Faculty member and MA program director Jeff Abell is being published along with MA alumnus Neil Ellis Orts in an upcoming issues of Glitterwolf Magazine, a UK-based publication dedicated to showcasing the work of LGBT contributors from around the world. Abell heard about an opportunity send “a letter to your 16-year-old self” through a a post on Facebook by Orts.

Orts focused on inspiring his younger self to take more risks in his artistic endeavors. “My letter focused on encouragement to more aggressively pursue the creative impulse, worry less about what’s “practical,” as my German Lutheran farm boy self tends to do. There’s also some skirting of things because I know my 16 year-old self was not ready for everything I could tell him.”

Abell’s letter to his 16 year-old self revolved around helping his younger self handle his first serious romantic feelings. “This is related to an earlier ‘sound text’ work called ‘Late Definitions,’ that explores the nuances of three French verbs, all of which can be translated as ‘crush.’ So my letter to myself really is an attempt to soothe my 16-year-old wounded feelings, at a time when I had my first real crush on another guy. I posted this on my blog, so people can get a ‘preview’ of what the Glitterwolf issue will be like.”

Click here to see a preview of Abell’s letter.