Liberal Arts
SCHOOL OF
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Being around editors, writers and manuscripts makes me realize that this is what I want
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to do with my life. I want to be in publishing.
three Cs. The problem was, I needed a 3.0 to keep my scholarships. When the school took them away, no questions asked, I felt like they were kicking me when I was down.” Help came in the form of then-financial aid Director Louisa Martin. “She told me about all of the scholarships that I was eligible for and she helped me apply for them,” Manning said. Keeping Her Head Down Assistant Professor Diane Les Becquets, director of SNHU’s creative writing program, has had Manning in six classes and noticed her transform over the past few years.
– Rudine Manning
A passage from Rudine Manning’s senior thesis And suddenly I was someplace else – somewhere familiar and warm. I could smell her. It was the lavender musk she always wore. It tickled my nose and sent chills dancing up and down my arms. She looked exactly as I remembered her. I hoped to God I would always remember her this way. Her skin was the color of brown sugar – her hair that auburn color she loved. It was fading and her silver roots gave her age away. She was laughing to herself. She always did, especially as she cooked. She’d stand over the stove laughing about something someone said 20 years ago. I walked up behind her, put my arms around her waist, and nuzzled my face into her back. She patted my arm with one hand and kept stirring soup with the other.
“I first met Rudine in my LIT 330 Gender and Text course. She was very withdrawn, sat in the back row, wore a hat pulled down low over her forehead, and offered nothing regarding class discussion,” Les Becquets said. “But this past academic year is when I noticed the biggest change in Rudine’s demeanor and in her confidence. Rudine walks confidently, speaks confidently, voices her opinions even if they are contrary to others in the class.”
“My doe-eyed girl,” she said. “How was your day?”
Manning also shored up her grades and has since made the President’s List. Then she learned about an internship opportunity during a lunch with a guest speaker from one of Les Becquets’ classes. She eventually beat out hundreds of other students to land the coveted spot at Bloomsbury Publishing in New York.
She walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. I stood in the doorway and watched her lie down on the couch. She sighed deeply and closed her eyes.
Finding Her Way As an editorial intern, Manning handled typical office tasks – making copies, running papers and checking the mail. But she also was allowed to read from the “slush pile” of unsolicited manuscripts sent in by hopeful writers. “I think it’s really cool that we were allowed to do that – that they cared enough about our opinions to let us read from the slush pile – and if we liked a story, they’d read it themselves,” she said.
Her voice had never sounded so sweet to me. I needed to hold on to it. I needed it to sound this way forever. “It was okay,” I said. “How was yours?” “Exhausting,” she said. “I wish you could cook so I could rest my feet for awhile.” “Well, I can watch it and if it starts to do anything crazy, I’ll shout.” I smiled. She laughed.
Manning proofread books to be published, sat in on weekly editorial meetings and discussed acquisition memos. “Being around editors, writers and manuscripts makes me realize that this is what I want to do with my life. I want to be in publishing,” she said. Les Becquets believes that Manning will make it. “Over the past few years, her writing has evolved, taking on a more sophisticated, publishable voice,” she said. “In fact, it is the voice that she has captured – one distinctly her own.”
The Extra Mile | Fall 2009 | 17