Festival to Celebrate University of Arkansas Writing Program
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – This year’s Arkansas Festival of Writers will commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Masters of Fine Arts program in Creative Writing and Translation at the University of Arkansas. Distinguished alumni from around the nation will present readings, relate their experiences at the university and celebrate the legacy of the program in their lives and in literature.
William Harrison, emeritus professor of English, and the late James Whitehead founded the creative writing program in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences. Miller Williams, nationally renowned poet, was later also instrumental in its growth. The program has grown to be one of the most prestigious creative writing programs in the country.
Two festival events will be free and open to the public. Novelist Susan Perabo and poet Leon Stokesbury will read from their works at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, in Giffels Auditorium in Old Main.
A 40th anniversary celebration and reading will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 10, in Giffels Auditorium. This event will, in part, honor the program’s founders, with a selection of their books available for sale, including The Panther, a posthumous volume of Whitehead's previously unpublished poems.
Contacts
Allison Hogge, assistant to the director
Programs in Creative Writing and Translation
(479) 575-4301, arkansasmfa@gmail.com
Steve Voorhies, manager of media relations
University Relations
(479) 575-3583, voorhies@uark.edu
Headlines
PetSmart CEO J.K. Symancyk to Speak at Walton College Commencement
J.K. Symancyk is an alumnus of the Sam M. Walton College of Business and serves on the Dean’s Executive Advisory Board.
Faulkner Center, Arkansas PBS Partner to Screen Documentary 'Gospel'
The Faulkner Performing Arts Center will host a screening of Gospel, a documentary exploring the origin of Black spirituality through sermon and song, in partnership with Arkansas PBS at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 2.
UAPD Officers Mills and Edwards Honored With New Roles
Veterans of the U of A Police Department, Matt Mills has been promoted to assistant chief, and Crandall Edwards has been promoted to administrative captain.
Community Design Center's Greenway Urbanism Project Wins LIV Hospitality Design Award
"Greenway Urbanism" is one of six urban strategies proposed under the Framework Plan for Cherokee Village, a project that received funding through an Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Spring Bike Drive Refurbishes Old Bikes for New Students
All donated bikes will be given to Pedal It Forward, a local nonprofit that will refurbish your bike and return it to the U of A campus to be gifted to a student in need. Hundreds of students have already benefited.