TOMBALL, Texas – Lone Star College-Tomball graduate Jackie Klemme-Beisert says she was born with a photographic memory. One of the things she remembers most about being a student is she discovered that she has a gift for writing – something she never knew she had until she arrived on campus. Thanks to this discovery, she has published her first book called Just Wingin’ It, which is now available on Amazon.
Klemme-Beisert is one of dozens of students, faculty, and staff who got their start writing for LSC-Tomball’s creative arts magazine, the Inkling, and have gone on to become award-winning writers and published authors.
“My professor told me that I had talent. I believed it, and now I’m a published author,” said Klemme-Beisert who credits her publishing success to the time she spent at LSC-Tomball and writing for the Inkling, an annual publication where students are invited to submit poetry, essays, short stories, or artwork.
Klemme-Beisert’s book, Just Wingin' It, is a collection of anecdotes and stories based on her life, touching on motherhood, marriage, and everything in between – even a little humor.
Klemme-Beisert isn’t the only one connected to LSC-Tomball with a newly released book. LSC-Tomball TRiO Student Support Services Durell Forte, on Feb. 18, released his fifth book entitled, Yeah I Said It.
“I started out writing poems for the Inkling, which allowed me to develop and grow into the writer I am today,” said Forte, whose latest book, and four previously published books are available on Lulu.com. “It’s a great feeling to see your books in print. One of the greatest moments for me as a published author was seeing my book in the Lone Star College library last year sitting on display next to Maya Angelou and Lanston Hughes. To see my book right next to people like them was huge for me. My new book is a collection of poems touching on love, some politics, and more. Beyond this book, I plan to write more books; one of them will be a Christian novel.”
In addition to the school fostering a culture of writing, LSC-Tomball English Professor Melissa Studdard has been fortunate not only to write and publish books, but she is the recipient of national and international writing awards. In fact, Studdard is one of a select few writers chosen from around the world as a 2018 Kathak Literary Award winner.
Poems in her book, I Ate the Cosmos for Breakfast were noticed, which led to an award hosted by the Kathak, Bangladesh-Poetry Initiative, which focuses on bringing poets and poetry lovers together to define a path for the bilateral development and propagation of the poetic arts in Bangladesh and other countries of the world.
Studdard, whose poetry, fiction, essays, reviews, and articles have appeared in dozens of journals and anthologies, including The Guardian, Psychology Today, Harvard Review, Southern Humanities Review, and Poets & Writers, was also recently awarded the 2018 Lone Star College Writing Award.
“Over the years, periodically receiving the Lone Star College System Writing Award has been one of the things that has made me feel validated as a writer and has encouraged me to keep writing,” Studdard said. “I’m so grateful to be a part of a system that values its employees’ creative and scholarly endeavors.”
Lone Star College-Tomball is located at 30555 Tomball Parkway, at the intersection of SH 249 and Zion Road. For more information about the college, call 281.351.3300 or visit LoneStar.edu/Tomball.
-30-
Known for its leadership, innovation and steadfast commitment to student success, Lone Star College provides high-quality academic transfer and workforce education/career training programs to more than 83,000 credit students each semester, and a total enrollment of 95,000 students. LSC is training tomorrow’s workforce today and redefining the community college experience to promote student success and economic prosperity. Stephen C. Head, Ph.D., is the chancellor of LSC, the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area, which consists of six colleges, eight centers, two university centers, Lone Star Corporate College and LSC-Online. To learn more visit LoneStar.edu.