After an exhaustive audition process, Derek Nikitas was invited to co-author two novellas with literary superstar James Patterson, Diary of a Succubus and You’ve Been Warned – Again. The first is about a supernatural assassin; the other concerns the mysterious presence of a girl’s dead brother. Both titles were published as e-books and are part of Patterson’s “BookShot” series.

Theo Greenblatt’s story, “Solitaire,” was rejected 22 times before winning first place recently in a short story contest in “The London Magazine,” so prestigious it’s known as “The New Yorker” of England. The prize—$700 and publication in the magazine—will be bestowed at a celebration in the House of Commons in mid-March.

URI was one of 28 colleges and universities in the country awarded a total of $1.65 million in a program called “Next Generation PhD.’’ URI received $25,000 from the NEH and matched the award with $25,000.