News & Events

• Book Signing by MFA Alum Steve Yates

  MFA alumnus Steve Yates (1994) will sign his new book Some Kinds of Love: Stories from 4-7pm on Wednesday, May 15, at Nightbird Books on Dickson Street in Fayetteville.
  

  Some Kinds of Love won the 2012 Juniper Prize for fiction. Stories from the collection have appeared in national journals, including The Missouri Review, Southwest Review, and TriQuarterly. Says writer Ben Fountain, "Some Kinds of Love is nothing short of masterful. You would think this was the work of not one but a dozen writers, so impressive is Yates’s range of subject, setting, mood, and effect, from the quiet, ghastly intrigue of ‘Hunter, Seeker’ to the blowout hilarity of the Green Tomato Marquesa’s triumph. In Steve Yates’s stories, pigs really do fly. He is a brilliant, and brilliantly inventive, writer, and this book is sheer delight from beginning to end.”

  Yates' first novel, Morkan's Quarry, is set in Springfield, the surrounding Ozarks, and St. Louis during the Civil War. Yates is assistant director and marketing director of the University Press of Mississippi in Jackson. 

• Final Reading by Graduating MFA Students

  The Programs in Creative Writing & Translation are proud to present readings each year by our graduating MFA students. The final reading for 2013 takes place at 7pm, Friday, April 26th, when poet Aran Donovan and fiction writers Josh Peterson and Kaj Anderson-Bauer share their work in Giffels Auditorium, Old Main.

  This reading is free, and all are invited to attend!

• Reading by Visiting Translator Don Bogen

  Award-winning translator and poet Don Bogen will read from his work at 7pm on Thursday, April 11, in Kimpel Hall 105.

  Bogen has published four collections of poetry, including Luster and An Algebra. His honors include The Writer / Emily Dickinson Award of the Poetry Society of America, grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ingram Merrill Foundation, and residencies at Yaddo and the Camargo Foundation. As a translator, Bogen collaborates with authors in the U.S. and abroad. His versions of the work of contemporary Spanish poet Julio Martínez Mesanza have appeared in Boston Review, Pleiades and other journals, and in 2008 he was awarded a Witter Bynner Poetry Translator Residency at the Santa Fe Arts Institute. Bogen teaches at the University of Cincinnati and serves as poetry editor of The Cincinnati Review.

  This event is free and open to the public. It is made possible by support from the University of Arkansas Department of English, the Walton Family Foundation, and the University of Arkansas Fine Arts Activities Fee.

• Readings by Graduating MFA Students

  The Programs in Creative Writing & Translation are proud to present readings by our 2013 graduating MFA students.

  On Friday, April 5: poets Katie Nichol and Rodney Wilhite and fiction writer Hung Pham.

  On Friday, April 12: poets Joshua Brown and Corrie Williamson.

  On Friday, April 26: poet Aran Donovan and fiction writers Josh Peterson and Kaj Anderson-Bauer.

  All readings begin at 7pm and are held in Giffels Auditorium, Old Main. These events are free, and all are welcome to attend. We hope you'll come out to support our students and to hear these great writers as they start their careers!

• Reading by Visiting Poet Rodney Jones

  Award-winning poet Rodney Jones will read from his work at 7pm on Wednesday, March 27, in Giffels Auditorium, Old Main.

  Rodney Jones has published widely in leading magazines, in The Oxford Book of Contemporary American Poetry, and in eight editions of The Best American Poetry. His books include Imaginary Logic; Salvation Blues: 100 Poems, 1985-2005, which won the Kingsley Tufts Prize and was shortlisted for the Griffin International Poetry Prize; Elegy for the Southern Drawl, a Pulitzer finalist; Things That Happen Once, a Los Angeles Times Book Award finalist; and Transparent Gestures, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. Other awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Jean Stein Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. A professor and distinguished scholar emeritus at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, he teaches in the MFA program at Warren Wilson College and is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers.

  This event is free and open to the public. It is made possible by support from the University of Arkansas Department of English, the Walton Family Foundation, and the University of Arkansas Fine Arts Activities Fee.

• Reading/Release Party for Heffernan's Latest Collections

  The Burning Chair Readings present a book release event and reading by professor of poetry Michael Heffernan. It all takes place at Nightbird Books on Dickson Street in Fayetteville. The event is free, and all are welcome.

  Michael will be reading from his most recent collections: Walking Distance (Lost Horse Press, 2013) and The Breaking of the Day (Salmon Poetry, 2012).

  Walking Distance is Michael’s eleventh book of poems. His previous titles include The Cry of Oliver Hardy, To the Wreakers of Havoc, The Man at Home, Love’s Answer, The Night Breeze Off the Ocean, The Odor of Sanctity, At the Bureau of Divine Music, and The Breaking of the Day. He was born in Detroit in 1942, educated at the University of Detroit and the University of Massachusetts, and has taught poetry in Michigan, Kansas, Washington, Ireland, and, since 1986, at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. His work has been awarded three fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. He and his wife, Ann, have three sons, a daughter, and a grandson.

