Lowenstein Center – Fordham Now

How to Break Into Publishing: Advice from Editors, Agents, and Bestselling Author Mary Bly

Fordham News — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 21:10:20 +0000

“If you’re going to have a long career in publishing, you have to constantly be rethinking.”

For bestselling author Mary Bly, a professor of English at Fordham, that kind of openness to ideas and innovations is the key for anyone hoping to join the rapidly changing field.

Looking out on a Manhattan sunset from the 12th-Floor Lounge in Fordham’s Lowenstein Center, Bly spoke on a panel with three industry professionals about starting points for a career in publishing, and for getting writing into the world. The Office of Alumni Relations hosted the April 5 event as a career workshop for students and recent graduates.

Bly, a popular romance novelist under the pen name Eloisa James, recalled the drive that pushed her to get her first books out and the shrewd moves that keep them atop the charts.

Her career had a financial impetus. She needed to pay off student debt after earning degrees at Harvard, Oxford, and Yale, and beginning an academic career. She also wanted security for her growing family. So she sought out the elements that make a book shine for both popular audiences and editorial gatekeepers.

“I got five bestsellers written by two New York Times bestselling authors, and I spliced those books to find out why I thought they were selling,” she said. Her plan worked: Her first manuscript advance was $2,000 more than the balance on her loans.

To keep her momentum, Bly thinks strategically about what makes a book sell. “I don’t believe in writing the book of your heart,” she said; she prefers to consider what will keep editors interested and audiences engaged. “Figure out what’s going to sell and make that the book of your heart.”

Joining and Shaping Cultural Conversations

In Bly’s case, one reason she is the favorite of both reviewers and romance readers at large could be the depth she sees in the genre—a quality often overlooked by literary critics. She mentioned that issues of consent have long been at the center of top romance books, which is one reason the women-driven narratives command vast female readerships.

“Romance, like all genres, might seem like it’s self-contained, but in fact it’s incredibly porous and it reflects what’s going on in culture now,” she said. Successful writers must understand what they would contribute to the larger cultural conversation, and what readers most have on their minds.

But to get work noticed in the first place, writers must find outlets that will take a chance. “Agents and editors, we’re reading everything,” said Miles Doyle, FCRH ’01, a senior editor at HarperOne who specializes in religion, spirituality, and health and wellness, with particular interest in alternative self-help.

Miles Doyle, a senior editor at HarperOne, with fellow panelist Amy Bishop, a literary agent at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret

The panelists encouraged writers to familiarize themselves not just with the classics but with the books and writers that are rising now. “You need to be reading all the time,” said Bly, urging writers to make note of passages that move them.

Finding a Community

Newcomers can also create networks. “They help each other find readings, and they buy each other books when they’re young,” said InkWell Management editor and agent William Callahan, FCLC ’08.

Both Callahan and Doyle mentioned gatherings like the Catapult writing workshop and Brooklyn’s Franklin Park Reading Series as ways for aspiring writers to meet promising peers, and find outlets or agents to represent them. “There is such a thing as the literary community,” Callahan said. “Try to get in there.”

William Callahan, editor and agent at InkWell Management

The panelists’ advice extended beyond writers, and each offered suggestions for the many aspiring publishers, agents, and publicists in the audience. Those interested in publishing will find that some flexibility in the subject matter and types of jobs they start out in can improve the chance of real job prospects. The panelists also stressed that location is a major factor in getting that first job. “You’ll be doing a lot of unexpected things, so like the unexpected,” said Callahan. “Make the real advantage of living in New York City work for you.”

For the students and recent Fordham graduates in the audience, this was a chance to network with professionals who were once in their place and to reconnect with Bly, who eagerly forged connections between panelists and former students during a reception after the panel discussion.

The event drew dozens of Fordham students and alumni.

Tatiana Ridley, FCRH ’05, and Erika Ortiz, a Fordham College at Lincoln Center senior, both found the event helpful. Ridley, a nutritionist and yoga teacher said she hopes to publish a book about holistic healthcare based on her wellness brand, Healthylicious Bliss, and a children’s book about her childhood pet rat, Tommy Lee.

