THE SPECTATOR

Utica College
English Department Alumni Newsletter
Fall 2015

Distinguished English alumnus and accomplished novelist and American literary critic Frank
Lentricchia, Ph.D. talks to fellow alumna Courtney Foll and Assistant Professor Stephanie
Selvick about the cultural thickness needed to wrestle with unflattering histories in crime fiction.

Interview with Frank Lentricchia

Interview by Courtney Foll, Transcript by Stephanie Selvick
During the summer of 2014,
Courtney Foll and Dr. Stephanie
Selvick followed literary character and private investigator Eliot
Conte through a series of surprising and harrowing circumstances,
ranging from the humorous
such as the hanging of a university provost out a windowto
the heart-wrenchingincluding
the murder of his two daughters.
Frank Lentricchias 2012 The Accidental Pallbearer: An Eliot Conte
Mystery Series kick-starts the Eliot
Conte series. Conte digs deep
into Uticas political underbelly
to uncover ghastly societal issues,
including domestic abuse, rape,
child abuse, and murder.
Courtney Foll: To begin, why
did you choose crime fiction as
the genre to represent Utica?
Frank Lentricchia: I had not
written crime fiction prior to the
Conte series. So, it is not that I
choose crime fiction to represent
Utica in a particular way. I started
reading crime fiction seriously
about four or five years ago. My
wife suggested some Scandinavian

texts. I was very impressed by Scandinavian writers and largely unimpressed by American crime writers.
Scandinavian writers had two
things going for them: first, the
representation of a crime as an
index to something broader and
pervasively corrupt. The other
thing I enjoyed when reading
Scandinavian authors is their sense
of the way the past informs the
present. The past was not really
pastit was alive in the present. I
found that American crime writers
were too interested in plot. Selling
page-turners appeared to be the
primary objectivewithout too
much beyond. I admire the readability of American crime fiction.
But Scandinavians provided me
with a model of cultural and social
thickness that I liked very much.
They showed me that the past has
long tentacles that reach into the
present. That, in fact, is the theme
of the third Conte novel, The
Morelli Thing, which focuses on
the most famous unsolved murder
in Uticas history and its political
underpinnings. Reading Scandi-

Editor
Dr. Lisa Orr
Professor of English

Contributors
Courtney Foll

Dr. Gary Leising

Suzanne Richardson
Dr. Stephanie Selvick
Rose Zaloom

The Spectator is published

annually by the English
Department at Utica College
Send correspondence regarding
The Spectator to:
Dr. Lisa Orr
lorr@utica.edu

navian crime fiction, I wondered

if I could write one.
CF: That is very interesting. Do
you think there is a reason why
American authors do not better
utilize the past?
FL: Well, the American myth
of history is that we invent ourselves out of nothing. A prime
literary example would of course
be Jay Gatsby, who invents a new
identity for himself. In such a
mythology, the weight of the past
Continued on page 2

Frank Lentricchia Continued from page 1

presumably doesnt exist, because
there is no past. I obviously dont
believe that, and the great American
novelists I was inspired by dont go
for that either: think of William
Faulkner for example; or Henry
James; or Toni Morrison. These writers provide counter-examples. They
write fiction in which history plays a
heavy determinative role.
CF: Although you write about a
nonfiction place, Utica, is there a point
at which Utica begins to transform
through your fiction? And, as a followup, do you think Utica has something
unique to offer crime writing?
FL: Place was very important to
me when I was writing these books.
Utica is not just a setting; it is a character as well. Not only the city, but
even specific addresses were points of
inspirationlike where Conte lives.
That is a real address: 1318 Mary
Street. I grew up at 1303 Mary Street,
just down the block from where I
position Conte. The configuration of
streets around that area in East Utica
plays a significant role. The restaurants and cafes named in the novels,
for instance, are actual, and they provide a basis for East Uticas cultural
ambiance. The East side of Utica in
its particularity is a huge reality for
me. My imagination and memory are
rooted in that area. In wanting to give
readers a sense of a real place, this was
what I knew best.
CF: Were there places you also
invented?
FL: Yes, not every location is nonfiction in the Conte series. The Gay
Martini Bar on Varick Street, for
instance; I made that up. I wanted
to invent the Gay Martini Bar becausewell, there was this joke told.
Conte says to the young woman who
is bartending: Is this strictly a gay
bar? And she says back: There is no
more strictly.
I needed a place for Conte, the
recovering alcoholic, to go. When

