rainer Maria Rilke out loud.

I live my life in growing orbits,

which move out over the things of the world.

Perhaps I can never achieve the last,

but that will be my attempt.

I am circling around God, around the ancient tower,

and I have been circling for a thousand years,

and I still don't know if I am a falcon, or a storm,

or a great song.

With every next moment, you are becoming a new self. Lift your eyes to the sky and let your gaze rest. Allow yourself to perceive your self-creation and freewrite the lyrics to the song you are becoming.

Shortly before the event was scheduled to end, the students regrouped at the entrance to share some of what they had experienced. Across the board, we were surprised by the closeness we felt to the flora of the garden, and the sheer freedom of writing in nature which many of us have forgotten over the years that we spent online, glued to our laptops for work and class. “I loved the cold,” one of the PJI fellows shared, and many echoed– there was a wakeful jolt that came with the changing seasons, and an exhilaration in chasing the last of September warmth.

“As a New York City public school student, I went to the Gardens once for a field trip,” Diana wrote to me after the event. “Eighteen years later and I was back, but this time as a Fordham graduate student. The Tulips Turn to Me was the first time I felt like I belonged in a beautiful place…The experience allowed me to embrace who I am and the community that shaped me. In preparation for the event, PJI Fellows had the opportunity to create writing prompts, and I had the privilege of participating. I was able to incorporate my interest in Hip Hop to one of the writing prompts like bringing song lyrics from 2Pac Shakur. Truly an experience that I will never forget.”

Afterwards, a number of us shared work we had written. I held my breath as we took turns reading; in every single piece, I found the glimmers of a shared experience, and some even made me recognize specific plants or spots in the garden that the writer had referred to. I was particularly stunned by the poem shared by Meghan Dahn, whose new collection Domain you can find at Burnside Review Press (and on the shelves of select bookstores!):

PYRAMIDALIS (WITH NEST)

When I die who will know
I grit my teeth except for when

I saw the color blue? There is
this one thing that is only mine, 

as the cast, the cusp, the cut
of what makes the edges of you.

Once I thought I had nothing
someone couldn’t touch

and what made me cry at night
was the lack of edge. Now I am

a border lengthened by riverbank,
all edge and opportune. The truth is

I would soften my bones for him
and call myself mother.

On October 6th, the English Department hosted acclaimed novelist Walter Mosley at the 2022 Mary Higgins Clark Keynote Address, which gathered over two hundred attendees featuring students, faculty, and alumni at the Lincoln Center Campus. 

Walter’s candor was a refreshing contrast to the often impersonal tone that some speakers use when addressing students. Though Walter began with a prepared address, which he wrote especially for the event, he found moments to pepper in unexpected anecdotes and asides. The speech was long, but it flew by. From the front row, Walter’s words felt as free-flowing and extemporaneous as if he was just speaking from the heart. 

As an aspiring novelist, learning more about Walter and his roots helped me realize the importance of staying true to the stories that feel true to me instead of trying to appeal to a faceless audience of publishers and their assistants. In his address, Walter mapped his journey as a writer to the Black men that raised him; he also alluded to a larger community of Black folks whose stories he had picked up outside bars or on the streets of LA, where he grew up. Instead of looking for inspiration in the institutions that have long suppressed his own voice, Walter turned to his community and found poetry in their speech and language. As he described instances of this ‘found poetry,’ I was struck by the sheer simplicity of his process: he listens, then he writes. Suddenly, I felt that I, too, could write, if I just learned to listen.

After the standing ovation that followed his address, I joined Walter for a Q&A. At first, I worried that I’d feel awkward, but Walter’s warmth made me feel confident. His answers to my questions were, tonally, exactly what I’d expect from him: when asked which literary figure he’d most like to take out to dinner, Walter quipped that he wasn’t interested in what other writers had to tell him, and regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, he confessed that his habits hadn’t changed much from his usual homebody self. When I tried to press him for details on the process and inspiration behind his work, Walter shrugged the question off. After he had decided to become a novelist, he told me, he went to the library to “learn what it was that he wanted to be.” To Walter, what made him a writer wasn’t the presence of a certain skill or talent, but the desire to write, and the willingness to go through the motions of storytelling again and again until the story is told. 

While students lined up to get their copies of Walter Mosley’s Devil In a Blue Dress signed, several came up to tell me they thought I did a great job with the questions. I took the compliments, though it was clear to me that whatever levity and grace I possessed during that talk-back was primarily because of Walter, who made me feel as easygoing as he sounded. 

When I got home, the first thing I did was open the Google Doc with the current draft of my own story. For the first time in a long time, I wasn’t scared: I was excited to ‘learn what it was that I wanted to be.’

By Grace McCarty

“So, what are you going to do with an English major?” In our department, this question (and the dread surrounding it) has become something of a cliché. Many of us have grown accustomed to puzzled looks when we respond that we don’t want to teach or work for a publishing company. Others of us will begin to respond that we want to write, but trail off as we grasp for specifics that don’t yet exist. We know that we want bylines. We spend every day at Fordham fine tuning our writing to be worthy of them. The missing, and perhaps, most daunting piece of the puzzle is how to secure them.

Three years ago, in an antiquated era before the pandemic, I came to Fordham with “Undecided” decidedly stamped on every piece of paperwork asking for my intended major. English felt like an inevitability, almost a safety net. I had always felt most at home in high school literature classes, and writing had come as a second form of breathing to me my whole life. Still, it worried me that “English” didn’t seem to translate as directly into a career as “Pre-Med” or “Accounting” did.

As I stumbled through my freshman year, waiting for some kind of direct major-to-job pipeline to present itself, I found myself falling more in love with the written word in every class I took. I got my first taste of the editorial process when I joined MODE Magazine, the student-run fashion and lifestyle publication at Rose Hill. After brainstorming story ideas with section editors at our first meeting, I was buzzing with excitement on the walk back to my freshman dorm. Seeing my first article in print made me proud and satisfied in a way that felt different from other accomplishments. I knew that that feeling would never lose its zip.

 That year, I remember scribbling down in one of the miscellaneous journals stacked on my desk, “I think I really want to be a writer.” Even though the vagueness of the word scared me, and I had no idea what my translation of a writer’s life might look like, it felt so solid and right. I declared my English major spring of my freshman year, and went on to join the Creative Writing concentration as a junior. As a senior, I’m entering my third semester as Fashion Editor of MODE.

 For me, the real-world itch set in about a year ago. I started to think about the future in less abstract terms, and wondered if the skills I was developing would actually serve me well in my professional life. That semester, I enrolled in ENGL 3019, Writing for Publication, at Lincoln Center, taught by Prof. Elizabeth Stone (and to be taught in the spring at Rose Hill by Prof Lenny Casuto).

 With my classmates, I learned and drilled the arts of pitching to editors, freelance etiquette, focused peer feedback, and polishing pieces for publication. I expanded into new Fordham editorial communities, and wrote for the Lincoln Center Observer. Through the class, I also made contact with Fordham alum Lexi McMenamin, Teen Vogue’s News and Politics Editor, who became the subject of my first profile. The class introduced us to other alumni whose professional success represented the real-world applications of our studies. The idea that my English degree could send me on countless different professional paths became less daunting, and more thrilling.

Early on in Writing for Publication, I had a revelation: I didn’t have to wait for the next phase of my life to see if anyone would actually publish my writing. I just had to put it out there, and hope that it made its way in front of the right eyes. I just had to try.

I felt uneasy about reaching outside of the Fordham nest for the first time with my writing. When I sent my first pitch to an established publication, one that I had revered for years, I couldn’t shake the feeling that even pitching was presumptuous. Who was I, as a college undergraduate, to even imply that my own writing might be worthy of representing a household name fashion publication? I distinctly remember my heart skipping a beat on the Ram Van when I saw the editor’s name pop into my inbox. She loved my idea, but her director wasn’t looking to take on freelance pieces at the moment. She invited me to keep in touch. It was the most exhilarating rejection of my life.

