History
From 1997 to 2013, WLA’s scholarly journal Western American Literature offered graduate students enrolled in the graduate program at Utah State University a competitive stipend and the opportunity for training in the field of academic publishing. Two full editorial fellowships (one funded by USU and one by the WLA) were available every year. In 2013, the journal moved to the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, where there were intern opportunities.
See what our former fellows are up to now:
Angela Ashurst-McGee, 1997/98. Angela began work at the journal as the first-ever Thomas J. Lyon Fellow three months before her second son, Logan, was born.
She has worked as a freelance editor and then as the associate editor of the Joseph Smith Papers Series. [You see, those editorial skills do come in handy after all sometimes!] She is now a certified professional resumé writer und the founder and president of Red Rocket Resumé.
Vanessa Hall, 1998-2000. Vanessa served as the first two-year fellow at Western American Literature.
In the fall of 2007, Vanessa was the first one of our editorial fellows to finish her PhD (at Purdue University) and become a professor of English. She took a position at the New York City College of Technology in downtown Brooklyn. After the birth of her third child, she decided to retreat to the Poconos, where baby #4 was born.
Sarah Rudd, 1999-2001. Sarah grew up in Salt Lake City and Mexico. She moved back to the Salt Lake City area, where she then worked as a realtor. She has since become a minister in Sandy, Utah.
Matt Burkhart, 2000-2002. Matt grew up somewhere around Chicago, came to us from Missoula, and acquired a PhD from the University of Arizona in Tucson. He presently teaches at Case Western Reserve. His research focuses on western American studies, especially Native American and environmental literature. From 2003-2005 he served as the graduate student representative on the WLA Executive Council. In 2016, he returned to the Executive Council for another 3-year term. Matt has been seen at many WLA Conferences.
in Tacoma, Washington
Alan Barlow, 2001-2003. Alan grew up in southern Utah and has a BA from Utah State University. His computer skills were indispensable in our office. After getting his master’s degree in English, he earned a master’s degree in Management and Human Resources. He is now CEO at Kewa Pueblo Health Corporation in New Mexico.
Angela Waldie, 2002-2004. During her tenure as Graduate Student Representative to the WLA Executive Council, Angela started a professionalization panel for graduate students who attend the WLA Conference. Angela received her PhD from the University of Calgary. When not reading, researching, or teaching, Angela can be found exploring the hiking trails and hot springs of the Canadian Rockies, writing poetry, weaving, practicing yoga, or salsa dancing.
Sarah Vause, 2003-2005. Sarah has a BA from Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, where she grew up. She got her PhD and is now teaching at Weber State University. She is still running and hiking in the beautiful mountains of Utah. She is co-director of the National Undergraduate Literature Conference at Weber State University.
Matthew Lavin, 2004-2006. Matt came to us from St. Lawrence University in upstate New York, where he also worked for a newspaper before going back to graduate school. For 2011 and 2012, Matt served as a graduate student representative on the Executive Board for the WLA. In 2012, he received his PhD from the University of Iowa. He is now assistant professor of data analytics at Denison University.
Sarah Stoeckl, 2005-2007. Sarah grew up in Salt Lake City. She was awarded the WAG Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award for writing the best MA thesis across all departments at Utah State University. In 2012, she received her PhD from the University of Oregon in Eugene.
Jacoba Mendelkow Poppleton, 2006-2008. Jacoba now diligently (maybe?) works on her own writing, and she certainly will never be able to resist a beautiful pair of shoes.
Diane Bush, 2007-2009. After her graduation, Diane took an editorial position with another academic journal, the Western Historical Quarterly. Her obsession with the Donner Party continues. Or does it? Still working as a copy editor in Salt Lake City, she also enjoys living in a remote area in Colorado.
Pamela Pierce, 2008-2010. Pamela went on to study library science at Indiana University Bloomington. She now holds a position with the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. The Portland life suits Pam!
Brett Sigurdson, 2010-2011. Brett loves to teach and write. He moved back to the East Coast, where he was editor of THE CHARLOTTE NEWS in Vermont. Most recently, he was working on his PhD at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.
Jaquelin Pelzer, 2010-2012. Jaquelin is pursuing a PhD at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and she was one of the graduate student reps on the Executive Council for the Western Literature Association for 2013-2015.
Josh Anderson, 2011-2013. Josh was our last editorial fellow at Utah State University. He went on to get a PhD from Ohio State University, focusing on US ethnic and postcolonial literature with an emphasis on American Indian and working-class literature of the US West.
