New Chapbook from Sarah Freligh

Congratulations to Sarah Freligh, current Ashland University MFA student, whose chapbook of poems won the Editor's Choice award in the Accents 2012 Poetry Chapbook Contest!

A Brief Natural History of an American Girl

by Sarah Freligh

"In A Brief Natural History of an American Girl, Sarah Freligh pulls you into the car of a 1950's girlhood and you stay, compelled by the journey through sexual awakening and into womanhood. It's a difficult story. The narrator loses a lot—she gives kisses to the boss at Donut Delite, her virginity to a boy in a cornfield, her body to men she knows, or doesn't. She gives away a baby. She buries her mother. And hope, how 'easy to give her away.' And yet not quite. Through the accumulation of experience, through the ability to look clearly and name what she sees, Freligh insists on possibility. The poems draw our attention, then elicit a shiver of recognition. This is what one girlhood looks like; this is what human experience looks like. The journey is not over, she reminds us. You 'are not there yet.' - Wendy Mnookin, Author of The Moon Makes Its Own Plea.

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Interview with Kyle Winkler

After talking to Lisa Nik, it only seemed right to keep the good juju going and interview one of our newest fiction faculty members, Kyle Winkler. You can learn everything you ever wanted to know about Kyle from this interview and from his website . Thanks to our lovely and talented intern, Angela Manasieva for preparing this interview. 1. Where are you from and how do you use your surroundings to write? I'm from southwest Indiana originally. Rolling hills, farmland, corn, wheat. LOTS of corn and wheat. My landscapes have affected me heavily in my writing. All that tall crop and the sometimes isolating farmland in the autumn during sunset can do a lot to make one feel...creeped out? Hah. I've tried to use my small town upbringing to good effect, as well. I grew up most of life in a working class to middle-class home in the rust belt. So I'm often trying to evoke the experiences and attitudes of the sorts of folks I grew up around and with. And those experiences were, to so

Meet the Team

We're very pleased to introduce our spring 2018 Ashland MFA Faculty. We hope you're as excited about these names as we are. Included are a few links to help you get acquainted with these writers and their work: interviews, book reviews, short publications, excerpts. For a full listing of faculty including their bios and additional information, visit our website's Faculty Page . Poetry Dexter Booth Author of Scratching the Ghost , winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize. Booth’s poems have appeared in Best American Poetry, Blackbird, VQR, and elsewhere. Grist Journal review of Scratching the Ghost “Love in the Time of Revolution” ( Blackbird ) “Queen Elizabeth” ( VQR ) “Insomnia Poem” ( Waxwing ) Gaylord Brewer Author of nine collections of poetry including Country of Ghost and Give Over, Graymalkin. Brewer has published over nine hundred poems in journals and anthologies including Best American Poetry and The Bedford Introduction to L

Calls for Submissions - November 2014

Each month, the Ashland MFA Program receives calls for submissions and contest deadlines, which it publicizes in its monthly newsletter. Listed below are this month's calls for submissions. Contests Columbia Annual Writing Competition Columbia: A Journal of Literature & Art is now accepting original work in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for the Issue 53 Writing Competition. Entry fee is $15 and deadline is December 1. http://columbiajournal.org/contests-2 New American Press Poetry Book Prize New American Press is currently accepting submissions for its annual poetry book prize. Winner receives $1000, 25 author's copies, and discounted rates on additional copies. Final judge: Maggie Smith, author of The Lamp of the Body and The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison . http://newamericanpress.com/contests/current.php Chapbook Contest for Women Over 50 QuillsEdge Press – Indispensable Poetry by Women Over 50 announce their first chapbook competition, judged by Barba

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