Meet the Program Directors
Children’s Literature and Children’s Book Writing and Illustrating
Lisa Rowe Fraustino, director of the graduate programs in children’s literature; Ph.D., Binghamton University.
Her newest book, the middle-grade novel The Hole in the Wall, won the 2010 Milkweed Prize for Children’s Literature. She is past president of the Children’s Literature Association, and is also the author of I Walk in Dread: The Diary of Deliverance Trembley, Witness to the Salem Witch Trials; The Hickory Chair; and Ash. As Lisa Meunier, she is the author of the forthcoming poetry chapbook, Hitching to Istanbul.
Creative Writing
Thorpe Moeckel, director of the Jackson Center for Creative Writing; associate professor of English; M.F.A., University of Virginia; B.A., Bowdoin College
His most recent book is Down by the Eno, Down by the Haw: A Wonder Almanac. His poetry books include Arcadia Road, Venison, Odd Botany, and Making a Map of the River. Chapbooks include Meltlines, The Guessing Land, and Off Owl’s Head. Watershed Days: Adventures (a Little Thorny & Familiar) in the Home Range, a work of nonfiction, was published in 2015. His writings appear regularly in journals, and selections are featured in several anthologies. He has received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, and Jacob K. Javits, Sustainable Arts, and Henry Hoyns fellowships, and was awarded the George Garrett New Writing Award from The Fellowship of Southern Writers. Forthcoming this winter is True as True Can Be, a middle grade novel, and his next collection of poems will be released in fall 2022.
Dance
Jeffery N. Bullock, director of the M.F.A. program in dance; associate professor of dance; chair of the dance department; dancer and choreographer; B.A., University of North Carolina of the Arts; M.F.A., University of Iowa
Professor Bullock performed with the North Carolina Dance Theatre, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and Sharir + Bustamante DanceWorks, touring nationally and internationally. Bullock’s repertoire included soloist and principal roles in an eclectic array of works by George Balanchine, Agnes De Mille, Alvin Ailey, Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, Daniel Esralow, Nacho Duato, Lucinda Childs, Salvatore Aiello, Yacov Sharir, Glen Tetley, and others. He was also a featured performer in the 1986 Paramount Motion Picture The Nutcracker with PNB, and was a featured performer in the 1983 PBS special Where Dreams Debut: The North Carolina School of the Arts. Bullock’s work “At Midnight” earned him a Dance Magazine‘s Best Choreography nomination at the 1996 American College Dance Festival at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (M.A.L.S.)
Lorraine Lange is director of graduate education programs; Ed.D., Virginia Tech; M.A.L.S., Hollins College; B.A., Roanoke College
Lange is the former superintendent of Roanoke County Public Schools. Lange was named the Virginia Superintendent of the Year in 2011 and 2012. She was a named a “Tech-Savvy Superintendent” by E-News. She also received the Virginia Excellence in Education Award from AdvancED. Locally, Lange was named Citizen of the Year by the Salem-Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce and was given the Art Venture Award at the Taubman Museum of Art.
Playwriting
Todd Ristau, director of the graduate program in playwriting; M.F.A., Iowa Playwright’s Workshop
Professor Ristau’s work has been performed in theatres across the U.S. and England, including London’s West End. He founded No Shame Theatre in 1986 and oversaw its evolution into a national network of venues for new works in dozens of cities. He has an extensive theatre background, with expertise in acting, directing, and design. He worked with Mill Mountain Theatre for six years as coordinator of their second stage and as literary associate overseeing new works programming. Ristau served as the first artistic director of Studio Roanoke, a storefront theatre space dedicated to new works development in downtown Roanoke. Ristau is an active member of the Dramatists Guild, and member of Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of America.
He has served as chair of playwriting for the South Eastern Theatre Conference, Getchell New Play Award Committee, and KCACTF Region IV’s Chair of the National Playwriting Program.
Screenwriting and Film Studies
Brian David Price, codirector of the graduate program in screenwriting and film studies; M.F.A., UCLA
Brian Price is an award-winning screenwriter and director who has worked with major studios, independent producers, and television networks from around the world, including Universal, Warner Bros., Endgame, Blaspheme Pictures, Scanbox Entertainment, Hudson River, and Mother Films. He’s taught screenwriting at the UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television, RIT, Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, and the Brooks Institute, where he developed their M.F.A. screenwriting program. His students have gone on to direct for folks like Steven Spielberg and to be nominated for Emmys and Golden Globes, and most impressively, he still gets residuals for playing the vice president of the Burt Reynolds fan club in an episode of Beverly Hills 90210. His book, Classical Storytelling and Contemporary Screenwriting, published by Focal Press, is required reading in screenwriting programs around the world.
Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.)
Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning
Lorraine Lange is the director of graduate education programs; Ed.D., Virginia Tech; M.A.L.S., Hollins College; B.A., Roanoke College
Lange is the former superintendent of Roanoke County Public Schools. Lange was named the Virginia Superintendent of the Year in 2011 and was selected as one of four finalists for National Superintendent in 2012. She was a named a “Tech-Savvy Superintendent” by E-News. She also received the Virginia Excellence in Education Award from AdvancED. Locally, Lange was named Citizen of the Year by the Salem-Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce and was given the Art Venture Award at the Taubman Museum of Art.