Ortiz said the event gave her the boost she needed after spring break; the creative writing major, who is set to graduate in May, is interested in both sides of the publishing world. “It was very relevant, and very important,” she said.

To Doyle, success in publishing is ultimately about developing one’s taste in writing—something that starts in the classroom. “Fordham refined my tastes,” he said. “It made me a better writer, and a better reader.”

—Violet Baron

Gone But Not Forgotten: A Photographic Vision of School Segregation

Tom Stoelker — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 15:08:58 +0000

A show at the Lipani Gallery on the Lincoln Center campus features photographs of a series of unremarkable buildings, rendered significant through technique and context.

The technique, applied in Photoshop, sets the buildings apart from their surroundings by screening the background environment down to a grey veil.

And the context is America’s racial history, as each photo of a building depicts a formerly segregated school for African Americans, located north of the Mason Dixon line.

Photographer Wendel White’s show, provocatively titled “Schools for the Colored,” runs through Oct. 26.

Reviewing White’s show on Sept. 2, the Wall Street Journal notes how White’s technique “concentrates attention on the buildings, their histories, and their meanings.” White rendered those buildings that no longer stand in black silhouette, creating a void at the center of the composition.

“I was making a different type of photograph, I wasn’t interested in photographing the buildings in a straightforward way, or using text,” said White. “I wanted to move away from that and explain it in a purely visual way, to reconnect to the idea of the veil separating black world and white world.”

The artist said he often employs the term “veil” as homage to W.E.B. Du Bois, who, in The Souls of Black Folk, wrote of a “vast veil” that separated African Americans from the rest of society. In the exhibit, that separation plays out in the small towns of New Jersey and Ohio, as the photos create a catalogue of areas often not visually associated with the history of segregation.

Those schools no longer standing are depicted as silhouettes against the landscape where they once stood.

“The visual representations of segregation are the stories that come out of the South. Everyone remembers the photo of George Wallace on the schoolhouse steps, the marches, and the hoses,” said White. “My interest lies in [the fact]that segregation was very much a northern institution as well, with a long history. It was extremely widespread and addressed in different ways by different communities.”

The show’s curator, artist-in-residence Casey Ruble—whose own work takes an unflinching look at troubled African-American historic sites—said White’s work speaks to how Americans often have a selective memory.

“White suggests narratives and talks about how a broader history gets written in this country,” said Ruble. “One of the things I love about this series is there are stories you don’t hear every day. Those stories . . . are a very important part of our history.”

The series got its start after a retired schoolteacher from Brooklyn, Illinois told White that he went to a segregated school. White photographed the building, and soon after began his research on the subject.

With support from a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Graham Foundation, and from Stockton University where he is a member of the faculty, White was able to travel and photograph sites from 2004 to 2007. He gathered information on the sites through interviews and through internet research.

Ruble said that, beyond the show’s aesthetic merit, there is an anthropologic and historic significance as well—all of which will be explored in the panel discussion, titled “Mine, Yours, Ours: A Conversation on Segregation in America, Past and Present.”

The panelists include:
Rebecca Carroll, producer of special projects on race at WNYC, and author of five nonfiction books, including Sugar in the Raw and Saving the Race;
Deb Willis, MacArthur Fellow and professor and chair of the Department of Photography and Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University;
Marta Gutman, Ph.D., architect and professor at the City College of New York, and author of A City for Children; and
Wendel White, photographer and distinguished professor of art at Stockton University.

Ever Rising: An Artist’s Take on the Ways We Remember–And Forget–The Troubled History of Race Relations in America

Instagram 2015: Fordham Staff’s Top Pics for the Year

Patrick Verel — Sat, 26 Dec 2015 10:00:29 +0000

This year, we shared nearly 400 pictures and videos on the Fordham Instagram account, and we could have easily shared double that, what with the number of picture-worthy locales and events that take place throughout the Fordham community.

As the year comes to a close, here are a few of our favorites, in no particular order.

Patrick Verel

I have no idea why I thought it’d be fun to make Edwards’ Parade look like Hoth. I guess I was thinking about Stars Wars even back in February.

