Congrats to Sara Burge!

from second-year poetry MFA student Sara Burge:

Just thought I'd let you know (for the good of the blog) that
Backwards City Review just took my poem "The Failure of
Smell-O-Vision." It will be in issue #5.

End-of-Semester News and Notes

Congrats to third-year MFA poetry student Lis Meyer, whose paper "Making the Abstract Concrete: Teaching Creative
Writing through Critical Thinking" was accepted for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference's Pedagogy Forum.

Congrats to second-year MFA poetry student Sara Burge, whose poem "The Valley, The Shadow" appears in the new issue of River Styx as one of their annual poetry contest winners.

Congrats to second-year MFA fiction student Jason Lee Brown, whose story "Chicken Without a Head," appears in the new issue of The Journal.

Poems by current student Helena Bell, current faculty Allison Joseph, MFA grad Chad Parmenter, and former faculty members Lucia Perillo and Margot Schillpp appear in the new issue of Margie (volume 5).

Former faculty member Lucia Perillo's new book, "Ground Truth: On Disability, Poetry, and Nature" is forthcoming from Trinity University Press.

Congrats to James Miller

Third year MFA poetry student James Miller has been nominated by Arkansas Review for a Pushcart Prize for his poem "Juke: Valentine's Day, Chicago 1968."

You can find out more about Arkansas Review (but unfortunately can't see the poem) at

Arkansas Review

Grassroots Reading, December 7

Grassroots, SIUC's undergraduate journal, will be holding an open mike reading on December 7, 2006
at the Longbranch Coffeehouse (100 E. Jackson) in Carbondale.
The reading, which is free and open to all, will start at 8PM.

Come to read, listen, or both.

Congrats to Elena Pearson

Third year MFA poetry student Elena Pearson writes:

My poem "Grandparents' House, Venezuela" has been accepted for publication at Compass Rose. I will be published in both the 2006-2007 online edition and the 2007-2008 printed edition. I submitted to Compass Rose after reading about their call for submission that you posted on CRWROPPS.


NB: CRWROPPS is the Creative Writers Opportunities List--see the link for it at right on the "Links" list.

If you missed the career prep presentation...

Handouts from the Career Prep presentation are available from Allison.

This just in...

SIU grad John McNally (B.A. 1987) will be signing copies of his new novel,
AMERICA'S REPORT CARD, at the Student Center Bookstore on Thursday, November
30, from noon to 2:00.
John is the author of two novels, AMERICA'S REPORT CARD and THE BOOK OF
RALPH, both published by Free Press (Simon and Schuster), and one story
collection, TROUBLEMAKERS, winner of the John Simmons Short Fiction Award.
His recent awards include a Jenny McKean Moore fellowship from George
Washington University and a Chesterfield Writer's Film Project fellowship
sponsored by Paramount Pictures. He's also edited five anthologies,
including the forthcoming WHEN I WAS A LOSER (Free Press, 2007).
A native of Chicago's southwest side, John is presently an associate
professor at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC.

Career Day!

The Graduate Writers Forum is sponsoring a talk entitled "What Do I Do Now? : A Career Presentation for Creative Writers." This talk, hosted by Professors Benedict and Joseph of the SIUC MFA Program, will focus on such topics as resume/vitae/cover letter preparation, applying for grants for writers, and applying to writers' colonies, conferences and retreats.

This presentation will be held Wednesday, November 29 from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm in the Student Center Illinois Room. The talk is free and open to the public.

Congrats to Jacinda Townsend!

Our own Jacinda Townsend is one of the winners of the 2006-2007 Joint Women's Studies and University Professional Advancement Research, Scholarly and Creative Activity Awards!

For more about Jacinda's award, check out this news release:

UPA Awards

Devil's Kitchen Literary Festival wrap-up

Thanks to all the writers, editors, students and audience members who made the Devil's Kitchen Festival such a success!

Emerging Writers Network's Dan Wickett, our panel moderator, has written his impressions of the festival--you can read his accounts at

Festival

Panel

Upcoming "Art of Publishing" Panel, November 11, 2006

The Graduate Writers Forum is the sponsor of an upcoming panel titled "The Art of Publishing."
Four award-winning editors will be on hand during the Devil's Kitchen Literary Festival to share their expertise about today's publishing climate. The editors are:

C. Michael Curtis, Senior Editor, the Atlantic Monthly
M.M. Hayes, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Story Quarterly
Ted Genoways, Editor, Virginia Quarterly Review
Richard Newman, Editor, River Styx

This panel is made possible by funding from SIUC's Fine Arts Activity Fee, Crab Orchard Review, the Judge William Holmes Cook Endowment, and the Graduate and Professional Student Council.

