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Greetings Chapman U MFA Alumni and Students,
Welcome to the Fall 2020 semester at Chapman University! This one’s like never before. We’re starting all classes online this year. Faculty are using Canvas as the new course platform and Zoom for synchronous meetings. As much as I prefer in-person gatherings and as awful as the pandemic is, I’m excited about some of the rethinking I’ve done as a teacher and the possibilities ahead for the MFA in Creative Writing program.
Our English Graduate Student Orientation was held this week, and several faculty and current graduate students welcomed the incoming class with tips for a successful journey through the program. Alum and current Chapman instructor Matt Goldman also hosted a kick-off Write to Read session to celebrate some of our own writers.
Genevieve Kaplan, who is teaching the grad poetry workshop, has curated this year’s Tabula Poetica series, and Samantha de la O, one of the English department admins, is handling the logistics. Tabula Poetica has always been free and open to the public, and now the series is moving online so that people can attend from almost anywhere. Our core audience remains, of course, our own creative writing students and area alums. Here’s the amazing lineup for Fall 2020. Mark your calendars!
Monday, October 5: Michelle Brittan Rosado
2:30pm Craft Talk | 7:00pm Reading & Discussion
http://www.michellebrittanrosado.com
Monday, October 19: Angela Peñaredondo
2:30pm Craft Talk | 7:00pm Reading & Discussion
http://www.californiapoetics.org/poems/7184/two-poems-by-angela-penaredondo/
Monday, November 9: Brent Armendinger
2:30pm Craft Talk | 7:00pm Reading & Discussion
https://brentarmendinger.com
Monday, December 14 at 7pm: MFA Poetry Reading
In addition, Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences has an amazing Engaging the World program designed to lead conversations on humanity, unity, and justice. This year’s series of films and lectures focuses on the significance of race.
Whether you are an alum or a current student, we want to help you sustain your writing life. If you have good news about a publication or a job you’ve landed or if you find an opportunity for writers that you’d like to share, please write to us at mfacwnews@chapman.edu so that we can include the info in a future newsletter. We also have a private Facebook group for sharing and conversation.
--Anna Leahy
Director of MFA in Creative Writing
Chapman University
To support the mental health needs of our community, Chapman University's Frances Smith Center is currently offering free telehealth services (telephone, video) to new and current clients. Additionally, the FSC will be offering relational psychotherapy support groups to help those in need to cope with the impact of COVID-19. To be eligible for services, you must be physically located in the state of California at the time of your session appointment. To schedule an appointment, call (714) 997-6746 and press “1” for the intake line. Leave your name, telephone number, and a good time to reach you. Calls are returned on Tuesdays and Thursdays to complete a telephone intake.
Student Successes
Manuel Calvillo de la Garza's thesis School of Artistas Inmigrantes was nominated for the 2020-2021 Western Association of Graduate Schools/ProQuest Distinguished Master’s Thesis and/or Final Master’s Capstone Project Award in the creative, visual, and performing arts category.
Sierra Ellison will have a poem published in the upcoming issue of Cathexis Northwest Press.
Daniel Miess's poem "Shopping at the Dollar Tree" will be published in the Fall Re-launch of the Northwest Review.
Jason Thornberry has seen several publications this summer: the poem "Maladroit" and the essay "Junior Murvin’s Vision of Police Brutality" in Dissident Voice; the poem "Security Blanket" in Praxis; two album reviews in 60 Seconds Magazine: one of "Songs of Praise" by African Head Charge and the other of “G.I.” by The Germs as well as the essays "Musicians Ride Out the Storm of COVID-19" and "DJ Kool Herc Becomes President."
Paige Welsh's review of Jake Skeets' Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers was published in Tinderbox Poetry Journal. Welsh's triptych (an annotated piece of flash fiction) "Marooned" was published by The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts.
Alum Successes
Olivia Arroyo has accepted a position at University of Texas Arlington for this upcoming fall as a full-time lecturer.
Faculty Successes
Professor Martin Nakell's latest book, A History of Zero: & Alter Fictions is now available on Amazon.
Opportunities
Black Warrior Review hosts an annual contests in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. The deadline is September 1, and the entry fee is $15.
Dogwood: A Journal of Poetry and Prose is currently accepting submissions for its annual contests. MFA Director Anna Leahy won the prize in nonfiction in 2016 for one of the first long essays she wrote. The deadline is September 5, and the entry fee has been reduced to $5.
Applications for The 2020 A Public Space Fellowships will open on September 15. Three fellowships will be awarded, which will include six months of editorial support from A Public Space editors to prepare a piece for publication in the magazine, a $1,000 honorarium, the opportunity to meet with members of the publishing community, including agents, editors, and published writers, and the opportunity to participate in a public reading and conversation in New York City with A Public Space editors and contributors.
The Quill (Queer) Prose Award is accepting submissions of book manuscripts through October 30. The entry fee is $10.