Graduating Senior Spotlight Part 4: Sarah Toki

Graduating Senior Spotlight Part 4: Sarah Toki

The department wishes its graduating seniors the best as they apply for jobs and begin the exciting transition to the next chapter of their lives! This post is the fourth and final installment in a series to spotlight these seniors, who generously shared their favorite memory of being a major in the English Department and their post-graduation plans

Sarah Toki

I'm an English major with minor in Psychology.

I have so many great memories involving the English department but some of best involve my classes with Dr. Sharleen Mondal and now-Professor Emeritus Joe Mackall, reading and analyzing different texts such as The Rape of The Locke, Americanah, Half of a Yellow Sun, and Native Son, and the final paper I turned in for The Poem with professor Jay Robinson.

After graduation I plan on taking a semester off just where I will continue to drink ridiculous amounts of coffee, work through my every growing reading list before coming back for the Bachelor's Plus program to obtain my teaching license

Kirkus names Ashland Poetry Press Publication to "Best Indie Poetry of 2019" list

KIRKUS REVIEW named Ashland Poetry Press Publication Save Our Ship by Barbara Ungar as one of their "Best Indie Poetry of 2019" selections.

A collection of 57 poems that sound alarms about current ecological, political, and cultural trends.

Ungar (English/Coll. of Saint Rose; Immortal Medusa, 2015, etc.) provides helpful notes to explain her inspirations for this impressive volume of free verse, which includes transgressive female voices of the past and present; Cassandra, Emily Dickinson, and Audre Lorde make appearances. Alphabetical order is a recurring theme, as is Morse code. The title poem makes reference to rising, polluted seas; the placement of seven lines of “SOS” in Morse code seems to form waves. Environmental disasters are another urgent concern, as seen in “Endnotes to Coral Reefs” and “Naming the Animals,” a partial list of extinct species that ends with a gut punch: “Four species an hour.” Language is also under attack, as revealed in “Elegy,” which alphabetically lists words eliminated from the Oxford Junior Dictionary (“bluebell,” “buttercup”) and arrays them as if they’re drifting away. In contrast, newly included words (“blog,” “broadband”) are clustered in a solid block of text. Clever manipulation of language, space, and punctuation abounds. “Quoth the Queane” riffs on the letter Q, while “To You, U” explores the personal and linguistic history of Ungar’s initial. “Après Moi” offers 21 variations on the phrase “Let them eat cake”—with “cake” replaced by evocative signifiers, such as “bump stocks,” “the lying press,” “tax returns,” “opiates,” and “paper towels.” Dystopian poems will resonate with many readers, such as “The Woman With a Live Cockroach in her Skull” and its slippery preposition: “She wakes screaming / each morning at the news.” “Man Bun Ken” is a humorous meditation on the fate of the latest iteration of Barbie’s companion: “Future archaeologists / may stumble upon his simulacra / & mistake him for a shape-shifting god.” The book is full of keen insights regarding the passage of time, whether one is attending a wedding with one’s first boyfriend, taking a nostalgic walk through the West Village, or observing a spider and her web. Overall, Ungar suggests that language and memory are futile attempts to impose order on the chaos that surrounds us.

A distress call that’s worth reading and heeding
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/lists/best-indie-poetry-2019/save-our-ship/#feature

English Department December 2019 Graduates

Today, these fine students graduated with Bachelor of Arts degrees from the English Department at Ashland University's December commencement. Congratulations to all the graduates from Ashland University!

L-R: Sarah Toki, Stephanie Sorrell, Audrey Ashbrook, and Sarah Norris

Deborah Fleming's book recognized by PEN Awards

Dr. Deborah Fleming's book Resurrection of the Wild has been longlisted for the PEN Diamonstein/Spielvogel Art of the Essay Award for 2020, one of ten semifinalists for the award. 

See the list of semifinalists here: https://pen.org/2020-pen-america-literary-awards-longlists/. 

The semifinalists are listed in color. Dr. Fleming's book is one of the few from a University press, while the other other semifinalists are mostly from big New York publishing houses. Judges were Jelani Cobb, Daniel Menaker, and Judith Thurman. 

This is a very prestigious award and being longlisted as a semifinalist as is a big honor. 

Finalists will be announced in January and the award ceremony, to which Dr. Fleming has already been invited, is on March 2. More information here: https://pen.org/

Graduating Senior Spotlight Part 3: Sarah Norris

The department wishes its graduating seniors the best as they apply for jobs and begin the exciting transition to the next chapter of their lives! This post is the third installment in a series to spotlight these seniors, who generously shared their favorite memory of being a major in the English Department and their post-graduation plans

Sarah Norris:

I am an English and Creative Writing double major.

My favorite memories from being part of the English department include
every class I had with former professor, Joe Mackall, analyzing various texts ranging from John Milton's Paradise Lost to Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein, to Toni Morrison's Beloved, and crafting a paper over the connotations of setting in the novel, Pride and Prejudice, comparing it with two of its film adaptations.

After graduation I plan to continue to drink copious amounts of coffee as I write novels, to find a publishing or editing job local to Ashland, and maybe someday travel to Italy!

