Faculty Reading

Powers 29 was packed the night of February 4th when three faculty members read to a room of students, colleagues, and friends.



Dean of Students Dr. Byron Petrakis read several poems and a short speculative fiction story.






Writing and Literature teacher Mark Sleiter read a chapter from his manuscript which is still in progress.





Visiting Assistant Professor of Writing and Literature Chris Anderson read his newly edited short story "First Night".





The night wrapped up with a Q&A and discussion about creative processes.

Chester College to Present The Vagina Monologues

Chester College of New England, will host its second annual performance of The Vagina Monologues at 7 p.m., Friday, February 13 in Wadleigh Library. Admission is $2 for students and $5 for the general public. All proceeds will benefit A Safe Place, which provides support and services to victims of domestic abuse.

Chester College’s performance is part of the global V-Day movement to end violence against women and girls. In 2008, more than 4,000 V-Day benefit events took place produced by volunteer activists in the U.S. and around the world, educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls. To date, the V-Day movement has raised more than $60 million and educated millions about the issue of violence against women and the efforts to end it, crafted international educational, media and PSA campaigns, launched the Karama program in the Middle East, reopened shelters, and funded more than 6,000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses in Democratic Republic Of Congo, Haiti, Kenya, South Dakota, Egypt and Iraq. V-Day was named one of Worth magazine's "100 Best Charities" in 2001 and Marie Claire’s “Top Ten Charities” in 2006. The 'V' in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina.

For more information about the V-Day campaign visit www.vday.org.

Chester College Student Finalist in Photo Contest

For the second consecutive year, a photograph by Krystle Belanger, a senior photography major at Chester College of New England, is a finalist in the Nikon and Photographer's Forum Best of College Photography photo contest. The photo, seen here, will be featured in the annual book of finalists' work.

Belanger is from Derry, NH.

Three Chester College Faculty Members to Read Feb. 4

Chester College of New England’s Visiting Writers Series will feature three faculty members in its first reading of the semester.

Christopher Anderson, Byron Petrakis, and Mark Sleiter will read at 6 p.m., in Powers 26 on Wednesday, February 4. Admission is free for students with ID and a suggested $5 donation for all others.

Christopher Anderson is currently Chester College of New England’s Visiting Assistant Professor of Writing and Literature. He received a BA in Professional Writing in 2002 from Chester College and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Texas State University. He has had stories and poetry published in the Beloit Fiction Journal, Nothing Shocking, and other magazines. Since returning to Chester College, Anderson has taught Intro to Fiction Writing, Advanced Fiction Writing Workshop, Speculative Fiction Writing, Irish Literature, The Beat Generation, and Graphic Novel. He is currently at work on his first novel, as well as a memoir about his life as a musician.

Byron Petrakis taught English for 5 years at the University of Kentucky in Lexington and for 9 years at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte before returning to his native New England in 1982. After a 19-year career in the restaurant business with his wife's family, he returned to teaching at Chester College of New England in 2001. From 2003 to 2007, he served as Dean of the College, and became Dean of Students in 2007. His poems have appeared in Compass Rose and a special edition of The Poetry Society of New Hampshire. He published an essay in Wine Spectator and his scholarly work has appeared in The Philological Quarterly and The Comparatist.

Mark Sleiter currently teaches fiction writing and composition in the Department of Writing and Literature at Chester College of New England and is a writing instructor for the Washington, D.C.-based online education provider, Smarthinking, Inc. He has also taught fiction writing, literature, and composition courses at Daniel Webster College and the University of Oregon. In 2001, he received a BA in Media Studies and English from Macalester College and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Oregon. His short stories have been published in Uptown Review, Scratch, and other magazines. In addition to his work on the collegiate level, Mark has tutored high school students in Portland, Oregon, assisted on a variety of grassroots political campaigns, and worked at two Twins Cities-based drug treatment facilities. He is currently at work on his first novel.

SO Good Wants YOU!

Attention all Chester College students & faculty! SO Good, the Chester College of New England student annual, is looking for submissions for its second issue. Work, either visual or written, created in the Spring or Fall 2008 semesters is eligible for submission. Faculty members are encouraged to nominate student work for "Faculty Favorite" designation.

The deadline for all submissions and nominations is FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6. Please send all work to compass.rose@chestercollege.edu. For more information, check out SO Good on Facebook.

Chester College Senior Earns Nod from Glimmer Train

"Splinter," a short story by Beth Ann Miller, a senior creative writing major at Chester College, earned an honorable mention in Glimmer Train's November 2008 short story contest for new writers. Her story ranked in the top five percent of more than a thousand entries. Click here to see the full list of honorable mentions.

Two Chester College Students in UNH Exhibit

Work by Zachary Huntress and Sarah Izatt, two Chester College photography students, will be part of A Prison Nation: Unlocking the Stories, opening at 6 p.m., Thursday, January 22 in the MUB Strafford Room, Memorial Union Building, on the University of New Hampshire campus. It is part of UNH’s 2009 MLK Celebratory events commemorating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

A Prison Nation, which also features work by students from UNH and the New Hampshire Institute of Art, examines the impact and effects of imprisonment from different angles: that of the people who are in prison or have been in the system. The exhibit will, not only provide a glimpse of the overlying problems associated with this growth in incarceration rates, but will also illuminate the faces, voices, and stories behind the numbers.

More information about all of the MLK events is available online.