The Robert Lee Blaffer Foundation is pleased to announce that Mallory Rodenberg, the Spring 2025 RLBF Artist-in-Residence, will give a public presentation at the Working Men’s Institute on Wednesday, November 12, 2025.

Rodenberg, who holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson College and a BA in English from the University of Southern Indiana, has long drawn inspiration from the area. “I’ve always found inspiration in New Harmony’s idyllic yet mysterious environment, its solitude and beauty,” Rodenberg wrote in her project proposal, “and I think it would benefit my manuscript beyond measure.”

Her work has appeared in publications such as The Swannanoa Review, Leon Literary Review, American Journal of Poetry, Shō Poetry Journal, and Measure. She was a former Writing Instructor at the Branchville Correctional Facility and is currently an Adult Basic Ed Instructor at Ivy Tech Community College in Evansville.

Rodenberg, a Haubstadt native, used her residency to write and revise the final half of her debut poetry collection, tentatively titled Spark Alive. The collection, which will contain approximately forty-two poems, is unified by themes of childhood, geography, the mystery of the cosmos, and music. Rodenberg’s goal is to have the project ready for submission to publishers this fall.