Yarbrough in The Southern Review

The Winter 2014 issue of The Southern Review features a new story by alum Steve Yarbrough (1985). Pick up your copy to read "The Orange Line" in full. Also check out Steve's latest novel, The Realm of Last Chances, which has been garnering critical praise since it's release in August.

"A Brief Interview" with Joyce Carol Oates

The Huffington Post "Brief Interview" series recently featured our 2014 Distinguished Reader, Joyce Carol Oates. Oates will read from her work at 7pm on April 21 at the Fayetteville Town Center. For more information on this event, visit our website. In the meantime, you can read her brief interview here.

Bowen Featured in First Book Interviews

Alum Ash Bowen (2008) is featured in installment 79 of First Book Interviews, wherein he talks about his prize-winning poetry collection, The Even Years of Marriage. The collection is available now from Dream Horse Press. Read Ash's full interview here.

Arkansas at AWP

Going to AWP? Meet some of our peeps! Visiting associate professor Rilla Askew will participate in the panel "A Family Affair: Family Structure as Narrative Structure" at 1:30 on Feb. 28. She'll also be featured at an off-site reading celebrating the new issue of TriQuarterly at A/NT Gallery, 6-7 PM, Thursday, the 27th.

Second-year student Eszter Takacs will read at The New Megaphone + H_NGM_N Books off-site event: 3-6pm Feb. 28 at Belltown Pub.

And fourth-year student Stu Dearnley will be featured in the panel "Literary Players: Former Winners of the Playboy College Fiction Contest Share their Work" at 1:30 on March 1.

Penkov a Finalist to Work with Michael Ondaatje

Miroslav Penkov, 2009 alum and author of East of the West, is a finalist for the 2014-2015 Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. If selected over the two other candidates short-listed in literature, Miro will spend a year in one-on-one collaboration with writer Michael Ondaatje!

Williamson Wins Perugia Press Prize

Congratulations to alum Corrie Williamson (2013), whose first collection Sweet Husk has won the 2014 Perugia Press Prize.

The editors write: "Here, poetry and archaeology reflect one another: what is buried may provide insight into—or, conversely, deepen the mystery of—the ways we engage with the world." So proud of you, Corrie!

Hennessy Interviewed in The Huffington Post

The Huffington Post features an in-depth Q&A with poet and alum John Hennessy (1996) on his poetic influences and preoccupations, as well as his perspectives on being a writer who teaches. Read the full interview here.

True Detective a "Pure Visual Novel"

Are you watching True Detective? Bookforum declares it the first true "visual novel" and rhapsodizes over the intensity and imagery of alum Nic Pizzolatto (2005), who wrote, created, and produces the show. 

Rafferty in The New Yorker

Congrats to alum Charles Rafferty (1990), whose poem "Diminution" appears in the February 17 issue of The New Yorker. 

Charles is the author of four full-length books of poetry, A Less Fabulous Infinity, During the Beauty Shortage, Where the Glories of April Lead, and The Man on the Tower. His latest book is a collection of flash fiction, Last Night at Magellan's.

New Novel by 2014 Distinguished Reader Joyce Carol Oates

Who has a new novel out? Our 2014 Distinguished Reader Joyce Carol Oates, that's who! Carthage, a dark novel about family, fate, and the terrible resonances of love and war, is already garnering critical praise with a great review by the New York Times. Pick up your copy in preparation for Oates' reading on April 21, 7pm, at the Fayetteville Town Center.

Two New Poems by Catherwood

Alum Michael Catherwood (1997) has two new poems in journals. Check out the 50th issue of Red River Review for "Directions," then head over to The Burning Bush 2 for "The Bully Poet School."

Angelino in The Adroit Journal

Issue 8 of The Adroit Journal features a poem, "Hearsay III," by recent graduate Mary Angelino (2011). Mary has poems forthcoming in Bellingham Review, Shenandoah, and Nimrod, so keep an eye out for more of her publications!

4 Alums Shortlisted for 2014 MIAL Award

Freezing rain is falling in Fayetteville, but we're warmed by the news that four of the eight authors short-listed for the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters 2014 Fiction Prize are graduates of our program. Congratulations to Beth Ann Fennelly, Tom Franklin, Steve Yarbrough, and Steve Yates! Their books--The Tilted World, The Realm of Last Chances, and Some Kinds of Love: Stories, respectively--are top-notch. We're proud of their achievements!