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Alumni
Authors
Authors'
new books will be included in each issue of Alumni Connect,
then added to the Alumni
Authors website.
William
Luis '71 has published Lunes de Revolucion: Literatura
y cultura en los primeros años de la Revolucion Cubana
(Lunes de Revolucion: Literature and Culture in the First
Years of the Cuban Revolution) (Madrid: Verbum, 2003).
The book chronicles the 131-issue existence of Lunes de
Revolucion, published March 23, 1959 to Nov. 6, 1961 as
the literary supplement of Revolucion, which was the
official newspaper of the 26 July Movement. Luis, a professor
of Spanish at Vanderbilt University, is a specialist in Latin
American, Caribbean and African-Hispanic literatures and the
recipient of an American Council of Learned Societies grant
to write a book on Latino literature written in the United
States. Luis is the author of several other books, including
Culture and Customs of Cuba (Greenwood Press, 2000)
and Dance Between Two Cultures: Latino-Caribbean Literature
Written in the United States (Vanderbilt University Press,
1997) and Literary Bondage : Slavery in Cuban Narrative
(Texas University Press, 1990). He has also edited or co-edited
six books focused on Latin American literature.
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Cindy
Schwarz '80
has published Tales from the Subatomic Zoo (Small
World Books, 2002), a collection of stories and poems
about subatomic particles written by her students at
Vassar College. "I have always appreciated the
power of student writing as an assessment tool,"
said Paul Hickman, Center for the Enhancement of Science
and Mathematics Education at Northeastern University,
in his comments about the book. "The construction
of the stories and poetry, focused on the content of
particle physics, allowed the students to demonstrate
their understanding in a creative format that they clearly
enjoyed. Through the writing process, they made connections
and brought to life many of the abstract concepts they
had learned."
Schwarz,
an associate professor of physics at Vassar College
in Poughkeepsie, received her PhD from Yale University
in 1985 for her work in experimental particle physics.
She has written two other books, A Tour of the Subatomic
Zoo and Interactive Physics Player Workbook, and
a CD-ROM, Interactive Journey through Physics. Schwarz
visited the BU campus Oct. 3, 2003 to give a talk
in the Physics Department.
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Mark
Cohen '80 has published Last Century of a Sephardic
Community: The Jews of Monastir, 1839 - 1943 (Foundation
for the Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture,
2003). In an August 15, 2003 review, The Forward
called Cohen's book "an important addition to the
study of Sephardic Jews." Cohen earned an MA in English
from Tufts University in 1982. He is a self-employed writer
in the San Francisco Bay Area. |
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G.
Steve Jordan '80, photographer, published a collection
of his photos, Strength Beauty Spirit: Images of the
Mohonk Preserve and Shawangunk Ridge (Clove Editions,
2003). "G. Steve Jordan uniquely interprets the landscape
of the Mohonk Preserve and Shawangunk Ridge, and has done
so for more than a decade," reads the publisher's
description. "Presented in book form for the first
time, Strength Beauty Spirit is a collection of
his evocative, often lyrical images. 'More than ever we
need to pay special attention to the protection of the
natural beauty we are so fortunate to enjoy here on the
Ridge,' said Jordan, 'and I hope this book helps focus
attention of this priceless natural jewel.'" A portion
of the proceeds from Jordan's book will go to the 6,500-acre
Mohonk Preserve. The Mohonk Preserve encompasses 6,500
acres in the Shawangunk Mountains, which are located less
than 100 miles from New York City and have been designated
by The Nature Conservancy as "one of the last great
places on earth." Jordan, who has worked for the
National Audubon Society and the National Wildlife Federation,
now lives in the Shawangunk Mountains and has opened the
Mohonk Images Galleries in New Paltz. |
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Debra
Weinstein '83 has published Apprentice to the Flower
Poet Z (Random House, 2004), a novel. "When Annabelle
G., a working-class student of poetry, lands a part-time
job assisting the renowned Flower Poet Z., she thinks
her dreams have been realized," reads a Library
Journal review by Eleanor J. Bader. "But as the
truism warns, be careful what you wish for. The Poet flatters
the impressionable 21-year-old, dubbing her an 'apprentice'
yet continually requiring her to perform an array of thankless
tasks and mundane chores. As a result, Annabelle finds
herself typing, editing, and doing research while scurrying
to shop for food, select gifts for Z.'s lover, and report
on gossip about the Poet's competitor, a savvy younger
woman named Braun Brown. It's a dizzying amount of work,
and when Annabelle falters, the Poet becomes predictably
apoplectic. The result is an often hilarious first novel.
