McKinnon Press

June 1, 2010 - After 22 anthologies of student work from the Bull City, McKinnon Press proudly presents the best short stories of the past five years in the BEST OF MCKINNON PRESS.

May 27, 2010 - McKinnon Press announces the release of award-winning poet G Yamazawa's debut book of poetry, EVER VICTORIOUS.

January 12, 2009 - McKinnon Press announces the release of two new anthologies of student writing: BLEEDING INK and SCRIBBLING GENIUS.

May 29, 2008 - McKinnon Press announces its largest release of anthologies and student novels to date. The anthologies include:

By Kaitlin Ugolik : The Herald-Sun
Jun 3, 2008

DURHAM -- Zak Corsi walked to the podium coolly, introduced himself to the small audience without a hint of nervousness and began reading his poem.

"Can you hear it?"

His voice grew louder and more commanding as he read on past his poem's title, about the "bite-sized pieces of bull----" being fed through "silent propaganda" to "what we now call 'the human race.'" He indicated something very small with his fingers every time he said "the human race."

Corsi's intensity grew, almost yelling as he expressed his frustration with society through more fierce words with a lyrical tone.

When he was done, the audience responded with heavy applause.

Corsi, a junior, is one of 126 students at C.E. Jordan High School to have their work published in an anthology or full-length novel this year. The students gathered in the media center Thursday evening to share in the culminating experience of their creative writing year, presenting excerpts of their work to family and friends, and celebrating their publication.

Over the past three years, Stuart Albright's creative writing classes have published 11 anthologies and seven novels of original work through his publishing company, McKinnon Press. It's all part of his curriculum, which he models after the one he had as a creative writing minor at UNC-Chapel Hill.

"Public recognition for work well done is important for a teenager," Albright said.

The most important aspect of the writing process that gets his students to this publication night, he said, is workshopping.

His students write a 1,000-word story and make copies for each person in the class, and everyone spends several weeks critiquing their peers' work. At the end of the semester, each student chooses one or a few of his or her favorite pieces to submit to the class anthology. All of these books are professionally bound and can be purchased online through their distributor, Lulu.com.

Junior Jordan Fearrington contributed to an anthology last semester, called "Sophistochaos", whose contributors were itching for a reunion on Thursday. Fearrington was cajoled into taking the class by Albright, who was also his football coach.

"It was so overcrowded I gave my seat up to a girl and sat on a stack of books," Fearrington said, but it was worth it. "You get to meet diverse people and hear about their lives. It's cool to see how people open up once they've bonded a little bit."

Albright said diversity is one of his favorite rewards for teaching writing to teenagers.

"I think it really bridges stereotype groups in schools," he said. "A lot of my [football] players take my class, and a lot of AP kids and inner-city Durham kids who don't necessarily take honors or AP-level classes, and the kids learn a lot from each other. They've become very much a family by the time they finish up the class."

Some of his classes have a somber mood and tend to write about death and violence. Others focus more on humor. One student read a poem Thursday that had the audience laughing, while another, a fiercely executed political piece, evoked great applause. Albright stood by, grinning, as each student read his or her work.

Many students have begun taking Albright's Creative Writing I class with plans to move on to Creative Writing II, in which they can write a full-length novel. Two authors were featured at the event Thursday.

Senior Anthony Manenti's novel, "Barely Accepted", focuses on "the essence of being 18."

"It's about being a kid but having to move on to bigger things," he said. "Not wanting to grow up, but having to." The main character represents Manenti as he is now, and interacts with other characters that represent him as a child and as he was two years ago. The title of the book came from his struggle to get into college.

Senior Ashley Ellis's novel, "Blindside", is a dystopian story about "a society that has taken morality to the extreme," she said. The story involves a Sept. 11-type event "but on a wider scale." The two main characters, a girl and her teacher/mentor, are the only ones in the fight against the government.

Ellis plans on writing more novels.

Albright published his own memoir through the publishing company he created, McKinnon Press. When he realized how easy it was to do, he thought it would be a great tool for his students.

"Companies are having to spend billions of dollars training their employees to write," Albright said. "You get the sense that writing isn't taught. Students leave my class and say that when they go off to college and into the work force it really teaches them to get their thoughts down on paper succinctly and clearly."

This has gotten Albright a lot of recognition, but he wants to put the focus on the students, who flock to his class now that they know what it entails. He has 107 students signed up for next year.

"You walk into his class and you know it's going to be different," said sophomore Emily Palmer, who contributed two short stories and to "Why We Throw Stones". "He talks to you not just as a student, but as a friend. Everyone opens up."