The panel will be on November 11 from 11:45 to 12:45 pm in the SIUC Student Center Auditorium.

Devil's Kitchen Literary Festival begins next week!

SIUC's annual literary festival, the Devil's Kitchen Literary Festival, begins next week.
All events are free and open the the public!

2006 Devil’s Kitchen Literary Festival
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Thursday, Friday, & Saturday - November 9 – 11


THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9

8:00 – 9:00 p.m. Readings by Donald Platt & Lamar Herrin
Student Center Auditorium

9:00 – 10:00 p.m. Festival Reception (sponsored by the SIUC Dept. of English)
Student Center J.W. Corker Lounge


FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10

— panel discussions, Student Center Auditorium —

11:00 – 11:50 a.m. Poetry Panel featuring Susanna Childress, Jennifer Maier,
Donald Platt, & Crystal Williams

1:00 – 1:50 p.m. Fiction Panel featuring Kevin Brockmeier, Amanda Filipacchi,
Lamar Herrin, & Roxana Robinson

2:15 – 3:30 p.m. Reception and Booksigning featuring all festival readers
Student Center Old Main Lounge

4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Readings by Jennifer Maier & Kevin Brockmeier
Student Center Auditorium

5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Readings by Susanna Childress & Amanda Filipacchi
Student Center Auditorium


SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11

1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Readings by Crystal Williams & Roxana Robinson
Student Center Auditorium


The festival is sponsored by GRASSROOTS, SIUC's undergraduate literary magazine.
The Devil’s Kitchen Fall Literary Festival is made possible through funding from
the SIUC Fine Arts Activity Fee, the SIUC Creative Writing Program’s Visiting Writers
Series, and CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW.

from Curtis Crisler (MFA '04):

I will be getting married at the end of January to Arana McCall. She’s an RN, and she’s paying off her school bills by working for one of the hospitals here. We plan on going to the Bahamas and doing it on the beach (that is, getting married on the beach. Get your mind out of the gutter, Rodney). So that’s still coming together. In September I went to Soul Mountain Retreat with Marilyn Nelson and Tonya Hegamin. I met this cool brother, Carl Dean, Jr. (up and coming poet and musician). I recently went to New York. My first time, and it was nice. I really enjoyed it. I had a ball! And this past week, I went to the Gwendolyn Brooks Conference in Chi-town. I got to see Adrian, but only for a minute because I was back on the road to The Fort (Fort Wayne, IN).

So I’ll be grading papers all weekend. Yea! Kevin and I were going to come to the Devil’s Kitchen, but he is doing catch up, and I am doing a balancing act (both, for academia).

I am currently working on a manuscript for helping incoming freshmen (Summer Bridge) make that transition from high school to college. For some reason I realized that they go from teenagers to adults in a small span of time (May/June –August). After reading the Freedom Writers Diary we came up with our own, tentatively titled: Our Last Summer: Six Weeks of Writing to Independence. Through journaling they are able to address their fears, concerns, weaknesses, strengths, and discoveries of their goals and dreams. I plan on using this as a learning tool for future Summer Bridge students, in conjunction with IPFW’s Sociology Department, the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Services, and the Writing Center. They have all been instrumental in the project, and in the development of the students.

(Note: Curtis teaches at his undergraduate alma mater, IPFW (Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne). His first book of poems, Tough Boy Sonatas, is forthcoming.)

A note from Steve Leek, aka Steven Trebellas (MFA '05)

Note: Steve's poems appear on such sites as Poemelon, Cezanne's Carrot, and Boxcar Poetry Review. CRWROPPS is the Creative Writers Opportunites List (link at right).

