Northeast Community College has some accomplished writers.
Many of them will be featured during the next Visiting Writers Series, which is open to the public. It will take place on Wednesday, September 24, from 3 to 5 p.m. near the Union 73 Coffee Shop.
Josh Clark: Josh’s love of writing began after breaking through in his struggle to read. After special reading classes in first grade, he read any book he could get his hands on, and shortly after, he was creating stories to sell for pencils to his classmates. When he’s not with his family, coaching basketball, running, or reading, he spends his time writing—currently working on a story intertwined with loss, heartbreak, and the love of basketball.
Pam Saalfeld: Pam is usually TELLING stories rather than reading ones to her audience. She has had a long relationship with Northeast-- as a teacher and administrator since 1997. Today's reading was actually written during her brief stint as a STUDENT, enrolled in Barbara Schmitt's "Publishing, Polishing, and Performing" class. While not accepted for publication, this story was kindly rejected with an encouraging "but feel free to submit more of your work in the future."
Charlene Widener: Charlene Widener serves as the vice president of Educational Services at Northeast Community College. Dr. Widener is a proud community college graduate who holds a masters degree in Communications from Kansas State University and Ph.D. in Theatre with minors in Sociology, English, and History from Mizzou. She has been a community college educator for more than 25 years. In her spare time Widener likes to spend time with her husband, David, her daughter, Emerson, and family pets Lily (dog) and Phoenix (cat). While most of Widener’s writing has been academic in nature, she also writes poetry and personal essays.
Daniel Van Deest: Danny was born and raised in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. While he began writing in high school, his first novel didn't come into focus until 2016. "Balance: A Detective Lindstrom Story" was self-published in 2018, and its follow-up "Echo: A Detective Lindstrom Story" arrived in 2021. When he's not writing, Danny enjoys watching NFL football, playing hobby and board games, watching movies, and listening to all genres of music. He is married to his amazing wife, Angela, and he is the father to three wonderful children, James (25), Anna (23), and Evan (17).
Jen Ippensen (she/her) is originally from Worms, Nebraska and has lived and worked in many places, from New York City to large and small towns in middle America; she now resides with her family in Norfolk. Jen spent many years as an English/Language Arts educator, competitive speech coach, theatre director, and more before transitioning to her current role as director of Library Services at Northeast Community College. She is co-editor-in-chief of Vast Chasm Magazine, a publication dedicated to exploring the expansive human experience and celebrating complex, diverse voices. Jen holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Doane University and Master of Education and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Nebraska. She is a teaching artist and a writer of literary fiction, creative non-fiction, and the occasional poem. Her work can be found in various print and online publications and at jenippensen.com. In all these endeavors, Jen strives to create community, support truth and understanding, and help people feel welcome, seen, and respected.
Jason Elznic has been an English instructor at Northeast Community College since 2002. His first published work other than student publications was in the reginal literary journal Nebraska Territory in 1997. His work was included in the Logan House Press Anthology of 21st Century Poetry in 2001. Although he still occasionally writes creative works, he has lately turned his attention to academic writing, including a textbook on literary criticism, available through OER Commons. When he is not teaching, he enjoys traveling with his wife, Melissa.
Scott Abels is the author of New City (BlazeVOX 2015) and Rambo Goes to Idaho (BlazeVOX 2011), as well as the chapbooks A State of the Union Speech (Beard of Bees Press 2015) and Nebraska Fantastic (Beard of Bees Press 2012). He teaches English at Northeast Community College.
Janet Seegebarth is a Nebraska native with a deep love for language and storytelling. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English Writing and Literature from Wayne State College, where she graduated summa cum laude. Following her studies, she taught Introduction to College Writing at Northeast Community College for four years. She now serves as a librarian at Northeast, a position she assumed after nearly two decades at the Norfolk Public Library. Janet spent her first 14 years on a family farm, where stories of life in the countryside sparked her passion for writing. Her debut book, a nonfiction work released by Arcadia Publishing, highlights the more recent history of Norfolk. Her creative work has also appeared in a range of publications, including Nebraska Life Magazine, Flash Fiction Magazine, WOW! Women On Writing, Splickety, Plains Song Review, Christmas Prairie Tales, Cleanfax Magazine, and Words in the Wind (Voices from the Plains) Volume 6. A member of the Nebraska Writers Guild, she has written across multiple genres and currently writes under the pen name Janet Hise. Her latest work, Chameleons in Bloom, began as a National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) project and evolved into a full-length upmarket book for adults. Janet has recently found representation for Chameleons in Bloom with Mark Gottlieb at Trident Media Group Literary Agency in New York City, and the manuscript is on submission while she works on her next novel.
Bonnie Johnson-Bartee teaches creative writing, composition, and literature courses at Northeast Community College in Norfolk, where she also serves as the coordinator of the Visiting Writers Series and is the editor of Northeast Community College’s annual Voices Out of Nowhere. Bonnie has had several jobs with Northeast Community College, including her first in 2000 as a Writers’ Clinic tutor, and others, such as Volunteer Coordinator, ESL instructor, GED instructor, Transitional English lab instructor and adjunct English instructor. In 2008, Bonnie was hired as a full-time English instructor. Johnson-Bartee is the author of two chapbooks of poetry, Bildungsroman 38 (2004) and Named, but Unknown (2006), and the editor of Teachers College: Essays on the Art of Education (WSC Press, 2007). Her full-length book, Cord Blood (Sandhillls Press, 2022) won the Nebraska Book Awards Poetry Honor Award. Her work can be found in Words Like Rain (WSC Press, 2005), editions of Voices Out of Nowhere and Judas Goat, and Nebraska Life.
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