Thursday, January 5, 2012

Greetings from Vlad Frederick, coordinator of YAPRS.

Hello!

My name is Vlad Frederick, and I--along with my amazing co-coordinators Joel Nathanael and Michaela Mullin--will be working hard to to bring the Des Moines community another great season of poetry readings!

A little about me:

I am currently a senior BA in English with a minor in Biology, at Drake University. I am an aspiring writer, of fiction, nonfiction, and especially poetry. After graduating from Drake, I hope to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing--Poetry, with the ultimate goal of a PHD.

I first learned about YAPRS in January one year ago, when offered a chance to intern with the program for credit, through Drake's Writing Internship Program. Needless to say, I was hooked by the program's ambitious goals of informing, enriching, and entertaining the local community, all while promoting both established and rising names in poetry. I spent all of 2011 interning for this great program, before having the mantle of Coordinator passed down to me by Jennifer Perrine.

I'm looking forward to what this season will bring, and hope all our fans are ready to ring in the New Year with a great Spring of Poetry!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Greetings from Michaela Mullin, Co-Coordinator of YAPRS

Hello, my name is Michaela Mullin, and I will be co-coordinating the series with Vlad and Joel this spring. I am thrilled to be able to be a part of this great series that Wendy and Kyle founded, and which Jennifer helped keep alive this last season.

A little about me: I attended Drake for my undergrad degree, University of Nebraska for my MFA in Writing, and, this summer, I will be attending the European Graduate School, Media and Communications doctoral program. I love travel, film, art, and of course, poetry. I am currently working on a poetry collection based on the paintings of Belgian artist, Michael Borremans, and I am hoping to see my first manuscript, Tenable Cant, published in the near future.

I look forward to the spring line-up of poetic performances, and to meeting other local appreciators of poetry.