Crocuses are far and away my favorite flower, because they show up way before anything else is hardy enough to make a go of it.

I just love this kids’ attitude. She’s got future Ram written all over her.

Rachel Roman

Okay, technically NOT a picture, but the drone footage was awesome.

Everything about this photo is beautiful. The fog, the snow, even the bare tree branches. And I usually hate bare tree branches, because they look sad =(

Because who doesn’t love a Pope doll in a Fordham jacket. Can I get one of these for my desk?

Tom Stoelker

I love this shot from Mission and Ministry’s John Gownley. At 1600 likes it was one of the most popular posts of the year and reminded us that Keating isn’t Rose Hill’s only iconic tower.

This shot by Patick Verel is a stunner of Duane Library. We’ve all seen the light stream like this and it never fails to impress.

Love, love, love the pizza nuns shot! Joanna Mercuri tells us that the nuns were singing while waiting in line to see the pope at Madison Square Garden, but when they finally paused for a bite to eat Joanna captured a moment of community both large and small.

Chris Gosier

Somehow, the Ram seems to be standing a little taller for his usual backdrop being blotted out by a snowstorm.

I like this cool angle; you can almost see the flowers pushing upward because of the odd angle with the statue of Dagger John.

Love this shot of Cunniffe House. The photographer seems to have caught it at just the right time of day.

Joanna Mercuri

Because can we ever get enough of fall beauty shots?

Fordham students abroad at our London Centre campus.

Our new home in Martino Hall gives us some pretty awesome views of the Lincoln Center campus.

Gina Vergel

Father Joseph M. McShane, S.J., our president, is a tremendous speaker – in public or in casual conversation. Joanna Mercuri caught him during Move-in Day 2015 and it was great.

This beautiful shot of the candle-lighting ceremony on Edwards Parade during orientation/Move-In weekend garnered more than 800 likes, and shows the sense of community welcome new students receive.

A beautiful shot of a commute so many in the Fordham family know so well.

Ailey/Fordham Concert to Benefit Dancers

Patrick Verel — Thu, 27 Feb 2014 20:27:58 +0000

Playful Vibes. Rushing into the Dream of the Night. Pulse Suspended.

These are just a few of the pieces that will bring exquisite, exhilarating movement of bodies to Fordham’s Pope Auditorium next week, as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater/Fordham University BFA program stages its annual benefit performance.

Thursday, March 6

7 p.m.

Pope Auditorium, Lowenstein Center, Lincoln Center Building

The benefit, which has been a tradition at the Lincoln Center campus since 2001, features performances from each class of Fordham/Ailey students. The dance performances are followed by a reception where dancers meet members of the Fordham community, including many of the benefactors who helped fund the scholarships that enable them to attend.

The BFA degree, a unique partnership between the world renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Ailey School, and Fordham, combines the finest in dance and liberal arts education in a four-year program. Students complete a diverse curriculum while attending both institutions full time.

For more information, contact Rodger Van Allen at (212) 636-6562 or visit the alumni website.

Doing Donne — Molly Peacock with Nigel Smith on Feb. 13

Chris Gosier — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 20:47:49 +0000

Molly Peacock, an acclaimed writer of poetry and creative nonfiction, will appear on Feb. 13 at the next Poets Out Loud event, which will highlight the connections between modern poetry and the work of canonical English poet John Donne.

Peacock will read Donne’s poetry along with some of her works that were influenced by Donne, said Heather Dubrow, Ph.D., holder of Fordham’s Reverend John Boyd S.J. Chair in Poetic Imagination and director of Poets Out Loud, the poetry community based at the Lincoln Center campus.

Also appearing will be Nigel Smith, a professor of early modern literature at Princeton, who will perform musical settings of Donne’s work.

“In general, I think it’s wonderful when people do read the earlier and contemporary poetry together, because there are so many connections, and Donne is of course one of the great love poets and great religious poets of our language,” Dubrow said.

