Ashland University MFA Program

Black Fork Review, issue 2, was released this December -- check out the issue here:  blackforkreview.com Issue 2 features work by   Lisa Dominguez Abraham, Scott Alumbaugh, Mary Biddinger, Bree-Anna Burick, Jason Gaidis, Kate Gale, Christian Kiefer, Arlena Lockard, Jay Robinson, J. L. Scott, Kelly Sundberg, Naomi Williams, and other lovely authors. Black Fork Review is a student-edited literary magazine featuring work by the AU writing community (MFA students, undergrads, faculty, and alumni), as well as work by established writers outside of AU. The magazine is edited by MFA students and undergraduates in the creative writing program at Ashland. Thanks to the MFA program, the English Department, and The Ashland Poetry Press for their support. El Craneo de la Muerte (fiction header) by Avery Braun 

The 2019 Summer Residency was full & fulfilling — the love and support in this community was palpable, and we are so thankful for everyone who made it such a wonderful experience. In just shy of two weeks we experienced ten craft seminars by our stunning faculty and visiting writers; eight readings by graduating students, faculty, and visiting writers; a panel on life after the MFA with our amazing alumni; a publishing panel with some super star editors; impromptu open mics late into the night; a trip to the Cleveland Museum of Art; a tear-jerking graduation ceremony — oh, and workshops every morning! Thanks again to all of the students, faculty, visiting writers, visiting editors, alumni, all the community who participated in events, and the Ohio Arts Council for its generous support.  Check out some of the photos from our time together: Hanif Abdurraqib killing it in the Q&A  Bree-Anna Burick at a craft seminar...

    Thanks to the Ohio Arts Council for making this public programming possible

The May 15th deadline to apply for the July residency as a new student is approaching! If you are planning to apply, please contact Paige Webb, the Administrative Director ( pwebb2@ashland.edu ), or Christian Kiefer, the Program Director ( ckiefer2@ashland.edu ), if you have questions. The 2019 Summer Residency is July 22 - August 2, 2019. Visiting Editors For the summer residency, five visiting editors will come to Ashland to share their expertise in a publishing panel, as well as meet individually with graduating students about their manuscripts. Publishing panel: Saturday, July 27 at 1:30 p.m. in Ronk Lecture Hall Participating editors: Mary Biddinger, Kelly Caldwell, Cassie Donish, Eric Obenauf, Hilary Plum Mary Biddinger, Visiting Editor in Poetry Mary Biddinger is the author of five full-length poetry collections, including Small Enterprise and The Czar . Her sixth book, Partial Genius , will be published by Black Lawrence Press in August 2019. She teaches...

When classes are online for fall and spring, the times that we can all get together become that much more special. AWP this year was a space to reconnect as writers and colleagues and friends in beautiful ways. Below are some photos from our booth and party. Students: remember that you can get free tickets to AWP in the future! Hope to see everyone in San Antonio in 2020. Crew at the Party: Meet. Greet. Eat. Katherine Standefer (creative nonfiction faculty), Chris Feliciano Arnold (creative nonfiction faculty), Naomi Williams (fiction faculty), Kirstin Chen (fiction faculty), Kate Hopper (creative nonfiction faculty), Nayomi Munaweera (fiction faculty), and Paige Webb (Administrative Director) Marcelo Hernandez Castillo (poetry faculty), Paige Webb, and Jeff Knorr (MFA student in poetry) Naomi Williams (fiction faculty) Booth of Fame Katherine Standefer, Nayomi Munaweera, and Kirstin Chen

The warmth of spring is on its way, and AWP soon after, but it's the heat of the summer residency that we're most excited about. We are honored to have two new knock-out visiting writers that are coming to Ashland to spread their brilliance. Each visiting writer gives a reading, a craft seminar, and meets with the graduating cohort of MFA students. Poetry Visiting Writer: Justin Phillip Reed  Justin Phillip Reed is an American poet living in St. Louis. He is the author of Indecency (Coffee House Press), winner of the 2018 National Book Award in Poetry and a finalist for the 2019 Kate Tufts Discovery Award, as well as the chapbook A History of Flamboyance (YesYes Books, 2016). His work appears in African American Review , Best American Essays , Callaloo , The Kenyon Review , Obsidian , and elsewhere. A three-time high school expellee and an ex-college dropout, he received his BA in creative writing at Tusculum College and his MFA in poetry at Washington University in S...

It's a chilly February day, but our minds are on summer. The 2019 Summer Residency will take place July 22nd to August 2nd this year. Readings and craft seminars by our visiting writers and faculty; panel talks by publishers; writing workshops in poetry, creative nonfiction, fiction, science fiction, and fantasy -- you won't want to miss this! Check out our last post for photos of last year's residency. Creative Nonfiction Visiting Writer, Hanif Abdurraqib  We're thrilled that one of our visiting writers will be the amazing Hanif Abdurraqib ! Hanif is a Columbus-based poet, essayist, and cultural critic. His most recent book is Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to a Tribe Called Quest (University of Texas Press, 2019), which is already a New York Times Bestseller. His essay collection They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us (Two Dollar Radio Press, 2017) was named book of the year by NPR, The Los Angeles Review, Buzzfeed, Paste, Esquire, Oprah Magazine, The Chicago ...