skip to content

News from Alumni

Here are some updates on a few past Writing Award Winners, Long River Review Editors, Creative Writing Interns, and former students of the Creative Writing Program… If you’re a UConn alum with a creative writing connection, we’d love to hear what you’ve been up to! Send a note to Penelope Pelizzon.

Christopher Anderson, a winner of the Wallace Stevens Poetry Prize and featured Poetic Journeys author, is an Assistant Professor of English at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas, where he teaches American literature and creative writing. His general areas of interest include environmental literature and representations of science and technology in literature and film. Current projects focus on garbage, death, decay, and other forms of ugliness in American literature and culture. His poetry most recently appeared in Tar River Poetry.

Emily Heiden, past poetry editor of the Long River Review, decided to high-tail it out of Connecticut after graduating from UConn (English BA, 2006) and got herself a master’s in English Education at the University of Iowa from 2006-2008. While at Iowa, she also took courses in the Nonfiction Writing Program, wrote as a freelance correspondent for the Iowa City–Cedar Rapids Gazette, and taught international students and immigrants English as a second language. She now teaches freshman English and senior writing courses at Darien High School in Darien, CT. Last month, she attended the Iowa Summer Writing Festival where she began churning out the longest piece of consecutive writing she’s ever done, which she will send to her LRR editor friends for feedback upon completion.

Susan Letcher (UConn Ph.D. 2008, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology), a winner of the Wallace Stevens Poetry Prize, is living in Costa Rica and teaching undergraduate study-abroad courses in ecology, natural history, and conservation policy for the Organization for Tropical Studies. Her first book, Southbound, co-authored with her sister, was published by Stackpole Press in January, 2009. The book chronicles the first part of their hike on the Appalachian Trail, from Maine to Georgia and back. The sequel, The Barefoot Sisters: Walking Home, will be released in January 2010. Letcher writes a blog about life in Costa Rica at http://lianawoman.blogspot.com.

Ashley Linden, former Long River Review editor, has been busy since graduating from UConn. Her writing has jumped from the page to the airwaves. For the past several years, she’s worked as an advertising account executive at FM 97.3 WZBG radio out of Litchfield, where she writes and produces commercials, creates dynamic ad campaigns for local and national clients, and tests the waters of the on-air talent realm. Every day’s a little different, and she’s loving it. In addition to her career in radio, Ashley’s a new homeowner, dedicated yogini, budding mountaineer, aspiring marathoner, and big dreamer, and is on her way to reaching the highest point of all 50 states.

Lia Mastropolo, Collins Prize winner and former Long River Review editor, graduated in 2005 and worked in marketing, copy editing, and eventually outreach for The Nature Conservancy. Now she’s a Master’s candidate at the University of Pennsylvania, where she studies land use planning and watershed policy. She spent the summer of 2009 in Juneau, Alaska, writing a plan for the local watershed partnership. Back home in Philadelphia, Lia takes part in a bi-monthly creative writing group.

Mathew Moura served as fiction editor of the Long River Review, earning a BA in History and English Literature from the University of Connecticut in 2006. He published several articles in scientific and medical journals while working as Director of Educational and Special Programs at the University of Connecticut Health Center. He then taught in the Los Angeles school system before moving to Chicago, Illinois to work with Teach for America. Mr. Moura is currently master teacher of two classrooms in a Chicago Head Start center. He is committed to the belief that every child deserves a high quality early childhood education. He plans to work for Teach for America as a Program Director before pursuing a Ph.D. in social history, focusing on labor issues.

Justin Sider (BA, 2005, English and Philosophy) moved to Charlottesville, Virginia after graduation to pursue his M.F.A. in Creative Writing at the University of Virginia, then back to Connecticut, this time to New Haven for a Ph.D. in English at Yale. His poetry has appeared recently in The Southwest Review, Indiana Review, Tar River Poetry, and Mississippi Review, as well as in Locuspoint, an online journal of regional poetry, in their New Haven edition. His academic work focuses on 19th century British poetry and non-fiction. He lives in New Haven with his fiancé, Laura Galas (UConn BA, 2005, English).