I want to congratulate some of my friends that also went through Wilkes University’s Graduate Creative Writing Program and are about to release debut books. Taylor Polites, who was part of my class in grad school, is about to release his debut novel, The Rebel’s Wife, a story about a young widow trying to survive during the Reconstruction period on Alabama. The novel has already garnered positive reviews from Booklist and Publisher’s Weekly, which called the book, “A richly detailed portrait of Reconstruction-era Alabama.”

Another friend and fellow poet, Sandee Umbach, is about to release her debut book of poems, The Pattern Maker’s daughter, through Bottom Dog Press. I’m also happy to announce that Sandee will read at the next New Visions Writers Showcase, slated to run Saturday, March 31 at 7, New Visions Studio and Gallery in Scranton.

Taylor and Sandee’s books are available through Amazon. Kudos to both of these folks and everyone else from the Wilkes program that is having recent literary success!