road trip: NEXUS conference

Grateful for the opportunity to present a paper at the NEXUS 2016 Interdisciplinary Graduate Conference: ALT + Shift: Unlocking Alternative Methodologies and Marginal Positions.  This is the 7th biennial graduate conference sponsored by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The conference is March 3-5. My presentation is scheduled for Friday: "The Reluctant Fundamentalist: Using Affect to Map Global Potentialities." Full schedule: http://web.utk.edu/~nexus/#Schedule.

I am especially excited to have this particular paper accepted for presentation. It is the result of the work I did during a very challenging class in the last semester of my PhD coursework, "After Postmodernism: Literature and Literary Study in the 21st Century" taught by Prof. Theodore Martin. I was privileged to have taken two classes from Dr. Martin, and both proved invaluable to my academic progress.  I remain personally grateful to Martin for his professionalism and ability as a teacher and mentor.

Tennessee, anyone?

poetry + coffee = heaven

What could be better than your favorite cuppa coffee and a poem? Nothing! says the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Literary Circular campaign. This week, The Grind, UWM coffeeshop, will wrap your delicious beverage of choice in select poems by authors Alessandra Rolffs, Franklin K.R. Cline, Jenni Moody, Noel Mariano, Mark Brand, and yours truly, Sherri H. Hoffman.

Come in and warm your literary heart with a poetic espresso.

seven authors, seven mysteries

My new story, "Little Secrets" is included in a new collection, Tudor Close: A Mystery Anthology. You'll never guess the location of this mysterious, small-town story.

PREORDER for $20 before November 30th to receive a print copy, ebook, and an audio recording of the story of your choice from the collection!

In December, the book will be available for $20 (includes print and ebook), $5 for ebook only. Audio files will be available, $1 for single stories or $5 for the audio book. Visit The Apiary website for details and shipping costs.

Authors include: H.E. Bilinski, Tabitha Blankenbiller, Leigh Camacho Rourks, Stephen Cox, Sherri H. Hoffman, Moye Ishimoto, and Gina Mulligan.

"One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day."
~ Albert Einstein, from "Old Man's Advice to Youth: Never Lose a Holy Curiosity." LIFE Magazine (2 May 1955).

out in the world: tanzania

Over winter break, I traveled to Rwanda to visit some family, and we took a side-trip to Tanzania. The Ngorongoro Area is a protected reserve that includes the Ngorongoro crater and the Serengeti National Park, stretching all the way to the border of Kenya. I came to understand why there are so many ocean metaphors for this part of the world: the English language lacks descriptors for such vastness, sky and rolling grasslands. The Maasai word for this place is siringet, which translates roughly to "the place where the land runs on forever."

In the Rift Valley, we visited one of the Leakey archeological sites where that same vastness moves temporally. The experience shifted so much for me, even months later, I am feeling its effects.

Asante sana. Thank you. I remain grateful for the opportunity.

 ~ sherri