MFA Graduation Gala 2012!!!

The Creative Writing Program of Southern Illinois University Carbondale's Department of English 

cordially invites you to attend 

our MFA Celebration

April 28, 2012
5:30-7 pm: Reception
7-9:30 pm: Readings

at the Varsity Center for the Arts, 418 South Illinois Avenue, Carbondale, Illinois

These seven graduating students will read briefly from their thesis works:

Ruth Awad
Bryan Brower
Jung Hae Chae
Shawn Mitchell
Nick Ostdick
John Stanford Owen
Derand E. Wright
Please join us in wishing them congratulations and godspeed.

Accepted poem for Brenna Lemieux (MFA '11)

Harpur Palate accepted my poem "Departures" this week. I'm looking
forward to hearing all the fine 3rd years read at the Gala!


Congrats, Brenna!!!

Update: Travis Mossotti (MFA '10)

Great news from poetry alum Travis Mossotti (MFA '10, poetry);

I'll be an Assistant Professor of English at St. Charles Community
College this fall, I just found out I won the Blue Moon Poetry
Chapbook Contest at Missouri State for My Life as an Island (first
half of a longer manuscript--Western Humanities Review is publishing a
fifteen page spread from that manuscript this summer), and Prairie
Schooner will be publishing a ten page poem, "Yellowstone Wolf
Project," from a different manuscript in fall 2012.

Re: Publication news for Jung Hae Chae

Fabulous news also from Jung Hae Chae (MFA '12, poetry):

Very excited to share news of an upcoming publication--the Calyx
Journal picked up three of my poems: "Language Acquisition,"
"Generations," and "She was the ugliest girl" in either July 2012 or
January 2013 issue.  Groooovy!

Groovy indeed!!! Congrats, Jung!!

Mark Brewin forthcoming publication!

MFA grad Mark Brewin (MFA '11) also has good news!

Just letting you know that Harpur Palate has accepted my poem"A
Borrowed Childhood Memory, New York City, 1923." Nice nice.

Indeed! Congrats, MB!

Re: poem acceptance!

Great news this Monday for first-year poet Maggie Graber:

Just wanted to let you know for the blog...my poem "Late Night Shift
at the Radio Station" was picked up by Black Heart Magazine.

Congrats to Sequoia Nagamatsu!

Second-year fiction MFA Sequoia Nagamatsu was named a finalist in the Third Coast Fiction Contest!!

Details here:
Third Coast

forthcoming publication for Adrienne Rivera (MFA '12)

Fabulous news from fiction writer Adrienne Rivera (MFA '12):

Copper Nickel is going to publish my short story "Murdered Girl."
This is my first publication ever, so I am pretty pleased.

Great news, AD!!!

Pinckney Benedict online reading and Q&A - Wednesday, April 18, 6 PM Eastern

SIUC fiction prof Pinckney Benedict will be reading from his work on Wednesday, online!

I'm doing an online video "event" tomorrow, Wednesday, April 18, at 6 PM Eastern time. It's an experiment - you all know me well enough to be aware of what a gadget guy I am, and it seems to me that this latest gadget will have some role in how book tours and such are done in the (near) future. I'll be giving a brief reading from Miracle Boy and Other Stories, and then there will be a Q&A period, during which webcam-equipped attendees (who can virtually raise their hands!) can ask me questions and so on.

I freely admit that I have no idea how this will go, so you're likely to see me fall flat on my face, or hit the wrong button and blip out of existence. What could be better?

Hit the link below to add yourself to the guest list. The event coordinators will then send you an email with the link to the actual reading, as well as a reminder when the reading is about to start. There's no software to install, as the whole thing works in a conventional browser.

Hope to see ("see") some of you there ("there").

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3301840895/efbnen 

A scholarship for and a tip from Rachel Furey

Rachel Furey (MFA '09, fiction) writes with good news (and an inside tip):

The scholarship I received from the Highlights Foundation is $600
toward a Young Adult Boot Camp in June with Rich Wallace and Kathryn
Erskine. The folks at the foundation asked that I spread the word to
other writers, so if others are interested in children's/YA writing,
they might check out the list of workshops:

http://www.highlightsfoundation.org/fw-sched-preview/

They're happy to answer any questions and send a scholarship
application via email.

Congrats, Rachel, and thanks!!!

Congrats to Patrick Hunt!

First-year fiction MFA Patrick Hunt has this great news:

I'll have an upcoming short story, "Sooyoung at the Shore," in the
Spring 2012 issue of The Bellingham Review, which I think is coming
out later this month or next.

Congrats, Patrick!

SIUC MFA students to be featured in Paducah, KY

Poet Staci Schoenfeld and fiction writer Sequoia Nagamatsu will be the SIU readers at the Rivertown Reading Series in Paducah, KY on Saturday April 21 at the Yeiser Center for the Arts. The reading will begin at 7:30 pm at 200 Broadway Street. Congrats Sequoia and Staci!

Coming Soon: the Little Grassy Literary Festival

SIUC's annual spring literary festival, the Little Grassy Literary Festival, is back again for 2012.

April 11-April 13:

Read about it here:
Festival News Release

Poemspotting: Mark Brewin

Publication news for Mark Brewn (MFA 11, poetry):

A piece of mine was selected as Poem of the Month a while back and has
been posted on The
Pinch's website. It's a longer piece titled, "Seven Places I Have Found My
Grandmother in the Last Six Years."

http://www.thepinchjournal.com/poem-of-the-month/current/

Congrats, MB!