Thank you to English faculty, Brian Baumgart for sending out an email bursting with accomplishments from the English department! We highlighted the list again, below!
Student & Alum Celebrations
Performances:
- Ryan/Reina Amundson is a recent NHCC alum who currently attends Metro State University in their Creative Writing program. In February 2025, they read their poetry on AM950 for Queer Poetry for Valentine’s Day (on The Gaily Show). Ryan/Reina begins at about the 24 minute mark. The program is also available on video via YouTube.
Faculty Celebrations
Publications:
Brian Baumgart’s 2nd chapbook of poetry, Cold Is Cold Is Cold, was published in December 2024 by Bottlecap Press, based out of Los Angeles, California. To quote the back of the book: “The poems in Brian Baumgart’s Cold Is Cold Is Cold take aim at the fraught relationship between the desire for connection and the insecurity that comes with a world on edge, often bridging the interior with the weight of the sociopolitical. At once anxious and hopeful, these poems ask questions of themselves as much as they provide answers.”
As to how the book came to be, the writing of the poems came across time, spanning about eight years, although they were assembled together into a collection just a few months before publication. Some of the poems (including “Horticulture” and “Incomplete Metamorphosis”) were originally written when I did an artist’s residency at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve, and one was even crafted in conversation with and in honor of NHCC students during an ENGL 2030 Writing Poetry class (“Halfway to the Gas Station”). It’s a short book (hence “chapbook”), but my hope is that it still speaks at length, that it allows space for contemplation that extends beyond the words on the page and the poems themselves.
- Brian Baumgart has had some poems accepted for publication or published in literary journals:
“How to Teach English Composition at a Community College Near Minneapolis…” in Thimble Literary Magazine
“My Songs [Sonnets] for Terrorists #42” in Thirteen Bridges Review (forthcoming in late 2025) - Haley Lasché continues to serve as designer and editor for Concision Poetry Journal and co-owner and co-editor of Beauty School Editions, LLC
Concision Poetry Journal has continued to publish new issues (be sure to check out the newest Issue 4.3)
Grants, Positions, Awards, & Programs:
- Kelly Lundquist’s essay “Stage Makeup” was nominated for a 2024 Pushcart Prize by Last Syllable: A Longform Literary Journal
- Kelly Lundquist formed a partnership with the PFund Foundation (a nonprofit that focuses on scholarships and grants for queer adults and organizations) in Minneapolis, who will be hosting at least one of Kelly’s book launch events, and she will be donating 10% of her book royalties to them
- Kelly Lundquist was awarded a Creative Individuals Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board
- Eugene Gazelka’s poem “Pronounced Love at the Scene” was nominated for the Best of the Net Award
Performances, Presentations, Interviews, & Readings:
- Brian Baumgart will be reading alongside poets Julie Adrian and Christy Merry at the American School of Storytelling on March 3, 2025
Thank you again to Brian Baumgart for sending out an email detailing these recent accomplishments from the English department!