Linda K Sienkiewicz

Writing life, line by line

WWII via letters between two brothers

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"I see quite a lot of these collections - but this one stands out." ~Tom Brokaw, author of The Greatest Generation Letters Lost Then Found At the Scriptorium BookFest, I had the pleasure of sharing a table with author and graphic artist Amy L. Johnson. Her book, Letters Lost Then Found, is a memoir containing the letters between her grandfather, William, and his younger brother Fred, penned during … [Read more...]

What, Why, How: Jean Alicia Elster

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What: As a professional writer, I have produced works in multiple genres: I have edited and ghostwritten several nonfiction books. Also, my memoir-based essays have appeared in national publications including Ms., World Vision, Black Child, and Christian Science Sentinel magazines. However, even in the midst of those projects, my primary focus has remained writing … [Read more...]

What, Why, How: Mary Jo Firth Gillett

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What: Since the earliest days, I’ve been drawn to language, the sound of consonant, vowel, syllable.  My parents made a recording of me at three reciting nursery rhyme after nursery rhyme in an impossibly high, piping, precocious little voice.  Later I became thrilled with the sense of “knowing” something of an author and another time from the writing. Even so, it seems too great a … [Read more...]

What, Why, How: Dorene O’Brien

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What? I have published poetry and essays, but at heart I am a fiction writer. My first story collection, Voices of the Lost and Found, is a group of gritty, unflinching, largely tragic stories told from the perspectives and in the voices of eleven disparate characters: an urban graffiti artist, a doctoral student who loses his mind while studying literary theory, a teenage boy on an interstate … [Read more...]

I Will Revise: An Ode to the MFA Program

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One highlight of The University of Southern Maine MFA program is their annual talent show. When I was a student ten years ago, we enjoyed everything from clarinet recitals, hula hoop performances and one-act plays to an excellent demonstration of finger shadow skills. My debut in the talent show was to sing a rewrite of Gaynor's song depicting the work we had to do as creative writing students. … [Read more...]