Staci Kleinmaier

Jan 5, 2025 | magazine.ncsu.edu | Staci Kleinmaier

Vanessa Woods, a PhD student in NC State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, spends a lot of time with puppies. As director of the Puppy Kindergarten at Duke University, Woods helps train young dogs to become service animals. Included in the puppies’ training are outings to improve mental health throughout the campus community, much like the Pause for Paws program at NC State.

Jul 18, 2024 | thesunmagazine.org | Staci Kleinmaier

The Sun has published three short stories by Kate Osterloh: “Believers,” which focuses on faith and religious doubt, and “Maryam and Yeshua” and “The Bleeding Woman,” which both reimagine Bible stories. Her writing is warm and rich, and her characters feel real and complex. But after reading each of her pieces, I found myself increasingly curious about Kate’s life and experiences. I knew little about her, except that she is a former US foreign diplomat, which only made her seem more mythical.

Mar 21, 2024 | thesunmagazine.org | Staci Kleinmaier

Profiles I have little patience for small talk. I would rather go deep into personal, raw topics than rehash my weekend. That is one of the reasons why I enjoy reading The Sun: it feels like an intimate conversation between writer and reader, and I’m blown away by the vulnerability Sun contributors show.

Mar 4, 2024 | thesunmagazine.org | Staci Kleinmaier |Robert Cooke |Cameron Dezen Hammon |John Harris

It’s Sunday morning, and I roll up to the rec center in my navy workout shorts, high socks, Nike slides, and old Drexel University basketball jersey. Without fail I wear a Drexel jersey to play pickup. I have several of them. They’re ten, eleven years old by now, but they’re in immaculate shape, kept alive by something like magic or willpower. I don’t wear this jersey because it’s my favorite, though it is.

Oct 18, 2023 | thesunmagazine.org | Staci Kleinmaier

By her own admission, Leona Sevick is a latecomer to poetry. She was trained as an American literature scholar and never took a creative-writing class. Twelve years ago, eighteen years into her teaching career, she wrote her first poem on a napkin while sitting at a bar. “It sounds so cliché,” she says, “but that’s what happened.” At the urging of a colleague, she submitted the poem to the Split This Rock contest and the poet Naomi Shihab Nye chose it as the winner.