With 2024 quickly coming to an end and the holiday season right around the corner, what better way to spend some idle time during the winter break than catching up on the recent publications of our talented creative writing students?
Here you’ll find a sample of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry published in 2024 from our undergraduate and graduate students, ranging from real-life stories about masculinity in the military, a not-so-real-life story about spontaneous human combustion, and even a Pushcart-nominated poem, among others. If you like what you read, be sure to follow the writers on their social media accounts to stay in the loop with future publications!
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Undergraduate Student Publications:
Colin Ware, Undergraduate PWE
“my brief and propulsive life as a hypersonic cruise missile”, “Dogcalling”, “Fingers Crossed”
https://mrbullbull.com/newbull/flash-fiction/three-stories-17/
A lot of my writing over the last year or two has focused on masculinity, especially the more traditional, toxic variety. I figure given the political moment the inspirations aren't hard to imagine. These three flash stories weren't originally intended as a grouping. They were different exercises in voice and style. But I hope the shared theme makes them at least a semi-cohesive read. I'd only had a piece of humor published prior to this, so it felt pretty great to have some fiction out in the world.
I'm not overly active on social media but I did make a BlueSky account recently: @colinwarewrites.bsky.social
Graduate Student Publications:
Benjamin Clabault, 3rd Year MFA Fiction
Ben’s website: https://www.benjaminclabault.com/
"The Mothman and la Llorona" in the Washington Square Review of LCC - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DG8FWZH6?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
Blurb: This was a "nighttime story." I'd get another idea at midnight while drifting off to sleep, then jump out of bed to write it down (terrifying my wife in the process). After a week of this, I had a slightly damaged marriage and a very decent story.
"One More Bearer in the Puritan Parade" in the Tulsa Review https://tulsaccreview.com/one-more-bearer-in-the-puritan-parade/
Blurb: This poem has the WVU English Department's hands all over it! I was reading Anne Bradstreet in Johanna Winant's poetry lit class, and then, in Jenny Johnson's poetry workshop, we were assigned to write about "ghosts," - and I chose the Puritans. Oh, and I was thinking a lot about technology's effect on contemporary society. Toss all that together, and this wild poem is the result.
Benjamin Clabault is a writer and teacher from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He lives with his wife in Morgantown, West Virginia, where he’s pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing. His work has been published in Literary Traveler, The Bookends Review, and Inlandia: A Literary Journey.
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Brent Cronin, 3rd Year MFA Creative Nonfiction
His short story “Anyone but Annie," (formerly "Chester at the Wedding" [workshopped in ENGL 618A fall 2023]) was published in Dunes Review, a print-only literary journal out of Northern Michigan.
His poem "Guest Room" will be in an upcoming issue of The Listening Eye, Kent State University's literary journal, slated for early 2025.
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Matt Eidson, 2nd year MFA Creative Nonfiction
2024 Publications:
“Meet Me at the Quarterdeck”: https://mrbullbull.com/newbull/fiction/meet-me-at-the-quarterdeck/
“Whale Watching with an M16”: https://www.collateraljournal.com/fiction/matteidson
“Other Than, Person”: (Bull Literary Magazine, forthcoming)
“Shotgun Wedding”: (Vine Leaves Press, forthcoming)
Website and Socials:
Website: https://www.matteidson.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100074788401262
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matt_eidson_author/
X: https://x.com/meidsonauthor
Author bio:
Matt Eidson is a writer and Marine Corps veteran. You can find his work in Ploughshares, Bull, and Collateral. You can also visit his website, https://www.matteidson.com. He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife and son.
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Camille Gazoul, 2nd Year MFA Fiction
Website: https://www.camillegazoul.com
“Up, Up, Up,” published in Bending Genres. https://bendinggenres.com/up-up-up/
Blurb:
This piece originated as an Undertaking exercise in Glenn Taylor’s spring 2024 fiction class. A simple one page story about Vera and her tendency to explode. But over the course of the summer and fall, without my really even noticing, it turned into this celebration of youth and life and is the closest thing to a love story I’ve ever written.
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Emily Noe, 1st Year MFA Poetry
My poem "Haint" was published in the 2024 issue of the Allegheny Review (which is only in print but here's a link to their site: https://allegheny.edu/about/news/allegheny-review/)
I wrote it after watching the sunset in a hammock with someone I was briefly, violently attracted to.
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Kelly Ward, 3rd Year MFA Fiction
“The Marigold Field” https://www.midsummermagazine.com/read/issue-3
(This flash fiction piece was originally an Undertaking in Glenn’s spring 2024 fiction workshop class.)
“Mother God” https://www.alteredrealitymag.com/summer-24-issue/
(This short story started out as an Undertaking exercise in Glenn’s fall 2022 fiction workshop class, and then it turned into a flash piece in Mark’s spring 2023 fiction workshop class, and then it decided to turn into a standard-length short story in the very end.)
“Elegy for a Cumbersome Flower” and “Love is a Room in Loneliness Forest” https://heroinchic.weebly.com/blog/poetry-by-kelly-ward
(Both of these poems were written in Jenny’s fall 2024 poetry workshop class.)
Kelly Ward is an emerging Appalachian writer and a fiction candidate in West Virginia University’s MFA program. Her work has appeared with Appalachia Book Company, among others. Follow her on X @hollerlynnward.
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Ella Wisniewski, 2nd Year MFA Poetry
“Poems for Clara Peller” https://www.bruisermag.com/wisniewski_peller
“Ars Poetica” (nominated for a Pushcart!) https://online.fliphtml5.com/ixptq/zwzo/#p=35
“WHY YOU SHOULD BE THE DRUM MAJOR IN A COLLEGIATE MARCHING BAND” https://www.havehashad.com/hadposts/why-you-should-be-the-drum-major-in-a-collegiate-marching-band
“Portrait of a Former Roommate” https://www.fleetingdazemag.com/issue-2
Ella Wisniewski (she/her) is a poet from Delaware and an MFA candidate at West Virginia University. You can find her work in HAD, Bruiser, Free the Verse, and elsewhere.
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Elise Zukowski, 3rd Year MFA Fiction
Publication: "Woman in Waiting" on Every Day Fiction: https://everydayfiction.com/woman-in-waiting-by-ev-zukowski/
Blurb: "This started as a writing exercise for fiction workshop, and it's always cool to see those turn into publications!"
Instagram: eliseinwonderland_
Website: evzukowski.com
Bio:
E.V. Zukowski is a fiction writer from Metro Detroit. Her stories often center around death, complicated families, and the immortal nature of art. Her work can be found in Every Day Fiction and elsewhere. Currently, she’s pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing at West Virginia University. There, she also teaches undergraduate writing and serves as co-Editor in Chief for Hellbender Magazine (formerly Cheat River Review). Her in-progress novel, Tiny Silent Deaths, is a multi-generational saga of grief and love, family and loss. The two primary timelines take place during historically-significant global tragedies: the American War in Vietnam and the AIDS crisis.
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