We’re always pleased to share updates from our family of contributor-alumni and HippoCamp presenters. Here’s what we’ve collected between our last update now; most of these were submitted via our form, but we also try to keep an eye for exciting news you share on social and your own newsletters. But we can’t catch everything, and we’d really LOVE to grow this feature, so please submit your news here for inclusion in a future update.
[To browse our past essays and other content by contributor name, visit this page.]Steph Auteri’s “My Father’s Hands” has been listed as a Notable Essay in the forthcoming Best American Essays 2023. The essay first appeared in the summer 2022 issue of under the gum tree.
Ann Batchelder’s new memoir “CRAVING SPRING: A mother’s quest, a daughter’s depression, and the Greek myth that brought them together” is now available at local bookstores and Amazon. She has done several recent podcast interviews. See the links on her website.
Brian Benson’s essay “How to Learn a Language” was featured in the weekly Short Reads newsletter (#027) on Sept. 27, 2023.
Brian Broome’s essay, “God Don’t Like Ugly,” originally published in Hippocampus Magazine and 2018 Best of the Net winner, was featured in the weekly Short Reads newsletter (#003) on April 12, 2023.
Paul Crenshaw’s latest book, “Melt With Me: Coming of Age and Other ’80s Perils” was released in October from Mad Creek, an imprint of The Ohio State University Press.
Sarah Kilch Gaffney’s essay “This Washcloth,” was featured in the weekly Short Reads newsletter (#028) on Oct. 4, 2023.
Estelle Erasmus published Writing That Gets Noticed: Find Your Voice, Become a Better Storyteller, Get Published in June 2023 from New World Library. The book received a “Buy this Book” review from Publishers Weekly, was excerpted in Jane Friedman’s newsletter, and is a consistent Amazon bestseller in its categories. She also is a 2023 Teaching Excellence Award winner from NYU’s School of Professional Studies and a mentor in the AWP Writer to Writer Mentor program.Estelle also hosts the Freelance Writing Direct podcast.
Wendy Fontaine’s essay “Badge” was featured in the weekly Short Reads newsletter (#020) on August 9, 2023.
Ona Gritz’s essay “Am I the Burning House?” was featured in the weekly Short Reads newsletter (#016) on July 12, 2023.
Sonya Huber’s essay “Bluegrass & Fescue” was featured in the weekly Short Reads newsletter (#034) on Nov. 15, 2023.
Todd Kilman’s essay “Glazed Ham, April 1996” was featured in the weekly Short Reads newsletter (#011) on July 7, 2023.
Michelle Levy published a researched science essay in the Sept/Oct issue of Discover Magazine, “Embracing the Darkness.” She’s been named a teaching artist at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in upstate New York.She is presently working on a project to help writers of trauma stories navigate the publishing industry.
Steph Liberatore has been granted a fellowship (December 2023) at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA), which includes a 20-day writing residency.
Lara Lillibridge participated in a Virtual AWP: Writer to Writer Conversations & Readings on Nov. 14, 2023; in the event Lara and AWP mentees discussed writing while queer. She also published a review of Floppy by Alyssa Graybeal in River Teeth in October.
Marisa Mangani was a named winner in Royal Palm Literary Awards 2023. Her memoir, Mise en Place: Memoir of a Girl Chef won the highest score from the judges, who awarded her book the Gold in Biography and Memoir. An early essay of Marisa’s published by Hippocampus Magazine in 2012 called “Stuffing the Bird” started on her memoir journey, and she touches on the Thanksgiving and family themes several times throughout her culinary memoir.
Susan Morehouse‘s essay “Swimming to Mexico,” published in the Fall 2023 issue of The Dribble Drabble Review, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize (page 60). Her essay “Mother-Cicada” appears in the Fall 2023 issue of Willow Springs.
Rae Pagliarulo served on a panel related to flash creative nonfiction at the 2023 Barrelhouse Conversations & Connections event in September.
Suzanne Roberts’ essay “The Essay Determines How it Will Begin” was featured in the weekly Short Reads newsletter (#017) on July 19, 2023.
Sue William Silverman’s essay “Library with Hyacinth, Girl, and Guns” was featured in the weekly Short Reads newsletter (#010) on May 31, 2023.
Donna Talarico had a Tiny Love Story accepted by The New York Times, which will run Nov. 21, 2023. She also was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by The Writing Disorder for her essay “A Prequel to My Sister’s” in 2022. (Last year’s nomination cycle; this is a late announcement.)
Casey Mulligan Walsh signed with Motina Books, who will publish her memoir, The Full Catastrophe: All I Ever Wanted, Everything I Feared, in February 2025. She also published a book review of Eileen Vorbach Collins’ Love in the Archives: A Patchwork of True Stories About Suicide Loss, published by Apprentice House Press on November 7, 2023, in the Atticus Review.
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