When the movie "Freedom Writers" came out last year, some people suggested that Albright had borrowed the idea from the true story about a teacher in California named Erin Gruwell who brings her diverse and troubled students together by having them publish a book.

His response to this is usually, "No, dang it! I've been doing this before Freedom Writers came out."

The students do watch the movie in class, and their response tends to be that their anthologies are better.

January 10, 2008 - McKinnon Press proudly announces the relase of its newest anthology, SOPHISTICHAOS, the work of 40 outstanding young writers.

May 24, 2007 - McKinnon Press proudly announces the release of three new anthologies of short stories, plays, and poetry:

BOOK RELEASE EVENT: On Thursday May 24 at 6:00 p.m., the authors of these three anthologies will hold a book reading and celebration in the Media Center at Jordan High School, Durham, North Carolina.

McKinnon Press is also proud to announce the May 24 release of Once Upon a Time in Your Shoes, a novel by Samantha Mandani, as well as Rejection Room, a novel by Kate Shefte. Mandani and Shefte will read from their debut novels at the May 24 book release event.

May 24, 2007 - The authors of McKinnon Press are featured in today's News and Observer. See story below:

Samiha Khanna, Staff Writer

DURHAM - Kate Shefte was asked to write a piece of short prose for her class assignment.

The Jordan High School student ended up with a 250-page novel. That's a lot of extra credit.

Under the guidance of teacher Stuart Albright, Shefte and other Jordan students have been led into the craft of creative writing and publishing.

This year, Shefte and another classmate have written novels, and dozens of other students in Albright's classes have compiled their poetry, prose and plays into anthologies.

The books will be released at 6 p.m. today, when students gather at the school's library to celebrate their work.

It will be the first time most will see their work in print.

"It's exciting," said student Brianne Evans, who submitted a play for the book her class compiled, "Spitting Hot Fire."

"But it's not just me," Evans said. "I'm showing off what my class can do."

Over the course of the year, Evans and her classmates have met every other day in a stuffy, cramped classroom to hone their writing.

Between walls adorned with posters of Kerouac, Cummings and Hemingway, the students have tackled typical teen topics -- proms, curfews and that first car.

But they also have written about depression, gang violence and racism.

Evans wrote a play, "The Weight It Carries," about a young girl who comes home from school and asks her parents the meaning of the "N word" -- someone had said it at school.

It took some time for the students to open up and write about touchy subjects.

Last fall, one class started with 35 students, some even sitting on the floor. The atmosphere was tense, Albright said.

But what helped break the ice was the students' own writing.

"A couple of kids wrote about some things that were unbelievably personal," he said.

And not only did they have to get used to sharing their most personal thoughts, they also had to let other students dissect their work.

Though Albright removes the writer's name, it can be easy to tell whose work is on display.

One afternoon this week, students knew they were looking at Evans' work. The giveaway -- she posted the poem this week on Facebook, a social networking Web site.

Evans said she hated writing poetry until she learned poems didn't have to rhyme.

"I've learned that there's no right way to write," she said. "There's no limit."

Ivan Penado, who took the class last semester, said he hated writing plays. But after a semester in Albright's class, he's a much better communicator, he said.

Albright agreed.

"You've also become much more tolerant of other people," the teacher said to Penado one afternoon this week.

Penado explained.

"I used to judge people," he said. "You can't judge a book by its cover. But when I looked at people, I thought I knew all about them just by looking at them."

When his classmates started writing and sharing their most personal experiences, Penado said he learned things about people he never would have guessed.

"It just made us understand each other," he said.

Albright started the creative writing program two years ago, offering just one section, mostly for juniors and seniors. Now, students in all grade levels are clamoring for a seat in multiple classes.

The teacher said he originally was drawn to Jordan five years ago because he wanted to help coach the football team. But it's the creative writing program that has revived his love of teaching, he said. Last year he was named the district's Teacher of the Year.

Albright also has self-published a memoir, "Blessed Returns," about a summer he spent teaching in a youth program in Camden, N.J. It was that experience that made him want to become a teacher, he said.

Albright has released all of the students' books through a publishing company he created: McKinnon Press. Most of the dozen books the company has released are written by Jordan students.

Another company actually prints the books as readers order them, so there aren't large fees for the students to pay to have their books published, Albright said.

December 1, 2006 - McKinnon Press proudly announces the release of BREAKING THE SILENCE and OVERFLOW.

On January 11 at 6:00, the authors of these two anthologies will hold a book signing and reading in the Media Center at Jordan High School, Durham, North Carolina.

Students delve deep into soul for words: Durham class puts them in print