{"id":1173,"date":"2021-09-15T23:39:05","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T23:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mfa\/?page_id=1173"},"modified":"2026-07-09T22:31:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T22:31:54","slug":"recent-news","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/master-of-fine-arts-in-creative-writing\/recent-news\/","title":{"rendered":"News from the 91传媒 MFA Community"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Winter 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA alum Asha Dore<\/strong> wrote “On Lidia Yuknavitch\u2019s ‘Anti-Memoir’\u00a0The Chronology of Water<\/em>“<\/a> for LitHub<\/em> and has an essay on shoulder pain<\/a> in The Washington Post.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA director\u00a0Nick Neely<\/strong>\u00a0recently\u00a0wrote about groundhogs<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0Orion.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA student Jan Rubin<\/strong> has two poems<\/a> in the “Careful\/Care-full Collaboration” issue of 91传媒 Place Journal. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA faculty member\u00a0Joe Wilkins<\/strong>\u2019s fifth poetry collection\u00a0Pastoral, 1994<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>was named a finalist for the Oregon Book Award in Poetry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fall 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA faculty member Claire Boyles<\/strong>‘s debut novel Appraisal<\/em>s<\/a> has a publication date: August 4, 2026!<\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA student\u00a0Lindsay Costello<\/strong>\u00a0reviewed Oregon Contemporary\u2019s show\u00a0A Larger Reality: Ursula K. Le Guin<\/em><\/a>\u00a0among other recent writing for\u00a0Portland Mercury.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA faculty member Laura Da’<\/strong> has a new book of poems out, Severalty<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n MFA alum Christopher Densmore<\/strong> recently finished his season as the Marjory Davis Boyden Wilderness Writing Resident<\/a> on the Rogue River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA alum Amelia D\u00edaz Ettinger<\/strong> was selected as 2025 Oregon Literary Fellow. See this Q & A with her<\/a> about the award. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA alum Kristi Helgeson<\/strong> had three ekphrastic poems published by the Bainbridge Island Poet Laureate Program to accompany art at the Bainbridge Public Library: “Displacement<\/a>,” “Knitting Spies<\/a>,” and “Nurse Log<\/a>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA faculty member Christopher Kondrich<\/strong> has a new poem “For Now” in The Atlantic<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA faculty member\u00a0Molly Reid<\/strong>\u00a0has a \u00a0story \u201cThe Dans\u201d in the fall issue of the\u00a0New Ohio Review.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA alum Chelsey Waters <\/strong>has a story “Second Thoughts” in Gramercy Review<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n *<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fall 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA alum Christopher Densmore<\/strong>‘s essay \u201cOn the Importance of Blueberries,\u201d<\/a> part of his MFA thesis, was just published in Iowa State\u2019s Flyway: Journal of Writing & Environment.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA Alum Amelia D\u00edaz Ettinger<\/strong> has a new poem<\/a> out in Tiny Seed Literary Journal. <\/em>Her most recent collection These Hollowed Bones<\/em> was also just reviewed in <\/a>Tint Journal<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n MFA alum Russell James<\/strong>‘s feature article \u201cHearts Wide Open: Autistic angling and the guide experience\u201d was published recently in Trout Unlimited\u2019s Trout Magazine<\/em><\/a>.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA faculty member Melissa Matthewson<\/strong>‘s second essay collection the The Fire Trees <\/em>will be out from punctum books<\/a> in 2026. Stay tuned for the pub date. She also recently became an Assistant Nonfiction Editor for Terrain.org<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA director Nick Neely<\/strong> has an essay \u201cThe Redwood Roads\u201d<\/a> in the November\/December issue of the travel magazine WildSam<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA alum Alex Ortega<\/strong> has started in the English PhD program with a specialization in Creative Writing at the University of Utah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA student Janice Rubin<\/strong> recently had four poems that she drafted in program accepted for the anthology All the Women Came & Sang<\/em>from Wyld Syde Press. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA faculty member Eliot Treichel<\/strong>‘s story \u201cCaves\u201d<\/a> was published last year in Unearthed<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA alum Chelsey Waters<\/strong>‘s story \u201cSecond Chances\u201d was short-listed for the Letter Review Prize<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA faculty member Joe Wilkins<\/strong> has new stories and poems in The Missouri Review, The Florida Review<\/em>, and the anthology A Literary Field Guide to Northern Appalachia. <\/em>But the big news is his fifth poetry collection Pastoral, 1994<\/em><\/a> <\/em>is available for pre-order from River River Books. Congrats, Joe!<\/p>\n\n\n\n *<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spring 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA alum Amelia D\u00edaz Ettinger<\/strong> has a new poem \u201cTime Allows\u201d in the latest issue of Cathexis<\/em><\/a> and three bird poems in Humans & Nature<\/em><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n MFA faculty member Christopher Kondrich<\/strong> has a new poem, \u201cExplosives, Once Signaled,\u201d in Image<\/em><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA student Russell James<\/strong> just had a story, \u201cThe Cape,\u201d accepted by the environmental literary magazine The Hopper<\/em><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA faculty member Melissa Matthewson<\/strong> has a new essay in Psyche<\/em><\/a> about the queer ecology of Nan Shepherd\u2019s book The Living Mountain<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA faculty member Kathryn Miles<\/strong> recently inked another deal with Algonquin for her next book, Tangled: The Battle to Save the Planet\u2019s Most Endangered Species<\/em>. Bravo!