University of Maine at Farmington

For Peter Biello, who graduated from UMF with a bachelor of fine arts degree in creative writing and completed a graduate school internship with National Public Radio affiliate WHQR-91.3 FM, the sweet sound of success goes something like this: “For NPR news, I’m Peter Biello in Wilmington, North Carolina.”

While writing a novel for his MFA in creative writing thesis at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Biello usually filed five stories a week for WHQR on topics of local and national interest. (For instance, his NPR Day to Day piece “Cybertracker Hunts Terrorist Videos Online” follows a day in the life of an Arabic-speaking South Carolina mom, who developed software to locate jihadist videos posted online.)

Biello had no formal radio journalism training, but was able to submit a broadcast-ready feature story when he applied for the internship—all because of a radio essay assignment he completed in a creative nonfiction course taught by Gretchen Legler, professor of creative writing at UMF. He taught himself to use industry-standard audio editing software and produced a five-minute segment, featuring interviews with visiting French exchange students.

“The project helped me figure out how to use sound, how to write into sound and out of it,” he said. “One of the people interviewing me actually said that he started his public radio career with less.”

Biello said he hopes to continue working with an NPR affiliate after completing his MFA program. And what if a work in public radio isn’t in the offing?

“I would love to teach at UMF,” quipped Biello, a former adjunct instructor of creative writing at Brunswick Community College. “I want Pat O’Donnell’s job, teaching fiction. The people at UMF are so intellectually curious. That’s what I miss most about Farmington.”

-- By Marc Glass, managing editor of the UMF alumni magazine

• More Alumni Profiles
  • Biology major Dan Grenier serves TNC as land steward
  • Creative Writing major Peter Biello broadcasts for NPR affiliate
  • Community Health Education major Mike Milliken keeps a campus healthy
  • Sociology/Anthropology major Samantha Houston studies the psychology of criminals and victims
  • Education major Jessie Campbell teaches in Monhegan's one-room schoolhouse
  • History major Jenna Morency wins Fulbright to conduct research in Australia
  • Secondary Education major Dana Bullen presides over Sunday River ski resort
  • History-Political Science major Ryan Lilly manages Togus VA Hospital
  • Geology-Archeology major Bill Chadwick finds what's lost in the sands of time
  • History major Jordan McColman achieves top-10 status at Maine Law
  • Business Economics major Paul Collins graduates first in his MBA class; named Top-20 nationwide
  • Biochemistry major Renee LeClair says UMF gave her the write stuff for Rice
  • Creative Writing major Bridget Burns gives social action a soundtrack
  • Psychology major Christine Thibeault serves justice as assistant district attorney
  • Art majors Natasha and Saskia Haugen create community on Lana'i
  • Psychology major Christina Cesare becomes licensed clinical social worker
  • Pre-med majors Jessica and Sunny Aslam earn M.D. degrees
  • Geography major Ethan Bogar conducts internship on Hawaii
  • Psychology/pre-med major Elizabeth Connelly casts a wide net to save lives
  • Biology major Jamie Young completes medical research internship
  • Psychology major Chelsey Martin to attend law school
  • Political Science major Bradley Dean Works With U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe in Washington, D.C.
  • Education major Tim Shumway finds adventure teaching in Alaska
  • Political Science major Alex Pringle probes the high cost of health care
  • Community Health Education major Amber Hinkley combats childhood obesity
  • Biology-Chemistry major Abby West to earn Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences
  • Special Education major Brian Cavanaugh earns master's degree at Harvard
  • Spanish-Biology major Lauri Brewster conducts field research in Costa Rica
  • Mathematics major Dustin Gage wins National Science Foundation research internship