The University of Kansas

Since I last wrote something here, in April 2009, much has come to pass. I decided to accept an instructor position at KU. The job will pay for my tuition and will also afford me a (modest) stipend. This is the best way to get an MFA and a PhD. My wife, Sarah, landed a wonderful job close by where we live. She's making more money and she's excited about her new job: marketing shoes.

Besides moving, and our wedding and honeymoon, I spent a lot of time with my father pulling up the carpet and laying down hardwood in our new house. My dad has been indispensable this summer; he knows how to do so much. And now, thanks to his hard work, the house is almost finished. All that remains is the odd job here and there.

I spent two weeks in San Francisco in July. Researching, walking around, absorbing the city. I'm planning to redraft some old stories set in the city by the bay soon. In the meantime, my short story "The Lexicon of the Sword" will appear in the upcoming Moon City Review 2009, which will be an anthology with award-winning and nationally-recognized authors in it. Reports of Updike letters showing up in those pages, though, were premature: Although MSU has the letters, Updike's estate is greatly restricting publishing permissions. From what I hear, Updike himself expected as much, but it means that what will appear in the book is a scholarly article dealing with the substance of the letters, not the letters themselves.

In other news, I will be participating in a panel discussion in the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conference in April 2010. The panel, which includes Brian Shawver, D. Gilson, Jane Hoogestraat, and Linda Moser, will deal with the issue of standardizing a creative writing course curriculum. The conference will be in Denver, Colorado, and the keynote address will be given by Michael Chabon.

Now that I'm settled down, the wedding, honeymoon, and move are over, I'll try to keep up more with this blog.