Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

  The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford has launched a new online publication that gives first-year students an opportunity to have their writing published.             Founded by composition instructor Matthew Salvia, Bradford Writes! features exemplary student essays in a number of genres typically required of first-year students – narrative, analysis, argument and research.             “There’s a lot of research in composition theory that students are much more likely to apply themselves to their work if it’s for more than a grade,” Salvia said.             With the help of faculty in the composition and first-year seminar programs as well as the Writing Center at Pitt-Bradford, Salvia solicited submissions from students. After selecting items to publish, he worked with the students through an editi...

Baily’s Beads, the literary magazine of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, and student writer Shahada Thomas have both received awards from the American Scholastic Press Association for the magazine’s 2017 issue. For the fifth time, the association named Baily’s Beads the Most Outstanding Literary Arts Magazine, awarding it a near-perfect score and First Place with Special Merit. Editors of the 2017 issue were writing majors Colin Almeida of North Wales and Stephanie McFall of Smethport, and Amy Gaberseck of Smethport, an interdisciplinary arts major who served as the head editor of layout and design. Faculty advisor Dr. Nancy McCabe, professor of writing and director of the writing program, said, “These awards are due to contributions from the entire staff, but I especially would like to credit designer Amy Gaberseck, whose hard work, talent and high professional standards brought this issue to the highest level it’s ever been, in my opi...

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford and One Book Bradford are teaming up to bring “Orphan Train” author Christina Baker Kline to Bradford this fall. Kline will visit Pitt-Bradford at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5, when she will give a talk that will be open to the public in the Bromeley Family Theater of Blaisdell Hall. Her best-selling novel “Orphan Train” will be used as a common reader in freshman seminar and creative writing classes on campus. Community members are encouraged to read the book and attend as well. One Book Bradford is a collaborative venture under the auspices of the Bradford Area Public Library that annually chooses a book for the community to read together. Its annual events culminate with a visit to Bradford from the author. Pat Shinaberger, chairwoman of One Book Bradford, said, “Our committee is very excited to join Pitt-Bradford in bringing an author of Kline’s caliber to Bradford. We are hopeful this is just the beginning of something great ...

An essay by Dr. Nancy McCabe, associate professor of writing at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, was chosen as a notable selection for two of Houghton Mifflin’s “Best American” 2012 collections. Her essay “Threads,” which was first published last fall in Prairie Schooner, was named a Notable Essay of 2012 by Best American Essays and a Notable Work of 2012 by Best American Nonrequired Reading. This is the fifth time she has been recognized by Best American Essays and her first time being recognized by Best American Nonrequired Reading. The essay is the prologue and a chapter from McCabe’s latest book, “Crossing the Blue Willow Bridge: A Journey to my Daughter’s Birthplace in China,” and is the story of her and her daughter, Sophie’s, visit to a remote village in China to meet the man who had taken care of Sophie when she was a baby. “Crossing the Blue Willow Bridge,” which was published last year by the University of Missouri Press, is about travelin...

Members of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s writing faculty will give a lunchtime reading Feb. 23 in the Studio Theater in Blaisdell Hall. The reading, which will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 12:50 p.m., will feature Judy Hopkins, Dr. Nancy McCabe, Carol Newman, Helen Ruggieri and Dani Weber. Hopkins teaches news writing at Pitt-Bradford and has published poetry in California Quarterly and Timber Creek Review. In the 1990s, she co-wrote with writer Dennis Hensley and recorded a light piece for BBC Radio based on Hensley’s book “Screening Party,” to which she also contributed. McCabe, who is director of the writing program, is currently on a national radio tour to promote her third book, “Crossing the Blue Willow Bridge: A Journey to My Daughter’s Birthplace in China.” She is the author of two other books, “Meeting Sophie: A Memoir of Adoption” and “After the Flashlight Man: A Memoir of Awakening.” Newman, who teaches beginning ...

The 2011 edition of Baily’s Beads, the literary magazine of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, has been chosen Most Outstanding University Literary Magazine for 2011 by the American Scholastic Press Association. It is the highest honor the association can award a college literary magazine. Last year the magazine received the award for colleges in its enrollment category, but this was the first year it was the overall winner. The magazine also received first place with special merit, a distinction it also earned in 2004, 2005 and 2008. The 2011 issue was edited by Sarah Dorben, a 2011 writing graduate, and Michael Reeder, a 2011 writing graduate from Murrysville who also served as layout editor. The issue also earned a gold medalist certificate from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, which it also earned in 2005, 2007 and 2008. Dr. Nancy McCabe, associate professor of writing and director of the writing program, is advisor for the staff, which also included Arpad Hervanek...

Dr. Nancy McCabe’s third book, “Crossing the Blue Willow Bridge: A Journey to My Daughter’s Birthplace in China,” will be published next month by the University of Missouri Press. McCabe is an associate professor of writing and director of the writing program at Pitt-Bradford. The book is on Amazon.com and other online booksellers. The book is a follow-up to McCabe’s 2003 book, “Meeting Sophie: A Memoir of Adoption,” about the adoption of her daughter from China. “Crossing the Blue Willow Bridge” began with a “homeland visit” by the McCabes in the fall of 2008, in which they visited the region of China from which Sophie was adopted. McCabe said she used the trip as a framework for exploring other issues of parenting, interracial and intercultural families and international adoption, including addressing a child’s feeling of connection to multiple heritages. Heritage trips, particularly to China, have become a rite of passage f...