he is under duress, he goes to a bar

on Varick Street. In that scene this
young woman talks Eliot out of
drinking; well, she doesnt talk him
out of drinking per se. Her presence,
and the way that she deals with him,
causes Eliot to pull back and get a
hold of himself. He is grateful for
that and for her. In the second novel
of the trilogy, The Dog Killer of Utica,
she plays a role in his life when she
reports that she is being abused by
her boyfriend, who is also the owner

of the bar.
CF: So, youre saying that East
Utica as a region has played a largely
nonfiction role in your work, but
that certain places were invented for
the sake of plot?
FL: The basis of my fictional world
is Utica: ethnic Utica of a political
kind. Silvio Conte, Eliots father, is
inspired by a famous Utica political
boss, who shall not be named here.
But, returning to your question on
plot, Im not interested in plot when
I begin writing. I am forced to think
about plot. You cant write a crime
novel without a plot. But I never
have a plot in advance. I have a sense
2

of character, and I discover plot as

I move along. At a certain point, I
begin to see an unfolding plot. But I
do not, and I never want to, impose it from the outside. I want the
plot to feel organic. If language and
character cause me to see things in
plotted terms, then I begin imagining where the plot will go.
CF: Thank you so much for talking with us today. Wrapping up,
I was wondering if you have any
advice for current students in the
English program at Utica College.
Did you have any favorite classes
when you attended?
FL: I hope that students believe
that studying literature and writing
about it clearly will equip them to
do many things aside from teaching
English in high school.
I loved my American literature
courses, of course. English romanticism was also very important to me.
I had wonderful classes in philosophy that helped me think through
literature in new ways. But it was the
teachers in particular who were inspiring. They conveyed a passion and
devotion that made a big impact and
inspired me to want to teach English
at the college level.
Courtney and Stephanie eagerly
await the publication of the third novel,
The Morelli Thing, due out Summer
2015 from Melville House, and (rumors
say) a fourth Conte novel is in the
works. We hope you join us by reading
The Accidental Pallbearer (2012) and The
Dog Killer of Utica (2014).
Courtney Foll earned her B.A. in
Adolescent Education and English from
Utica College in 2014. She is currently
earning her M.A. in Literacy at the State
University of New York at Cortland. She
is a member of Sigma Tau Delta International English Honor Society, as well as
the Kappa Delta Pi International Honor
Society in Education. She is thrilled to
announce that she was recently certified to
teach English in New York State.

How I Rewrote the Gender Rulebook by

Playing Tennis and Wearing Pants
Rose Zaloom 16
Most of society imposes a system
that leaves many people unable
to safely express themselves.
Early in life, I discovered that
social institutions, like athletic
establishments and schools, can use
gender codes in ways that severely
limit expression.
Alice Dreger, PhD., is a professor
at the Feinberg School of Medicine
at Northwestern University who
researches clinical medical humanities
and bioethics. In her 2009 New York
Times article, Whats the Rulebook
for Sexual Verification, Dreger
reveals that biological deviations
from the standard gender binary
have caused problems for many
athletes, and no resolution for these
issues has been instated. Similarly,
Katrina Karkazis, a senior researcher
at the Center for Biomedical Ethics
at Stanford University, and Rebecca
Jordan-Young, an associate professor
of Womens, Gender and Sexuality
Studies at Barnard College, analyze
champion middle-distance South
African runner Caster Semenya and
the gender testing she was forced
to undergo after her 2009 win at
the Berlin World Championships.
Their article, The Trouble with
Too Much T, illuminates gender
as a social category that cannot
be accurately tested. They explain
that Caster Semenya was accused
of being a man masquerading
as a woman to gain an unfair
competitive advantage, and was
forced to undergo an investigation
to determine her gender. This series
of events notably took place only
after she won. Unfortunately, the
I.A.A.F. (International Association
of Athletics) has no comprehensive
policy through which gender can

