No images? Click here Greetings Chapman U MFA Alumni and Students, Let me begin with words from this week’s emails from Chapman University President Daniele Struppa and Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Dean Jennifer Keene. Dr. Daniele Struppa: “Across the country and around the world, people are taking to the streets in anguish and mourning. As the protests continue, I join in the feeling of outrage for the horrific killing of George Floyd, which sadly followed the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky and so many others—too many to count. … Racial injustice continues to take lives while forcing others to live with prejudice and violence. Like many of you, I am angry and devastated by the systemic racism and abhorrent deaths that continue as a result.” Dr. Jennifer Keene: “Our purpose as an educational institution is crucial at this historic moment when many of us feel outraged, but perhaps also somewhat defeated and hopeless about the rise of white supremacy, ongoing police brutality, and black and brown lives lost. Reaffirming our shared humanity and resolve to insist on social justice is more important than ever.” As a result of the pandemic, Chapman’s classes this summer are all remote, and there are no in-person gatherings on campus. Wilkinson College invites us to join the Chapman U community on Tuesday, June 9th at 2 pm for a special virtual event featuring Jimmie C. Gardner and "Prexy" (Rozell W.) Nesbitt on “Turning Anguish to Purpose: The Path Forward.” You can join the event using this link: https://chapman.zoom.us/j/94734674105. Following on last year’s focus on the concept of borders, Wilkinson College had already established race as the focus for this coming year’s Engaging the World programming. Because most of you are bookworms, I also encourage you to make race a topic for your summer reading. There are good lists up at Buzzfeed and other outlets. If you have kids, Time Out just published a list of children’s books that deal specifically with diversity and inclusion. I always encourage buying books from indie bookstores, IndieBound, or Bookshop.org, and the African American Literature Book Club has a list of black-owned bookstores. These words and events are not enough, of course, because any system, including a university, is a whole comprised of all its constituent parts. We all have shared responsibility to design a better world. That’s a charge for artists and writers, and it is also a charge for faculty and administrators like me. I believe our writing is part of shaping the future of humanity. As writers in particular, we must take seriously this opportunity and obligation to encourage empathy and shape ways to consider and care for each other. Finally, I also want congratulate all who defended their thesis projects this year, during a global pandemic that required virtual conversations. I celebrate, too, those current students and alums whose work is being published; some new accomplishments are recognized below. I applaud each of you even in the missteps that are part of your way forward. And I welcome those who will begin the MFA and MA/MFA programs this fall. We’re happy that you are now part of this gathering of writers, and I hope we can do better together. --Anna Leahy Student Successes Manuel Calvillo de la Garza was selected for scholarship and attendance to the Juniper Summer Writing Institute hosted by the MFA Program for Poets & Writers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Calvillo de la Garza was also the recipient of this years Terri Brint Joseph Award for Outstanding MFA Student. Matt Goldman was this year's recipient of the Anna Marie Jardini Award for Service and Achievement. Nana K. A. Prempeh will be beginning his English PhD studies this Fall at University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Based on her essay about living in China, Lindsay Shen is featured on the podcast Living on Earth as part of NPR's Living on Earth environmental program. It was broadcast by NPR/PRX and their affiliate stations on April 14, 2020. Listen on the WESA website. Daniel Strasberger was this year's recipient of the Tom Massey Award for Outstanding MA English/MFA Creative Writing dual degree student. Jason Thornberry's flash fiction piece, “The Clever Fool (Умный Дурак)," is in the newest issue of In Parentheses Magazine. Tryphena Yeboah poetry chapbook A Mouthful of Home was selected by Kwame Dawes to be part of a special set from Akashic Books. Alumni Successes Liz Harmer's (MFA Creative Writing '19) story "Right to Grapple" was nominated for a National Magazine Award in Canada. It was originally published in The Malahat Review. Adam D. Martinez (MA English/MFA Creative Writing 14') has been selected as the winner of the 2019 Hillary Gravendyk Regional Prize. Martinez spent much of his time in Chapman's dual MA/MFA program working on this collection of poems which served as his thesis. Remyth: A Postmodernist Ritual will be published by Inlandia Institute in 2021, date TBA. Martinez is a professor of English at Chaffey College in California. Alexandra Vernon (MA English/MFA Creative Writing '20) was accepted into the University of California Irvine’s PhD program in English for Fall 2020 admission. Sean Woodard (MA English/MFA Creative Writing '16) was accepted into the University of Texas at Arlington’s PhD program in English for Fall 2020 admission. Opportunities The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts is open to submissions of flash fiction, poetry, short nonfiction, triptychs, and visual artwork through June 15, 2020. This journal pays $50 for each accepted piece. Evocations Review seeks fiction, art, poetry, and creative nonfiction submissions through August 15, 2020, for their next issue. They are also holding a nonfiction contest with the theme of quarantine. Dynamo Verlag has launched its first-ever book contest. The contest is open to book-length manuscripts of poetry or prose. The entry fee is $15, and the winner will receive a $500 advance against royalties and publication in Fall 2021. Submissions close January 31, 2021. Another Chicago Magazine welcomes submissions to the series "Dispatches from the Pandemic," a series that features MFA Director Anna Leahy's piece about time. In addition, ACM is extending its special feature on race/riot/rebellion/revolution, which began last fall. |