Over the course of the following semester, I took on an independent study with Prof. Stone that sharpened my pitching skills and kept me focused on my goal of being published. Over the course of several months, I sent dozens of pitches, maintained an ever-growing list of editor contacts, and reached out to many Fordham alums in the industry for advice. I found my brain rewiring itself to turn nearly every observation into a potential story. As I learned how rare it is to hear back from pitch-inundated editors at major publications, I came to appreciate my first rejection (and all those to follow) even more; it made me believe that my writing was at least worthy of consideration, and that sooner or later, one of my ideas would stick. And, after months of plugging away from behind my Fordham email account, one finally did.

A pitch about a new app that my friends and I had been using for a week–one that I debated even writing in the first place– was my first green light. I quite literally jumped for joy in the Botanical Gardens when the deputy editor of Glamour Magazine made me an offer for my article. Seeing my name in print with a publication I’ve stacked beside my bed and seen in glossy magazine aisles my whole life affirmed every choice I’ve made in pursuit of my English and Creative Writing degree.

The Glamour team added the credit: “Grace McCarty is a writer and student based in New York” to the end of my article. This is the proof I wish I had when I first declared my major: it is possible to be both! Freelance writing is an attainable possibility for undergraduates who are willing to self-advocate, accept and learn from rejection, and continuously seek to improve their editorial skills. I’ve had plenty of pitches turned down since my first victory, but I’ve learned to view them as stepping stones to greater potential. I’ve been back in contact with Glamour editors this fall, and I’m thrilled to be joining them on some upcoming editorial projects.

I can’t imagine that I would have pushed myself to freelance outside of a college community without the support I have found in my Fordham English classes. Fordham students, faculty, and the alumni network are overflowing with established and successful writers who are willing to connect with and help us. The new Public & Professional Writing minor holds even more potential to equip Fordham’s newest generation of writers with the skills we need to secure the bylines we dream of. No version of a “must be this tall to ride” sign exists in the editorial world. We don’t need to wait for permission to try. Sometimes, the most daunting step is deceptively simple: type out a pitch, and hit send.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day is one of those particularly layered cultural observances, especially since “Columbus Day” shows up on so many of our calendars. It's worth setting aside some time on this much-needed day off to pay attention to these competing, coexisting names and the narratives they encode. 

We have Columbus Day, and with it the narrative of European “discovery” and conquest, of violence and gold and exploitation in the “New World.” And then we have Indigenous Peoples' Day, which gives us a different narrative: the narrative of silenced Native American voices and of attempts to reclaim those lost stories, to remember and to honor them. We cannot forget the fact that Indigenous Peoples’ Day is also called Columbus Day. We can, however, choose to magnify indigenous voices speaking out across the centuries, shifting the stories we tell about the land we walk on. 

So this weekend, consider taking a moment to honor indigenous voices by reading the work of one of these authors. 

Natalie Diaz

In the last decade, Diaz has produced two poetry collections, one of which (Postcolonial Love Poem, 2020) has won the Pulitzer Prize. Diaz is Mojave, an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community, and much of her poetry grapples with Native histories and identities, including how to cope today with the effects of colonization. When My Brother Was an Aztec (2012) includes several readily accessible poems to sit with this long weekend, or you could find her full-length collection, Postcolonial Love Poem, here. Diaz is currently working to revitalize the endangered language of Mojave near her home in Mohave Valley, Arizona. 

Layli Long Soldier

Long Soldier's poetry has been characterized by an interviewer as inspiring "self-searching and tenderness" even as it explores historical traumas and contemporary narratives, presenting both "the wound of the world we are, and its healing" (Eleni Sikelianos). Most recently, Long Soldier's full-length poetry collection WHEREAS (2017) responds to the language the US government has used and has continued to use against Native American peoples and tribes. The collection was a finalist for the National Book Awards. Long Soldier is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, a dual citizen of the United States and of the Oglala Lakota nation.

Tommy Orange

The New York Times book review of Tommy Orange's debut novel There, There (2018) is titled, “Yes, Tommy Orange’s New Novel Really Is That Good.” It won the 2019 American Book Award and was nominated for the Pulitzer. Reviewers have called it “quietly devastating” and applauded its sophisticated engagement with place, myth, and belonging. Orange is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma, and he received his MFA from (and currently teaches at) the Institute of American Indian Arts. 

Looking for more weekend reading recommendations from indigenous authors? Here are some more suggestions from Audible. Happy reading!

Photo credit: Kristen Pierce

By Elissa Johnston

Elle Gonzalez Rose is a YA author and a writer/producer for MTV. Her debut YA romcom CAUGHT IN A BAD FAUXMANCE is forthcoming from Joy Revolution in Fall 2023.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Elissa Johnston: So to start with, Elle, I’m so grateful you’re willing to talk with us for a bit and give back to the Fordham English community! Is this is a busy time of year for you? 

Elle Gonzalez Rose: It is right now! I’m doing a lot of drafting on a deadline, which is a little bit nerve-wracking, and a lot of being very diligent. It’s been, surprisingly, not that bad. But the drafting process in the professional space is very different!

EJ: That’s fantastic to hear. Before we get into what you’re doing now, I would love to hear about your forthcoming debut novel! I see the title and the blurb on your website, but would you mind telling us a little bit more? What’s it about, and who’s publishing it?

EGR: So my debut is a queer YA romantic comedy starring a bisexual Puerto Rican protagonist. It’s called CAUGHT IN A BAD FAUXMANCE, and it’s coming from Joy Revolution, which is an imprint of Random House Children’s. It was started by David Yoon and Nicola Yoon, who are YA legends that I love and adore. Their mission is to bring all these stories into the world which are by people of color, starring people of color falling in love, and it’s all just about joy and love and romance! 

I’d like to think that’s what my book does, as well. It’s a queer romance about these two families, the Báezes and the Seo-Cookes, that have hated each other for basically forever, and they always go to this fictional lake town in Florida. They’ve been battling each other for years, specifically over this really petty bet they made with each other, years ago, over who would win a local relay race. The main character’s family (the Báez family) has not been to the town in years. They go back for one last holiday break at this cabin before they sell it. But when they’re there, they end up making another bet with the Seo-Cookes on the local race, this time wagering their cabin! So the families go head to head, and ultimately the Seo-Cooke’s middle son comes to Devin Báez, the main character, in desperate need of a fake boyfriend. And the Báezes, of course, see this as an opportunity to take down their rivals from the inside… and so the titular bad fauxmance! 

EJ: Oh, that sounds like it will be a really fun read! When do you expect it to hit shelves?

EGR: It’s slated for Fall 2023. I don’t have an exact release date, but it is a holiday romance, so I guess we’re thinking later in the season to tie in with the approaching holidays. 

EJ: Looking forward to seeing it around! Now this is more of a general writer question, but could you tell us about where you find inspiration if you’re feeling stuck in the writing process?

EGR: I find it everywhere! I find that consuming any kind of media can inspire things. This particular book was inspired by a trip I took with my family to a place that hosts families every year. There were pictures of all these families that come back year after year and compete in all these games. I had no idea that was even a thing! And I was like, that’s such a fun idea! And then I watched a movie the very next week which had a similar idea and I thought, wouldn’t this be (in the middle of covid) a very fun, outdoorsy thing about two families that spar with one another? And it was all about taking an unusual setting and throwing in other things I thought were fun.

So I think I find inspiration from anything! Sometimes I just listen to a really moody song and think, what if this were a book? Or I get an idea from reading another good book. Being open to all kinds of inspiration is very handy, and it has led to a very long list of ideas!

EJ: I love the idea of a cumulative idea list that you can go back to whenever you’re ready.

EGR: Mine is very long! I’m pretty set for the first fifteen books. You want an idea? I got plenty! [laughs]

EJ: And that fact is pretty inspiring itself, actually! Now, would you mind telling us a little bit about the process of getting your book into the hands of publishers? I know that can be a really daunting prospect for people who are in the process of writing their first book.

EGR: I had kind of this pipe dream my whole life: if you look at my eighth grade yearbook, it says, “I want to grow up to be a writer”! And for me, that has always meant writing books. Over the years I’ve written lots of things. At Fordham I wrote one-act plays, and I’ve been writing fan fiction my entire life. So the story of what happened with this book starts with the fact that I was in the Fordham Creative Writing program and I was writing a lot, all the time! But I didn’t want to start writing a book because I didn’t think I had the time, so I was doing a lot of short stories and poetry. And then after that I stopped writing for a long time so that I could focus on having a job, on starting my life as a non-college person, because I did not start as a writer when I first graduated from college. But then I started doing this podcast where I read fan fiction I had written when I was young, twelve or maybe even younger. And it’s so bad, it’s just really, really bad, and I would read it with my friends. And it reminded me: this is so fun! Why don’t I do it again?

