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NEOMFA POST

Number 32 | September 2026

News & Updates from
Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts
in Creative Writing

June Reading Launches New Alumni Collective

The first-ever NEOMFA alumni reading was held on June 11 at Visible Voice Books in Cleveland. A strong turnout of alumni, students, and faculty were on hand for this soft launch of our new Alumni Collective.  

Many of our graduates reached out following this event with interest in future gatherings. Keep an eye out for the next alumni reading in Spring 2027.

Thanks to host Lindsey Maple (center) and to readers Benjamin Anthony Rhodes, Isaiah Hunt, Carrie George, and Alexandra Salata, all pictured left to right above!

Sony Ton-Aime

Fall 2026 NEOMFA Events

The NEOMFA's fall programming began with an online reading and salon session with visiting writer Sandra Doller on September 9. This appearance was hosted by faculty member Caryl Pagel (CSU) and was open to all NEOMFA students.

The program then wrapped up another strong showing at this year's Literary Cleveland Inkubator conference, held primarily on September 11 and 12 at the Cleveland Public Library. NEOMFA presenters included students Willow Campbell (CSU), Benvolio Nichols (CSU), and Julianne Metzger Taylor (KSU); alums Ali Black (CSU, 2023), Matthew Breit (KSU, 2025), Jon Conley (CSU, 2022), and Virginia Konchan (CSU, 2009); and faculty members Mary Biddinger (UA) and Hilary Plum (CSU).

Next up is a trio of offerings in October. Find details on all of them at our Events page.

On Tuesday, October 13 at 6:30 pm, there will be a salon session with KSU visiting writer and NEOMFA alum Sony Ton-Aime (Class of 2019). This in-person appearance will be held in Satterfield Hall 119 at KSU, and will be hosted by faculty member Anthony Tognazzini. This session is open to all NEOMFA students and alumni.

On Wednesday, October 14 at 7:00 pm, Sony Ton-Aime will offer a public reading in Murphy Auditorium at Kent State University. This free event is presented by the Wick Poetry Center, with more info at kent.edu/wick.

On Monday, October 26 at 6:30 pm, author Nathalie Quintane will discuss The Cavalier with faculty member Hilary Plum (CSU). This free event will be held at Let's Ride Skateboards at 1810 Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights. It is presented by Mac's Backs-Books on Coventry in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University, NEOMFA, and Winter Editions. Find more info at macsbacks.com.

Also look out for a Fall 2026 student reading to be announced soon!

NEOMFA Applications are Open!

The Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts (NEOMFA) is the nation’s only consortial MFA creative writing program. Students may focus on one of four genres: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, or playwriting. Applicants may enter through one of three gateway universities: The University of Akron, Cleveland State University, or Kent State University.

The NEOMFA accepts applications for three cycles each academic year:

November 15 (spring matriculation; part-time applicants and other students not seeking funding);

January 15 (fall matriculation; full-time applicants seeking funding); and

April 15 (fall matriculation; part-time applicants and other students not seeking funding).

For more information, click on the link below!

NEOMFA Network Connections

Students W. Reid Kennedy (UA), Abigail Clark (UA), and Jennifer Foxhoven (CSU) and recent alum Lindsey Maple (UA, 2026) were among the creatives behind Lunar Sun Theatrics’ Categorical Nonsense Vol. 1, a program of new theater in July at the Rialto Theatre in Akron.

CrayfishMag #3 featured prose from alums Matthew Breit (KSU, 2025) and Lindsey Maple (UA, 2026) and poetry from students Scott Kenimond (UA), Corey Miller (UA), and Julianne Metzger Taylor (KSU), alum Lindsay Collier (KSU, 2025), and faculty member Caryl Pagel (CSU).

Faculty editor and alum Zach Peckham (CSU, 2021) included multiple NEOMFA contributors in the Spring 2026 issue of The Colby Review, including poetry by alum Delilah McCrea (CSU, 2021) and fiction by alums Jon Conley (CSU, 2022) and Alexandra Salata (KSU, 2024).

Alumni teaching workshop series at Literary Cleveland this summer and fall include alums Meghan Louise Wagner (CSU, 2021) and Carrie George (KSU, 2022).