be consistently determined and,

as Dreger argues, is relying on
unstated, shifting standards. While
the I.A.A.F claims that gender-testing
protects female athletes from males
masquerading as females to win, the
results appear wholly punitive against
exceptional female athletes.
An endocrinologist, gynecologist,
and psychologist were called in to
declare Semenyas gender officially,
and yet even they could not agree
(Karkazis and Jordan-Young).
Conventional thought dictates that
if a fetus has XX chromosomes,
she is female, and if a fetus has XY
chromosomes, he is male, because
the Y chromosome contains the SYR
gene, which causes the fetus to grow
as male. Dreger, however, contests
the simplicity of this assumption.
For instance, she explains that:
[e]ven an XY fetus with a
functioning SRY gene can
essentially develop female. In the
case of Androgen Insensitivity
Syndrome, the ability of cells to
hear the masculinizing hormones
known as androgens are lacking.
That means the genitals and the
rest of the external body look
female-typical.
In this case, chromosomes
complicate genders binary expression.
The question remains: How does
medical ambiguity translate into
gender? More specifically, is it fair
or even possible to attempt testing a
persons gender scientifically?
Although Semenya had much
more at stake when her gender was
questioned, I, too, was punished for
my gender during a youth tennis
tournament. When I was eleven
years old, I entered a local USTA3

sanctioned (United States Tennis

Association) tournament. Normally,
these tournaments are organized
by gender and age, placing me in
the twelve-and-under girls bracket.
Since there were no females in my
age bracket, I was guided to play in
the twelve-and-under boys bracket. I
did not care either way. I only knew
that I wanted to play tennis and win.
I competed in the first two rounds
and won both of my matches. At the
start of my final match, however, a
single point resulted in my gender
being used against me. While my
opponent was up at net, I executed
a groundstroke that hit him in the
shoulder. Outraged by this legal shot,
his father came barreling onto the
court and demanded we stop playing.
Confused, we both did as he asked,
while the tournament coordinator
met this man. This father, no doubt
surprised by my aggressiveness,
argued that his son could not play
as aggressively as he normally would
against a girl. He claimed I had an
unfair advantage over his son and
should be disqualified.
Like Semenya, whose gender was
investigated only after she won, my
gender was considered advantageous
only after I won the point. These
two instances suggest that using a
binary gender system automatically
implies that one gender (usually
male) is exclusively superior to the
other (usually female.) Despite
my parents, my opponents father,
and the tournament coordinator
discussing the issue for what seemed
like forever, my gender could not be
ignored and my opponent and I were
forced to stop the match. In the end,
we were both recognized as winners.
It certainly did not feel fair to me.

How I Rewrote the Gender Rulebook Continued from page 3

I wish I could say this was my
only experience with institutions
policing my personal expression,
but it was not. I discovered schools,
as well, create rules that encourage
and enforce stereotypes that emerge
from the gender binary. When I was
in the eighth grade, for example, I
faced a problem of forced femininity
when I received a letter that said, as
a young lady, I had to wear a black
skirt at the All-County concert. The
letter threated any female musician
who did not obey the dress code
with dismissal. I was understandably
upset and did not want to wear
a skirt. Given the proper body
position a trombonist uses, wearing
a skirt while playing is difficult and
uncomfortable. Although anyone
can play any musical instrument,
the trombone is often imagined as
an instrument that only boys play,
and thus the possibility of a female
trombonist was likely not considered.
I had decided that I could not excel
in my performance if I wore a skirt,
and therefore would not wear one. At
the same time, I was nervous about
being removed from the performance
when the conductor saw I did not
follow his instructions. To voice my
anxiety, my mother called the band
chairperson to clarify the situation
and tell him I would perform in the
concert in dress pants. She was met
with hostility. At first, the chairperson
rationalized that exceptions to the
rule would set a troubling precedent.