Graduating Senior Spotlight, Part 2: Steph Sorrell

Graduating Senior Spotlight: Stephanie Sorrell
The department wishes its graduating seniors the best as they apply for jobs and begin the exciting transition to the next chapter of their lives! This post is the second installment in a series to spotlight these seniors, who generously shared their favorite memory of being a major in the English Department and their post-graduation plans

I’m a creative writing major and English minor.

My favorite memories at Ashland within the English department are turning my first ever assignment into my capstone, taking a leap of faith by volunteering to play John Winthrop in a reacting to the past lesson, and forcing my peers to play a town of Salem game during my presentation on the Crucible.

After graduating I’m looking for jobs locally but the goal is to work at a university and eventually work towards my masters!

Ashland University’s 3rd Annual 24-Hour Theater Project

Ashland University’s 3rd Annual 24-Hour Theater Project: Just Clowning Around

Written by Noah C Gore on December 1st, 2019

On November 8th thru 9th Ashland University students gathered for the 3rd annual 24-Hour Theater project. From writers to actors, costume designers to makeup artists, anybody can participate in this event no matter what department you come from. In fact, while the majority of those involved were, in fact, CFA students, the 24-Hour Theater Project hosted students from English & Creative Writing, Ashbrook, JDM, Computer Science, and more.

Miranda Bielawski, Ivey Buffenmyer, Eric Breeden, and I were all involved with writing the libretto for the play. Ivey acted as lead editor and will proudly stand by the fact that this year’s performance was based on an odd occurrence the morning prior at 2:00am; as she phrases it, she woke up in a cold sweat and thought to herself, “Existential Clown College.” For whatever reason this happened, it must have been fate, for this was the obvious choice for this production.

This year’s performance was announced prior that we would be attempting to write a musical, as well. Though many were skeptical and even a bit hesitant, we pressed onward. Starting at 7:30pm Friday and ending around 4:30am the following morning, we (including scriptwriters and music coordinators) had successfully written and scored* the script, lyrics**, songs, and stage directions for our production. It was decided then that we would call in all the actors that had auditioned, and by 5:30am, the first table read was underway.

The play follows Josh (a.k.a. John, a.k.a. Jason, etc.) as he stumbles into the biggest mix-up in his life; what he thought was an acceptance letter from Brown University turned out to be a one-way ticket to Clown University. However, this clown college is not like other clown colleges. Those that find themselves here aren’t sure why and don’t look for answers. Every waking moment is an existential crisis for these clowns, and they couldn’t be happier!

In the end, “Existential Clown College” was a huge success. In total, there were three full-length musical numbers fully choreographed and scored**. The crowd couldn’t stop laughing and the actors were very into their characters. If you’d like to see the production, the Ashland University Theater page on Facebook live-streamed the majority of the 24-Hour Project, including the entire live performance.

*All music was written and recorded by Ethan Tingler.

**All lyrics were written by the 24-Hour Theater Project scriptwriters.

Black Fork Review party 12/6 2-4 PM Eagles Landing

Black Fork Review (Issue 2)

Release Party Friday, Dec. 6, 2-4 pm @ Eagles Landing

Black Fork Review, the student-run literary magazine at Ashland University, is celebrating the publication of its 2nd issue on Friday, December 6 from 2-4 pm in the Eagles Landing.

Come celebrate the last day of classes and the fine work published in this issue!

Issue 2 features the following writers and genres:

Poetry

Mary Biddinger

Kate Gale

Julia Swanson Hines

Lisa Dominguez Abraham

KG Newman

Mark Gorsuch

Jay Robinson

Satya Dash


Fiction

Christian Kiefer

Naomi Williams

Bree-Anna Burick

Scott Alumbaugh

J. L. Scott

Maia Paras Evrigenis


Creative Nonfiction

Kelly Sundberg

Arlena Lockard

Jason Gaidis
Ashley Anderson

Open Mic Night: Tuesday 12/10 at 7 in Eagles Landing

Open Mic Night: Tuesday 12/10 at 7 in Eagles Landing

The English Department's students are hosting an open mic night on 12/10 at 7 in Eagles Landing. Come hear students read their original work and/or come read your work.
There will be snacks-- come decompress from the tense finals week!

Graduating Senior Spotlight Series: Part 1

Spotlighting our December 2019 graduates
Audrey Ashbrook

The department wishes its graduating seniors the best as they apply for jobs and begin the exciting transition to the next chapter of their lives! This post is the first installment in a series to spotlight these seniors, who generously shared their favorite memory of being a major in the English Department and their post-graduation plans

Audrey Ashbrook is a double-major in English and Creative Writing with a minor in History. “One of my favorite memories with the English Department was taking ENG 372: Nietzche and the Problem of Values with Dr. Weaver and reading Lord Jim and Crime and Punishment. His classes are always so much fun and really make me think about the text, characters, themes and issues on a deeper level. After graduation, I’m going to try and find a job in the field of writing, editing or publishing while also writing creatively on the side!”