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| Student, Recent Graduate Enjoy Literary Success |
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Published: November 29, 2007. Two Lewis University English majors are sharing literary success. Melissa Culbertson, a senior, and Susan Slaviero, a recent Lewis graduate, will have their first collections of poetry published by dancing girl press, an independent publisher that promotes the work of women poets. Culbertson’s The Fire Wife will be available in August 2008. Slaviero’s Apocrypha is scheduled for publication in January 2009. Both collections will be featured in chapbook form, a thinner version of a volume of poetry. Poetry chapbooks often focus on a specific theme throughout the entire book. A love of words came early to both Culbertson and Slaviero, but the creative outlet of writing had always been a personal, private process for both of them. Culbertson, who has been writing since the age of nine, had long planned to become a high school English teacher. Slaviero transferred to Lewis to earn a degree in technical writing, after completing an associate degree in English and literature from Joliet Junior College. However, an advanced workshop in creative writing would lead both women to broaden their personal and professional aspirations. Limited to a handful of students, the workshops provide a forum where students can share their original work and receive feedback from their peers and professor. Culbertson and Slaviero found inspiration and a mentor in Dr. Simone Muench, Lewis Assistant Professor of English, and a published poet. “I learned so much from her about writing and about English,” Culbertson said of Dr. Muench. “Through her classes, she opened up an entirely new side of what an English major can be. It [can be] creative, fun, different.” A resident of Homewood, Ill., Culbertson wants to teach at the college level, and is currently considering graduate schools. For Slaviero, an English major specializing in technical writing, the workshop compelled her to add a concentration in creative writing to her program of study. “That class just changed everything for me,” the New Lenox resident said. “I love the aspect of technical writing, but now I can combine that with creative writing and with being part of the literary world. It has enriched my life.” Slaviero said that the experience of sharing her work with a small group of peers and a faculty member was an important step in helping her to bring her work to a wider audience. “You take that work from your private arena, your personal journal, and you take it one step further into this very small and very supportive group of people,” she said. Workshops, she continued, also “teach you how other people read your work.” Culbertson said that writers have to find publications that fit the scope and style of their writing. “There are journals specifically for women. There are journals specifically for undergraduates. There are journals that only take specific poetic forms,” she said. “You have to be willing to put in that research time to make sure that what you’re writing is the right fit for a particular journal. “It is really all about persistence, too,” she added, referring to the rejection slips she has received. “We all get rejections… and it’s really disappointing,” Slaviero agreed. “You learn from practice, and from workshopping and talking with other writers,” she said. “You learn from submitting and getting responses from editors. And as that process goes on you learn more about the market. If you’re persistent, you’re going to find some place that’s right for the kind of work you do.” “The whole English Department has been very supportive, and it helped, probably both of us, to gain the confidence to really feel that we’re legitimate members of the literary community,” Culbertson said. Culbertson’s poems have been published in Pebble Lake Review, Barn Owl Review, and by Juliet Cook’s Blood Pudding Press. Slaviero’s work has appeared in Prairie Margins, SageWoman magazine, and Fourteen Hills: The San Francisco State University Review. Both women’s poetry is featured in the fall 2007 issue of wicked alice, an online journal located at www.sundress.net/wickedalice on the Web. Admirers of one another’s work, Culbertson and Slaviero quickly became friends and are co-editors of blossombones: a literary journal, an online publication they launched earlier this year. The first issue is scheduled for early 2008. “We [thought] we could put it out there, and if nobody submits, at least we tried something new,” Culbertson said of the journal. To their surprise, they have received a large response, with a high caliber of work coming from both established writers as well as students. blossombones also will feature the work of their friend and Lewis alumna, Marissa Frattini. As contributing art editor, she will provide original artwork, accompanying text, and collaborate in the overall look of the first issue. Submissions for blossombones are accepted on a rolling basis. To submit material, visit www.blossombones.com for more information and guidelines.
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