  The Burning Chair Readings, founded by Katy and Matthew Henriksen in New York City in 2004, have organized regular and special literary events in several cities and now call Nightbird Books and Fayetteville, Arkansas home. Readings feature poets of emerging talent and established reputation from Fayetteville and across the country. For complete event listings and author information, visit them online.

• Mark Your Calendar: Spring Readings!

  The UA Programs in Creative Writing & Translation have a number of great readings coming up this spring.

  Wednesday, March 27: Award-winning poet Rodney Jones will read from his work

  Friday, April 5: Readings by graduating MFA students Katie Nichol, Hung Pham, and Rodney Wilhite

  Friday, April 12: Readings by graduating MFA students Josh Brown and Corrie Williamson

  Friday, April 26: Readings by graduating MFA students Aran Donovan, Josh Peterson, and Kaj Anderson-Bauer

  All readings take place at 7pm in Giffels Auditorium, Old Main, on the UofA campus. They're 100 percent free, and everyone is welcome to attend. Hope to see you there!

• AWP Offsite Reading to Feature UA Poets, Alumni

  Thrush Poetry Journal and Barn Owl Review will host an offsite AWP reading at the Elephant & Castle Pub in Boston, 8-10pm on Wednesday, March 6.

  Among the featured readers are first-year poetry student Eszter Takacs and two distinguished UA alumni: Sandy Longhorn (poetry, 2003) and Adam Clay (poetry, 2005).

• Big Rock Reading Series Features McCombs, Guinzio

  For our friends in Little Rock: Davis McCombs, director of our program, and Carolyn Guinzio will read from their poetry at 6pm, Tuesday, February 19, at Pulaski Technical College as part of The Big Rock Reading Series. A Q&A and book signing will follow.

  The event takes place in the R.J. Wills Lecture Hall on the second floor of the Campus Center and is free and open to the public.

  Visit www.bigrockreading.blogspot.com for more information.

• MFA Poets to be Featured at Local Poet Fest

  
  

  MFA students Kaveh Bassiri, J. Camp Brown, Eszter Takacs, and alumna Laura Gray are among the featured readers for Local Poet Fest, presented by Burning Chair Readings.

  The event takes place at 8pm Saturday, Jan. 26, at Nightbird Books on Dickson Street in Fayetteville.
  
  Come celebrate locally-grown poetry of diverse styles in a laid-back atmosphere. Beverages with and without alcohol will be available for purchase. A $3 donation to help support the venue and costs for the upcoming Bestoned/Cannibal Festival in April is suggested.
  
  The Burning Chair Readings, founded by Katy and Matthew Henriksen in New York City in 2004, have organized regular and special literary events in several cities and now call Nightbird Books and Fayetteville, Arkansas home. Look for future monthly readings at Nightbird Books that will bring some of the most exciting emerging poets to share their work here in Fayetteville.
  
  Kaveh Bassiri’s poetry won the Bellingham Review’s 49th Parallel Award and is published in Best New Poets 2011, Virginia Quarterly Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, and Mississippi Review.
  
  J. Camp Brown plays bluegrass mandolin and sings high tenor. He is a 2012 Arkansas Arts Council Fellow and was a finalist for the 2012 Ruth Lilly Fellowship. His poems have appeared in Juked, Nashville Review, and Prick of the Spindle.
  
  Rachel Burrows is an Ozarks native. She has a BA in English language and literature with a focus in creative writing from UAFS.
  
  Joshua Dickens discovered his love for poetry by sheer providence. After several attempts, he finished his BA in History at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith and during his time there, he managed to get a few poems published. He lives in Van Buren with his wife Rebecca and daughter Zoe Jane. He is an amateur Medievalist, a great project starter and a so-so fisherman.
  
  Laura Gray grew up in Scottsboro, Alabama. She writes poetry and fiction, and studied writing at the U of A. She currently teaches in the English Department.
  
  Pamela Hitchcock is a non-traditional student at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where she studies German and creative writing. She has lived in Eureka Springs since 1987.
  
  Eszter Takacs is a Hungarian-born poet. Her poems have appeared in Full of Crow, elimae, ILK Poetry, Birdfeast, and Mixed Fruit. Additionally, she has poems forthcoming in Barn Owl Review, DIAGRAM, and Phoebe. She is currently an MFA candidate and Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, to where she recently relocated from Los Angeles. She also plays the flute and fiddles with cameras.

• Reception for "Spoke & Dark," a New Collection by Carolyn Guinzio

  
  

  Join us Friday at 7pm, when Nightbird Books hosts a reception for Carolyn Guinzio (friend and supporter of our MFA program, not to mention talented poet) to celebrate the release of her collection "Spoke & Dark."

  Attendees will be treated to a screening of "The History of Stars & Ghosts," a 3-minute poem-film made to coincide with the book's release. Refreshments will be available and beer and wine for sale. Those who purchase a copy of the book receive a signed poster of the poem featured in the film.

• UofA Among Top-Ranked MFA Programs by Poets & Writers

  
  

  In its 2013 MFA Index, Poets & Writers magazine again ranks the University of Arkansas Programs in Creative Writing and Translation among the top MFA programs in the nation.