So I wrote a fan fiction for fun, because why not? It just inspires so much joy, and it brought back that love for writing that I had kind of lost while I was so focused on having a job. From there, there came a point when I knew I wasn’t writing fan fiction anymore. It had moved out of the fandom space. These characters had become original at some point. But I knew that I still wanted to write something that makes me happy! And so I thought of this story. I knew it was exactly what I needed just then, something very escapist and joyful, and also based on reckoning with my own identity and where I was in my life. So I decided to write this book! 

I knew from the beginning that I wanted it to be a traditionally published book. It was the first time I had ever written a novel, even though I had written various things over the years. On my first attempt, I did not know what I was doing at all, and the first draft of this book is extremely different [laughs] from the finished product! But I knew from the beginning that I didn’t know what I was doing, and I needed to get a first draft done, which I was able to do in maybe five months. And from there, I was confused about how you go about finding an agent and writing a query letter, and I also knew that at that point, the book was not ready to be sent to agents or publishers, and I didn’t know where to go to find guidance because I didn’t have the writing community that I have now. So I looked up unagented writer mentorship programs and I found Author Mentor Match, which is a program that pairs unagented writers with agented writers, and then you work through your manuscript together. I got into that, which was awesome! Yay! And that’s where the story really starts. 

I worked with my mentor for a couple months, completely revising this book. That was exactly what I needed, because I finally learned not only what it means to, you know, try to get a book traditionally published, but also how you write a book! Because my first-draft book was a book, but it did not follow the more commercial structure of a book. It meandered a lot, and it was way over the word count of a traditionally published YA romance. I learned so much about beats and acts and how to flesh out a character through the program and through working with this mentor. And from that experience, I was able to learn the skillset I needed not only to send out my book to agents, but also to write more books. I am significantly more confident going into book #2 after having read books like Save the Cat!, doing beat sheets and things like that, and just reading more so I finally understand the classic arc of the novel and how to create my own. I write outlines now, which is very important and I didn’t do before. 

I also met so many other writers through being more open about my writing. I started a Twitter to talk about my writing because I didn’t want to bother my friends with it [laughs], and I met so many amazing people! It gave me other writers to talk to about the process.  Having other people who are going through the same thing and who are willing to read your work is so incredibly helpful. So is having community so that you don’t feel so alone and you have a place to ask your questions.

EJ: That’s great. I love the idea of having a writing Twitter, though wow, that takes a lot of guts! [laughs]

EGR: I felt like I was bogging down my friends by talking about the book, and I didn’t tweet much anyway, so I thought why not? And now this is my only Twitter account! 

EJ: So how did you choose where you were going to submit when you started looking for places that could publish your book?

EGR: So it started for me with querying agents, since I knew I wanted to go for traditional publishing. I just didn’t have the will-how or the funds to self-publish. When I picked my agents, they told me where to submit it. In terms of choosing agents, I focused on agents who had represented other books I really liked, and agents who wanted YA romance and had a good track record with queer romance and representing writers of color. That’s how I found my agent. And I will say, all the agents I talked to had Joy Revolution, this imprint, in mind. Which is so cool, because I thought it was way out of my depth! [laughs] I didn’t think that they would want me!  But everyone I talked to said, no, you have to submit to Joy Revolution. Some of my friends even said it, and I said, sure, that sounds great! And that was definitely the right call. They were on the first round of submissions and they were the first we heard back from. 

EJ: Wow. Congratulations again! 

EGR: Thank you!

EJ: Now, I see from your online bio—which was a delight to read, by the way—

EGR: Thank you! I agonized over it for so long! 

EJ: And it’s great! And I see you’re also a writer and producer for MTV. Would you tell us about that? How did you find your way into that position?

EGR: It was another case of being in the right place at the right time! I think a lot of my success comes from hard work, but a lot also comes from luck. 

I had interned at MTV as an assistant in production while I was in my senior year at Fordham, which was totally different from what I do now. Then I worked as an assistant in the entertainment industry for my first two years out of college. When I was there, there were a bunch of different groups of assistants looking to help each other out; sometimes you can get into a tough bind because you need to get hold of something for a client or your boss. It was awesome and so helpful. But there were also people there who had broken out of the assistant path and had opportunities that they would post there that you don’t really find in other places, mostly because they were looking for people who were already in the entertainment sphere and they didn’t want to get inundated with applications. So you get to see a lot of jobs that aren’t out in the open. Someone posted the MTV job for a junior writer/producer and I thought, oh, I wonder what that means! Because in the department where I did my internship we didn’t have writer/producers, and I was very curious. I was happy with my assistant job, but I thought, why not apply for this? It sounds so cool! It’s basically a job writing promos, which I hadn’t realized was a real job, and I was really excited by it. But I also knew that I had no professional writing experience on my resume. I had been an assistant for two years and, while I had done writing stuff at Fordham and I LIKE to write, I didn’t have anything to back me up in a professional capacity. 

But I could see that the application was going to a real person (there was a real gmail account), and so I thought, well, I should do something fun. I love MTV, so I wrote my cover letter in the form of a letter to Nev from Catfish, hoping that it would get noticed! It was just a little thing I could do to show that I knew the brand and that I’m a creative person. I don't know if that's what made them bring me in for the interview, but I did get to come in! And from there I just kept looking for other ways to be very creative throughout the application process, which also involved a writing sample and interviews. I hoped that all of those things would show that even if I didn't have a background in writing, I’m a creative person who would go all the way if you give me the chance. And now I have been there for over two years, and it's amazing! It's a job I never knew existed, and I think it's such a fun way to be a creative, but to still have structure and that 9-5 job and a team environment where you're working collaboratively. I would say my big piece of advice to people who are interested in doing something in the creative field is think outside the box, and be open to unexpected possibilities.

EJ: Great advice, and that brings us to my last question, actually: what advice do you have to undergrads and recent grads about getting into the world of novel writing or making a career out of writing?

EGR: Yeah, and I'll address both of those things separately. For people who are interested in writing novels, I always say my biggest piece of advice is to finish writing the book. Done is better than perfect. I dealt with that a lot, and I spent a lot of time agonizing about needing to send the book out immediately. But there is no timeline for publishing! It's slow, and it's going to take a while if you want to pursue it. So only ever do things when you're feeling comfortable, and don't send out a book you don't think is ready. Also, I think it's really important to love what you're writing. Write for yourself first and others later, because you're going to spend a lot of time with that book, even if it gets sold. Having that passion for it makes it easy to revisit it time and time again and spend so much time with it. 

For pursuing a career in writing, when you're in undergrad, explore internships in places that you admire. I think my internships were the most innaluable thing I've done because it helped me figure out where in the creative sphere I wanted to work. I tried journalism, I didn't like it too much: I did theater, it wasn't really for me. And then I figured out that I wanted to be in the TV space, and even tough I didn't get to work there directly at first, my ackground led me there in the end. I think that part of why I was able to get in the door at MTV was because I worked there as an intern. But also, be open to new experiences, because writing can be so different in so many different places! You can be a copy writer, you can be a writer producer, you can be a regular producer, an editor--you can be so many different things in so many different fields. I think being open to what it means to be a writer is really great. Also, don't be afraid to be creative and make yourself stand out in ways that you think might be fun. 

EJ: Thanks, Elle! It's been really helpful (and also inspiring) to hear you talk about your work and your life, so thank you for your willingness to sit down, talk with me, and give back to your community! 

EGR: I'm the one who's honored here! I haven't been able to talk about this for so long, so being able to share with Fordham people is so exciting. I'm genuinely honored and grateful to be able to talk about it at all. So thank you!

On September 18th, the English department came together to celebrate alums and students at Family Meal: A Homecoming with a sense of camaraderie so strong that I could almost feel it bubble in the air. As a new Program Assistant, I was nervous to be in the room with faculty, students, and alumni, none of whom I knew. I didn't know what to expect; what I feared most was a stuffy, formal affair like most academic events I'd attended before I became an English major.

