5 X Friday: MFA Alum Kate Hopper

When Kate Hopper (MFA 2005) reads from her new memoir Ready for Air: A Journey Through Premature Motherhood 7 pm October 23 at Subtext Bookstore, she'll be marking not only the book's publication but the 10-year anniversary of her daughter's premature birth in the fall of 2003. Both her daughter, Stella, and this memoir have thrived under Hopper's decade of care, with important assists from others (not forgetting husband). Hopper was able to work with her agent, Amy Burkhardt, twice--on this book and on her 2012 writing guide Use Your Words--before Burkhardt left that career. "Amy is a writer herself with an MFA in fiction, so she's a really smart reader," Hopper relates. "She helped me see that I had front-loaded back-story, and asked questions like, 'If the book is really about...do you need this?' I'm going to miss her!" Hopper's MFA student cohort and professors encouraged her as the manuscript was just beginning, in the years just after Stella was born. Read on.

5 X Friday: English Major Ana Bichanich

As the president of the student group for English majors and minors, FUSE, Ana Bichanich continues a tradition of innovative programming that earned FUSE a Student Unions & Activities Tony Diggs Excellence Award. FUSE brings together undergraduate and graduate students in mentoring relationships and encourages students to learn more about their professors through informal lunches. More . . . .

English major Ana Bichanich is the president of FUSE, the Fellowship of Undergraduate Students in English, a student group started four years ago. A senior with a minor in French, Bichanich is interested in a career in the publishing industry. This year she was one of two English majors chosen for a two-semester, 10 hour/week internship at the University of Minnesota Press, where thus far she has tracked down photo permissions, formatted manuscripts, learned "castoff" and "transmittal"--and received the honor of an author's acknowledgements page mention.
1. What is FUSE about and why should students get involved?
FUSE is about building a community among English majors and minors, the Department of English, and English graduate students. Our various programs offer help with applying to graduate school, building writing and editing skills, and building relationships with faculty and professors, along with fun events and conversations with other English majors and minors. It is always interesting to talk to others who are passionate about the same things you are passionate about. Students should get involved for their own benefit!
2. What is your favorite FUSE event thus far? What's coming up this semester that you're excited about?
I really enjoyed the Roaring '20s themed party! Everyone dressed up in era-style clothing, listened to jazz, and read selections of literature about or written during this exciting period. This semester, I am looking forward to the Kick-Off Event Wednesday, February 6, 6:30-8 pm in Lind 207A which is always really fun and a great way to start the semester. Other events to watch for this semester are our "Lunches with Professors," as well as another themed event.
3. You also intern for the University of Minnesota Press, in a special English-sponsored internship that gives students experience in the editing department for one semester and in production/marketing the next. What has most surprised you about working inside this University press?
The biggest, and best, surprise was the atmosphere of the work place and the kindness of the staff. From the start, they treated me with a lot of respect and never made me make coffee or do menial tasks that one imagines an intern to do. They also made sure that I understood the purpose of the work I did and genuinely cared about my experience, not just the work I was doing for them. I really look forward to spending another semester there.
4. How does this internship experience relate to your studies in English? How has it affected your views of your post-graduation future?
In classes, we question who first wrote down Beowulf or if Homer was one person, and we often identify or define works by who wrote them. Through this internship, I have seen how much credit the publishing houses deserve for the books they publish. The authors decidedly have the most important contribution, but the editors can heavily influence the way the text is shaped or presented. It is similar to the way society focuses on the director of a movie as its sole creator instead of acknowledging all of the hard work other people put into the film.
I applied to this internship to gain an understanding of the world of publishing to see if it was something I wanted to pursue post-graduation. Even after only one semester, I am certain that this is what I want to do.
5. Last really good book you read?
Most recently, I read, and enjoyed, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.
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Faculty News

Associate Professor Tony C. Brown published his first book, The Primitive, the Aesthetic, and the Savage: An Enlightenment Problematic, with University of Minnesota Press. . . . Professor Maria Damon published a book of collaborative experimental poetry with Finnish artist Jukka-Pekka Kervinen entitled Door Marked X (cPress) . . . The scoop on the royal baby bump from an expert on British history and monarchy: Professor John Watkins gives a fun radio interview about the history of British monarchy and its political power, in light of the Duchess of Cambridge's pregnancy (WTIP-North Shore Community Radio).