In return, my mother quickly

pointed out that the rule put female
trombone players at a disadvantage.
The chairpersoncharming as he
wassuggested that I should simply
get used to so-called proper female
attire. He further claimed that all
respectable women perform at
concerts in skirts, and even went so
far as to say that these respectable
women are able to wear skirts because
they choose to study instruments
traditionally played by women.
Jack Halberstam, Ph.D., is a
professor of English and Gender
Studies at the University of Southern
California. His 1998 book, Female
Masculinity, is considered ground
breaking for the new way in which
Halberstam questions whether
masculinity need be solely associated
with those who were assigned
male at birth (Halberstam, 2015).
Halberstam argues that female
masculinity is portrayed in popular
culture as unacceptable because of
the way in which it threatens the
belief that only males should have
masculinity and therefore power. He
proposes that masculinity is more
than just sex, it also represents
the power of [] social privilege
(2). I found that when patriarchal
privilege is challenged by women,
the response is harsh, even if the
person is doing so unknowingly.
By enforcing all females to become
exclusively feminine and to abandon
all perceivably masculine traits, the

value of femininity is diminished

and the privilege often associated
with masculinity is celebrated.
For instance, despite pants having
been a staple in womens closets for
decades, in the arena of this middle
school concert, pants were suddenly
considered wholly inappropriate. This
is a prime example of a gender binary
application (i.e. females should do
one thing, males should do another)
that creates problems for everyone.
Despite the gender policing I faced as
a young person, I did wear pants to
that concert and I did play well.
Dreger, Karkazis and Jordan-Young,
and Halberstam allowed me to
rethink these childhood experiences
and identify an alarming pattern.
When an eleven-year-old is forbidden
from playing in a tennis tournament,
something is wrong. When a dress
code punishes a girl for choosing a
musical instrument that, according to
school officials, does not match her
gender, it is clear the imposed system,
and not the girl, needs improvement.
I am left wondering why the gender
binary is automatically accepted.
Despite the adversities a strict gender
binary caused me, I can happily
report that, years later, I still actively
pursue both interests. I am co-captain
of my colleges tennis team, and
trombonist in several bands. I have
and will continue to wear pants every
time I play.

Works Cited
Dreger, Alice. Alice Domurat Dreger. n.p. n.d. Web. 17 April 2015.
---. Whats the Rulebook for Sex Verification? The New York Times. The New York Times Company. 21 Aug. 2009. Web. 26 Aug. 2014.
Halberstam, Jack. Female Masculinity. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1998. Print.
---. Comparative Literature Department. University of Southern California, n.d. Web. 21 April 2015.
Karkazis, Katrina, and Rebecca Jordan-Young. The Trouble With Too Much T. The New York Times. The New York Times Company. 10
April 2015. Web. 17 April 2015.
Rose Zaloom 16 has published fiction and poetry in Utica Colleges literary journal, Ampersand. She has won Joseph Vogel Awards for both
genres. At UC, Rose acts in the theatrical productions, plays trombone in the band, is co-captain of the Womens Tennis Team, president of the
Harold Fredric English Society, president of the English honor society Sigma Tau Delta, vice-president of the UC Honors Association, editor-in-chief
of Ampersand, and a member of the Math Club. She is currently pursuing a B.A. in English with a double minor in Theatre and Creative Writing
at Utica College.