Before the event began, Sarah Gambito––the lead organizer and Director of the Creative Writing department––brought the rest of the volunteers and I together in a corner of the venue, where we toasted to the event's inevitable success. As the event began, two of my fellow students scrambled to begin check-in, and Mary Bly—the Chair of English at Fordham—and another student greeted the guests as they came in. Soon, the room was full of unfamiliar faces, but I found myself greeting and chatting with strangers as easily as if they had been old friends. I was, to put it mildly, immensely relieved.

After most of our guests had arrived, Mary Bly led a toast to the Fordham English community and soon our family meal arrived. Our host, Jordan Hunter, Director of Events at La Pecora Bianca and a Fordham alum, designed a three-course, family-style meal that was both gorgeous and plentiful. I spent most of my time sitting across from two alumni, one of whom was a journalist (and an avid cook!). We talked about the town upstate where she had grown up, her relationship to news, and our favorite classes at Fordham. As I left the table, the journalist and her friend, an economist, promised to come see one of the plays I'm working on at Fordham.

After an hour of merriment and another speech by Mary Bly, hands fluttered to scan the QR codes on the programs that linked attendees to an Inspiration Playlist put together by current students (access the Playlist and special liner notes here!)––and a website where they could donate to the program. I was happy to see so many people donating and even saving the link for later. Guests were thrilled to receive a gift of the novel The Complicities, written by our very own Stacey D'Erasmo who, like Mary and Sarah, spent the evening hopping between groups of students and alumni, to everyone's great excitement.

Though we were slated to leave the restaurant by 2:30, it was nearly 4:00 pm by the time I got on the train home. Even after Sarah had warned the guests that our time was up, friends – both new and old – remained at the venue, talking and laughing while student photographers documented connections made in real time.

In the hours that I spent at La Pecora Bianca, I had met and befriended a genderqueer law student and an upcoming playwright hoping to study acting in London; I asked Mary for advice on my future romance novels and connected with Stacey over our mutual affection for my roommate and one of her students; I even managed to spend time gossiping with Shan Rao, the previous Program Assistant, about her (old) and my (new) job. On the train, I couldn't stop smiling — a rare sight on the New York City subway. I found myself looking forward to the rest of the year, and all the other events the English Department has in store — which I hope you can join us for.

National Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15th-October 15th, a reminder of what a joy it can be to explore the amazing cultures and literatures of the Spanish-speaking world, even for those of us who don’t read or speak Spanish. Whether or not you already love Esperanza Rising and Gabriel García Márquez, taking some time this month to explore Hispanic literary culture will undoubtedly leave you richer. The abundance of possible books to read can seem overwhelming, particularly if you want to support rising authors as well as the big names (though by all means, read One Hundred Years of Solitude if you haven’t already). As you curate your reading material for the upcoming month, consider adding these three authors to your list. They celebrate and grapple with Hispanic and Latinx identities in their work in a variety of genres, and they do a fabulous job of it. 

Daniel Loedel

Loedel’s debut novel Hades, Argentina came out in 2020. Inspired by his own family’s story, the novel centers on the character of Tomás Orilla and his return to Buenos Aires to face a past full of ghosts and the problem of who he has become while away. Critics love Loedel’s straightforward prose and sophisticated engagement with the orders of complicity and victimhood. The novel won the Prix du Premier Roman, was a finalist for the Prix Femina and the VCU Cabell First Novel Award, and was long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Loedel is based in Brooklyn. You can read his discussion of origin, homeland, and cultural hybridity in this Literary Hub article. 

Melissa Castillo Planas

Dr. Castillo Planas is a Fordham grad (GSAS ‘11) and a New York-based poet and professor at Lehman College. Her bi-lingual poetry collection Coatlicue Eats the Apple, which she began during her MA program at Fordham, plays with both English and Spanish to create a poetic language very much her own as she teases out stories of ancestry and homecoming. Consider also reading her academic book, A Mexican State of Mind: New York City and the New Borderlands of Culture. In it, she writes about both the systemic pressures on Mexican communities in New York City and the creativity that characterizes the city’s migrant populations. To hear her thoughts on grad school, creative production, and the academic job market, check out this interview from Fordham English News. 

Lina María Ferreira Cabeza-Vanegas

Lina M. Ferreira Cabeza-Vanegas is an assistant professor in UChicago’s Creative Writing program, born and raised in Colombia. Drown/Sever/Sing (2015), her debut collection of essays and short stories, works to “re-appropriate” the monsters of Colombian legend and folklore. More recently, Lina has published Don’t Come Back, a collection of essays, translations, and re-interpreted myths that explores home and identity and questions both the possibility and the value of homecoming. She has also published other works in Exchanges, The Yale Review, Brooklyn Rail, and more. Read or listen to an interview with her here.

Happy reading!

Of the chapbook, Chris writes:

Barbara Vann was my friend and lover (though often we were antagonists), and the founding director of Medicine Show Theatre, of which I was a member. She was a theatrical genius. Then after a "complicated" relationship of 43 years, when she suddenly became old and died (of cancer) in the course of little more than two months in 2015 (she was only 77 and had just completed two seasons of brilliant work) I was completely blindsided by the depth of the grief I felt. The only thing that helped during the first two years of that intense feeling, was writing poems plumbing it, trying to reach the bottom of it. I never did, and I think I never will, though life in all its range and colors does go on.

Dear English majors,

              I can trace a throughline between my freshman fall registration day and my life after college, a subtle chain reaction, uneven dominos toppling slowly to bring me to where I am today. But if I hadn’t been open to the opportunities, often ones I might not have expected, those dominos wouldn’t have fallen—and I wouldn’t be where I am today. I had to walk through the scariness of internships that felt intimidating and reaching out to impressive professors. But with time, open-mindedness, and at least a few tears. I’ve found myself living a life and becoming a person I’m happy with and proud of—and building a life post-college that I’m excited to experience.

              There’s something about being in a new environment that makes us forget our own agency. So often, when thinking about opportunities and the path we want, we’re quick to focus on the limitations, the ways in which our lives or the people we love or college itself dictates what we can and cannot do with ourselves. But I find that, in focusing on the positive space surrounding these limitations, we can access a deeper kind of agency that allows for more freedom within the constraints.

              Take the college curriculum, for instance. Sure, there may be classes within or outside of the English major that you’re not so excited to take. But rather than focusing on how to cram those in or bemoaning the requirements, think about how you can tailor your education to your own interests. This applies within the English major in particular: there were semesters where I designed my whole schedule around taking a specific class or getting to learn from a certain professor. And, oftentimes, our interests can be supplemented by classes outside the major too. Within the realm of possibility, I tried to tailor the core classes that had some flexibility to align with the subjects I was interested in studying. For example, I wanted to be able to focus my English major largely on creative writing coursework and courses on literature by people of color. In knowing that for myself, I was able to prioritize which classes I would build my schedule around. I found out who the best BIPOC faculty in the department were and made sure to sign up for their classes. I realized that, in creating a tailored education for myself, I was able to then take what I learned in other classes—both in and outside of the English department—and put it in conversation with what I’d been focusing on.

              Another upside of a tailored education is the relationships that you can create from it. While I think it’s important to connect with a lot of people to know about the opportunities available during and after college, I actually think that depth is more valuable than breadth. And a tailored educational experience allows for depth in your relationships with professors. Rather than feeling the need to force yourself to connect with every professor you have, regardless of the course content, focus on connecting with the professors who work and course content you most admire or the ones whose life paths most relate to your interests.

As someone who has become close with multiple of my professors during my time at Fordham, I’d emphasize that it’s important that you do the work to make your professor take you seriously too. I don’t mean just showing up to class or even in the homework you do, though that’s never a bad thing. What I’m talking about is taking the steps to show genuine interest in their work. If you’re talking to a creative writing professor, read one of their books (I promise, they’ll be flattered and won’t find it strange); if you’re talking to a literature professor, look into what they’ve been writing about or studying and see if any of it sparks your interest. It’s not about being over-the-top invested; this should feel at least somewhat natural, the way you’d go out of your way to learn more about the work of anyone you care about. In this way, you’ll be able to enter the conversation with that professor in a way that sets you apart and demonstrates a kind of initiative (see how this connects back to the idea of agency?).