From Steve:

I have totally used CRWROPPS to get my journal pubs. They have all been in E-Zines, and, per Rodney's suggestion, I have used my Mother's maiden name 'Trebellas' as my writer's name. My father always resisted, while my Mother assisted, so I think that's fair. After getting into some electronic journals, I decided to stick with them, mainly because they were interesting to me and a little strange (to my generation). It surprised me how astute some of the editors are--especially the ones who liked my poems ;). If I didn't take the E's seriously before, I do now. A few of them even struck up conversations and I was delighted to have some clever new friends. The transition to print journals seems intimidating. After the MFA, I just wanted to write more poems while I had the momentum. The E-Journals seemed friendly and it was less trouble to click "send" than lick stamps.

I have been taking jobs here and there--doing most anything. I own my old gas station, so I don't need much money, and my health is holding up. I have tried to keep a high level of involvement in writing. I spent two semesters as a kind of guest coach at WIU where I worked with grad students who submitted a creative thesis. This allowed me to get some of my own new poems critiqued. A high point for me was a visit to the CCCC convention in Chicago where I saw Teresa Kramer, and my old subversive friend Dr. Strickland. For now, I want to start entering contests. I have a chapbook ready and have about a third of the poems in it taken. When I get around half of them taken, I'll be ready to send it out along with many dollars.

Hi to everyone! Allison, Jon, Rodney, Judy, and Mag. To my workshop peers, you know I miss you all. Hopefully, I'll see some of you at this years Devil's Kitchen. Ta, you Speedsters! Steve

Recent MFA grad and current English Dept. lecturer Michael Meyerhofer has won the 2006 Laureate Prize from the National Poetry Review for his poem "Diagnosing God."
Congrats!
National Poetry Review

a little sunshine

Allison Joseph's poem "The Poem Your Mother Warned You About" won first place in the 2006 Florida State Poetry Association Contest, formal verse category. Her poem "Future Writer" won first place in the 2006 FSPA's Alkoff Memorial Award.
2007 FSPA Contest Guidelines

Ben Percy news

Great news from Benjamin Percy (MFA '04). His story "Obsidian Junior High" has been accepted for publication in Esquire--it will appear in January! Another story, "Where to Begin," received a $1000 Tamarack Award from Minnesota Monthly and will appear in the December 2006 issue. Congrats, Ben!
You can visit Ben at his web site:
Ben's site

Upcoming Reading--10/25

This week's in-house reading sponsored by the Graduate Writers Forum features
Martin Call, poet
Jason Brown, fiction writer
and
Jon Tribble, poet

The reading will be in the SIUC Student Center Illinois Room from 3:30 to 4:30 pm.
All are invited.

Forthcoming Poem

Third-year poetry MFA student Lis Meyer's poem "My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pies" has been accepted by PMS (Poem/Memoir/Story)!
Congrats, LIs!

PMS

Meyerhofer on Verse Daily

Recent MFA grad and current lecturer in the department appears today on Verse Daily:
Verse Daily

Settling for First...

Allison Joseph's poem "The Settling" has won first place in the poetry division of the Fall 2006 Writing Contest held by the California Writers Club, Central Coast Branch.
Central Coast Writers

Graduate Student Reading Today--10/18

Another In-House Graduate Student Reading will take place today from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm in the SIUC Student Center Illinois Room.

Reading from their work will be MFA students Mary Keck (fiction), Helena Bell (poetry) and John Flaherty (fiction). The reading is sponsored by the Graduate Writers Forum and the MFA Program in Creative Writing. All are welcome.

Pinckney Benedict to Judge National Contest

To get contest guidelines, visit

Salem College

Pinckney's latest pubs

The Pinckney Benedict era at SIUC continues with these publications:

“Mercy” (short story), Ontario Review # 65 (Princeton, NJ), Fall/Winter 2006-07.

 

“Pig Helmet & the Wall of Life” (short story), StoryQuarterly #42 (Kenilworth, IL), October 2006.

 

“Rescuing Moon” (short story), reprint, I Feel (magazine), Kinokuniya Publishing (Tokyo), October 2006.

Documentary featuring Allison Joseph airs tonight

From the WTTW web site:

Beauty Rises: Four Lives in the Arts

Commissioned to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Illinois Arts Council, this poignant and inspiring film interweaves the compelling stories of four artists in widely divergent mediums living and working in Illinois. Trumpeter and composer Orbert Davis, Carbondale poet and educator Allison Joseph, large scale metal sculptor Dessa Kirk of Chicago, and Albany Park Theatre Project co-founder/co-director Laura Wiley speak candidly about the challenges, sacrifices and rewards of their work, and the importance of “passing the torch” to young and developing artists.

