8/10/2012 - Garrett Hongo and Graduation

It's the last day of the residency. Pout. Onward into our own quiet rooms to write. But first, one last craft seminar.

Today's Events:

"The World of 10,000 Things: The Landscape Poetry of Charles Wright and Du Fu" - Garrett Hongo

1-2:30 p.m., Schar College of Education, Room 138, Ashland University

Graduation Celebration

7 p.m., Schar College of Education, Room 138, Ashland University

About Today's Presenters:

Garrett Hongo

Garrett Hongo was born in Volcano, Hawai`i and grew up on the North Shore of O`ahu and in Los Angeles. He was educated at Pomona College, the University of Michigan, and UC Irvine, where he received an M.F.A. His work includes three books of poetry, three anthologies, and Volcano: A Memoir of Hawai`i. He is the editor of The Open Boat: Poems from Asian America (Anchor) and Under Western Eyes: Personal Essays from Asian America (Anchor). Poems and essays of his have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Ploughshares, Kenyon Review, Georgia Review, APR, Honolulu Weekly, Amerasia Journal, Virginia Quarterly Review, Raritan, and the LA Times. Among his honors are the Guggenheim Fellowship, two NEA grants, and the Lamont Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets. His latest book of poetry, Coral Road, was published by Knopf in Fall 2011. He is presently at work on a book of non-fiction entitled The Perfect Sound: An Autobiography in Stereo. He teaches at the University of Oregon, where he is Distinguished Professor of Arts and Sciences.

Alum Publishes Chapbook with Finishing Line Press

Jen Kindbom, Ashland University MFA class of 2009, has had her chapbook, A Note on the Door , accepted for publication by Finishing Line Press. It will be published in the spring of 2011. Advance sale copies may be purchased on Finishing Line Press's website. About A Note on the Door , Kathryn Winograd has the following to say: " A Note on the Door sparkles in the best tradition of American poetry: the ordinary world made new through the simple vernacular and cadences of American speech. Jen Kindbom is the fay spirit sprinkling our dirty porches, crying babies, and noxious beetles with her magic dust. These are the poems I'll pin to my neighbors' doors."

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...

Alum Valerie Due Wins Strayed/VIDA Memoir Scholarship

Valerie Due, graduate of the Ashland University MFA Program in 2009, is the winner of the Wild Mountain Memoir Retreat Cheryl Strayed/VIDA Memoir Scholarship. Valerie was one of 95 scholarship applicants considered for the full scholarship to attend the Wild Mountain Memoir Retreat March 13-15. Congratulations, Valerie! Full press release is available here .

Ashland University MFA Program

Search This Blog