\nTrains of thought, sailboats of sounds<\/em><\/p>\n
Such things we feel,<\/em> Such is this art\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Poetry. What\u2019s the first thing that comes to mind? Be honest.<\/p>\n Shakespearean sonnets and afternoon tea? The haiku written in third grade that Mom framed and\u00a0glued onto the refrigerator door? Sleek spoken-word performances or street-smart rap battles? Or maybe, when asked to write a poem, just one simple word comes to mind: terrifying.<\/p>\n FIU alumnae poets are defying the stereotypes that poetry is a quaint form of self-expression that won\u2019t pay the bills. They are swinging\u00a0straight into literary success, jumping\u00a0out of FIU\u2019s Creative Writing Master of Fine Arts <\/a>program to join the ranks of the fortunate few, the published authors.<\/p>\n Of the five female poets who have or will have their poetry books published within the next several months, three of them have graduated within the last two years: Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello \u201914, Ashley Jones \u201915, Cathleen Chambless \u201915, Rita Martinez \u201903 and Alexandra Regalado \u201999.<\/p>\n \u201cIn its 25-year history, FIU\u2019s Creative Writing Program alumni have compiled a remarkable record of publication, including New York Times best-sellers Dennis Lehane (Mystic River<\/em>) and Barbara Parker (Suspicion of Innocence<\/em>) and many more,\u201d Program Director Les Standiford<\/a> says.<\/p>\n MFA\u00a0program\u00a0alumni have published more than 100 books with nationally known publishers, but Standiford says recently, graduates of the program have experienced a new wave of success.<\/p>\n This recent success has a lot to do with poetry.<\/p>\n Cancio-Bello won the prestigious Donald Hall Prize in 2015 for her soon-to-be-released book Hour of the Ox.\u00a0<\/em>The book\u00a0will be available in November and was published by Pittsburgh Press \u2014\u00a0which has published works\u00a0for poet and MFA Professor Denise Duhamel<\/a> as well as\u00a0presidential inaugural poet Richard Blanco \u201991, MFA \u201997.<\/p>\n Jones\u2019 book is about past and present-day civil rights activism in Birmingham, Alabama. Sprinkled throughout her book are several poems from Jones\u2019 own experiences, such as when her dad bought a Santa Claus Christmas ornament and painted his skin brown.<\/p>\n \u201cYou do all this work, and you hope this happens,\u201d Cancio-Bello says. She began writing her book her first semester in the program, eventually defending it as her graduate thesis. \u201cI was expecting to wait five or six years [for publication].\u201d<\/p>\n Poet and MFA Professor Campbell McGrath<\/a> says he\u2019s known success\u00a0was in store for his students all along.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal is to get the young writers, give them some tools, work with them, and help them discover the book they should write. For me as a teacher, it\u2019s really gratifying when I can say, \u2018Aha, the publishers have finally caught on to what great work is coming out of these young writers.’\u201d<\/p>\n He adds: \u201cWe have a small, communal, boutique-type poetry program here at FIU. We\u2019ve only graduated six or seven poets in the last two years \u2014 and three of them have already found publication for their books.\u201d<\/p>\n Ashley Jones\u00a0\u201915 has Magic City Gospel<\/em> coming out in November. Last year, Jones was one of only six women across the country to win the 2015 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers Award as an outstanding, emerging female writer<\/a>. Just a few months later she landed a publishing deal from Hub City Press.<\/p>\n Martinez re-imagines characters from Charlotte Bronte\u2019s Jane Eyre.<\/em>\u00a0Themes \u00a0include mental illness, the blurred lines between private and public lives and female authorship.<\/p>\n \u201cThe faculty are\u00a0very plugged in to the writing world. They are doing things right now, currently publishing,\u201d says Jones, who credits her professors with leading by example. \u201cIt inspires us to also do things in the writing world. And they didn\u2019t want me to change as a writer. I was supported to become the best Ashley M. Jones I could be.\u201d<\/p>\n Rita Martinez \u201903,\u00a0whose\u00a0The Jane and Bertha in Me<\/em>\u00a0was released this past January,\u00a0realized she could\u00a0write\u00a0such a book thanks to one\u00a0of her professors.<\/p>\n \u201cI started writing the poems when I was in the MFA. But I never imagined that it would become a book,\u201d said Martinez. After defending her thesis, which included poems about Charlotte Bronte\u2019s Jane Eyre<\/em> characters, Duhamel suggested\u00a0she write an entire book of Jane Eyre<\/em> poems. Martinez initially thought it might be a little too much \u2013 a notion she now laughs at.<\/p>\n Besides finding mentorship in McGrath and Duhamel, Martinez says the community feel of FIU\u2019s MFA program was also something she truly treasured. \u201cIt\u2019s not about competition, it\u2019s about community. That\u2019s very important to the writer.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFIU is the most hidden gem of the literary world,\u201d Cancio-Bello says. \u201cThis is my dream and they really did help me make my dreams come true. I couldn\u2019t ask for more.\u201d<\/p>\n Be sure to visit our Alumni Authors Series page<\/b><\/span><\/a> to read more from your fellow Panthers.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nbut cannot see.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"marci-cancio-bello\"](\"https:\/\/fiualumni-eastus.azurewebsites.net\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/marci-cancio-bello.png\")
Cancio-Bello\u2019s book, set in Korea, explores how a family copes with the loss of one of their family members. The book features poems from the perspective of several characters including a pearl-diving matriarch and a father who turns to tending his bonsai trees as a way to cope.<\/p>\n![\"magic-city-gospel\"](\"https:\/\/fiualumni-eastus.azurewebsites.net\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/magic-city-gospel.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"the-jane-and-bertha-in-me-267x400\"](\"https:\/\/fiualumni-eastus.azurewebsites.net\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/the-jane-and-bertha-in-me-267x400.png\")
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