Author Archives: Lakin
Faculty Profile: Brenda Hillman
~ by Aaron DiFranco Few writers match the tenacity, courage and range of Brenda Hillman in seeking out a congruence between one’s non-verbal experience of the world and how language reflects it. Her poems command not only a fiercely demanding verbal range, but are also fearless in their investigations of the often-disconcerting emptiness of that [...]
Faculty Profile: Tayari Jones
“Born, bred and buttered” in Atlanta, Georgia (as she once described herself), Tayari Jones has placed all three of her novels in that city, creating a trilogy, as The Village Voice noted, “defining middle-class black Atlanta the way Cheever did Westchester.” Although Tayari Jones lives primarily in the northeast these days, “Atlanta is where my [...]
We’re hearing good news from alumni !
Unbeknownst to each other, Kathleen Rowell (2010) and Thomas Linville (2010, 2011) both entered the Mighty River Short Story Contest in 2010 ~ and won prizes. Peterson received First Prize for her story “Resolution,” and Linville Second Prize for his story “Portland ” This is almost like a Trifecta, isn’t it? Okay, a Bi-fecta. The Mighty [...]
Allardice Publication News
Participant Jim Allardice sent the following message: Hello everyone, Just a quick note to let you know that the story I workshopped in Samantha Chang’s workshop last summer has been accepted in Folio. The story I workshopped with Robert Boswell was published in The Literary Review in January, and another story, which I submitted to [...]
A Bit More About Arthur Sze
When Arthur Sze was named a Chancellor of the Academy of AmericanPoets last month, Academy Chancellor Naomi Shihab Nye called his poetry “a nourishing tonic for the mind.” The word tonic, with its connotations of both musical tonality and promotion of muscular health, is a particularly apt one for Arthur Sze’s [...]
Tayari Jones on NPR
Tayari Jones was heard on NPR today with this essay about the death of Trayvon Martin in Florida. She writes and speaks with the elegance and heart-breaking honesty so present in all her work.
Ron Carlson, Man of Many Genres
This year, we welcome the return of Ron Carlson, whose renown as a master of the short story is matched only by his excellence and generosity as a teacher—as those in his workshop are bound to discover. And this year, Carlson returns with a just-published first book of poetry under his belt. With five novels, [...]
The Application Gates Are Open
Along with the plum blossoms, the first flurries of applications are arriving! There’s nothing quite like the smell of fresh applications in the morning, still warm from the friction of electron-transmission. Though, to be sure, paper and snail-mail are perfectly acceptable and have their own appeal. The satisfying rip of [...]
Applications will open in only ten days!
We’ve cleared our desks from last year’s mess – we’re ready and eager to review your submissions! Meanwhile, skip over to Alumni & Faculty News to read about Valerie Fioravanti, an alum from 2009, her thriving writing center in Sacramento and an upcoming weekend workshop featuring Peter Ho Davies, faculty from that same year…
Publication and Prize for Valerie Fioravanti (2009)
We recently heard from Valerie Fioravanti, (participant in 2009), that her first book,Garbage Night at the Opera, won the 2011 Chandra Prize and is forthcoming from BkMk Press. Congratulations are in high order! Valerie seems to be the very center of a vibrant writing community in Sacramento, CA,where she teaches, coaches and encourages writers. She [...]
