The Mayo Review 2009 Web Edition

Poetry

Prose

Artwork

Contributors' Notes

Timothy Armstrong

My photography work can be found at www.timothyrobertarmstrong.com.

Ed Casey

Ed Casey is a Masters candidate at the University of North Texas. He spent ten years in the private sector, working for various companies, getting beaten into a cold hard state of denial, before returning to his studies in Poetry. He plays electric bass and guitar, and lives with his three unruly ferrets (and his fiancé and her rabbit, though they try hard not to live in sin). He writes poetry because he loves it, but he would be glad to do it for money, if anyone has any to spare.

Michan Chowritmootoo

I am a Graduate student at Texas Women's University. I am currently working on my Masters in History with a minor in English. My favorite genres of literature are historical fiction, biographies/autobiographies, folklore, and mythology. My favorite poets are Sylvia Plath, Shel Silverstein, Theodore Roethke, and Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks.

Alexandra Corinth

Alexandra Corinth is a sophomore student in the English department at Texas A&M - Commerce. She wants to be an author and a poet for the rest of her life, and plans to make a living off of her work.

Mary Farragher

My name is Mary K. Farragher, I am a multi-media artist residing in Northeastern Ohio. I received my Bachelors of Fine Arts at Youngstown State University in general studio arts. Because of my background in general studio, I am always willing to explore a new media, recently my canvas comes in the form of a shiny little laptop. While in college my concentration was in drawing, painting and printmaking – with the laptop I find all three of medias combined and packaged neatly with the capabilities to move the work in a economical and hyper-fast manner. I realize that on the subject of technology I am late to the dance. This only motivates me to create even more meaningful computer generated fine art – confident in the knowledge that the possibilities are endless just like the matrices I enjoy creating.

My work reflects growth and it is indicative of a bustling city or the scientific imagery of DNA. The work is a visual result of a personal experiment with society and psychology – simply put “people watching.” The piece entitled Aqua Madness depicts the origin of all life, water. The bubble-gum coloring I use in a lot of my work is a disguise, masking the dark side of humanity.

Tony Hays

Tony Hays is a journalist and novelist, and a 1991 graduate of Texas A&M at Commerce. He has covered topics as varied as narcotics trafficking (earning his newspaper the Tennessee Press Association award for Public Service in 2000), political corruption, Civil War history, and the war on terror. His short fiction has appeared both in the United States and Japan, and he is the author of three novels. His newest novel, The Killing Way, will be released by Tor/Forge in March 2009.  He resides in Texas.

Melody Jaynes-Bickham

Melody has been taking photos for over 10 years.  It is a love and passion.  She is in her second year of teaching, and draws inspiration from it and her two children.

Sean Kennedy

I am Sean Kennedy, 24 years old, and currently a graduate student at Texas A&M University Commerce. I am a former Computer Science major, but switched to English in my junior year and graduated in May 2007. My experience in poetry started when I was 19 and began writing free form as well as some prose, and flourished as I took creative writing classes. After graduation, I took a hiatus for a year, during which I did practically no writing whatsoever. Now that I have come back to college, my interest in writing (particularly poetry) has sparked once again. And although at first I never adhered to any style or form, now I better understand and respect formal poetry and have written several formal poems.

Pamela Millar

Pamela Millar is currently pursuing a Master's degree in English at Texas A&M University – Commerce, focusing on children's and young adult literature. She writes poetry and fiction as often as she can and considers photography to be a very rewarding, if sometimes expensive, hobby. She has been previously published in The Mayo Review.

Leah Mitchener

In my sophomore year, I took a Photojournalism course through my high school. I had been blindly dabbling in photography for a few years, but felt that I needed to take the next step and actually know the mechanics of a camera and the math of a good exposure. After five years of playing French horn in the band, I decided to quit and try my hand at a more visual creative outlet rather than musical. Following a review of some of my work, I was accepted onto the small yearbook staff for Lewisville High School and soon became Photography editor. The pride and encouragement I received from my advisor Donna Whitaker, Photojournalism instructor Corey Hale, my parents, and my friends helped fuel my desire to become a better and more educated photographer.

Jonathan Perry

Jonathan Perry is a graduate of the English department at Texas A&M-Commerce.  He enjoys reading and writing and thinking and talking.  Jonathan is currently studying theology at Baylor University.  This is the first time he has ever had anything published.  

Octavio Quintanilla

Octavio Quintanilla, from the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas, has recently published poems in Margie: The American Journal of Poetry, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, New Texas: A Journal of Literature and Culture, The Columbia Review, Diner, Versal, Ottawa Arts Review, and Bravado. He’s the assistant poetry editor for American Literary Review.

J.P. Sloop

Poetry seems to be at once personal and yet universal, the poems I write are for me as well as anyone that can relate to them. I realize that my poetry is not Milton or Shakespeare, I realize that my poetry will probably not gain me international fame and glory, but it matters to me and to the people I write it for. I grew up in a small town, have a degree, etc, etc..

Laura Snider

I graduated from Nolan Catholic High School in Fort Worth in 2005. I then went to Tarrant County College from 2005-2007 and was a member of the Cornerstone Honors Program and Phi Theta Kappa International Honors Society. I transfered to A&M University- Commerce the fall of 2007 and became a Photography major. I am still a member of Phi Theta Kappa, along with being a member of the Third Floor Photo Society and working as the photo editor for The East Texan Newspaper.

M. Jay Stigers

After eight years as a full-time attorney, I come to Texas A&M-Commerce as a new graduate student seeking my Master’s in English. I am now teaching high school English and sponsoring the schools mock trial team.

Jonathan Taylor

Jonathan Taylor is a graduate student, a teacher, and a tutor at Texas A&M-Commerce, the president of Sigma Tau Delta’s Upsilon Beta Chapter, and works on the editorial board for the Mayo Review. He writes poetry, fantasy, and has the most badass nephew in the world.

Sylwester Zabielski

Sylwester Zabielski is a graduate student at Texas A&M-Commerce. He works at the Writing Center in the Hall of Languages, and at the same time he pursues his MA in English with a focus on ESL teaching. Born and raised in Poland, Sylwester has been traveling all his life. He lived in Germany and London after finishing the Academy of Business in Lomza, Poland. He visited fifteen different countries in the past two years and took many pictures during his travels. Sylwester's hobbies include digital photography, and he recently started restoring antique models of cameras. He creates accordingly to the philosophy of Jean-Luc Godard that "photography is truth" and should always remain this way.