Alumni News

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Latest News
(September 2009):
- 2008:
Kaitlin Brush
(Literature, with a double major in Political
Science and a minor in Philosophy) spent a year living and teaching English
in Ethiopia, and has recently accepted a job in Saudi Arabia. She'll move
there in October to teach university women.
Below: from Claire
Watkins, "Keeping It in the Family"
-
2007:
Claire Watkins (Writing) , who's still
in the MFA program at Ohio State (see below for details under April 2009)
just found out her short story "The Last Thing We Need" will be published
in a forthcoming issue of Granta. This is in addition to work
that's already appeared in Granta online, and an essay she's
had accepted to Ploughshares. She's been picked up by an
agent who also represents writers Junot Diaz and Jonathan Safran Foer.
If you remember Claire, and would like to congratulate her, she's at
clairevayewatkins-at-yahoo.com
- 2004:
Chrissy Klenke
(Writing, with a minor in History) writes
"The Cliff Notes version" of her life after graduation: "I hung out for a
little while and then went into Language Corps and taught English in Costa
Rica. That was an awesome experience and I loved the country. I applied for
grad school at University of Denver and was accepted to the Library Science
and Information Studies program. Graduate school is going to be intense but
I am looking forward to my new adventure followed by an awesome career. UNR
will always be a part of my roots. I'm a proud alumna."
- 1999:
Jamie Iredell (Literature, with double major in Political Science; MA in
2002) announces the publication in October of his debut novel Prose:
Poems, A Novel by Orange Alert Press. Details at
their site. He lives in Atlanta,
where he received his PhD in Fiction last year from Georgia State
University.
-
1995:
Heidi Ayarbe (Secondary Teaching) won the Young Adult Fiction award
for Freeze Frame, about the death by gunshot of the protagonist and
his friend's effort to come to terms with events. Details at the
HarperCollins website. Heidi lives in Columbia with her husband and
daughter.
Right: Heidi Ayarbe's
award-winning book
From July 2009:
- 2009:
Shari Sanders
(Literature, with a double minor in HGPS and
Spanish) has enrolled in UC Santa Barbara's MA/PhD program this fall, and
received a five-year "Doctoral Scholars Fellowship" to fund her education. She
writes: "My new comp lit department has a strong interest in genocide and
'trauma studies.' I think it will be a really good fit, and I can't wait to
get started."
- 2004:
While teaching English at Coral Academy of
Science in Reno, James Dilworth
(Literature) completed an MA in Teaching at
Sierra Nevada College. Way to go, James! In his spare time he edits the online
journal Non Creative
Garbage.
- 2000:
Joey Gilbert (Literature), who has also made a name for himself in the
boxing ring, recently formed a Reno law firm with partners William J.
Routsis and William A. Swafford. The firm, called Routsis Gilbert &
Swafford, LLC, will focus in the areas of criminal defense, loan
modifications, personal injury and bankruptcy. Gilbert, a professional
fighter and three-time national boxing champion at Nevada, graduated from
Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, Calif., in 2003.
- 1998:
Michael Dewitt
(Literature) received the
Local Hero Award
from the Washington State Bar Association. This award recognizes lawyers who
have made noteworthy contributions to their communities. “Mike has gone above
and beyond when it comes to pro bono work and volunteering in the community as
a whole,” said Toni Hood, secretary of the Thurston County Bar Association.
Michael is currently an associate attorney at Morgan & Bartholomew in Lacey
WA, practicing family and estate law. He earned his JD at the Seattle
University School of Law.
- 1994:
Joan Presley (English; MA in English 2001) has been named Fire Marshall
by the City of Reno. She earned her associate of science degree in fire
science from Truckee Meadows Community College and then came to UNR for, in
addition to her BA and MA in English, a certificate in public management.
She also has her Nevada Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST)
certificate and is a certified arson investigator. She currently heads the
executive board of the Nevada Fire Safe Council, is actively involved in the
Regional Youth Fire-Setter Intervention Program and has been extensively
involved in the Sierra Front Wildfire Cooperators Fire Prevention Committee
and various regional fire prevention programs. Presley is also a member of
the Nevada Chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators
and the Fire Prevention Association of Nevada.