Viewing notes:
In Chicago, "Beauty Rises" will air twice (on the 12th at 8 and on the 15th at 6 pm. In southern Illinois, it will air on WSIU on the 12th at 11pm. It will also be on the internet at the WTTW website (www.wttw.com/arts).

Graduate Student Reading Today

Another In-House Graduate Student Reading will take place today from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm in the SIUC Student Center Illinois Room.

Reading from their work will be MFA students Alex Lumens (fiction), Martin Call (poetry) and Will Tyler (poetry). The reading is sponsored by the Graduate Writers Forum and the MFA Program in Creative Writing. All are welcome.

Serialized fiction from Mike Magnuson

Mike Magnuson's fiction can be found at

http://www.onmilwaukee.com/articles/print/thefalls.html

Latest Faculty Publication

Pinckney Benedict's "Pig Helmet & The Wall of Life" appears in the
just-published issue of Story Quarterly (#42).

Literary Events in Carbondale This Week

The first of a series of "In-House" Graduate Student Readings will
happen this October 4th at 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm in the SIUC Student
Center Illinois Room.

Reading from their work will be MFA students/fiction writers Jared
Sexton and Andrew Lewellen, along with MFA student/poet Kerry James
Evans.

SIUC's undergraduate magazine, Grassroots, will hold its first open
mike reading of the semester on October 5, 8 pm to 10 pm, at the Long
Branch Coffee House, 100 East Jackson Street, in Carbondale.

Upcoming author appearances for SIUC creative writing faculty

Allison Joseph will be appearing again at Woman Made Gallery as part of the premiere party for the Her Mark 2007 calendar. The reading is at Woman Made Gallery, 685 N. Milwaukee, Chicago, IL, from 2-4 pm on October 8.
For more information:
www.womanmade.org

Rodney Jones will be reading from his new collection, Salvation Blues, at the Southern Festival of Books in Memphis, TN on Sunday, October 15, from 12 noon to 1 pm.
For more information:
http://www.humanitiestennessee.org/festival/sessions.php

A note from Pinckney and Laura

Find out more about our new writer-friends, Pinckney and Laura Benedict:

Hi. Don’t know if this is the sort of thing you want to include on the MFA blog, but Laura and I have started up MySpace pages.

 

The addresses:

 

www.myspace.com/pinckneybenedict

 

www.myspace.com/laurabenedict

 

They’re mainly to publicize the professional stuff we’re doing, conferences, readings, pubs, etc., with some personal stuff thrown in.

 

Thanks!

 

PB

A little cross genre action

just a touch of the story here...
Click on "Writing Awards" to access it...

Save these dates!

Save these dates:

Fall 2006 MFA Program In-House Readings
sponsored by the Graduate Writers Forum

All readings are in the SIUC Student Center Illinois Room,
Wednesdays, from 3:30-4:30 pm

10/4:
Jared Sexton, fiction
Kerry James Evans, poetry
Andrew Lewellen, fiction

10/11:
Martin Call, poetry
Alex Lumens, fiction
Will Tyler, poetry

10/18:
Mary Keck, fiction
Helena Bell, poetry
John Flaherty, fiction

10/25:
Andrew McFadyen-Ketchum, poetry
Jason Brown, fiction
Jon Tribble, poetry

All readings are free and open to the public.

Very happy news from Liz "Kershner" Whiteacre (MFA '02):

I've checked out the blog and was once again impressed by the great talent SIU's MFA program hosts and has nurtured. I don't know that this news is blog-worthy, but I wanted to share with all of you that I had a doctor's appointment yesterday morning, and the doctor confirmed that I'm pregnant! I'm due May 3rd-ish, and Kevin and I are both thrilled.

We are currently living just outside Chicago, and I've started my fifth year at College of DuPage. I had the opportunity to chair the Creative Writing Committee last year, which was exciting, and I've just become the advisor for the school's literary arts magazine, The Prairie Light Review, this term. The only poet currently on faculty (at least the only one who identifies herself as one--the other retired last spring), I'm also the advisor of the poetry/music club at the college. This place keeps me busy with my interests--I love it here. They have also given me a very kind schedule for the year: I'm teaching 2 Introduction to Literatures online and 1 & 1/2 Compositions online (1 then 2 in the spring), a poetry writing class, and the literary magazine class that produces the magazine for the college's district each term.

