Two Pieces by Heil in Michigan Quarterly

Third-year translation student Kathleen Heil has two pieces in the Spring 2013 Michigan Quarterly Review. The issue features Kathleen's translation of the short story "Fish & Mountains" by Argentinian author Patricio Pron, as well as an accompanying essay that Kathleen wrote about translating Pron's work, "Fish, Mountains, & Locutions."

Pizzolatto in the News for "True Detective"

The New Orleans Times-Picayune recently ran a multi-installment Q&A with alum Nic Pizzolatto (2005). Nic is the writer and driving creative force behind the new HBO series "True Detective," starring Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey and set to air in 2014.

This link takes you to the final interview with Nic but contains links to all previous installments. 

Tost Profiled for Work on "Longmire"

Creative Screenwriting features a great profile of alumnus Tony Tost (2004) on his work writing for the A&E television show Longmire. Read the full article here.

Takacs' Second Chapbook Forthcoming

Swift on the heels of her first chapbook being accepted for publication by H_NGM_N, second-year poet Eszter Takacs will have her second chapbook, "Together We Will Talk Right Down to Earth," published by The New Megaphone. You can get your hands on both in 2014.

In the meantime, check out this delicious sliver of Eszter's poetry, published by cellpoems.

Longhorn Wins Jacar Prize

Alum Sandy Longhorn (2003) has won the 2013 Jacar Press Full Length Poetry Book Contest for her second collection, The Girlhood Book of Prairie Myths. Sandy's first collection, Blood Almanac, is available through Anhinga Press. Congratulations, Sandy!

Askew and O'Grady Join Faculty

We're pleased to announce that two new professors join our faculty this year: Visiting Associate Professors Rilla Askew and Timothy O'Grady.

Rilla is the award-winning author of Kind of Kin, Fire in Beulah, Harpsong, and The Mercy Seat. Born in southeast Oklahoma, a fifth-generation descendant of southerners who settled in the Choctaw Nation in the 1800s, she moved to New York to pursue a career in acting and writing. In 2009, Rilla received an Arts and Letters Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. 

Born in the U.S., Timothy has spent decades abroad, living in Ireland, London, and Spain. He is the author of Divine Magnetic Lands: A Journey in America and (with Kenneth Griffith) of Curious Journey: An Oral History of Ireland's Unfinished Revolution, as well as the novels Motherland, which won the David Higham award for the best first novel in 1989, and I Could Read the Sky, which won the Encore award for best second novel. 

Please join us in welcoming these dynamic and talented writer/teachers to our program!

Welcome, Class of 2017!

The Programs in Creative Writing & Translation are proud to welcome ten new MFA students, who hail from across the U.S.: Caroline Beimford (Wellesley, MA), Sarah Craig (Roanoke, VA), Emily Cruz (Danville, IL), Kevin Dougherty (Pittsburgh, PA), Megan Downey (Baltimore, MD), Jesse Irwin (Bella Vista, AR), Michelle Myers (Tallahassee, FL), Molly Rector (Little Rock, AR), Larissa Sprecher (Cadott, WI), and Daniel Woody (Chicago, IL). 

We're excited to work with these dynamic and talented new writers!

Yates wins Knickerbocker Prize

Graduate Steve Yates (1994) has won the 2013 Knickerbocker Prize for his story "Sandy and Wayne." It's featured in issue 4 of Big Fiction, a magazine dedicated to long short stories. 

For more of Steve's work, get your hands on a copy of his recently published collection, Some Kinds of Love, which won the 2012 Juniper Prize for fiction. Stories from the collection have appeared in The Missouri Review, Southwest Review, TriQuarterly, and other national journals. 

Takacs Recognized in The Pinch Literary Awards

Congratulations to second-year student Eszter Takacs, whose poem "Please Come to My Poetry Reading" placed second runner up in The Pinch's 2013 Literary Awards. This poem is part of Eszter's chapbook, to be published by H_NGM_N later this year.

New Fiction by Penkov in Granta

Pick up the current issue of Granta for "Blood Money," a new story by alum Miroslav Penkov (2009). 

Miro is the author of a collection,"East of the West," the title story of which won the 2012 BBC International Short Story Award. He teaches at the University of North Texas and is editor of the American Literary Review.

Check out the Granta website for more of Miro's writing, here.

Murphy Featured in Thuglit, Issue 5

Love crime fiction, gritty, dark, and sour? Check out issue 5 of Thuglit, which features the story "Gato Negro" by alum Chris Murphy (2009). 

Recent Grads in The Journal and More!

The summer 2013 issue of The Journal features poetry by three recent graduates, Corrie Williamson (2013), Chloe Honum (2010), and Stacy Kidd (2004). 

You'll need to purchase the print edition to read Stacy's "Choose your poison," Chloe's "Nursing Home" and Corrie's "Bear Hunters at McAfee's Knob" and "Hiking to Goldbug Hot Springs, I Consider the Discovery of Lewis and Clark’s Shitter at Traveler’s Rest, Montana." But how can you resist?

Also check out two poems from Chloe in the latest issue of The Southern Review, "Dressing Room" and "Seated Dancer," both read by the author here.

Two Graduates Featured in Flavorwire List

Flavorwire's list of "23 People Who Will Make You Care About Poetry," features two UA graduates!

Matthew Henriksen (2004) is the author of Ordinary Sun, praised as one of the best poetry collections from a small press in 2011. He co-edits Typo, is editor of Cannibal Books, and established, with his wife, Katy, the Burning Chair reading series.

Brian Spears (2002) is the author of A Witness in Exile. He was a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford from 2002-2004 and winner of the  2005 Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Prize. He teaches at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and is poetry editor of The Rumpus.

Harris Wins PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grant

Congratulations to alum Elizabeth Harris, whose work-in-progress, a translation of Antonio Tabucchi's novel Tristano Dies, has been awarded a PEN/Heim Translation Fund grant. Her manuscript, soon to be published by Archipelago Books, was selected from 180 applications.

Elizabeth graduated from our program with an MFA in fiction in 1999 and an MFA in translation in 2000. Her translations appear in numerous journals and have been featured twice in Best European Fiction anthologies. Brava, Elizabeth!

Two Stories by Erika Seay

Two stories by alumna Erika Seay (2012) appear in journals now. Find "The Great Barrier Reef" in the current issue of Colorado Review and "Not This Human Sadness" in issue 30 of Meridian. 

Erika's work won second prize in the 2011 Playboy Fiction Contest. For more about Erika and her fiction, click here.

Two of Our Own in Subtropics

The new issue of Subtropics contains poems by two of our own: "What I Am, What I Might Have Been," by 2011 grad Jen Jabaily-Blackburn, and "Wilson's Carolina Parakeet: 1810," by Geoff Brock, professor of poetry and translation. 

Brock in The Paris Review

Geoff Brock, professor of poetry and translation, has a poem in the new issue of The Paris Review as well as two translations of Patrizia Cavalli in the same issue and several more in the current issue of The American Reader.