Category Archives: fictions

Student Publications!

Posted on by under cohort love, fictions, nonfictions, poetics, publishing

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We’ve had some exciting student publications and awards recently. Check them out here:

Liz Kulze won the Tennessee Williams Fiction Contest for her short story, “Widow.”

In the last few months, Jess White has published several great essays in Feministing.

Randall Tyrone is featured in the second issue of Oversound. He also published three poems in (and was interviewed for) Electric Literature‘s Okey-Panky.

Khalym Kari Burke-Thomas’ THUGBAIT was a finalist in the New Delta Review’s annual chapbook contest.

Trey Williams’ short story “Darling, Keith, the Subway Girl, and Jumping Joe Henry” was published in the Winter 2016 issue of Glimmer Train. His story “Twelve in the Black” was a finalist for storySouth’s Million Writers Award.

Bethann Merkle published an article, “Drawn to Caribou,” in American Scientist.

Congratulations to all these fine writers!

Joy Williams featured in NYT Magazine

Posted on by under fictions, in the news, joy williams

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Last week New York Times Magazine featured a profile with the brilliant Joy Williams. We still can’t really believe how lucky we are to have Joy as a Writer in Residence. She’ll be spending the month of October in Laramie and we’re all really looking forward to her visit.

From the profile:

“Williams seems to be searching for nothing less than a kind of artistic transfiguration, one in which humanity’s role in fiction is lessened decidedly. ‘Short stories need to touch people on a deeper level, a deeper, stranger level,’ she told me that night, ‘and they don’t.’ When I asked Williams what she wants out of a great story, she replied, ‘I want to be devastated in some way.'”

Congratulations, Caleb Johnson!

Posted on by under fictions, good news
Second-year fiction student, Caleb Johnson, has been awarded a residency at Jentel, located in the Lower Piney Creek Valley with spectacular views of the Big Horn Mountains.
From Caleb:
“I’ll be at Jentel mid-May to mid-June. It’s a luxury to be offered space and time, support, to work, especially when you’re headed into the post-MFA world. I feel real blessed for this time I’ll have at Jentel. While there, I plan on revising a novel, reading a whole lot and taking runs along the base of the Big Horns. I’m also excited to meet the other artists who will be there while I am.”
Congratulations, Caleb. What a wonderful opportunity!

ZZ Packer Visits UW

Posted on by under fictions, good news, good times

The University of Wyoming MFA program is pleased to host ZZ Packer this January as a Spring 2013 Visiting Writer. Packer will consult with fiction students and read manuscripts. She will also give a public reading at the Albany County Public Library on January, 31st from 7:00pm – 8:00pm. The reading will be followed by a book signing, sponsored by Second Story Books.

ZZ Packer

ZZ Packer is the author of the short story collection Drinking Coffee Elsewhere. She was selected as one of The New Yorker magazine’s “20 under 40” luminary fiction writers in June 2010. She has been awarded many fellowships and honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship for fiction and a Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University.

 

The UW MFA program is excited and honred to have ZZ Packer visiting us.

 

in the other room

Posted on by under fictions, publishing, strong hair performance

y’all. please check out the other room journal for the latest: a story entitled “cooks” written by our very own program director beth loffreda.

“The quesadillas were being made by the daughter. These consisted of tortillas folded over beans and sliced avocado and grated cheese, which were then warmed and browned in a pan. The mother had eaten an early lunch, but hoped to also participate in this later one. She asked for a half-quesadilla–she did not wish to be a bother. This request was greeted with incredulity and scorn.”

–Beth Loffreda is director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Wyoming.  Her fiction has recently appeared in Epoch, and her nonfiction includes the book Losing Matt Shepard.