Nassar Poetry Prize

Gary Leising
On April 16, 2015, Utica College
celebrated the third winner of the
Eugene Paul Nassar Poetry Prize,
presenting the $2,000 award to
Suzanne Cleary for her book Beauty
Mark. Before the largest crowd assembled for any of the prize winners
readings (so large that we scrambled
to bring out extra chairs as the
Carbone Family Auditorium filled),
Cleary read her accomplished and
crafted poems with a pitch perfect
delivery, drawing the audience in
with a lovely sense of humor. As the
prizes benefactor Steven Critelli 72
noted, each poem was enthusiastically received. However, as we were
in the midst of great poetry, and
not stand-up-comedy, the audience
also sensed the elegance of expression, and not just humor, but the
poignant comedy of being human,
modulated so the spirit takes flight
on the wings of words.
Further praise for Clearys work
came from the contest judge, poet
and memoirist Jane Satterfield,
associate professor of writing at

Loyola University Maryland: Beauty

Mark crackles with urbane wisdom
and a music all her own. These
poems are whip-smart, driven by a
perfectly pitched conversational tone
that belies an impassioned aesthetic
inquiry. Satterfield, in fact, cited
the range of contemporary lifes
amusements that give Cleary her
subject matter: Shakespeare-inthe-Park, temporary tattoos, [and]
a Cheese-of-the-Month Club.
Cleary, a native of Binghamton, New
York, brought in some humor and
subject matter that spoke directly to
upstate residents in poems such as
Cahoots or Anyways (the latter
available, incidentally, on her website
www.suzanneclearypoet.com).
After the reading, in addition to
presenting the check, Mr. Critelli
gave Suzanne Cleary a signed copy
of Professor Emeritus Eugene Paul
Nassars book A Walk Around the
Block. During the receptiona rich
dessert hospitality hourshe signed
many copies of the award-winning
book for students, faculty, and other
5

guests in attendance. Each year, it

seems, the celebration of the Nassar Prize surpasses the high mark set
twelve months earlier.
The following day, Cleary visited
my students in the poetry workshop,
offering them feedback on their own
poems. The students were grateful
for the opportunity to receive criticism from a different, accomplished
voice. One in particular, Elaine
Paravati (15), wrote in a blog on
the UC website that she learned so
much from her, in particular quoting Clearys comment on her poem,
that In order to embrace the pure
silliness of poetry, youve got to have
nerve.
The ongoing successand, I
might add, growthof the Eugene
Paul Nassar Poetry Prize is a morethan-fitting way to pay tribute to
one of our emeritus faculty, and
the English department and Utica
College are grateful that Steven
Critelli continues to makes this
possible, both for UC and for
upstate New York poetry.

2015 Wasserman and DiSpirito Fine Arts

Scholarships Awarded to UC Creative Writers
Suzanne Richardson
On Sunday, April 19th , The
Office of Student Affairs held its
annual Student Recognition Brunch
in the Frank E. Gannett Memorial
Library Concourse. During the
ceremony the Dean of Arts and
Sciences, John Johnsen, awarded
Wasserman and Dispirito scholarships
to Junior English Major Rose
Zaloom, Child Psych Life/Liberal
Studies Junior Daphne Wiggins, and
Communication Arts Senior Kortney
Valentine for their exceptional work in
creative writing.
The Henry R. & Rose Dispirito
Memorial Scholarship is given to a
junior or senior with a GPA of 3.00
or higher who has shown promise in
an arts area and a great contribution
to the community/area of study. Rose
Zaloom more than met the criteria
for this scholarship with her immense
talent in creative writing. The Dean
spoke highly of Roses work: She met
each genre she encountered with the
right attitude and found a particular
aptitude in both fiction and poetry.
Roses willingness to revise her work is
above average. These small incremental
changes draft by draft have not only
proved her dedication to her craft,
but they also show her willingness to
work a piece and do the hard work
of trying to understand a piece more
fully, trying to get a piece to its best
self. This is the type of work that
many graduate students have patience
for, but most undergraduates do not,
he added, Rose is skilled at all the
decision-making and creativity that
goes into creating an entire fictional
world, filling it with characters, and
then plotting their moves. Rose was
not only was able to do this, but
she was also able to make her story
give readers questions to ponder:

should we always do what were told?

