Penkov's "Buying Lenin" Online

Miroslav Penkov's story "Buying Lenin" is now available on the Southern Review's web site. The story was originally published in the autumn issue of the journal. Penkov is a third-year student in the MFA program.

Brock's translations featured in Poetry Magazine

The December 2007 issue of Poetry Magazine features a portfolio of Italian poetry edited by our own Geoff Brock. Brock contributed several of the translations in the portfolio, as well as an essay on contemporary Italian poetry. His translation of "At the Circus" by Umberto Fiori is available here.

McCombs featured in Poetry Daily

Two poems by Davis McCombs -- "Noodling" and "The Last Wolf in Edmonson County" -- are featured today at Poetry Daily. Both poems are from Dismal Rock, McCombs's most recent collection.

Bowen accepted to Blackbird

Ash Bowen's poem "All My Vendettas I've Given Your Name" has been accepted by Blackbird for publication in the journal's spring issue. Ash is a second-year poet in the program.

McCombs reads tonight

Davis McCombs will read from his work tonight at 7 p.m. at George's on Dickson St.

Bowen accepted to DIAGRAM

Ash Bowen's poem "Albert Goldbarth's MFA Thesis" has been accepted for publication in an upcoming issue of DIAGRAM. Ash is a second-year poet in the program.

Brock in current issue of Unsplendid

Geoff Brock's poem "The President's Funeral: Mar. 19, 1959" appears in the current issue of Unsplendid.

Brown accepted to New Delta Review

Kevin Brown's short story "Odds Are" has been accepted for publication in New Delta Review. The story is scheduled to appear in the fall of 2008.

Landers accepted to Night Train Magazine

"Finding Giants," a short story by Josh Landers, has been accepted for publication in Night Train Magazine. The story is scheduled to appear in January. Josh is a second-year student in the program.

Heffernan Featured on Poetry Daily on Nov. 8

A poem by Michael Heffernan will be featured on Poetry Daily on Nov. 8. The poem currently appears in the autumn issue of The Southern Review.

Hoahwah signs contract

MFA alum Sy Hoahwah has signed a contract with West End Press to publish his manuscript, tentatively titled Velroy and The Madischie Mafia. West End is located in Albuquerque, N.M., and the manuscript's publication is scheduled for late 2008.

Also, Hoahwah's poem "NDN Way" is one of the finalists for the Indiana Review's 2007 Poetry Prize. The poem will appear in the review's next issue.

Zimmer reads tonight

Don't forget: Poet Paul Zimmer reads tonight at 8 pm in Kimpel 102.

New book available from McCombs

Davis McCombs's latest book of poems, Dismal Rock, is now available for purchase at Amazon. The book was awarded the 2005 Dorset Prize from Tupelo Press.

New stories from Molly Giles

Molly Giles has new and forthcoming stories in The Pinch, Copper Nickle, and Eye of the Heart. Recent translations of her stories have appeared in the Latin American literary magazines ˆ and Literal. She is one of the judges for the 2007 PEN/Faulkner Award in Fiction.

Gilchrist included in One Hundred Great Essays

Ellen Gilchrist has an essay in the third edition of One Hundred Great Essays, edited by Robert Diyanni.

Brock in Best American Poetry 2007

Geoff Brock's poem "Flesh of John Brown's Flesh" appears in Best American Poetry 2007, edited by Heather McHugh, which will be out in a week or so. His sonnet "And Day Brought Back My Night" was included in Poetry Daily Essentials 2007, edited by Diane Boller and Don Selby, which came out a few months ago.

Heffernan in The Southern Review

Michael Heffernan's poem "A Face at the Pane" will appear in the Fall 2007 issue of The Southern Review (LSU). Earlier in the year, the University of Notre Dame Press reprinted six of his poems in The Book of Irish American Poetry from the Eighteenth Century to the Present, edited by Daniel Tobin of Emerson College.

Update: Three receive fellowships from Arkansas Arts Council

An update to our previous post about the fellowships from the Arkansas Arts Council : Individual Artist Fellowships in poetry were given to two Arkansas alumns, not just one. Both Sandy Longhorn and Angie Macri received the awards, in addition to MFA director Davis McCombs. Congratulations to all.

