Student Successes

I created Quotidiana largely as a teaching aid, a substitute for photocopied coursepacks, a variable grab-bag of essays that could function better for a variety of classes than a printed anthology could, if such a thing were still in print (as far as I can tell, anthologies of classical essays went out of fashion about a century ago). One of the classes served by this website is English 317R: Writing Creative Nonfiction, a workshop course.

So it is with great pride and enthusiasm that I present here the publishing successes of my students. Most, but not all, of the essays were written initially in my workshops. [I hope to keep this page up to date and complete; if you know of any publications that I am missing, please .]

Lara Burton

"Of deserts, loneliness, and handshaking." Iron Horse Literary Review. forthcoming 2009.

This won a Discovered Voices Award in 2008.

"Rice." 400 Words: The Literature of Everyday Life. 5 Nov 2007.

This exactly 400-word essay is in the "work" issue.

Amanda Dambrink

"On Teeth." Prairie Margins. 2008.

Don't you love how essay titles tell you just what they're about? I do.

Joey Franklin

"Working at Wendy's." 20something Essays by 20Something Writers. New York: Random House, 2006.

This essay won first place in the contest that drove the publication of this book. I'm especially fond of it because amidst a number of edgy essays about sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll, Joey's is a simple narrative of working to support his young family while his wife finishes school. Go, Joey!

David Grover

"Second Coming." JuiceBox. 2 (Summer 2008).

Reflections on bread.

"On Trembling." Artful Dodge. forthcoming 2008.

This essay was one of only three winners of the AWP Intro Journals Award in 2007. It's a digressive, discoursive consideration of trembling in its many forms.

Cassie Keller Cole

"Kuna Phonebook." Hotel Amerika. forthcoming 2009.

In response to the challenge that the phonebook is not "creative" but it's nonfiction, Cassie produced this gem, slated for the "TransGenre" issue.

"Sweet Execution." Juice Box 4 (Spring 2009).

A meditation on original sin and avocados.

Ryan McIlvain

"In Any Event." StorySouth Fall 2006.

An essay about Ryan's father-in-law, first written in our workshop.

Scott Morris

"Nothing in Particular." Prick of the Spindle 2.2. (Summer 2008).

Noticing how many essayists spin gold from nothing extraordinary, Scott challenged himself to write about nothing.

Amy Lee Scott

"Cardio Cardinals." The Daily Palette. 23 Jan. 2009.

Another selection from Amy's re/visionist history project.

"Revisionist History of How." JuiceBox. Fall 2008.

A long selection from Amy's re/visionist history project.

"When the World Explodes." Iron Horse Literary Review. forthcoming 2008.

This essay won a Discovered Voices Award in 2007.

"Western(er)s" and "Midnight-Parked on the Missouri River Bank." Quarter After Eight. forthcoming 2008.

This is a section from Amy's longer re/visionist history project.

Julia Woodbury

"Bodies." The Susquehanna Review. 6 (2008).

Reflections driven by a visit to the Body Worlds exhibit and research on anatomy and grave robbing.