It will be the third in a series of events, initiated and co-organized by Fordham, that show how Donne’s work is linked to that of today’s poets. Barnard College and the New York Public Library have held similar events, and another is coming up April 15 at the Helix Center in Manhattan. Also, Poets Out Loud collaborated with the John Donne Society to incorporate this theme into the society’s conference in Baton Rouge, La., later this month.

The event will be held Thursday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m. in the 12th-floor Lounge/Corrigan Center, Lowenstein Center, at the Lincoln Center campus. It is free and open to the public.

Molly Peacock’s most recent book is The Paper Garden: Mrs. Delaney Begins Her Life’s Work at 72 (Bloomsbury USA, 2010). She is the author of six books of poetry, recipient of numerous honors, and one of the creators of Poetry in Motion, seen on buses and subways across North America.

Smith will perform musical settings—co-composed with Andrew C. Lovett—of poems by both John Donne and Paul Muldoon.

This event is funded in part by Poets & Writers, Inc., with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Changes to Pedestrian Access at the Lincoln Center Campus

Fordham News — Thu, 15 Aug 2013 16:40:58 +0000

The New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) will finish work on the sidewalk near 60th Street and Columbus Avenue before the start of Fall classes at the Lincoln Center campus.

The DDC will move the Columbus Avenue north crosswalk approximately 10 feet North, and will place a handicapped access ramp to the Lowenstein entrance on the Columbus Avenue side of the entrance Plaza.

During work hours, 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., a portion of the sidewalk on 60th Street near Columbus Avenue will be closed. The West crosswalk of Columbus Avenue will also be closed during work hours ONLY. All street work excavations areas will be covered with steel plates at the end of the work day, and opened to pedestrian traffic between the end of the work day and the beginning of work the following morning. The sidewalk will be returned to normal by the end of the day on Saturday, August 24, 2013.

If you have any questions regarding the work, or access to the campus, please contact the security supervisor at the Lincoln Center campus at: (212) 636-6076.

FCLC Alumni, at Home in the Heart of the City

Joanna Mercuri — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 17:28:39 +0000

FCLC alumni reconnected at Lowenstein’s Robert Moses Plaza on June 14, raising a toast and savoring a fantastic New York City sunset. (Photos by Chris Taggart)

Preceding Instagram: The Photos of J. Joseph Lynch, S.J.

Tom Stoelker — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 17:31:48 +0000

On viewing Half-Frames: Photographs by J. Joseph Lynch, S.J. at the Lipani Gallery one can’t help but wish the space had storefront access so that more of the public could meander in and see the show.

Half-Frames is a revelation on several levels, not least of which is its curator-as-artist angle that lend Father Lynch’s 1960s photographs a wholly modern edge.

For those who don’t know, the Lipani is located in the corridors of the ground floor of the Lincoln Center Campus’ Lowenstein Building. Not to be confused with the Center Gallery, the Lipani often acts as a lighter antidote to the Center’s weightier fare. Not so this month.

Fordham Artist-in-Residence Stephan Apicella-Hitchcock teamed up with Anibal Pella-Woo, adjunct professor in the Visual Art program, to curate the show which runs through July 31.

Father Lynch was a mathematics and physics professor at Fordham College Rose Hill from 1950 to 1967, but he was better known as the director of the campus’ William Spain Seismological Station. Founded in 1910, the station is the oldest seismic observatory station in New York City.

Patrice Kane, head of University archives and special collections, alerted Apicella-Hitchcock and Pella-Woo to Father Lynch’s photos. While ratting through the archives the two came across a trove of slide photos taken with half-frame camera.

Half-frame cameras were popular in the late sixties as an economical way to shoot film. The camera split 35mm film exposures in half, thereby allowing users to double their shots from 36 exposures to 72. The result was a looser, more casual manner of shooting, freeing the photographer from the weight of potential expense. It was, in short, a precursor to Instagram. But there is no artificial retro color here; the old Kodachrome color still holds its own.

Whether Father Lynch’s photography would’ve been considered great during his own lifetime is an open question, but under the considered curatorial care of Apicella-Hitchcock and Pella-Woo the compositions and arrangements of the series take on significant meaning for the contemporary viewer.

“The photos are connected to us by a cultural moment in time that allow us to transport them into a gallery space,” explained Pella-Woo.