McCombs and Longhorn receive fellowships from Arkansas Arts Council

Davis McCombs and MFA alumni Sandy Longhorn have been awarded Individual Artist Fellowships in poetry from the Arkansas Arts Council.

McCombs in latest issue of Poetry

Davis McCombs appears in the latest issue of Poetry with a poem titled "The Last Wolf in Edmonson County."

Hodge accepted by Southern Indiana Review

Sara Hodge's poem "Son of Brothel" has been accepted by Southern Indiana Review. The poem will appear in the spring or fall of 2008.

Pappas to read at George's

MFA alum Chris Pappas will read from his poetry at George's Majestic Lounge on Tuesday, July 31. The reading begins at 7 p.m. It's sponsored by the Ozark Writer's Collective.

Poetry open only to new contributors during summer reading period

Until the end of August, Poetry Magazine will accept submissions only from poets who have not been previously published in the magazine.

Audio from Merwin reading

An audio recording of W.S. Merwin's reading during the 2007 Arkansas Festival of Writers is available for download as an MP3 file. Right-click the link in order to save the file to your desktop. (Mac users should control-click.) The file is 74 megabytes in size and more than an hour long, so it may take some time to download.

Poetry reading tomorrow

Poets Sy Hoahwah, Paul White and Chris Pappas will read tomorrow (Friday) as the final installment of the MFA Graduate Reading Series. The reading begins at 8 p.m. in Giffels Auditorium.

Sanders and Siraganian read tomorrow

Join MFA students Steve Sanders and Jen Siraganian as they read from their work tomorrow night (Friday) at 8 pm in Giffels Auditorium. Steve is a fiction writer; Jen is a poet. Ask nicely, and someone will probably give you directions to the party afterwards.

Brock in May issue of Poetry

Geoff Brock has a pair of poems in the May issue of Poetry magazine, which just came out. (Also, check out Michael Hofmann's review of the new Herbert translation in the same issue!)

Bowen in latest Diner

MFA student Ash Bowen has two poems in the latest issue of Diner. The titles are "Falcon" and "Where Ghosts Come Together With Other Ghosts."

Reading tonight

Tonight at 8 p.m., MFA students Caroline Hruska and Brad Molder will give their senior readings in Giffels Auditorium. Caroline is a poet; Brad is a fiction writer. Their readings are the culmination of their time here in the MFA program.

Also, mark your calendar for two other student readings this semester:

8 p.m., April 27, Giffels Auditorium: Steve Sanders and Jen Siraganian

8 p.m., May 4, Giffels Auditorium: Chris Pappas, Paul White, Sy Hoahwah

Photos from the 2007 Arkansas Festival of Writers

Photo caption: W.S. Merwin laughs while fielding questions from MFA students at the University of Arkansas during the 2007 Arkansas Festival of Writers. Photo by Johnathon Williams

By all accounts, the 2007 Arkansas Festival of Writers went off without a hitch. W.S. Merwin's reading drew a standing-room-only crowd at the Reynolds Center on Wednesday, and it was followed by a lengthy book signing. Visiting writers Peter Orner and Elizabeth Hadaway visited classrooms throughout the day on Wednesday, following their own readings on Tuesday night.

MFA student Johnathon Williams has posted a series of photos he shot during the festival. There's also an audio recording of Merwin's reading, which we hope to post later this week.

McCombs in latest Crossroads

A nice article about Davis McCombs's poetry appears in the latest issue of Crossroads: A Southern Culture Annual. The article is titled "Southern Shadows: Mammoth Cave Meets Plato's Cave in Davis McCombs's Ultima Thule." A new poem by McCombs is also in the issue.

Bowen accepted for the Black Warrior Review

Ash Bowen reports that his poem "Using the Earth as a Blunt-Force Object" has been accepted for publication in a future issue of the Black Warrior Review. Ash is a first-year poet here in the MFA program.

Welcome

Welcome to the weblog for the Programs in Creative Writing at the University of Arkansas. The purpose of this blog is to promote the achievements of our faculty, students, and alumni, as well as to keep our community informed of readings and other events sponsored by the program. We also plan to post links to any new publications or calls for submissions that come our way.

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