<\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA alum Alexander Ortega<\/strong> has a new piece \u201cLa Llorona Got Wise\u201d in Volume 29 of Quarter After Eight<\/em><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA faculty member Joe Wilkins<\/strong> is teaching a one-day virtual workshop on May 14 for Hugo House called \u201cThe Hardest Parts: Writing Beginnings & Endings.\u201d<\/a> Check it out!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 91传媒 MFA Program<\/strong> really showed up in force at AWP in Seattle in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *<\/p>\n\n\n\n Winter 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA faculty member Claire Boyles<\/strong> has a short essay \u201cOn Finding a Way Through the Wilderness<\/a>\u201d in Sierra Magazine<\/em> and a longer one, \u201cMaking Our Own Weather,\u201d<\/a> in Asterix Journal<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA alum Phil Carson<\/strong>‘s poem \u201cThe Simple Truth\u201d<\/a> was published in Half and One.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA student Christopher Densmore<\/strong> was the recipient of the MFA program\u2019s Thomas Madden Scholarship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA alum Amelia D\u00ed<\/strong>az Ettinger<\/strong> has three poems (and spoken recordings of them) in the February issue of the South Florida Poetry Journal<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n MFA alum Leah Hedberg<\/strong> has a lyrical essay on the film <\/a>Honeyland<\/em><\/a> in the journal Bright Wall \/ Dark Room<\/em>. She drafted the piece in MFA faculty member Christoper Kondrich\u2019s class, \u201cFilms of Ecology & Place\u201d and sends thanks to him and the class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA student Russell James<\/strong> has an essay \u201cOkeus Gets the Last World\u201d<\/a> was published by The <\/em>College Contemporary. <\/em>He drafted it in MFA faculty member Melissa Matthewson\u2019s fall class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA faculty member Melissa Matthewson<\/strong> has a new short essay \u201cParticles: A Love Story\u201d<\/a> in the journal Sweet: A Literary Confection<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA faculty member Nick Neely<\/strong> has a short piece on the Cassia crossbill in the new anthology Cascadia Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA faculty member Kathryn Miles<\/strong> broke a story about a discovered plot to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I for <\/a>National Geographic<\/em><\/a> <\/em>(subscribers only), <\/em>and also has a feature in Downeast <\/em>magazine about the \u201ccanceling\u201d of Maine lobster<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fall 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA faculty member Claire Boyles<\/strong>‘s story collection, Site Fidelity<\/em>, recently won the High Plains Book Award<\/a> in Fiction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA faculty member Christopher Kondrich<\/strong> has a poem \u201cEmpty Spaces\u201d<\/a> in The New York Review of Books.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA faculty member Kathryrn Miles<\/strong>‘s book Trailed<\/em> was listed by Slate<\/em> as one of \u201cThe 10 Best Audiobooks of the Year\u201d<\/a> and by The New York Times<\/em> as among \u201cThe Best True Crime of 2022<\/a>\u201d: \u201cMiles not only solves the case, she shines a light on the crime rate in the country\u2019s national parks. \u2018Although the F.B.I. does not keep statistics on gender and backcountry crime, my own archival research finds that the majority of reported murder and rape victims in our national wilderness areas are female,\u2019 Miles writes. It\u2019s an important finding, one that raises a much bigger question: Who gets to enjoy nature in safety?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA alum Colette Marie<\/strong> has a searing new poem, \u201cFive Months After My First Husband\u2019s Death,\u201d<\/a> in The Sun.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n MFA faculty member Melissa Matthewson<\/strong> just signed a contract with punctum books<\/a> for her second essay collection, The Fire Trees<\/em>, which will explore sense experience, queer ecology, intimacy, sexuality, and bodies through autobiography, archival collage, and reimagined histories. She anticipates it will be out in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA Alum Alex Ortega<\/strong> taught a four-week \u201cFraming Flash Fiction\u201d workshop for Fishtrap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA Alum Chelsey Waters<\/strong>‘s story \u201cBeneath Her Breath\u201d<\/a> was published in The Hopper<\/em> (with a nice illustration of a sturgeon) and nominated for inclusion in the \u201cBest of the Net\u201d anthology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA faculty member Jodi Varon<\/strong>‘s book Your Eyes Will Be My Window <\/em>was accepted by the University of Georgia Press for its Crux Series in Literary Nonfiction, with an expected publication date in 2023. 91传媒 the book: \u201cTwice erased in the wreckage of WWII Ukraine, the search for Esta Plat creates a road-map to a vanished world. Weighing faith against skepticism, reportage against memory, Your Eyes Will Be My Window<\/em> is one woman’s attempt to reimagine the legacy of genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n *<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spring 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We warmly welcome incoming MFA students Charley Agron, Shelley Baumgarten, Janel Crouch, Brittney Heitz-Garcia, Christina O\u2019Bryan, Russell James, <\/strong>and August Stadtfield<\/strong>! We look forward to listing your successes here in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n MFA faculty member Claire Boyles<\/strong> is the recipient of a 2022 Whiting Award.<\/a> Maggie Nelson had this to say, in part, about Claire\u2019s work at the ceremony in New York City on April 6: \u201cA deep anthropologist and a finely restrained rhetorician, Boyles captures the affinities and frictions between those who have been made by that once, and still sometimes, wild place [the American West].\u201d Site Fidelity<\/em> was also named a finalist for the 2022 Colorado Book Awards in Fiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MFA faculty member James Crews<\/strong> was just profiled, along with his new anthology The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy,<\/em> <\/em>in The<\/em> Christian Science Monitor<\/em><\/a>
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