  Of 160 full-residency programs nationwide, the U of A places 39th in terms of “popularity” (measured by the number of students who applied over 2011-2012). But our program really shines in its service to students and graduates. The magazine ranks us 8th in job placement, 16th in funding for our students, and 18th in fellowship placement for our graduates!

• MFA Alum Carolyn Briggs to Screen her Film "Higher Ground"

  
  

  Fiction alumna Carolyn Briggs (1998) returns to Fayetteville on Saturday, August 25, to present a screening and Q&A for her film "Higher Ground." The film, for which Carolyn wrote the screenplay, stars Vera Farmiga and is based on Carolyn's memoir Higher Ground (Rowman & Littlefield), which chronicles her life in an intense, fundamentalist Christian community and her journey out of that world into a more authentic and ambiguous reality.

  The movie originally appeared at the L.A., Tribeca, and Sundance Film Festivals before being released to theaters nationwide in 2011.

  The screening takes place at 6pm on August 25 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Fayetteville. This event is free and open to the public.

• MFA Students Featured at The Burning Chair Readings Local Poet Fest

  
  

  The Burning Chair Readings present Local Poet Fest with short readings by eight local poets:

  Roger Barrett
  Willi Goehring
  Catherine Hotaling-Donnelly
  Katie Nichol
  Geoff Oelsner
  Milton Vaught
  Jessica Weisenfels
  Rodney Wilhite

  8pm, Saturday, August 18
  Nightbird Books
  205 West Dickson Street
  Fayetteville, Arkansas

  Come celebrate locally-grown poetry of diverse styles in a laid-back atmosphere. Beverages with
  and without alcohol will be available for purchase. We suggest attendees bring a coffee mug, wine glass, or $3 as a donation to help stock Nightbird Books’ new coffee and wine bar.

  The Burning Chair Readings, founded by Katy and Matthew Henriksen in New York City in 2004,
  have organized regular and special literary events in several cities and now call Nightbird Books
  and Fayetteville, Arkansas home. Look for future monthly readings at Nightbird Books that will
  bring some of the most exciting emerging poets to share their work here in Fayetteville.

• Graduate Student Reading: Jason Torrente and Nick Welch-Bolen

  7 p.m. Thursday, March 15th in Giffels Auditorium, Old Main

• Steve Yarbrough Reading and Book Signing

  Thursday, March 8th at 7:00 p.m. Giffels Auditorium in Old Main University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

  Please join the University of Arkansas Programs in Creative Writing and Translation in welcoming award-winning author Steve Yarbrough for a reading and book signing. 

  Yarbrough  is the author of eight books and the recipient of many honors.  His most recent publication, Safe From the Neighbors (2010), was a finalist for both the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award for Fiction and the Massachusetts Book Award.  His lengthy list of honors includes finalist for the 2005 PEN/Faulkner Award, 1999 California Book Award winner, Mississippi Authors Award, and the 2010 Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence.  The son of Mississippi Delta farmers, Steve is currently a professor in the Department of Writing, Literature, and Publishing at Emerson College in Boston.

  This event is free and open to the public. It is made possible by support from the University of Arkansas Department of English and the University of Arkansas Fine Arts Activities Fee.

  The University of Arkansas Bookstore will have books available for purchase (cash or check only).

• Marilyn Nelson Reading & Book Signing

  November 15th, 7:00 p.m. in the Home Economics Auditorium (HOECO 102)

  Poet Laureate of the State of Connecticut (2001-2006) Marilyn Nelson, poet, author, children’s author, and translator, has produced fourteen books and five chapbooks. She has also published verse for children.  Her lengthy list of prestigious honors include recipient of a J.S. Guggenheim Fellowship, NEA Felloship, Annisfield-Wolf Award, PEN Winship Award, Lenore Marshall Prize, Boston Globe/Hornbook Award, and Flora Stieglitz Straus Award and many more. Image Journal writes, “She inhabits the voices of the overlooked and disenfranchised and shines light into forgotten corners that reveal essential truths about the whole.” Nelson is a professor emerita of English at the University of Connecticut.

• 9 by the Light Graduate Student Readings

  Wednesday, October 26th at 6:30 p.m. at the Wine Cellar

  Our readers will include first year poet, Willi Goehring, third years, Aran Donovan and Rodney Wilhite, and our fourth and first year fictioneers, Erin Jones and Jon O'Neal, as well as first year translator, Kathleen Heil.

• Leslie Daniels Reading & Book Signing

  Wednesday, Oct. 5th at 7:00 p.m. in Giffels Auditorium, Old Main

  Leslie Daniels' first novel, Cleaning Nabokov's House (2011) received enthusiastic reviews. The New York Post called the novel “required reading,” and Kirkus Reviews agrees, describing the novel as “fine company—blunt, mordantly funny…a winning combination of ruthlessness and warmth.” Leslie’s work has been published in numerous journals. A former literary agent and fiction editor for The Green Mountains Review, she is currently at work on another novel.