From April 2009
- 2007:
Claire Watkins (Writing), who is
working on her MFA at Ohio State,
has seen her literary career begin to take
off this year. She's had two short stories accepted to journals (Hobart
and The Hopkins Review), and then--in two weeks' time!--she's had two
nonfiction pieces accepted in major venues. One essay will be forthcoming in
Ploughshares, and another has just been posted this morning to
Granta's website, as part of their "Portraits of my Father" series. You
can read it here:
http://www.granta.com/Online-Only/Keeping-it-in-the-family.
Not to be outdone,
Patrice Boyakins
(Literature) recently earned an MA
in Psychology at .... we'll let you know where as soon as we hear back from
her.
- 2005:
Barry White
(minor in Literature) dropped by for a visit
a few months ago. He's in his fourth year of moving up the ladder at ABC
News10 TV in Sacramento as a Multimedia Journalist and host of News10.net's
The Game Guys.
From July 2008
- Danielle Crowther
(Writing) is currently working as conference
coordinator for UNR's Institute for the Study of
Gambling & Commercial Gaming, and applying to graduate programs in library
science. She says, "It thrills me just writing that! And, of course,
someday I'll be a best-selling author. ;)"
- 2004:
James Dilworth (Literature) is teaching
English at Coral Academy of Science in Reno, and working on an MA in
Teaching at Sierra Nevada College. Sabrina Golmassian
(Writing) has returned from living in France to pursue a writing career. She
writes: "In Las Vegas, working as a freelancer is actually a viable
profession. People are interested in this place." Among other publications,
the Boston Globe features her contributions in articles like
this one, about Ben Affleck and the Darfur poker tournament. See some of
her other work
here, and
here.
- 2003:
Mark Dunagan
(Writing) earned his degree from UC Berkeley's Boalt School of Law
and has joined the Reno firm of McDonald Carano Wilson LLP. In his spare
time he writes articles and reviews for the Reno News and Review, like
this one
about the Buckbean Brewing Company.
-
Bryan Smith
(Literature) was named senior news editor at RISI, a national
business news and information company. Working out of the firm's San
Francisco office, Bryan has spent the past seven years covering global
commodities for RISI's network of websites, newsletters, and magazines.
- 1996:
Tony Illia continues to win
recognition for his business writing. Most recently he won an award as
managing editor of Nevada Contractor and another as editor and
co-publisher of Southern Nevada Real Estate Monthly. He is a regular
contributor to the Las Vegas Review Journal and other publications.
- 1993:
Michael Linde
and his wife, Dr. Samantha
Woodruff, announce the birth of their first child, Jessica Jane, on
April 17th. They live in Denver.
- 1985: Robert Freedman has published
How to Make Real Money in Second Life,
a book about understanding virtual worlds on the Internet.
See the Spring 2008 edition of
Nevada Silver and Blue for details.
Old News (September 2007):
- 2007:
Claire Watkins
is headed off to the MFA program
at Ohio State to study writing fiction;
Mary Alauria Sell
will be studying law at Lewis &
Clark in Portland, Oregon.
- 2006:
Irena Yamboliev will enter the Stanford University PhD program in
English this coming fall.
- 2005:
Barry White
works for the ABC-TV Sacramento affiliate as
an editor and photographer. He writes, "Sacramento is the 20th largest
market in the nation; for comparison, Reno is #112. Things are going well
for me ..."
- 2004:
Ben Johnson
graduated from Boalt School of Law at the University of California,
Berkeley, where he served as senior executive editor for the California
Law Review. He will be joining the Reno-based law firm of Woodburn and
Wedge. Juliana Crespo,
who also completed her MA in English at UNR in May
2007, was accepted to Indiana University's MFA program in fiction.
Hannah Figurski is finishing law
school at the University of California at San Diego where she was moot court
winner in her first year and edited the law review; her classmate Amanda
Brookhyser attends law school at Drake University. Che DeVol
was accepted into the Teacher Education Program at Sierra Nevada College for
Fall 2007.
- 2001:
Campbell Pontius is teaching English at Shaw Middle School in Sparks,
Nevada.
Older News (some of which
may be out-of-date by now -- let us know!)