In the latest installment of the “Good News” series, BSU English highlights the accomplishments of faculty and students through the month of February.

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The Writing Center hosted a two-day fundraiser, “Poets for Hire,” to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank in Muncie. On February 12 and 13, Ball State students and faculty wrote approximately 75 personalized love poems and took donations as payment. The event raised approximately $230 and two big boxes of food. It was also covered on Indiana Public Radio. David DiSarro (PhD in Rhetoric and Composition) published his poetry chapbook, “I Used to Play in Bands,” at Finishing Line Press. The title poem was first published in Hawaii Pacific Review, and you can read it here. He’s currently an Assistant Professor of English and the Director of the Writing Center at Endicott College in Beverly, MA. David’s creative work has previously appeared in The Ibbetson Street Magazine, The Orange Room Review, Breadcrumb Scabs, Third Wednesday, among others.

Isabel Vasquez, a junior double major in Spanish and English studies, recently published her reflective essay, “Alive,” in Ivy Tech’s mê tis Volume VII . She also published “The Necessity” in The Mochila Review, a journal from Missouri Western State University, which you can read here.

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Melissa Hull (Secretary to the Director of the Writing Program) who publishes poetry as “M. Ann Hull” has published quite a few poems since July.  (You know you have a great department when even the staff is producing such quality work!)

• Blue Earth Review, “The Wife Called it Making Memories
• BOXCAR Poetry Review, “Images or Shadows of Silent Things”
• Emrys Journal, “Just Beyond the Reach”
• The Greensboro Review, “Snow Cover”
• Heavy Feather Review, “Elegy for a Mason Jar,” “House of Echoes,” and “This Isn’t an Era for Adoring”
• Passages North, “My Mother, Born in Summer, Had Winter Babies” and “To You, Who Never”
• Phantom Limb, “Look at Me / Don’t Look at Me”
• Juked, “Such Similar Fingerprints”
• Threadcount, “The Last Neglected Child”
• WomenArts Quarterly Journal, “To Track Tears under the Microscope”

Sarah Hollowell, a senior creative writing major, was interviewed by the Ball State Daily News regarding fat positivity. Sarah recently published her essay, “This is an Essay about a Fat Woman being Loved and Getting Laid,” in The Toast, and it has been shared over 6,000 times through various social media outlets.

Alysha Hoffa’s (B.A. creative writing, 2013) essay, “Colorless Life: An Essay in Grayscale,” was named a Notable Essay in Best American Essays 2014. It was originally published in Southern Indiana Review. Alysha is currently in the MFA program at Fresno State.

Rebecca McNair, a senior creative writing major, was featured in the Ball State Daily News. She’s launching a feminist literary magazine, Andromeda Speaks, a project that was born in her Literary Publishing and Editing course with Professor Silas Hansen. You can contribute to the launch on Kickstarter.

Brett Hiatt (B.S. teaching English language arts) has been teaching in China for a year, and now he’s now the lead teacher. You can read about his experiences here.