You may be surprised how kind and helpful people are willing to be when you show that you’re willing to put in an effort in return! This goes for both students and professors. It’s easy to feel discouraged and isolated in NYC (particularly on the Lincoln Center campus), but people are more friendly and willing to share advice or conversation. Both in friendships and career connections, be sure to not just reach out when you need something. People are able to tell when they’re being taken advantage of or when the connection isn’t genuine. But, the hope is at least, if you form a genuine connection, you’ll be appreciative or eager enough that you’ll want to connect outside of necessity!

I don’t want this to feel intimidating or like you’re locked into one path. The upside to tailoring your experiences and picking a direction is that it helps you figure out what’s not for you quicker. There’s a kind of pressure that if you get one internship or do well at one aspect of something, you should dedicate your whole life to it. And, yes, an aptitude is one way of measuring whether something is a good potential fit. But another benefit to internships and classes and experiences in general is that they can serve as trial runs to teach you what you don’t want to do. The more you actively direct yourself and what you choose to engage with, the more you’ll become aware of the things that you feel excited about and the ones that you find yourself not as interested in as you initially expected. And both of those conclusions are equally as valuable as you set yourself up for what you want to do beyond college.

When I came into college, I knew that I liked writing. I ended up in a Comp II class with Professor Elisabeth Frost and visited her office hours to discuss poetry. From there, she suggested I take a creative writing class. At the same time, I also was interested in film, so I joined the film club. After a year and a half of really dedicating myself to that and declaring a double major, I realized that no matter how much I accomplished, I was just beginning to enjoy my film studies less and less. That isn’t a reflection on film as a whole but on my own personal interests and work values. Eventually, I was able to let go of my double major and find career paths that were a better fit.

Going back to the poetry, I did end up signing up for a poetry workshop. I connected with my professor, Cathy Linh Che, read her book, and ended up staying in touch. She then reached out with an internship opportunity at Kundiman which I applied for. From there, I found myself reenvisioning my life path in terms of nonprofit arts administration, a career I never would’ve known existed if I hadn’t been open to the opportunities that arose for me. Two years and various career experiences after that internship, I applied for a full-time position at Kundiman and was hired as the Development Associate. It’s funny to think that, if I hadn’t taken the initiative to have that first conversation about poetry with Elisabeth Frost, my trajectory might’ve looked very different. With that in mind, I try to be open to what I can learn and set in motion without even knowing it.

The dominos continue to fall and my life keeps spinning. After all, this post-graduation life is only the beginning of so many more twists that I’m sure will arise. While there’s so much I still don’t know, what I do know is this: a key balance of self-direction and agency mixed with a willingness to leap at the unexpected opportunities that arise is what got me through college and to where I am. So, for now, I’m going to keep on tailoring my life to what matters most to me—while always keeping an eye out for those new experiences sneaking up in the shadows.

For freshmen or new English majors: read Shan’s advice to freshmen written at the end of her first year at Fordham!

Shan Rao has worked as Fordham’s Creative Writing Program Assistant for the past two years. She will graduate in May 2022 with a BA in English with a creative writing concentration. After graduation, she will work as the Development Associate for Kundiman. You can see more of her writing and work experience on her website, shan-rao.com.

By Shan Rao

This past school year, the Poetic Justice Institute at Fordham worked closely with Fordham students to bear witness to a slowly opening New York City during a global pandemic, featured a reading and writing series of prominent poet-activists and centered BIPOC student experience and perspective at the University.

In Fall 2021, students met in Central Park and read and wrote poetry together around a simple breakfast picnic. They reflected on the privilege of gathering together in person and talked about how they would encounter their in-person classes and fledging friendships. A number of students had never met a fellow Fordham student in person and so there were many wide smiles of welcome. Together they wrote odes to gratitude, to seeing each other's faces, and to hope for the future. In addition, Poetic Justice held nine poetry readings and generative writing sessions held via Zoom featuring poets and activists such as MARS, José Olivarez, Tawana Petty and Tamiko Beyer. These gatherings were open to the larger University community and the public.

In Spring 2022, Fordham students and faculty gathered for the second annual Poetic Justice Institute Festival. This year’s festival centered BIPOC Fordham students from both campuses.

Poetic Justice Institute Co-Director Sarah Gambito and Graduate Assistant Cathy Linh Che led the event with support from student Fellows Bea Mendoza and Shan Rao. Students were split into three home groups to facilitate an even more intimate environment. Each group was led by a BIPOC faculty member from Fordham’s English department: Dennis Tyler, Julie Kim, and Dionne Ford. Each spent dedicated time with a group of four students throughout the day.

Old friends and classmates greeted one another, and students took seats beside unknown faces, bonding over shared favorite books or their Ram Van commute. The Festival began with an Opening Circle in Dealy Hall where students and faculty shared what they hoped to receive from the day and what their experiences as a part of the Fordham community had been. The room was suspended as each participant took their turn sharing with vulnerability and generosity. Tears were shed, hugs were given, and all participants emerged closer and more eager to connect as the activities continued.

Following this moving introduction, the group made its way to the New York Botanical Garden for generative writing to a series of prompts that took them on a contemplative journey in the garden. As students wandered the gardens to write, Fellow Bea Mendoza snapped photos to document to experience.

As everyone returned to campus, there was a sense of lightness about the group. Students talked and laughed, voices carrying in the wind. As she walked through the gates of the garden, Sarah Gambito proclaimed, “I hadn’t realized it was spring until today with you. You all reminded me of spring.” Others echoed her sentiment on the walk back as several other participants shared about their big ongoing writing projects and how they felt a new inspiration to keep writing.

Back in Dealy Hall, poet guests John Murillo and Nicole Sealy joined the group via Zoom to read poetry and share their top tips for young BIPOC writers. In seamless conversation, the speakers bolstered students while simultaneously being honest about the realities of life as a writer of color. “You are all so dear to me,” Murillo told students, “but the world will not care for you. You have to take care of yourselves.” Students also had a chance to ask individual questions about their fears or uncertainties as writers.

Uplifted by the advice of the visitors, each Home Group spent time in salon, sharing their own work that they’d each written in the Botanical Garden and discussing their larger-scale creative projects. Faculty were surprised to find that many of the students hadn’t met before that day—though it had only been a few hours, everyone had begun to talk easily and familiarly around one another. As each participant took time to share their words, it felt truly magical.

The day closed out with a Closing Circle and a dinner of tacos. As students and faculty reflected on the day, there was an outpouring of gratitude. Graduating RH senior Arianna Chen was deeply grateful for the event and the opportunity to be in community with students:

My participation in the Poetic Justice Institute certainly revamped my passion for creative writing and poetry after primarily focusing on nonfiction throughout my Fordham career. I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to share space with such talented BIPOC writers and faculty, as well as build community with the English Department! This is such a wonderful opportunity, particularly for BIPOC students, to learn more about the professional field through a specific lens.

Over dinner, people discussed the new Beyoncé video and who their favorite poets were. As the day wore to a close, students lingered, still mingling, not yet ready to leave the suspension of the experience. Hugging one another, everyone’s goodbye was heartfelt and full of gratitude. As graduating LC senior Kaitlin Cunanan put it: “I can confidently say that the Poetic Justice Institute Festival encompassed everything I love about and hope for Fordham into a single event. It was transformative, warm, and inclusive. I'm happy to have created the poem of community with everyone present.”

Poetic Justice Institute is accepting applications for student Fellows for 2022 - 2023 until Thursday, April 21st. Interested students can apply here.

On March 28, the English department hosted a book launch and reading by Shirley Geok-lin Lim for her new poetry book In Praise of Limes via zoom. The event opened with an introduction from Professor Stephen Hong Sohn, then Lim read from her new book and a question and answer session followed. The evening was instilled with a sense of kindness and community.  

In Praise of Limes is Lim’s eleventh poetry collection. She is also a celebrated scholar, who is well known for helping found Asian American literary studies, and an incredible mentor, having chaired and served on countless dissertation committees. 