Weinstein . . . has crafted a send-up of pretension that
lightly grazes such themes as betrayal, family dysfunction,
lust, sexuality, and plagiarism. Although the book's conclusion
feels rushed, Apprentice is a delightful read recommended
for all fiction collections." Apprentice to the
Flower Poet Z is Weinstein's first novel and her second
book: Her first was a book of poems, Rodent Angel (New
York University Press, 1996), for which she won New York
University's Bobst Award for Emerging Writers. To read
the first chapter of the novel, click
here. |
 David
Kocieniewski '84 has published Brass Wall: The
Betrayal of Undercover Detective #4126 (Henry Holt
& Company, Inc., 2003), a book about police corruption
in New York City. "From the former police bureau
chief of the New York Times, a vital, incendiary
epic of crime, cops, and corruption in New York City,"
reads a review in Kirkus Review. "Kocieniewski
brings insider knowledge and a flair for untangling complicated
strife-ridden investigations to a shocking tale that began
with the 1992 death of fire department lieutenant Thomas
Williams in an arson clearly perpetrated by Jack and Mario
Ferranti, vicious small-time mobsters in the Throgs Neck
section of the Bronx. Investigators placed an aggressive
young undercover detective (here provided the pseudonym
Vincent Armanti) into the local criminal milieu. He quickly
infiltrated the Ferrantis' shabby crew, but learned that
a local police officer, John K. Wrynn, had grown up with
the gang and was beholden to them. Wrynn's father was
an inspector with Internal Affairs, making both nearly
untouchable . . . Kocieniewski's wry, straightforward
prose captures the moody desperation of a city reeling
from crack-related violence and police scandals, as well
as the tenacity of old-school organized crime in New York's
less glamorous neighborhoods. He also paints a disturbing
picture of Internal Affairs compromising investigations
and impeding straight-arrow cops in order to protect officers
like the Wrynns, affiliated with the department's so-called
'Brass Wall.' Old-style urban drama: hard to put down,
and probably the best look into the NYPD since, well,
James Lardner and Thomas Reppetto's NYPD (2000)." |
 Pierre
Joris, PhD '90 has published A Nomad Poetics: Essays
(Wesleyan University Press, 2003). The publisher's description
reads: "With the artistic and social climates of
the twentieth century -- and the last millennium -- behind
us, how do we, in the words of Ezra Pound, 'make it new'
In what tongue and to what ends will the vital poetry
of the future be written? Noted scholar, poet, and translator
Pierre Joris has answers, mapped in the unflinching revelations
of A Nomad Poetics, his landmark first collection of critical
essays." An editor of the acclaimed Poems for
the Millennium: The University of California Book of Modern
and Postmodern Poetry, Joris is the author of 22 books
of poetry including Poasis (Wesleyan, 2001). He has translated
widely in French, German, and English, introducing readers
to the work of, among others, Celan, Tzara, Rilke and
Blanchot. Joris is a professor of English at SUNY Albany |
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Philip
Brady, PhD '90 has published To Prove My Blood:
A Tale of Emigrations and the Afterlife (Ashland
Poetry Press, 2003), "a memoir as modern Irish-American
history charted in the lives of four emigrant sisters
and their families," according to the publisher.
"Here, in the voice of one of their sons, the McCanns'
passage from Northern Ireland to Brooklyn and beyond
is rendered as a series of mysteries rippling from 'the
long swim back through time.'" John Vernon, author
of The Book of Reasons, wrote of To Prove
My Blood: "In prose richer than most poetry,
Philip Brady proves that to go forward you go back.
