Takacs Poems & Interviews

Enjoy a passel of new poems by second-year student Eszter Takacs. Two parts of her chapbook-length poem "In Share of Light" appear now in volume 8 of Smoking Glue Gun. 

"Together we will breathe during complicated explosions" and "The world is frightening and I am your best best friend" can be found in issue 27 of the print journal Forklift, Ohio, alongside work by Bob Hicok, G.C. Waldrep, and Kyle McCord. 

And Tell Tell Poetry features an interview with Eszter about her chapbook "The Spectacular Crash." 

Penkov in 2013 Best American Non-Required Reading

"East of the West," an award-winning story by alum Miroslav Penkov (2009) is featured in the 2013 edition of The Best American Non-Required Reading, alongside works by Sherman Alexie, Nick Hornby, and Karen Russell.

Last July, "East of the West" won the 2012 BBC International Short Story Award, which carries a prize of £15,000. It's part of Miro's collection East of the West, published in 2011.

Vandenberg Featured in The Writer's Almanac

"First Snowfall in St. Paul," a poem of cold days and locked brakes by alum Katrina Vandenberg (1997), appeared  in the November 26 edition of The Writer's Almanac.

Yarbrough Novel Named Notable Book of 2013

The Washington Post has named The Realm of Last Chances, by alum Steve Yarbrough (1985), among its Notable Fiction of 2013! 

Michael Lindgren writes, "This beautifully wrought book concerns Kristin and Cal Stevens, a middle-aged California couple who settle in a small town in Massachusetts. The story tracks their halting assimilation into a world that feels foreign and brittle, and it is so keenly observed that its depiction of these lost souls conveys outsize emotional force."

Askew Interviewed in Tin House Blog

Head on over to the Tin House blog for a terrific interview with Rilla Askew, visiting associate professor and author of, most recently, Kind of Kin. Rilla reveals the links between acting and writing, the indispensability of villains, and how perseverance must be tempered with surrender. A wonderful read!

And if that whets your appetite, check out Rilla's essay "Rhumba," which appeared in issue 57 of Tin House.

Dougherty in Jet Fuel Review & More

Enjoy three new poems by first-year student Kevin Dougherty. "Lullaby" and "Heap" appear in the fall 2013 issue of Jet Fuel Review. And the lovely, lonely "Saturday Poem/Instead of Pittsburgh" was published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

New Gilchrist Story in China Grove

Pick up the inaugural issue of China Grove for a brand new story by Ellen Gilchrist! "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" comes from Ellen's latest collection, Acts of God, to be published by Algonquin Books in April 2014. It appears in issue 1 of the China Grove literary journal, alongside a lengthy interview with Ellen.