Student Ashton River Leigh (KSU), alum Carrie George (KSU, 2022), and faculty member Hilary Plum (CSU) were among the readers in the 2x2 / FMZ event on August 29 at Riff’s in Cleveland. Previously, recent grads Mansa Lamont Bey (CSU, 2026) and Kristen Tetzmann (CSU, 2026) read with faculty member Caryl Pagel (CSU) in the 2x2 event on June 19, also at Riff’s.

Alums Matthew Breit (KSU, 2025) and Michael Buebe (KSU, 2022) read in the Poetry Night event on July 17 at Last Exit Books & Coffeehouse in Kent.

Alums Matthew Dettmer (KSU, 2024) and Michelle Duke (UA, 2026) read their poetry on July 25 at Mac’s Backs-Books on Coventry in Cleveland Heights.

Faculty members Caryl Pagel (CSU) and Hilary Plum (CSU) performed in the Open Air Poetry Reading at PEACE Park in Cleveland Heights on August 20.

Student News

Willow Campbell (CSU) read on May 16 at Mac's Backs-Books on Coventry in Cleveland Heights.

Julia Cilano (KSU) read at Mac's Backs-Books on Coventry in Cleveland Heights on July 10.

Scott Kenimond (UA) had two poems published in the September issue of Does It Have Pockets?: “Virginia Woolf Goes to Ikea” and “Cold Section of Myself.” Both can be read at doesithavepockets.com.

Julianne Metzger Taylor (KSU) was the guest reader for the Poetry Night event on August 21 at Last Exit Books & Coffeehouse in Kent.­

Suggestions for NEOMFA Post Coverage?

Thoughts regarding the NEOMFA Post are welcome! If you have ideas, feel free to email us via the link below!

Alumni News

Roy Edward Jackson (YSU, 2022) published the debut novel Reel Around the Fountain with Lethe Press in June. This former NEOMFA thesis project is “a queer coming-of-age story set in a working-class cereal-factory town, where thirteen-year-old JP sets out to uncover the truth behind the family mythology surrounding his birth.”

Ali Black (CSU, 2023) was a finalist for the 2026 Ohio Book Awards, presented by the Ohioana Library. Ali’s 2025 collection We Look Better Alive (Burnside Review Press) was nominated in the Poetry category.

Steven Caumo (YSU, 2022) published two new works of fiction: the novella Thrill Killers was released on May 30 by Grindhouse Press, and the novel Dryad was released on July 31 by JournalStone. Congrats to Steven on both of these works!

Dominic Dulin (CSU, 2023) published the poetry chapbook Type Man Type in August with Community Mausoleum. In addition, Dominic published four poems in Misophist Magazine, Issue Two. Look for more on Dominic in our next issue!

Adam Gretsinger (KSU, 2023) published a new book, Kids Can Be Cruel, at Itch.io. “When her best friend goes missing, Maria Nievez has only one option: enter her Ohio middle school's underground fight club and get some answers.” This new work of fiction is available now at ledtsar.

Lisa Langford (CSU, 2016) had her new play Con presented in two staged readings by Seat of the Pants Productions in Canton and in Cleveland on September 12.

Anastasios Mihalopoulos (YSU 2023) was a finalist for The Hudson Prize offered by Black Lawrence Press. Anastasios was nominated for his poetry manuscript, Still, Sometimes, Shipwreck, with a winner to be announced later this year.

Zach Peckham (CSU, 2021) co-launched a new journal, Delicatessen, in August. “Delicatessen is a journal of book reviews and literary criticism, specializing in texts from small, independent, non-profit, and university-affiliated publishers.”

Kristen Tetzmann (CSU, 2026) appeared in the Misophist Magazine reading on August 8 at Mac’s Backs-Books on Coventry in Cleveland Heights.

Sony Ton-Aime (KSU, 2019) was named one of the Pittsburgh 40 Under 40 Class of 2026 by Pittsburgh Magazine and PUMP, and appeared in the Plum City Reading on June 25, presented by Literary Cleveland at Loganberry Books.

Alumni Q&A: Joee Goheen

Joee Goheen graduated from the NEOMFA in 2023, via CSU, with a concentration in creative nonfiction. Entitled Our Bodies Like Rivers, her thesis project “meditates on the geographical and psychological landscape of home, Appalachia, climate change, and the anxieties and ironies of living in the Anthropocene.” This collection of essays “guides us through the wreckage of modern society and seeks to show us how we might go on.”