To sneak up on easeful death, you go back to primeval
Brooklyn, mythological Ireland, equatorial Africa, ancient
Greece. There are no straightforward chronologies here;
instead, Brady executes a string of backward flips during
which he repeatedly sings his own dirge. What a performance.
What a bite out of life!"
Brady
has several books of poetry, including the chapbook
Plague Country (1990), Forged Correspondence
(1996) and Weal (2000). He has won numerous prizes
for his poetry, including four Ohio Arts Council Individual
Artist Fellowships, a Snyder Award from Ashland Poetry
Press, a Thayer Fellowship from New York State, and
residencies in Scotland, Spain, and the Czech Republic.
He has taught at the University College Cork, Ireland,
and, as a Peace Corps Volunteer, at the University of
Lubumashi in Zaire. He teaches at Youngstown State University,
where he is director of the Poetry Center.
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Dean
Rader, MA '91, PhD '94 has published Speak to
Me Words: Essays on Contemporary Indian Poetry (University
of Arizona Press, 2003), a book he co-edited with Janice
Gould. "Although American Indian poetry is widely
read and discussed, few resources have been available
that focus on it critically," reads the publisher's
description. "This book is the first collection
of essays on the genre, bringing poetry out from under
the shadow of fiction in the study of Native American
literature. Speak to Me Words is a stimulating
blend of classic articles and original pieces that reflect
the energy of modern American Indian literary studies.
Highlighting various aspects of poetry written by American
Indians since the 1960s, it is a wide-ranging collection
that balances the insights of Natives and non-Natives,
men and women, old and new voices."
Rader
also co-authored The World is a Text (Prentice
Hall 2002) with Jonathan Silverman. Recent poetry and
translations have appeared in Borderlands, VEER,
and Synergisms: An Anthology of Collaborative Writing. He
is at work on a new book project titled Engaged Resistance:
American Indian Art, Literature and Film. Rader
is associate dean for Arts and Humanities and assistant
professor of at the University of San Francisco.
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Carol
Faulkner, MA '95, PhD '98 has published Women's
Radical Reconstruction: The Freedmen's Aid Movement (University
of Pennsylvania Press, 2003). "In this first critical
study of female abolitionists and feminists in the freedmen's
aid movement, Carol Faulkner describes women's radical
view of former slaves and the nation's responsibility
to them," reads the publisher's description. "Moving
beyond the image of the Yankee schoolmarm, Women's
Radical Reconstruction demonstrates fully the complex and dynamic
part played by Northern women in the design, implementation,
and administration of Reconstruction policy. This absorbing
account illustrates how these activists approached women's
rights, the treatment of freed slaves, and the federal
government's role in reorganizing Southern life as inseparable
issues." Faulkner is an assistant professor of history
at SUNY Geneseo. |
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Evan
Selinger '96 has published Chasing Technoscience:
Matrix for Materiality (Indiana University Press,
2003), a book he co-edited with Don Ihde. The book "aims
to bridge the gap between philosophy and science and technology
studies," notes Selinger's RIT faculty home page.
Chasing Technoscience "brings together the work of
four prominent figures -- Bruno Latour, Donna Haraway,
Andrew Pickering, and Don Ihde -- who make technoscience,
or science embodied in its technologies, a central theme
of their work." Selinger is an assistant professor
at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He received
his PhD in philosophy from Stony Brook University in 2003. |
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Ruchir
Gupta '01 has published The Ramayan: A Poetic
Translation (2003, Global Scholarly Publications)
the only English translation of the sacred Hindu text
written in the same poetic form as the original story.
"The story of Ramayan has probably been retold
more than any other story in the history of the world,"
reads the publisher's description. "It predates
the Holy Bible by at least a couple of centuries, and
unlike the Bible or the Koran, it is not the cornerstone
of a major world religion. Rather, the Ramayan is one
of the many sacred texts in the Hindu religion."
Gupta's translation "is an excellent starting point
for anyone interested in Hinduism, as the story is presented
in a concise, easy-to-follow manner, followed by a simple
analysis of the main points at the end," notes
the publisher.
Gupta
was a political science major who took the required
science courses and entered Upstate Medical School,
where he is serving a rotation under Al Wolkoff '61,
PsyD, at United Health Services hospital.
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