Ms. Carla Spataro
Pennsylvania, United States
Member Since: 09/02/2008
Carla (C. J.) Spataro is the director of the M.F.A. in Creative Writing program at Rosemont College. She is also the editorial director and co-publisher of Philadelphia Stories magazine and PS Books. She is an award winning short story writer and a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts grant winner. Her short fiction has appeared in Iron Horse Literary Review, Switchgrass Review, Pithead Chapel, Cahoodadoodaling, Permafrost, The Baltimore Review, Painted Bride Quarterly, and others. Poetry has appeared in Ovunque Siamo. Her work has also been anthologized in Another Breath, Forgotten Philadelphia, Extraordinary Gifts, and 50 Over 50. Several of her students have gone on to have books published by big five publishers and win nationally recognized awards. She has also worked as a librettist with composer Mark Lanz Weiser on the piece The Stronger Child and with composer Richard Belcastro on the spoken word chamber work, Snow Drop.
Spataro has been asked to speak on panels or teach workshops at writing conferences like AWP, The Philadelphia Writer’s Conference, Conversations and Connections (Baltimore and Philadelphia), the Lehigh Valley Writer’s Group, Delaware Literary Connection, University of Pennsylvania Annual Writer’s Conference, Rutgers University Writer’s Conference, Community College of Philadelphia Annual Writer’s & Reader’s Festival, and Montgomery County Community College Writer’s Conference. She is one of the organizers of Push to Publish a writer’s conference sponsored by Philadelphia Stories and held at Rosemont College each year. Last year over 125 writers were in attendance. She also runs the Rosemont Writer’s Retreat each summer at Rosemont College and the Rosemont College International Writer's Retreat each January.
In 2011, she organized and co-hosted an eight-part television series recorded and broadcast on CCPTV, the television station for the Community College of Philadelphia, as part of their Cultural Forum Series. Local authors read and were interviewed by Spataro and a panel of writers with a Q & A segment at the end of each show. The program is available online and to Comcast and Fios subscribers in Philadelphia.
As a book editor, Spataro has edited the fiction for three “Best of” Anthologies for Philadelphia Stories and edited the fiction and non-fiction for Forgotten Philadelphia and Extraordinary Gifts, Remarkable Women of the Delaware Valley.
She has a B. A.A. in Music from Central Michigan University, a Master of Music from Michigan State University, and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Rosemont College. She has taught English composition, journalism, publishing, and creative writing courses at Rutgers, Rowan, Temple, and West Chester Universities, and at Rosemont College and the Community College of Philadelphia.
Website: www.philadelphiastories.org
Twitter Username: @cjspataro
Publications
- The Rush of Water , Pithead Chapel (2018)
- Seven Rules for Surviving a Zombie Apocolypse While Running a Private Zoo , Switchgrass Review (2017)
- Rapture of the Deep , Cahoodadoodaling (2017)
- The Twi-Lite , Iron Horse Literary Review Fiction Trifecta (2017)
- Incarnations , Permafrost (2016)
- Blue Sky and Pig Boy , Painted Bride Quarterly (2013)
- Stalkerrazzi , Mason's Road (2011)
- What I Did on My Summer Vacations, by Simon Willcox, Jr. , 4' 33" (audio publication) (2010)
- Tweak , 322 Review (2010)
- What I Did on My Summer Vacations, by Simon Willcox, Jr. , 322 Review (2010)
- The Vegetable at Sunset , The Baltimore Review (2010)
- Sleeping Bear , Parlor (2008)
- The Wreck of the Edmunk Fitzgerald , Wild River Review (2006)
- Bent and Blue , XConnect (2006)
- The Boy with a Fishing Pole , Hackwriters (2002)
- "Trinacria" and "Santa Lucia" , Ovunque Siamo (2018)
Awards
- Finalist, Larry Brown Short Story Award, Pithead Chapel(2018)
- Honorable Mention, Switchgrass Review, Costal Wellmness Prize(2017)
- First Place, Iron Horse Literary Review, Trifecta Fiction Prize(2017)
- Finalist, Mason's Road Fiction Contest(2011)
- Story South Million Writer's Award Nomination(2008)
- Award for Distinguished Teaching at the Graduate Level(2013)
Employment
- Adjunct College Professor at West Chester University (September 2007 - December 2007)
- Adjunct College Professor at Temple University (September 2007 - May 2009)
- Adjunct College Professor at Rutgers University (September 2007 - May 2012)
- Adjunct College Professor at Community College of Philadelphia (October 2010 - May 2012)
- Adjunct College Professor at Rowan University (September 2009 - May 2012)
- Adjunct Professor at Rosemont College (September 2009 - May 2012)
- MFA Program Director at Rosemont College (May 2012 - )
Degrees
- Bachelor of Arts in Music from Central Michigan University (May 1984)
- Master of Arts in Music from Michigan State University (June 1986)
- Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Rosemont College (May 2007)
Genres of Interest
Fiction, Creative nonfiction, Playwriting, Screenwriting, Children's literature , Poetry