2008 Woodie Awards
Univ. senior publishes short stories
By: Kelly Metz
Issue date: 4/21/08 Section: Campus
Kenny Rogers Jr. is not just a senior at the University; he is also a published writer.
Rogers sent "Thoughts in Italics" to Publish America in January, and as of last month, the book was searchable as a published work on Amazon.com.
"When I was a kid, I wanted to be a writer, but I was young and stupid and didn't think writers are remembered," he said. "I'd been writing in my journal because of problems at home, and now I have six journals just full of thoughts."
Rogers, a dual-major in political science and English, changed his traditional journal entries into short stories, and he started sending the stories out to literary magazines, but was never published.
Rogers said most of his inspiration comes from the people around him.
"I realized everybody is a role model and everyone is a character in a book. There are no heroes or villains in real life, but everyone is a teacher."
He said everyone has a history and something to teach about how to act and respond to things in life.
"Thoughts in Italics" could be compared to the writing styles of his favorite author, Ray Bradbury, he said.
"This book could be considered realistic fantasy. By reading all different books, I was taught how to portray each different character and was taught there is no specific style, as long as the message got across to the audience."
The book has 14 different short stories. Rogers said he loves them all, but "Race" is his favorite because it is about running, and he loves to run.
Rogers learned a lot about fiction not only from his classes, but through his work for Prairie Margins Literary Magazine as the managing fiction editor.
Karen Craigo, adviser for Prairie Margins and an English instructor who focuses on publishing, said it is uncommon for undergraduates to get published.
"Kenny is a creative guy, and if anyone could do it, it would be him," she said. "He just grabbed the bull by the horns and knew he wanted his work to be out there and seen."
Rogers sent "Thoughts in Italics" to Publish America in January, and as of last month, the book was searchable as a published work on Amazon.com.
"When I was a kid, I wanted to be a writer, but I was young and stupid and didn't think writers are remembered," he said. "I'd been writing in my journal because of problems at home, and now I have six journals just full of thoughts."
Rogers, a dual-major in political science and English, changed his traditional journal entries into short stories, and he started sending the stories out to literary magazines, but was never published.
Rogers said most of his inspiration comes from the people around him.
"I realized everybody is a role model and everyone is a character in a book. There are no heroes or villains in real life, but everyone is a teacher."
He said everyone has a history and something to teach about how to act and respond to things in life.
"Thoughts in Italics" could be compared to the writing styles of his favorite author, Ray Bradbury, he said.
"This book could be considered realistic fantasy. By reading all different books, I was taught how to portray each different character and was taught there is no specific style, as long as the message got across to the audience."
The book has 14 different short stories. Rogers said he loves them all, but "Race" is his favorite because it is about running, and he loves to run.
Rogers learned a lot about fiction not only from his classes, but through his work for Prairie Margins Literary Magazine as the managing fiction editor.
Karen Craigo, adviser for Prairie Margins and an English instructor who focuses on publishing, said it is uncommon for undergraduates to get published.
"Kenny is a creative guy, and if anyone could do it, it would be him," she said. "He just grabbed the bull by the horns and knew he wanted his work to be out there and seen."
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