Catherine Bode, Smoker
Catherine Bode is a junior at Harvard College where she studies poetry and film. She has been published in magazine format, but "Smoker" is her first contribution to a Harvard publication. Ms. Bode wrote this poem in Janet Sylvester's Beginning Poetry and would like to thank Janet for supporting her and encouraging her to write.
Sharon Boland, The Towering Sky
Sharon Boland wrote "The Towering Sky" in Janet Sylvester's Beginning Poetry. It was written for "Death Week," a segment of the course that explores death and dying in poetry. Ms. Boland holds a BA from Trinity College.
Bob Bowse, Big Mountain
Bob Bowse wrote "Big Mountain" in Jane Rosenzweig's Advanced Fiction: Short Stories. He recently vacationed in Whitefish, Montana with his wife and another couple. He and his friend Bone, a college roommate and hamburger-eating champion from Nebraska, played 54 holes of golf on the day their wives climbed Big Mountain.
Jessica Collins, The Difference Between Planes and Satellites
Jessica Collins fled rural New England at eighteen and considers Somerville her adopted hometown. Now enjoying her mid-twenties, she has a BA in sociology from Smith College and, accordingly, works at a bookstore. "The Difference Between Planes and Satellites" was written in Deborah Wilkes' Beginning Fiction.
Kristina Costa, Los Muertos, elements: love in five parts
Kristina Costa wrote "Los Muertos" and "elements: love in five parts" for Janet Sylvester's Beginning Poetry. Both were composed on the steps of Memorial Church as she tried to escape the oppressive heat and humidity in Canaday Hall. Ms. Costa was a sophomore during the program and is currently a junior in high school in New Hampshire; she misses composing poetry in and around Harvard. In addition to writing, Ms. Costa enjoys reading, working for and editing her school's newspaper and literary magazine, contributing to human rights campaigns in Amnesty International, and competing on her school's state championship math team.
Stephanie Gayle, Playing Dead
Stephanie Gayle wrote "Playing Dead" for Stratis Haviaras's Advanced Fiction: The Novel. Like John, her protagonist, Ms. Gayle grew up near a pond. Happily, unlike him, she never found any bodies in it.
Katie Giddings, Cover Design
Katie Giddings is a Multimedia Graphic Designer at Harvard Business School and thoroughly enjoyed Toshihiro Katayama's Principles of Graphic Design Using Computer Technology at the Summer School. Ms. Giddings holds a bachelor's degree from Fitchburg State College, where she studied Graphic Design and Film/Video Production.
Fran B. Giuffre, Only a Wild Theory
Fran B. Giuffre wrote "Only a Wild Theory" for Jane Rosenzweig's Advanced Fiction: Short Stories. Ms. Giuffre likes to explore extreme or unusual ideas suggested by physicists and astronomers to help her understand the quantum causes of human behavior. She has a BA in History from Lehman College in the Bronx where she couldn't see a lot of stars. Fortunately, television provided that experience through shows such as Star Trek and Cosmos. Now Ms. Giuffre travels with her husband around the United States looking for clear skies.
Ann P. Hall, Home is a Four Letter Word
"Home is a Four Letter Word" comes from the novel Damaged Goods, which Ann Hall worked on in Stratis Haviaras's Advanced Fiction: The Novel. She first got the idea for the story while visiting a Scottish castle, then changed the setting to the North Shore of Boston. Ms. Hall works as a senior writer in Harvard University's Development Office and is finishing the book in her spare time.
Melanie Hannon, Hurenbrunnen
Melanie Hannon wrote "Hurenbrunnen" for Eliezra Schaffzin's Beginning Fiction. Since 1997 Ms. Hannon has been living near Heidelberg, where she works as a translator and freelance writer. Written during a long and much-needed summer visit back home in the US, the story is a response to certain images that she had encountered in Germany. Ms. Hannon holds a BA from Smith College and an MA from the University of Chicago.
Phoebe Kosman, The New 21
Phoebe Kosman wrote "The New 21" for Jane Rosenzweig's Advanced Fiction. A junior at Harvard College, she is trying to figure out what to do with the rest of her life. Suggestions (and job offers) will be gratefully entertained.
Sarah Mahurin, In Retrospect
Sarah Mahurin graduated from Harvard College in 2002; since then, she has been employed at Tufts University as an admissions officer. (One former professor noted the "perverse justice" in Ms. Mahurin's transition from writing personal essays to reading them . . . hundreds of them.) She composed "In Retrospect" for Jody Lisberger's Advanced Creative Nonfiction.
Heloisa Nogueira, The Circus Tent
Heloisa Nogueira composed "The Circus Tent" for Daniel Bosch's Beginning Poetry after he challenged her to write something structured in their next assignment, an "object" poem. Although her experiment to create a pattern with her syllables failed miserably, Ms. Nogueira still enjoys the fact that she used the word "razzle-dazzle." Ms. Nogueira is a high school senior who recently moved from El Paso, Texas to Raleigh, North Carolina. She hopes to become a journalist. As far as she knows, she's never been to a circus.
Rachel Pollock, Ghost Riders Along the Rim of Paradise: The Line Between the Devil's Teeth
Rachel E. Pollock wrote "Ghost Riders . . ." for Jody Lisberger's Advanced Creative Nonfiction. When she isn't writing, rambling, or running, Ms. Pollock can be found in the Costume Craft Studio at Harvard's American Repertory Theatre, creating outlaw garb for boundary-pushing stage plays.