The photos offer a comfortable window seat onto a life lived. Moneyed, well-dressed Europeans hang beside a modest nun, unassuming children, and cropped landscapes. These are simple, kind shots. They omit Facebook affectations. No one mugs for the camera. Indeed, unless they are posed, the subjects seem unaware the camera is even there. And when they do pose, they stare back comfortably at the priest behind the camera.

Fordham College at Lincoln Center Students Show Off Research

Patrick Verel — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:50:38 +0000

Photos by Patrick Verel

The plaza and street level of Lowenstein Center were abuzz on April 11 as 42 juniors and seniors from Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) shared their research with the Fordham community.

The research fair, which was followed by an awards ceremony, featured topics in humanities, sciences. and visual and performing arts.

Molly Clemens, a junior from Rochester majoring in environmental science, was stationed on the plaza to discuss “Drought Creates Stress Memory for European Beech Trees,” which she worked on at the University of Bayreuth, Germany.

A DAAD Rise scholarship enabled her to travel to Germany last summer, where Laura Nagy, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Bayreuth, served as her mentor.

Clemens’ research concerned whether or not European Beech trees have the ability to adapt to a drought and survive a second drought better.

Molly Clemens chats with a research fair attendee.

“We set up four different control groups using 60 beech trees, and we subjected them to four different regiments of water-we had a control drought, a control for the control, and then the double drought,” she said.

“What we were able to see is that the double drought plants were able to recover better and survived better than the control drought plants did that did not undergo the first draught.”

Clemens hopes to build on this research with a Fulbright scholarship that she is applying for in Australia. She also worked on two other projects in Germany, where she was given a lot of leeway to choose how to approach research.

“The other project was a biodiversity project assessing the biodiversity of grasses, so we would spend long hours smelling grasses and biting them and feeling them, because it’s actually very hard to distinguish between them if you just have a pile of grass,” she said.

“It was very hands-on science.”

Lauren Vogelstein observes Ailey/Fordham BFA students performing her dance “I think I heard you say that once.”

Down on the street level, Lauren Vogelstein was showing off an independent study in choreography. Vogelstein, a senior Ailey/Fordham BFA student from Chicago, presented a demonstration of the dance “I Think I Heard You Say That Once,” which she described as the culmination of four years of trying and failing to create something she was truly happy with.

“I’ve learned what my teachers have been telling me all along, which is that you have to let go of the preciousness of your work in order to create something you really love,” she said.

Vogelstein is also earning a bachelor’s of science in mathematics and will be working at the Museum of Mathematics after graduation. Although she has done formal mathematical research with one of her professors, she chose to present dance at the fair.

“I thought it was important to show art in a context as research, because I don’t think a lot of people think you can do research in the arts, so I wanted to bring that to the fair today,” she said.

Cody Brown and Nick Espinoza show off their UAV, which is capable of analyzing wireless networks from the air.

On the ground floor by the Center Gallery, were Cody Brown and Nick Espinoza, seniors majoring in computer science and political science and information science, respectively.

“Bridging and Observing Wireless Services for Electronic Reconnaissance,” or BOWSER, involved the construction of a rotor-driven unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of wireless access reconnaissance barnstorming and penetration testing.

“We picked a drone to utilize the city’s uniquely vertical environment to go up and down apartment buildings, where you’ll find a lot more wireless networks than you would in a flat area,” said Brown.

“Let’s say you’re a contractor. You can test for security flaws in company enterprise networks, or just have fun and map out networks around you.”

Espinoza, who hopes to work in cyber security upon graduation, touted their UAV as a unique solution to a very real problem with penetration testing.

“You can’t exactly see these wireless networks. You might have to go into the building and access the floor,” he said. “Why would you take the elevator, and talk your way past security, when you can fly your way right up next to it?”

Jamie Juchniewicz illustrated how words affected the attitudes of 18th-century American colonists.

Jamie Juchniewicz, a junior anthropology major, addressed the past for her project “Revolution: The Vocabulary of the American Revolution.” What topics, she wondered, would have trended the highest if Twitter had existed in the American colonies between 1763 and 1776?

