The MFA class of 2019 graduated on April 25th in the Rhododendron Room of the Mountainlair. An audience of family, friends, and colleagues gathered to hear the MFA graduates’ last reading as WVU students. The immensely talented class of 2019 included (pictured left to right above): Evan Kertman, Thomas Martin, Kayla McCormick, Daniel Al-Daqa, Kanza Javed, Emilie Schumway, Lauren Milici, Jacob Block, Heather Myers, and Ryan Kalis (not pictured).
Dan Al-Daqa (fiction) kicked off the reading with an excerpt from his thesis Employment. Dan transported the audience to New Jersey where his characters live, breathe, work, and learn brutal truths.
Jacob Block (poetry) read poems from his thesis entitled Gevalt, or And Then the Strings Come in, which explores family lineage and American history in unexpected ways. His poems feel urgent, striking, and often hilarious. Jacob concluded with a poem constructed of quotes from our very own Mary Ann Samyn, a tradition among MFA poetry graduates.
Kanza Javed (fiction) read a stunning excerpt from her thesis The Quiet Art of Mourning. Her breath-taking novel follows a tapestry of striking, complex characters living and learning in Lahore, Pakistan.
Evan Kertman (poetry) read poems from his collection Red Like a Clown. As usual, Evan brought lots of laughter into the room, but also reflections on the strange beauty of life.
Thomas Martin (fiction) read an excerpt from his thesis It Wasn’t That Fun But It Was Better Than Being Dead. The audience heard a character’s introduction to working as a rafting guide in North Carolina. The excerpt promises a wild, yet necessary ride.
Kayla McCormick (non-fiction) read an essay from her collection I Can't Wait to be Water Again. The audience audibly laughed and gasped at her telling of the killing of a fox in an apartment in West Virginia.
Lauren Milici (poetry) read poems from her thesis Before the Confetti, Everything on Fire. Her harrowing poems spoke of trauma and what comes after.
Heather Myers (poetry) read from her thesis If Something Should Grow. Her raw, yet tender poems discuss the loss of her twin brother and reflections on her family.
Emilie Schumway (non-fiction) concluded the night with an excerpt from her essay collection From Inside the House. Her reading explored her own admiration, and near obsession, with Amelia Earhart’s journey. Emilie ended her essay imagining Amelia resting after a hard-day’s work, alone on a beach faraway. It was a stunning conclusion to a brilliant night of readings.
Although Ryan Kalis (non-fiction) could not join the reading, he completed an astounding essay collection entitled The Poet and the Prizefighter: Essays, which covers Formula One racing, the scourge of South African apartheid, a search for quality espresso in America, bank robbery, and much more.
Congratulations to the 2019 MFA Graduating class! We will miss you.