Coming to ODU: Real Stories of Publishing Forum
April 09, 2013
A panel of writers, editors and publishers will demystify the publishing process in an upcoming Old Dominion University forum discussion of literary genres and industry trends.
The Friends of the ODU M.F.A. Creative Writing Program and the ODU Alumni Association will present the "Real Stories of Publishing" forum at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 18, in the Barry M. Kornblau Alumni Center on the university's Norfolk campus.
This event is free and open to the public. Prior to the discussion, a reception will provide an opportunity to connect with ODU alumni, students, faculty and members of the local literary community.
During the forum, the panel of writers and editors will address trends in the publishing industry, share advice on publishing in all literary genres and answer questions from the audience.
The panel will include Trudy Hale, co-editor-in-chief of Streetlight Magazine and founder/director of The Porches writers retreat in Norwood, Va; Norton Girault, a writer and former English professor at Norfolk State University; Jon Pineda, author of the novel "Apology" and winner of the 2013 Milkweed National Fiction Prize; ODU faculty member Andrea Nolan, author of "Sea Kayaking Virginia" and co-author of "Sea Kayaking Maryland's Chesapeake Bay;" Eric M.R. Webb, whose poetry has appeared on qarrtsiluni.com and in Thunderclap! Magazine and The Cossack Review; and Lucas Flatt, who manages Barely South Review, the ODU M.F.A. program's literary magazine.
Hale currently facilitates workshops and literary consultations and teaches advanced writing at Longwood University. Her short stories and essays have been included in the SouthEast Review, the Santa Monica Review and Canyon Journal. Her poem "Letter to the Hippie Girls Who Lived on My Third Floor" was published in "A Literary Collection: A Long and Winding Road" in 2012. A native of Memphis, Tenn., Hale received an M.F.A. from Antioch University, Los Angeles.
Girault, a native of New Orleans, received a bachelor's degree and an M.A. in English at Louisiana State University and served in the U.S. Navy from 1941 to 1969. Since leaving NSU, he has devoted his time to writing. His poetry, fiction and essays have appeared in various literary magazines. He has been a regular participant in the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference since 1974 and has taken writing courses at ODU for many years. In 2012, he self-published a collection of short stories, "Out Among the Rooster Men."
Pineda's memoir, "Sleep in Me," is a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection and was named one of the Best Books of 2010 by Library Journal. It is currently being translated into Chinese. His poetry collections include "The Translator's Diary" and "Birthmark," both of which are literary competition winners. Pineda lives in Virginia and teaches in the M.F.A. program at Queens University of Charlotte.
Nolan, in addition to her kayaking titles, has published stories and essays in a variety of literary journals including Dogwood, Flyway, Fiction Writers Review, The Potomac Review, The Best American Essays series and in The Pushcart Prize. She has worked as an environmental educator and as a sea kayaking guide for more than 10 years in addition to being an ODU lecturer.
Webb currently serves as poetry and technical editor for Barely South Review, where he has also published two interviews. During ODU's last academic year, he ran the Writers in Community (WinC) program, for which he organized and managed 50 events.
Flatt holds a bachelor's degree and an M.A. in English literature from Tennessee Tech University and is currently an ODU M.F.A. candidate. His stories and essays have appeared, or are forthcoming, in the journal Ellipsis.