For her project, which she hopes will help her continue onto graduate school, she took five of the most popular American pamphlets from each of the years, from 1763 to 1776, and ran them through Voyant, a processing software that calculates the most used words.

“When we start out in 1765, we’re only seeing the word “American” two times, and when we end in 1776, we see the word “American” 12 times. The colonials are seeing themselves transforming from, ‘I’m a member of this colony,’ ‘I’m a member of the Maryland colony,’ ‘I’m a Pennsylvanian,’ ‘I’m a New Yorker,’ into seeing themselves as an American, because they’re all sharing the same language,” she said.

Words like “authority” and “fame” highlighted the power of the individual, especially going into the revolution, she said. “So you can identify all the main actors by the words they’re using and the political activities that followed the language.”

Fordham Holds Voter Registration Drive-VIDEO

Fordham News — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 14:28:49 +0000

With the deadline for participation in the 2012 presidential election fast approaching, Fordham will hold voter registration drives at all three campuses through Friday, Oct. 5.

9 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Lobby, Westchester Campus
1 to 3 p.m. | Plaza, Lowenstein Center, Lincoln Center Campus
1 to 3 p.m. | Lobby, McGinley Center, Rose Hill Campus

Gallery Becomes Respite for the Wandering Spirit

Fordham News — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 15:11:04 +0000

When the upcoming art exhibition Rockslide Skyopens on the Lincoln Center campus on Oct. 1, viewers will see a collection of work inspired by the story of a young poet without a place to call home.

However, a selection of the artwork will be housed in a gallery named in memory of a young woman who found a beloved home in the final years of her too-short life.

The exhibition will be the first to use both the Lowenstein Building’s Center Gallery and the newly renamed Lipani Gallery, located in the Visual Arts Complex on the sublevel of the Lincoln Center campus, and named in honor of the late Susan Lipani, FCLC ’97.

The Push Pin Gallery is being renamed in memory of Susan Lipani, FCLC ’97, who died the year that she graduated. Photo by Daniel Willner

Rockslide Sky was inspired by Roberto Bolaño’s short story “Gomez Palacio,” about a young writer in exile from Pinochet’s Chile. Curator and Fordham artist-in-residence Carleen Sheehan said the show both celebrates the dedication of the new gallery (it was formerly the Push Pin Gallery) and allows the inclusion of large-format work from internationally known artists.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to exhibit a wide range of work by critically acclaimed artists, many of whom have had important solo exhibitions in the last year,” Sheehan said.

The show will be the first major exhibition in the Lipani Gallery since it was renamed in honor of Susan.

Joseph Lawton, associate professor and program director of the Visual Arts program, worked with Lipani when she was a student. He said she found her niche in photography.

“She liked it, did well in it, and was talented, ambitious, energetic, as well as a real player in the class in terms of effort,” he said.

Lawton said he learned of Lipani’s cancer, Ewing’s sarcoma, during her senior year. She told him she had run out of treatment options and had just months left.

In the midst of his own shock, he encouraged Susan to use her talent to leave a meaningful legacy for those she loved.

“I told her, ‘Let’s leave something behind for your family. Do a portfolio of your work—your sensibility, your heart, your head.’”

Lawton worked with Lipani during the last weeks of her life to select images, and he finished the portfolio when she was too sick to come to campus.

Since Susan’s death, the Lipani family has established an award to support student study-abroad travel and also a graduation prize honoring Susan’s collaborative and artistic spirit.

Susan’s father, Paul Lipani, said that he and his family were prompted to give to Fordham for a very simple reason—it was a place that Susan had loved deeply.

“I’ll never forget, one time we were driving her back along West 60th Street, and she said, ‘I consider this my home now.’

“Fordham treated her so well. We’ve never forgotten Fordham, nor will we ever for all that they did,” he said.

Margaret Lipani, Susan’s mother, said Susan’s love for photography lives on in her younger sister Allison, who teaches photography in upstate New York.

She said she believed Susan would have been very moved by the naming of a gallery in her honor.

“She just very much loved photography,” Margaret Lipani said.

– Jennifer Spencer