“Beyond her incredible creative capabilities,” Professor Hong Sohn added, “I have always looked up to Shirley as a model for a person who balances her work alongside the construction of community. She is simply inspirational!”

Making some introductory remarks before beginning her reading, Lim explained that her latest poetry book explores Ecoanxiety, trying to find a balance between what she terms as the two edges of such anxiety: doomism and hopium. Her collection moves through the twelve months of the year and is locationally situated in Santa Barbara, although, she added that Santa Barbara functions as a marker for the USA, which is a place marker for the entire planet. 

She shared that she has written poems every day since 2015, and out of those 400 poems have come her eleven poetry collections. As she read through the selected poems for the event, she shared her influences including but not limited to Robert Burns’s “To a Mouse,” T. S. Eliot’s The Wasteland, and Auden’s “In Praise of Limsetone,” on which the title of her book riffs. 

Lim was asked if she had any advice for aspiring Asian American poets and she emphasized the importance of finding a mentor. Answering a question about process, she explained:

“I usually begin writing a poem while I’m on my walk, then I put it into my computer, changing my scribbles. I love line breaks. For me, a poem is always about line breaks. Then I sit down and play with that poem; craft is play.”

She added that what inspired her to begin writing poetry was the love of reading. For her, poetry has always been a way to express anxieties and fantasies; a way to turn loss and pain into something else. In her own collection, In Praise of Limes, she said she had tried to turn pain into something else.

The event was made possible in short by the support of the A&S Dean's Council (Eva Badowska, Maura Mast, Tyler Stovall, Patrick Hornbeck, Laura Auricchio), the A&S Dean's Challenge Grant, The Office of Diversity, Rafael Zapata, Anne Fernald, and funds made available through the Teaching Race Across the Curriculum Grant. The event is part of a larger initiative to increase Asian American content for Fordham University; such content has been propelled by the work of a graduate assistant team that includes Corinna Cape, Lina Jiang, and Tripat Rihal. Rihal, in particular, provided her tech support throughout this specific zoom event, occasionally including poetic excerpts via the share screen function.

Shirley Geok-lin Lim’s Crossing the Peninsula received the British Commonwealth Poetry Prize, first for a woman and Asian. She has published ten poetry collections, and three chapbooks. Her poetry has been widely anthologized; published in journals like The Hudson Review, Feminist Studies and Virginia Quarterly Review; featured in television by Bill Moyers, in Tracey K. Smith’s Slowdown, and set to music as libretto for various scores. She received the American Book Awards for the edited anthology, The Forbidden Stitch, and her memoir, Among the White Moon Faces; MELUS and Feminist Press Lifetime Achievement Awards, UCSB’s Research Lecturer Award, and is also author of three novels, The Shirley Lim Collection, three short story collections, and two critical studies, and editor/co-editor of over 18 anthologies and special issues of journals. 

By Mason Rowlee, FCRH 2022

On March 4th, Creative Writing students from Rose Hill and Lincoln Center gathered at Fordham Law School for an evening of camaraderie, relaxation, and creative rejuvenation. Organized by the graduating cohort of Creative Writing Concentrators, Night Salon gave students an opportunity to commune together and share a meal.

Night Salon served as the culmination of a semester-long capstone project. Led by Professor Sarah Gambito, students designed the event as a way of introducing the newest class of creative writing students to the larger creative community at Fordham. 

This event was the first time many creative writing students were able to meet fellow concentrators beyond a Zoom meeting. 

“The event was exactly what everyone needed in that moment,” senior Shan Rao said. “The successful part of the event was that it brought everyone into a space of appreciation from a place of exhaustion.” 

Moving between activity stations, attendees were able to craft friendship bracelets, write story responses, capture the evening in a Polaroid photo booth, receive a Tarot card reading, sign up for NYC adventures and ask Senior concentrators their most burning questions. Complete with a delicious dinner, slippers, positive affirmations and a group meditation led by host, Bea Mendoza, the event stood as a triumphant success. 

Professor Gambito noted, “Night Salon was a little oasis in this dark time. The class designed it with an eye toward nourishing mind, body, and spirit. As people walked in, there were even rose petals, signaling that this is a different space within a space that is academic.”

As senior concentrators approach their graduation, Night Salon is a legacy they hope to pass on to future cohorts of creative writing concentrators. 

For more information about the Creative Writing Concentration at Fordham, visit fordham.edu/creativewriting. 

“As I navigate life through this so-called new normal, I’ve come to rely on TV as a north star of sorts, even in 2022 when Black love stories remain less prominent than white ones. But from that marginality, these shows have proven there’s power in embracing unconventional narratives.”

Daejah Woolery (she/they) is a writer, critic and you can read their article here.

Sarah Gambito, professor of English, brought the annual Kundiman writers retreat to Fordham when she joined the staff in 2008. She said she and her co-founder, poet Joseph O. Legaspi, started the group as a way for writers of color to get a sense of grounding that they felt they lacked.

“We were talking about the difficulties we were sharing, and also the beautiful accords that can occur when you can be your full self when others accept you and your work. Often writers of color are in places where they can literally be policed. People will say ‘No, you shouldn’t use Spanish here,’ or ‘Someone’s grandmother really wouldn’t say that,’” she said.

“So, it’s about thinking about the freedom that could exist within an Asian American space.”

After 14 years at the Rose Hill Campus, Kundiman, the nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing writers and readers of Asian American literature, has expanded to include students at Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus.

For the past four years, Kundiman has hosted Fordham College at Rose Hill students in paid internships that were funded by the University.

Paid Internships

This summer, when the time came to renew the partnership, Maura Mast, Ph.D., dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, and Laura Auricchio, Ph.D., dean of Fordham College at Lincoln Center, teamed up to contribute funding for the internships. In June, the first four FCLC students began working with Kundiman, which promotes artists through workshops, lectures, performances and an annual retreat.

For Auricchio, the partnership was appealing because it offers Lincoln Center students an intellectual, educational opportunity that also gives them real-world experience and networks. It also contributes to the college’s anti-racist initiative. 

“That took on particular urgency last year as we were seeing an increase in attacks and anti-Asian hate crimes thanks to misunderstandings about COVID-19 that were sometimes blamed on people of Asian descent,” she said.

“It’s about artists who are fully engaged in making the world a better place, so its fully living Fordham’s mission of being people for others, making art for the others, and having a transformative impact on the artists themselves and the community beyond.”

Bea Mendoza, a senior at Fordham College at Lincoln Center who is majoring in psychology and English with a creative writing concentration, began interning at Kundiman last summer as an operations intern. This fall, she joined the grants-writing team. A poet herself whose family hails from the Philippines, Mendoza has both participated in classes held by the group and helped coordinate them. She’s found the process of learning to write grants to be especially gratifying.

“It’s been such a warm community to be a part of,” she said. 

“Interning with Kundiman has really opened my eyes to how much I want to continue working in literary nonprofits and to stay in the literary world.”

Stefan Valenti graduated in December from Fordham College at Lincoln Center with a degree in new media and digital design and a double minor in psychology and marketing. He began working with Kundiman as a communications intern in the fall, and has stayed on as an intern this spring. 

“The idea of going into the workforce is a little intimidating because you’re never really sure of the culture you’re going to walk into, but Kundiman has been very supportive and understanding of newer workers,” said Valenti, whose father is Italian and whose mother is Indian. 

“I feel like this position really strikes a balance, because it allows me to be creative through copy writing and graphics, but I’ve also learned practical skills I can use for marketing or advertising.”

Valenti also said working with Kundiman has also widened his perspective about writing. A recent reading of Monsters Under the Bed by the poet W. Todd Kaneko, a Kundiman fellow,  was especially compelling.

“The whole world of poetry is something I wasn’t into before, but after reading some of the fellows from Kundiman, I’ve opened my eyes a little bit. There are some poems where I read them, and I still don’t know what I’m supposed to be getting, but then there are other poems where I read it, and I say, ‘Oh, that is objectively good, I understand this,’” he said.

An Understanding of Nonprofits

Mast said funding student internships at Kundiman was a no brainer, given how much of a difference the group makes through programming geared toward high school and college students .

