“Publication” Class Notes

James Cocola (Grad ’09) has released Places in the Making: A Cultural Geography of American Poetry (University of Iowa Press). The book maps a range of 20th- and 21st-century American poets who have used language to evoke the world at various scales. The poetics under consideration, distinct from related traditions such as landscape, nature and pastoral poetry, centers on particular engagements with actual places.

Donald Prudlo (Grad ’04) has released Certain Sainthood: Canonization and the Origins of Papal Infallibility in the Medieval Church (Cornell University Press). The book traces the development of the Catholic doctrine of papal infallibility to the church’s struggle with heresy in the 12th and 13th centuries. Mr. Prudlo is an associate professor of history at Jacksonville State University.

Robert Emmett (Col ’01) has released Cultivating Environmental Justice: A Literary History of U.S. Garden Writing (University of Massachusetts Press), an analysis of mid-20th-century garden writing. Drawing on ecocriticism, environmental history, landscape architecture and recent work in environmental justice and food studies, the book explores how the language of environmental justice emerged in descriptions of gardening across a variety of literary forms. Mr. Emmett is visiting assistant professor of environmental studies at Roanoke College.

Mary Morony (Col ’97) has published Done Growed Up (Westropp Press), the second book in her “Apron Strings” trilogy. The series is based on the hard truths of life in the late 1950s and early ’60s, touching on family dysfunction, addiction and racism. Ms. Morony lives in Orange County, Virginia.

Ravi Shankar (Col ’96 CM) and his co-translator Priya Sarrukai Chabria have published their translation of Andal: The Autobiography of a Goddess (Zubaan Books), the collected works of the eighth-century Tamil poet and saint Andal. Mr. Shankar is a poet, translator and founding editor of Drunken Boat. His books include Language for a New Century, Deepening Groove and What Else Could It Be.

James Nolan (Grad ’92, Grad ’95) released What They Saw in America (Cambridge University Press) in May 2016. The book discusses the visits of four outside observers—Alexis de Tocqueville, Max Weber, G.K. Chesterton and Sayyid Qutb—to the United States, comparing their insights on American culture and its features that have persisted over time. Mr. Nolan is a professor of sociology at Williams College.

Delia Howard (Col ’85 CM) has released a children’s novel, Finding Fortune (Farrar, Straus and Giroux); this is her fifth novel. It focuses on a 12-year-old who runs away to a largely deserted former shell-harvesting town on the Mississippi River, where she meets the few remaining inhabitants and searches for a forgotten treasure. Ms. Ray lives in Iowa City.

Stan Haynes (Law ’83) has published President-Making in the Gilded Age: The Nominating Conventions of 1876–1900 (McFarland & Co.). The book analyzes the U.S. presidential nominating conventions at the turn of the 20th century, discussing their pageantry, drama, deal-making and often surprising outcomes. Mr. Haynes practices law at Semmes, Bowen & Semmes and lives in Ellicott City, Maryland.

David Massey (Col ’81, Law ’84 CM) recently released his third album of original Americana songs, Until the Day Is Done. The record reached No. 169 on the Americana Music Association’s chart, and in May debuted at  No. 11 on the Roots Music Report’s folk-rock album chart. Two songs from the album also debuted on the Roots Music Report’s folk-rock song chart, one at No. 2 and one at No. 3. Mr. Massey is a mergers and acquisitions partner at the Washington, D.C., office of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan.

Gale Mattox (Grad ’77, Grad ’81) edited Coalition Challenges in Afghanistan: The Politics of Alliance (Stanford University Press). The book examines the experiences of a number of countries in the conflict in Afghanistan, focusing on the demands of operating within a diverse coalition of states. It comprises analysis of the conflict in terms of objectives, strategy and mission and case studies of 15 coalition members. Ms. Mattox is professor of political science at the U.S. Naval Academy, adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies and a senior fellow at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

Susan Robbins (Grad ’76) has published There Is Nothing Strange (Holland House Books), her third book. The novel is a darkly comic look at a love triangle, written in a lyrical prose. Her collection of short stories, Nothing but the Weather (Unsolicited Press), came out in 2014. Ms. Robbins’ first novel, One Way Home (Random House) won the Virginia Prize for fiction. She is a writing instructor at Hampden-Sydney College.

Howard Griffith (Col ’76 CM) has released Spreading the Feast (P&R Publishing). The book provides a theological reflection on the sacrament of Holy Communion and 28 meditations drawn from the Old and New testaments. Mr. Griffith is an associate professor of systematic theology and academic dean at Reformed Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.

Bonnie Thurston (Grad ’75, Grad ’79 CM) has released Hidden in God: Discovering the Desert Vision of Charles de Foucauld (Ave Maria Press). The book explores Christian life through the legacy of de Foucauld, a French priest and hermit who lived in the Algerian desert in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Ms. Thurston is a New Testament scholar and a poet.

Peter Newman (Col ’74) has recently written two e-books, Do Christians Have Two Natures? and How to Stop Practicing Sin. He also published The Meaning of the Cross in 2013. Mr. Newman is a Christian author and Bible teacher.

Ross Howell (Col ’72 CM) has released his first novel, Forsaken (NewSouth Books). It is a work of historical fiction based on the tense racial atmosphere surrounding the 1912 murder trial of Virginia Christian, a black girl who was the only female juvenile executed in Virginia. Mr. Howell lives in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Mark Scharf (Col ’84 CM) has published a theatrical adaptation of H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau (Steele Spring Stage Rights). The play is available on Amazon along with Mr. Scharf’s previously published plays Lizard Brains, Get Stuffed and Keeping Faith.

Richard Aubry (Educ ’69, Educ ’74 CM) has published It’s Not Just Black or White, a book about baseball and civil rights in Farmville, Virginia.