Marilyn Robitaille
Now that she has transitioned from decades of teaching English at Tarleton State University, Dr. Marilyn Robitaille has turned her time to travel, various creative projects, and to the further development of ROMAR Press, a small Texas press that she established in 2018. She works with emerging talent to help writers fulfill their dreams of sharing stories, both personal and profound. She published Not by Design: Fifty Poems and Images (2018 Romar Press), a collection of her poetry with watercolor and collage illustrations. Her work has been published in popular anthologies: Texas Weather: An Anthology of Poetry, Short Fiction, and Nonfiction: The Power and Beauty of Weather in the Lone Star State (Lamar University Literary Press) and Her Texas: Story, Image, Prose, and Song (Wings Press). She most recently published Wine Poems, an anthology showcasing poets from all over the US, Canada, and England. Marilyn is founding co-editor of Langdon Review of the Arts in Texas. She recently participated and was published in the Texas Poetry Assignment (texaspoetryassignment.org), an online forum established by Dr. Lawrence Musgrove. With creative works published in a number of national and state publications, Robitaille’s current research interests have turned to specialized London productions of eighteenth-century plays by women. She has plans to visit the repository of works related to early British women writers housed at Chawton House in Chawton, England. In collaboration with her grandson Bowen Griggs, her most current project involves an illustrated book about Beatle memorabilia from her private collection that will be titled “The Beatle Room.” She was recently named Managing Director of the Frazier Conservatory, a private retreat. The Conservatory’s combined mission involves the support of land conservation, agricultural and horticulture, as well as visual arts, literature, music, viticulture and culinary appreciation. She has two successful grown children (both with wonderful spouses). Son Chaz and his wife Lauren are currently hiking the complete Appalachian Trail. Daughter Marlow is a medical doctor recently recognized by Texas Monthly in a feature about Texas physicians. Marlow’s husband Brandon earned an invitation to the Ironman World Championship race in Nice, France. Her four brilliant grandchildren are a source of true joy. She and her husband Charles Robitaille will celebrate their fifty-first anniversary this August.
Moumin Quazi
Professor of English at Tarleton State University, Moumin earned his B.F.A. in Radio/Television/Film at Texas Christian University, an M.A. in Biblical Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in English at the University of North Texas. He has been editing since 1991. He authored a book of poetry and short stories, Migratory Words (Lamar University Literary Press, 2016). He is widely published in scholarly and creative writing journals and books, such as Is This Forever of What?: Poems and Paintings from Texas (Selected by Naomi Shihab Nye, Greenwillow Books 2004), South Asian Review, Writing Texas, Concho River Review, Wine Poems, In the Crossfire of History: Revisiting Women’s War Resistance Discourse (Rutgers University Press 2022), and Narratives of Trauma in South Asian Literature (Routledge 2023). He has edited the academic journal CCTE Studies since 2003. and the Peter Lang Book Series, South Asian Literature, Arts, and Culture Studies Series, which has produced four books. He has been an active leader in the international South Asian Literary Association, which bestowed their 2022 Distinguished Achievement Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Field of South Asian Studies; Texas College English Association; and Texas Association of Creative Writing Teachers. He is also an active member of the Rotary Club, International (District 5790 Assistant Governor; 3-time President). He was awarded the College English Association’s Professional Achievement Award (2019), was named the Tarleton State University College of Liberal and Fine Arts “Engaged Faculty” (2023 and 2016), and was honored by the Conference of College Teachers of English with the Frances Hernández Teacher-Scholar Award. He was awarded a Texas A&M University System Student Recognition Award for Teaching Excellence (2012). He has appeared twice on the podcast Leadership Lessons from the Great Books (Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart). Moumin shares a home in Stephenville with his wife P. J. (aka “Birdie”) and several rescued animals (though he considers himself one of those “rescued” animals). He hosts “The Beatles and Beyond” on Tarleton Public Radio KTRL where he does a weekly movie review; serves as Chairman of the Board of Adjustment for the City of Stephenville, and as the Chair of the Erath County Democratic Party. He is also the voice of the Tarleton State Marching Band, The Sound and the Fury. He occasionally officiates weddings and funerals. Volume 20 was his 16th (and final) Langdon Review to partner with Marilyn on.