Joee was a graduate assistant at CSU, where she worked in the Poetry Center. At the time of her graduation, she expressed “plans to continue working in academia, and of course, to write.”

We’re glad to catch up with Joee and find her doing just that! Thanks to her for another look at what NEOMFA grads are doing in the professional world as well as in the creative field.

Currently, you’re working in the Writing Center at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, Ohio. Can you tell us about your position as Program Manager and Academic Coach?

I’ve worked in student academic support services since 2018, and have had several different roles in this area, but have always found a way to incorporate (or sneak in) my love of writing and working with novice writers to develop their voices and craft. In 2024, I was promoted to Writing Center Program Manager and Honors Program Coordinator. While my duties now are more administrative (strategic planning, program development, managing departmental and faculty relationships, hiring, training, scheduling, advising, and oh-so-much-emailing, etc.), I still get the opportunity to work with students one-on-one and ground myself back in the practice I started with.

My ongoing goal since taking over the Writing Center has been to increase the visibility of our services and define us from the overall Learning Center in which we are housed, as well as find ways to make our services more accessible and flexible for a diverse population of community college students. These initiatives will remain a priority, but as AI continues to develop and become a more integral part of our lives, and of academia, I’ve been trying to work through the issue of “relevance” (just like everyone else) and think of how we might encourage students to trust in us and utilize our services rather than that of an all-too-convenient, sycophantic machine that is “open” 24-hours a day and requires no appointment.

I think the answer will ultimately lie in trust and building meaningful and supportive relationships with our students, but there still remains much reflection and work to do.

You also teach English Composition part-time at Lakeland. Were you always interested in teaching during your time in the NEOMFA program?

I’ve always been interested in teaching, and I was able to take some amazing pedagogically focused courses during my time in the NEOMFA in tandem with my core classes. I actually still use an iteration of the syllabus I created in Dr. Svehla’s Teaching Composition course, and many of the readings he recommended, for my Composition I courses.

What led you to these positions? Do you have any advice regarding the post-MFA job market for current students?

I actually started at Lakeland as an AmeriCorps College Completion Coach. I knew I wanted to do an MFA program after undergrad, but didn’t know where at the time. I saw an opportunity directly out of undergrad to explore education and gain some experience, so I took it and moved to Cleveland.

NEOMFA alum Bronte Billings (CSU, 2018) was doing an AmeriCorps year as well, so it felt like fate that we were paired together and shared a tiny, windowless closet-office for a year and talked about books and poetry between student appointments. She had nothing but praise for the program, as did my two other colleagues in the English Department who were also NEOMFA alumni, so they’re the reason I looked into the program and applied! I think I got really lucky after my AmeriCorp year because the supervisor of the Learning Center liked me, and a new position happened to open just two months after my grant ended. From there, I was able to work my way up to a full-time position.

My advice to any current students is to use this time to develop your craft and write like it’s your only job, but also take this time to invest in the writing community as a whole and folks in your classes and the folks teaching your classes. As cheesy as it sounds, we’re all in this together and can help each other along the way. Some of my greatest resources and contacts have come from friends I made in the program and former instructors. Shout out to Caryl Pagel and Hilary Plum for being incredible mentors and just the best humans.

Your work at Lakeland involves writing in one form or another much of the time. How do you balance that type of work with your own creative writing?

In my classes, I like to give my students creative readings and opportunities for creative writing, so this is definitely a way I sprinkle in some poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction into my days. As far as my own creative writing goes though, I tend to keep them in separate spheres.

What creative projects have you been working on since graduating?

Recently, I’ve been working on a collection of poems about my grandmother who passed away a few months after completing my MFA. Though the essay is the predominant form I turn to, poetry was the only form in this case that I felt could hold the grief I was feeling. It’s been a valuable and helpful way to process, as well as a means of preserving memory.

Do you have any upcoming or recent news to share?

Recently, I participated in an amazing seminar hosted by the Cleveland Humanities Collaborative and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards on the life and works of Toni Morrison and the overarching topic of placemaking and place keeping. The creative projects and reflections of our group are due to be published in September of this year, so I encourage anyone interested in Morrison’s work and legacy to check it out!