What kinds of demands will society
put on me when I enter the work
force? What am I willing to do for
money? What is the value of human
lifeis it inherently valuable? These
philosophical matters were tackled
within a ten-page story she wrote,
and its a feat. Its often been said that
artists do not have to solve problems,
they simply have to articulate the
problems wellI would say Roses
work is already articulating problems,
already asking a reader to self-reflect.
Her fiction is already resonating with
lifewhich is the project of literary
fiction to illuminate the real through a
beautiful construction.
The Mary Wasserman Fine Arts
scholarship is awarded to students
who demonstrate talent in an
artistic area and might benefit from
furthering their art education. Daphne
Wiggins was awarded this scholarship
based on her talents in creative
nonfiction. The Dean said, Daphne
Wiggins writing is special. She goes
deep within herself to reimagine
her experiences in full scene with
dialogue, lovely descriptions, and
creative structures that tell stories in
unique and challenging ways. Daphne
has a natural talent for telling stories
and for important details that many
would leave out. The Dean then
added, Daphne took on two points
of view in her piece transitions a
sophisticated and risky move for
nonfiction that worked out well.
By telling the piece from both her
and her boyfriends point of view we
more fully understand how people
fall in love, and its clear that to the
writer, love is a two person story, not
one, which literature often insists,
and demonstrates by employing

only one point of view. In her piece

Damages, she recalls a favor gone
wrong and the web of events that
unfold after her car is part of a crime.
The range of subjects and human
experience in these pieces that this
one writer handles suggests a wisdom
and sophistication beyond her years.
Recognizing Daphnes exceptional
work in writing at Utica College is
recognizing a well-rounded humble
talent. Daphne is on a writing journey,
and its just begun.
Kortney Valentine was also honored
with a Wasserman scholarship. The
Dean said, She has a rare gift in
her writing for symbolismcentral
images to be specific. She knows
and understands metaphor at a high
levelshe uses this to her advantage as
an author to strengthen the meaning
and drive home emotional content
in her work. Kortneys personal
essays are exceptional. All writing is
in translation from author, to page,
to reader, but Kortneys translations
are more precise than most. Through
image she lets her work translate to
our hearts and senses, which makes
the work immediate, fantastic.
Kortneys essays range in topics from
death to the pain and beauty of
growing up. Her essays speak to the
power of place, and use metaphor
expertly. Kortney has worked hard
to make her writing beautifuleven
beyond that, shes used art to process
painful real-life experiences. This
award stands for recognition that
others see and appreciate that process
of transformation in her work.
The joyous occasion was topped with
friends and family members crowding
around the scholarship winners for
congratulations, photographs, and a
delicious brunch.

Faculty News
Assistant Professor Daniel
Cruz presented two papers at the
Mennonite/s Writing VII Conference at Fresno Pacific Univiersity
in March 2015, Stephen Beachys
boneyard, the Martyrs Mirror, and
Anabaptist Activism, and Reading
My Life in the Text: Adventures of a
Queer Mennonite Critic.
Associate Professor Jason Denmans A Shakespeare Allusion in
Drydens Love Triumphant is forthcoming in Notes and Queries.

Associate Professor Gary Leisings The Alp at the End of My Street

won the Brick Road Poetry Prize and
was published by Brick Road Poetry
Press in August 2014. His chapbook
of poems, The Girl with the JAKE
Tattoo, was published by Two of
Cups Press in March 2015. He gave
poetry readings at Hamilton College
(December 2014), Alfred University
(March 2015), SubText Books in
St. Paul, MN (April 2015), and the
Southern Kentucky Book Festival

in Bowling Green, KY (April 2015).

He also is this years winner of the
Harold T. Clark Award.
Professor Lisa Orr will read from
her historical novel Sweatshop Cinderella at the international Historical
Novel Society Conference in Denver,
Colorado in June 2015.
Assistant Professor Stephanie
Selvick presented a paper at the
57th Annual African Studies Association Conference.

Alumni News
Marlene Janda (English, 05)
has published a compilation of five
volumes of her webcomic, Grayling,
available in either print or digital
format at Indyplanet: http://www.
indyplanet.com/?product=117892.

Marlene is living in Phoenix,

Arizona and working at iMemories,
a company that digitalizes photos,
videos, and other materials.

The Spectator welcomes notices from

alumni for future issues.

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