Those who are curious about the daddy-to-be will be happy to hear that Kevin's busy with new research projects at the federal halfway house for which he's done research for the past three years (it's run by the Salvation Army) and is teaching graduate research methods for Loyola University in downtown Chicago.

Those who are curious about the goldfish, currently the objects of our affections, will be happy to know that they haven't shown any signs of jealousy. We're all getting along swimmingly.

I probably won't be down to Atlanta for the 10th-year celebration party, but I'll send you an update. I hope you are all happy and well-rested--I'd love to hear your gossip!

Congrats to Melanie Martin (MFA '04), whose poem "Faith in Water" appears in the new issue of River Oak Review (Volume 2, Issue 3)!

News from Chad Simpson (MFA '05):


I'm currently Writer-in-Residence/Lecturer at Knox College in Galesburg, IL. I teach Beginning Fiction and Fiction Workshop, and honestly, it's about the coolest job in the world. I have stories in the current editions of
Georgetown Review and Versal and shorts up online at SmokeLong Quarterly and
juked. I also recently received word that a story of mine has been accepted for the inaugural issue of Avery: An Anthology of New Fiction, which is slated to come out in October. Oh, and it's old news by now, but I received a rockin' fellowship in prose earlier this year from the Illinois Arts Council.

You can keep up with Chad at his blog:
http://sadchimpson.blogspot.com

Congrats to second-year fiction MFA student Jason Lee Brown, whose short-short
"Chicken Without a Head" will be published in The Journal (Ohio State University)!
Jason's piece will appear in issue 30.2

The Journal's web site: http://english.osu.edu/journals/the_journal

A new documentary features SIUC's Allison Joseph:

read about it here...

Rodney Jones's new collection, Salvation Blues, as reviewed by Poetry !

read it here

Congrats to first-year poetry MFA student Kerry James Evans, whose poem "Southern Hospitality," is forthcoming in the fall edition of Southern Humanities Review!

More on our new faculty!

News from Jan La Perle (MFA '06), who's now in the Phd program
at Oklahoma State University:

I like the program, it's friendly, but unfortunately there aren't very
many poets. Film studies and TESL are big programs here and take up
much of the English Dept. My students are polite, and more respectful
as I gain confidence as a teacher, they call me ma'am and I like that.
I worked on "House" quite a bit this summer, sent it out to 3
contests. I'll send it out to more, but it's really expensive, as you
know. I've met Lisa Lewis, but I won't be taking a workshop until the Spring.
Ai is teaching one now, but I'm, instead, taking a seminar on Marianne Moore
& Elizabeth Bishop which I'm really enjoying.
You know, as much as I didn't think I would, I really do miss
Carbondale and my friends there. But I'm doing my best at
making Stillwater & OSU a good place for me.

Congratulations to second-year MFA poet Sara Burge, whose poem "The Valley, the Shadow" took third place in River Styx's 2006 International Poetry Contest! The poem will be published in that journal's October issue.

River Styx's website: www.riverstyx.org

News to shout from the rooftops:

Ben Percy (MFA '04) has sold his second story collection to Graywolf Press! Congrats, Ben!

Ben also writes:

I sold a story to Glimmer Train.

Ann Patchett will host a "Best American" evening with Symphony Space. She has selected three stories from the BASS 2006 anthology -- among them "Refresh, Refresh" -- to be read by actors and recorded for their Selected Shorts series. If you're interested in knowing more, here's the link--http://symphonyspace.org/-- the event is listed under "Literature." Can't wait.


Visit Ben's website at www.benjaminpercy.com

Good news: Allison Joseph's poem "Blind Date" was chosen by the poet Alicia Ostriker as the grand prize winner in the 2006 Happy Hour Poetry Contest,
sponsored by the literary journal Alehouse Press.

Congrats to second-year poetry MFA student Helena "Hel" Bell, whose poem
"The Love Boats" is forthcoming in Margie!
To learn more about Margie, visit their web site at www.margiereview.com

Good news this AM: Allison Joseph's poem "To Clint, Whose Nametag I Misspelled"
won second place in the The Ledge's 2006 Poetry Awards Competition.

