The Penmen Profile: Contemporary Southern Writer Dixon Hearne

by Rebecca LeBoeuf Louisiana native Dixon Hearne uses his Southern roots as an influence in his writing. The author of “Delta Flats: Stories in the Keys of Blues and Hope” (2016), a collection of short stories, tends to incorporate Southern imagery and themes into his work. Hearne writes short stories, novellas, poetry…

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The Penmen Profile: Versatile Writer Peter Grandbois

by Rebecca LeBoeuf Peter Grandbois is an author that does it all. From writing fiction, nonfiction, poetry and plays, Grandbois has two novels, one book of short stories, a memoir and a collection of three novellas published. His Etruscan Press novel, “Nahoonkara,” was a finalist in the 2011 Foreword Review Book of…

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The Penmen Profile: Guatemalan Novelist David Unger

by Rebecca LeBoeuf Despite writing in English, David Unger was awarded the Miguel Ángel Asturias National Prize in Literature in 2014, the most important literary award in Guatemala a writer could receive. Unger, a Guatemalan novelist, had his most recent book, “The Mastermind,” published in early April by Akashic Books. “The Mastermind” is based on a…

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Josh Medsker on “Medskerpedia”

by Rebecca LeBoeuf Poet Josh Medsker is developing “Medskerpedia,” an accumulation of poems for each entry of the “Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics.” Medsker began this endeavor in July 2015, after a poet and friend, Eryk Wenziak, encouraged him, and as of March 1, he has completed 153 poems….

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The Penmen Profile: “Snow Island” Author Katherine Towler

by Rebecca LeBoeuf Katherine Towler is the author of the “Snow Island” trilogy, including “Snow Island,” “Evening Ferry” and “Island Light.” She co-edited “A God in the House: Poets Talk About Faith,” alongside Ilya Kaminsky. This March, her first memoir, “The Penny Poet of Portsmouth: A Memoir of Place, Solitude,…

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Sheila Bender: A Writer’s Life

by Carol Smallwood Sheila Bender is the author of “Creative Writing DeMystified,” “A New Theology: Turning to Poetry in a Time of Grief,” a memoir, and “Behind Us the Way Grows Wider,” a poetry collection. She teaches online at WritingItReal.com, StoryCircleNetwork.org and WOW! Women On Writing. Tell us about your…

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A Conversation with Poet Jessica Purdy

by Pamme Boutselis Jessica Purdy teaches creative writing at Southern New Hampshire University. In 2014, she was nominated for Best New Poets and Best of the Net. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College and now lives in Exeter, NH. Read one of Purdy’s poems, “At the…

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Helena Lancaster: Writing Her Way Out of Darkness

by Amber E. Box Helena Lancaster began writing as a young child, winning her first award at the age of seven. It wasn’t until she experienced the darkest time in her life, however, that she was inspired to pursue writing as a career. In her first book of poetry, “Behind…

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The Penmen Profile: Award-winning Author, Editor, Playwright and Poet Eckhard Gerdes

Eckhard Gerdes is the editor of The Journal of Experimental Fiction, dedicated to the furthering of forefront fiction. He has published criticism in The Review of Contemporary Fiction and American Review of Books, and has a chapter in SUNY Press’s recent “Federman’s Fictions.” His fiction has appeared in Fiction International, Notre Dame Review, Hayden’s…

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The Trouble with Billy Collins

by Cynthia Brackett-Vincent In early October 2013, a bright fall day, I drove five hours west—with the sun in my eyes and the autumn trees seemingly on fire all the way—across the three northernmost New England states to hear Billy Collins speak at the University of Vermont. That’s five hours…

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