“I also think of the high school students who they work with, who have this first exposure to a Asian poet or fiction writer. For them to see themselves means they can see their future. That has a tremendous impact,” she said.

At Fordham, she said, “they’ve really brought those students into understanding how nonprofits work, with the fundraising, the publicity, the working with donors, but also building the community.” 

She agreed that the partnership was an example of better coordination between her and Auricchio, similar to the Cultural Engagement Internships program that kicked off in May.

“Our students see themselves as Fordham students first, then they see themselves as Fordham College at Rose Hill students, and of course they have a campus identity, and that’s terrific,” she said.

“But we are one faculty of arts and sciences, one curriculum of arts and sciences, and I think the partnership I have with Laura has inspired me to think differently about programs supporting our students. We’re a good creative team, and when we work together, we’re able to do so much more because we’re able to build off each other.”

As I signed off of Zoom after the English Department’s career fair titled, Oh, The Places You’ll Go, I continued perusing the open windows on my laptop, clicking through links to resources from the speakers. I immediately sent messages to two of the speakers on LinkedIn who had shared their information with attendees. Somehow, this one-hour event had managed to relieve some of my anxieties surrounding the transition from senior year of college into the so-called real world. Not only that, but I felt inspired to continue searching for jobs and connecting with people - something I’d started to feel burnt out on before.

The event featured five speakers representing a variety of age groups and career paths. Speakers included Donna Bray, Vice-President and Co-Publisher of the Balzer + Bray imprint at HarperCollins Children's Books; Hannah Gonzalez, FCRH '20, a second-year J.D. candidate at Stanford Law School; Kwamesha Joseph, associate medical editor at Haymarket and Co-Chair of Haymarket Media's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee; Tom Liam Lynch, Director of Education Policy at The Center for New York City Affairs at The New School and Editor-in-Chief of the website InsideSchools; and Jill Schwartzman, editor at Dutton.

From the beginning, the energy of the event was strong. Donna Bray began her segment by reminding everyone that “if there’s one thing you all know as English majors, it’s narrative and the power of narrative.” She went on to explain the importance of building experiences and an application that speaks to the story of how you came to be interested in that specific field or job. Specifying that this doesn’t mean to only include industry experience, she told students to think about how one experience led them to another and how to showcase that.

Bray ended on a final note about how to break into the publishing world, encouraging students not to be caught up in wanting to work specifically in editorial when they go into publishing. Highlighting the various other aspects of publishing, she encouraged students to get their foot in the door through any paid publishing experience rather than holding out for one specific kind of position.

Following Donna Bray, students heard from a recent alum who had graduated into the world of COVID herself. Hannah Gonzalez spoke about networking, but she didn’t just share the same advice students always hear. Instead, she focused specifically on how to use the communications skills learned in an English major to make connections that feel genuine and with people in fields you’re passionate about. “I always hated the expression ‘it’s not what you know it’s who you know,’” she shared with students, “because I was like, I’m a first generation professional. And I grew to resent the idea that my work product alone was never going to be enough to get me where I wanted to go.”

Rather than stay in that frustration, Gonzalez explained how this kind of building connections can be built into the activities one already does. She was an editor at the Fordham Ram, Rose Hill’s student newspaper, and pushed herself to really take advantage of that opportunity. She explained that, even when she was nervous to follow up with someone, she tried to push herself and remember that building those skills of preparation, persistence, and communication was just as much a learning experience of college as anything else. Ultimately, she shared her own success story of meeting someone at a law school admitted student day who recommended she apply to a program with a law firm that ended up really helping her build the career trajectory she was interested in.

Kwamesha Joseph opened by speaking to the fact that many seniors were coming away from the holidays and family members continually asking the question: “What are you going to do after graduation?” She spoke to the way in which this sense of urgency can cause people to panic with a reminder that in spite of this feeling that you need to rush into knowing everything, this doesn’t mean you have to limit yourself.

Joseph spoke about how her initial passion for medical research caused her to take a job as an assistant editor doing that kind of writing. After some time in the field, however, she realized that she wanted to be more immersed in the actual lives of people and use the communication skills she had in that way. She emphasized the importance of surrendering as your passions evolve throughout life and not continuing to work toward a path you no longer want to have. Now, she is one year away from becoming a nurse. Even though her career path is no longer a “traditional” one for an English major, she continues to make use of the skills she cultivated during those years.

Tom Liam Lynch spoke softly and emphasized his resistance to offering any kind of concrete advice on how to move forward. His first lesson was simply to slow down and recognize that it’s important to take the time to figure out what actually matters to you. “A relationship with yourself,” he urged students, “is the most important relationship.” He reminded students that, as much pressure there is to have things figured out immediately, time was currently on their side as young people.

Moving on from this important note, Lynch spoke about how much digital technologies have begun to play a role in society. These fields are often seen as science or math based and inaccessible to students in the humanities fields. Lynch pushed back against that, reminding students that “we’re just talking about language here.” Building on this, he urged students to be open to the evolving world and take advantage of opportunities to use their skills as English majors across all kinds of disciplines and not view themselves as limited.

Closing out the night, Jill Schwartzman focused her advice specifically to those students interested in publishing. Her first note was that, if you are a student who really loves to read, you should go ahead and really immerse yourself in the world of books. When looking to get into the contemporary publishing landscape, it’s important to really know that world and be able to speak about it articulately. She urged students to, within publishing, follow their passions as to what sorts of books that they want to be working on, reminding them of how she connects more easily when people know what kind of books she does work on and have a genuine passion for those areas of knowledge.

She then moved on to specific practical advice about timelines that students aren’t often aware of, explaining that, in the world of publishing, jobs have a quick turnaround and need new hires to start almost immediately. She suggested that, rather than applying to jobs they won’t actually be available to start at, students focus on really building up an idea of what kind of publishing jobs they want—within Editorial or beyond it—and really get a sense of the books being published now. Then, as graduation nears, they’ll be ready to be strong applicants for the jobs they are then available for.

Overall, I was grateful for a career event that reached a broad range of English majors with a variety of interests. As someone not planning to go into publishing, I was glad to hear advice from those in fields more aligned with my own interests. Nevertheless, I was grateful for the way that those speakers in publishing broke down certain aspects of the job application process with a transparency that was applicable beyond that specific industry. As I continue with my own job searching, I’m grateful to feel reinvigorated and have a better understanding of what to pay attention to.

We are very proud to announce the winners of the 2022 Creative Writing Prizes.
Big congratulations to these students!

ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS PRIZE
Hannah Rivera

THE BERNICE KILDUFF WHITE & JOHN J. WHITE CREATIVE WRITING PRIZE
Branden Bayani

THE MARGARET LAMB / WRITING TO THE RIGHT-HAND MARGIN PRIZE
Shan Rao

THE REID FAMILY PRIZE
Molly Henschke

This article originally appeared on The Fordham Ram and was written by Ava Zins.

This spring, Fordham’s English department created a new minor for all undergraduate students that aims to strengthen student’s ability to write professionally for broad, public audiences. The minor, public and professional writing (PPW), will debut in the fall 2022 semester, but students can sign up for classes associated with the minor during this spring’s registration period.

This minor was created to provide both the personal enrichment of a writing degree while also emphasizing professional development and improvement. It prioritizes and deepens analytical, rhetorical and critical thinking skills while ultimately providing a crucial skill set that will be helpful beyond college. Many students and faculty have shown interest in the minor.

While the minor is writing-focused, it is definitely not an opportunity exclusive to English or communication majors. According to Professor Glenn Hendler, associate chair of the English department, the English major and minor focuses on reading, writing, literature and culture, and the professional and public writing minor is “continuous with that focus.”

You can read the rest of the article here.

By Nishat Sanjida

Students in a Fall 2021 Lincoln Center course called, “The Adrienne Kennedy Project,” created  The Adrienne Kennedy Project website in conjunction with web designer Benjamin Viertel. The  interdisciplinary capstone class, affiliated with both the English and the Theatre Department, was taught by Professor Daniel Alexander Jones and Professor Shonni Enenlow. 

Throughout the semester, students collaborated to create an interactive website dedicated to dramatist Adrienne Kennedy and all of her works. With a website that’s easy to navigate and the menu appearing on the right side bar, individuals outside of Fordham are able to access the content and learn more about Kennedy and the students’ interpretations of her writings.