Congrats to new poetry MFA student Andy McFadyen-Ketchum on his poem "The Art of Fishing" being accepted for publication in Mad Poets Review!

Good news--Crab Orchard Review has received a grant of $7610 from the Illinois Arts Council!

I'll be reading in Chicago this week on Sunday, September 10 at Woman Made Gallery, as part of a group reading called "Anthropomorphism." The reading begins at 2 pm and concludes at 4 pm.

Woman Made is a great venue for art by women and is located at 685 N. Milwaukee Ave, Chicago IL 60622.

Their website is located

here

We are proud and happy to welcome Jacinda Townsend and Pinckney Benedict to our faculty at SIUC.



About Pinckney Benedict:

Nationally known fiction writer Pinckney Benedict is the author of a novel, Dogs of God, and two collections of short stories. Among other awards, he is a recipient of the prestigious Nelson Algren Award from the Chicago Tribune, as well as a James Michener Fellowship.

About Jacinda Townsend:

Jacinda Townsend was a 2003–2004 Carol Houck Smith Fiction Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute of Creative Writing and a 2002 Hurston Wright Award finalist. She has published in numerous literary magazines, and her work has been anthologized in O. Henry Festival Stories and Telling Stories: Fiction by Kentucky Feminists. A former Fulbright fellow, she is a graduate of both Harvard University and the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

News from Joan Dy, (MFA '05):

I have a poem in the Tribute to Filipino Poets issue of Rattle.
You can see it here at: http://www.rattle.com/rattle24.php?id=rattle24/default.php. Otherwise, I've been involved in a love/hate relationship with Korea for the past year. Will be coming back to live in the 'dale. All-night poetry salons complete with homemade chocolates, sword-fighting, and seven-course dinners will resume.

The MFA Program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale will be a sponsor of the 2007 Association of Writers and Writing Progams Annual Conference in Atlanta, Georgia on February 28-March 3, 2007.

We're planning a reception for current students, alumni, and friends to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the MFA Program at SIUC.

Hope to see you there,
Allison J.

Here's a note from Jim Gill (MFA '99):

I recently installed a bar sink in a friend's house, bagged my first Cascade Range volcano summit (Diamond Peak, 8744 ft.), and had a short story, "Fort Sumter", come out in Grain Magazine. Oregon is paradise! Enough said.

Keep those notes coming!

News from Chad Parmenter (MFA '05), aka Complex P:

My latest thangs are getting a creative writing fellowship at Mizzou, and having my chapbook, "Weston's Unsent Letters to Modotti," place as a finalist in The Laurel Review's compeition. John Gallaher was wonderful enough to take a couple of poems from it for TLR, that will be coming out I think in the winter issue.

More from Matt Guenette (MFA '99):

My chapbook ( is now available from Ropewalk Press. (Check out my blog www.mcguenette.blogspot.com for details). My manuscript Sudden Anthem continues to be a regular finalist: hopefully it won't be too much longer before it catches on for good. I landed a full-time permanent job at Madison Area Technical College, which has been a godsend. The work is great, the students fantastic, and we (my wife Julie and I) get to live in Madison.

Alums with chapbooks:

Both Paul Guest and Matt Guenette have new chapbooks available.
You can check out their blogs for more information:

http://paulguest.blogspot.com ( Paul Guest)

http://mcguenette.blogspot.com ( Matt Guenette)

Congrats to you two!

Our faculty has expanded with the addition of new fiction writers Pinckney Benedict (from Hollins University) and Jacinda Townsend (from Missouri State University). Also with us this year as a lecturer is recent MFA grad in poetry Michael Meyerhofer.
Rodney Jones and Mike Magnuson are on well-deserved sabbaticals. Judy Jordan is teaching the graduate workshop in poetry and Pinckney Benedict is teaching the graduate workshop in fiction. Jon Tribble continues as managing editor of Crab Orchard Review.

Hello and welcome to Bulletin Board: MFA Carbondale. This blog will highlight the activities of the great people who are and have been a part of the MFA program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The MFA creative writing program at SIUC was the first MFA program at a public university in the state of Illinois, and we remain committed to creating a space for writers to learn their craft.

I hope that current students and alums will contribute to this blog.
Thanks,
Allison Joseph
Program Director
MFA Program in Creative Writing
SIUCarbondale