“The website is a culmination of our semester-long effort to engage with Adrienne Kennedy's plays and create a platform that will allow others to do so as well. The work you'll find on the website ranges from critical essays to original plays, all of which are grounded in a close study of Kennedy,” says Molly Henschke FCRH ‘22, an English major who participated in the project. She hopes that this website reaches out to as many people as possible, especially people who are interested in Kennedy and happen to find this website during their Google search. 

Victoria Fanning FCLC ’22, a Theatre major, discussed how the professors played a role in the making of this website and encouraged students to put their own spin on it. She says, “Together, Professors Enelow and Jones created a beautiful balance between an English focus and a Theater focus that illuminated how Kennedy’s plays should be studied and experienced. As students, we watched our professors engage in deep discussion about the work and were invited to chime in with our own thoughts.”The creation of the website didn’t feel one-sided. There was a collaborative effort from both the teachers and the students and everyone was given the chance to contribute their own skills and work. 

The structure of the website was also explained to not follow a linear pattern. When users come across the website, they will have the opportunity to explore it like the students in this class were able to explore Kennedy’s works. Reading her plays has been described as “putting together the pieces of the puzzle” and this website is able to capture that feeling. Once all of the different puzzle pieces are connected with each other, people will be able to see the bigger picture that Kennedy created and how the students were able to capture that. 

Along with playing around with the site, users are able to indulge in new literary art along with taking a part in self reflection. When individuals consume a piece of art whether it’s reading a book or watching a film, it is very natural to see parts of themselves being portrayed. Fanning said, “Kennedy is brilliant and if you have the opportunity to read her words and go through that self-reflection, do it. You won't regret it. Approach her work with care and an open heart and you will fall in love with her words.”

By Ava Peabody

When I first met Jake Eraca, FCLC '24, he was having a whirlwind fall semester. The fall of 2021 has been only the second semester physically on campus for the English major, as he spent the first half of his freshman year of college at home in Poughkeepsie as a result of the pandemic. His fall has been filled with writing award-winning personal essays and zealous opinion pieces about political issues. Writing has long been a passion of Eraca's, who entered college knowing he wanted to study English (and whom I met in an English class). His recent success, however, has revolved around his breakout from his mainstays of poetry and creative writing into the realm of journalism.

For all his love of English, I was surprised to learn that for much of high school, Eraca wanted to be a neuroscientist. He discovered an enthusiasm for science while working on a science project focused on turtle tracking, and loved the biology classes he took. However, once he reached senior year of high school and began thinking about his next steps in education, he realized he did not want to set off down a path of several years of medical school. When choosing his classes for senior year, he pivoted, electing at the last minute to take nearly a full schedule of English courses on the basis of his casual enjoyment of literature and creative writing. He signed up for as many electives as he could find, including poetry, African American literature, and children's literature.

Eraca's interest in English had been sparked by his junior year English teacher, Ms. Soi, whose encouragement left a mark on him. "I'll never forget her. She just really engaged the class. I remember I was always answering questions, and I came to have a reputation of being really good at English." When Eraca wrote some poetry on a whim, he felt comfortable enough to let Ms. Soi look it over. She liked it so much that she asked for more, and "it just kind of kept going from there," he said. Her support led him to take his school's poetry elective course, where he learned the elements of the form like rhythm and anaphora. Eraca latched onto the intricacies of poetry because of its similarity to his other love: music. He played jazz bass, was in the marching band, and participated in Philharmonia. He valued these creative outlets both separately and as a pair: "It was interesting to see how poetry tied into music and how that connection helped me get creative."

Eraca's positive experience in his high school English classes evolved into a plan to study creative writing in college. But then, just as he was gearing up to come to Fordham, COVID hit during the second semester of his senior year. "When COVID happened, I felt dead inside for a year because I got really stunted creatively. It was really sad because I have a document of all my poetry written in high school, and you can see that the day COVID started, it was gone. It stopped."

However, Eraca found himself in English classes at Fordham that helped him through that time of artistic inhibition. His favorite was Texts and Contexts: About Women, By Women, taught by Vlasta Vranjes. He felt the class helped him not only gain perspectives about literature, but valuable insight about the experience of womanhood. "I thought that class was so interesting because as somebody who's gay, I've always been one of the girls, but I don't know anything about the girls."

The new setting of college classes, even though it was over Zoom, helped motivate him to start writing again. "It was really like, Oh my God, I remember why I like doing this." He also notes that the core classes required by Fordham have augmented his writing: "A lot of the core has been relevant to informing a better perspective on my writing. I think the more well rounded you are, the better your specific writing is."

Beyond his high school and college English classes, he credits some of his current flourishing to his mom, noting with his signature flair that "Jen is a girlboss." Eraca's mother instilled a sense of motivation and enthusiasm in him from the beginning, helping him learn to tackle big projects without feeling overwhelmed by them. He maintains he "would not have been nearly as successful in the college application process or anything like that without her." He relishes the positive reinforcement his mom gave him and his siblings. "My mom has always created an environment where I want to succeed. She's framed it like I have the potential, and I'm in the driver's seat." His mother, who is an education and writing professional, also helped him learn how to write well: "She will cut [my writing] to pieces in the best way possible."

His mom also provided the inspiration for the very article in the Fordham Observer which would make such a splash. In September of 2021, amidst the first weeks of his sophomore year, Eraca decided to write a piece about his mom's experience with cancer, and the immense benefits of her choice to keep her young children in the loop about her condition. The piece was Eraca's first foray into publishing his writing, but his lack of experience did not hinder him at all — the piece trended on the Observer website, and it was even featured on the Best of SNO (School Newspapers Online).

Having spent the end of his senior year and the beginning of his college freshman year over Zoom, Eraca said he had felt he was "going through the motions, like I wasn't really making an impact. I feel like I didn't identify with the school, or with my role in it." But being featured on Best of SNO was something tangible that "was really validating for me. Now I feel like I've really done something." The pleasant surprise of seeing how much his piece resonated helped Eraca return to his roots: "I wrote the cancer article, and I was like, wow, and I started writing poetry again. I felt like I was recovering."

Although his prior writing experience had been in a different format, Eraca seemed to take to journalism instantly. The tools he learned from his high school and college English courses allowed him to transition seamlessly into a new type of writing, including his method for finding topics to cover. Similar to his strategy for writing poetry, his inspiration for opinion pieces have so far come from issues he is passionate about: "I think about what makes me and other people angry." He has written about undeniably controversial topics like LGBTQ+ privilege and the policing of NYC parks, but he doesn't mind delving into contentious topics. "I feel like controversy is the result of an argument done right."

Eraca's head-first plunge into journalism has paid off. As one of the Opinions Editors for the Fordham Observer, I recognized his skills as a reader and writer, and I asked him to join the team as an Assistant Editor for the Opinions section. "My experience at the Observer has been all-around positive," he said. "It's an environment of mostly Gen Z people, which lifts a lot of barriers, and it feels easy to communicate with people." He also noted that being on a staff of young writers and editors "removes a lot of the anxiety" that can come with pitching ideas and discussing work with more seasoned people like faculty and career professionals.

When I asked what Eraca imagines the future might hold, I was once again surprised by his answer. "I want to write for the video game League of Legends. Their lore is so well-written, with this whole universe of maps and 128 characters who each have their own backstory. The world-building is so impressive, it's like a novel." His dream is to write for the game he loves so much, and he wants a degree that will help him learn to write for that digital medium and others like it. After college, he plans to apply to work at Riot, the video game developer and publisher which is known for its meticulous, long-term focus on elaborate projects including League of Legends, for which it is responsible. In the video game industry, where most people want to do STEM jobs like coding or engineering, Eraca wants to bring his writing skills to the table. "I think it's the most intense, creative thing. So that's the goal."

Jake Eraca first wrote for The Observer in Professor Elizabeth Stone’s ENGL 3019 "Writing for Publication" course, offered in the new "Public and Professional Writing Minor." Prof. Stone will again teach the course in Fall 2022, and Prof. Lenny Cassuto will teach it in Spring 2023. Click here for more on the new "Public and Professional Writing Minor."