Fresno State’s Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing will host two author readings this fall — one featuring the program’s faculty authors, and one with a pair of acclaimed writers from the American South.
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At least half of the writers performing at LitHop have connections to Fresno State as students, faculty, or alumni.
Read More![Photo: Hmong American poet Soul Vang. [Credit: May Yang-Vang.]](https://fresnostatecah.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/soul-vang-header.png?w=750)
Fresno State’s Creative Writing Alumni Chapter, in collaboration with the Fresno Poets’ Association series, will present its second annual Fresno Writers Summit. The event celebrates new books by four alumni authors and features a keynote reading from trailblazing Hmong-American poet Soul Vang.
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From left, Fresno State MFA alumni Tiffany Crum, Samina Najmi, and Delaney R. Whitebird Olmo have all announced their debut books will be published in 2025. Kudos to #FresnoWriters is an ongoing series on the Fresno State MFA blog, celebrating the professional accomplishments of students, alumni, and faculty in Fresno State’s Creative Writing Program and Department […]
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Each October over the five-year campaign, three writers would take their turns publishing 15 new pieces in 15 days, staggered throughout the month, as members of the Creative Writing Alumni Chapter promoted their work on the FresnoWriters.com project website.
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Fresno writer Hermelinda Hernandez Monjaras, a two-time Fresno State alumna, has won a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation.
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Kudos to #FresnoWriters is an ongoing series on the Fresno State MFA blog, celebrating the professional accomplishments of students, alumni, and faculty in Fresno State’s Creative Writing Program and Department of English.
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The 2024 College of Arts and Humanities Dean’s Medalists were named at the Arts in Motion event on Friday, April 19, at the Fresno State Concert Hall.
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Hermelinda Hernandez Monjaras is a graduate student receiving her MFA in creative writing, poetry. She is a graduate Dean’s Medal nominee from the Department of English.
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Fresno State’s Department of English welcomes seven accomplished authors and scholars this spring for campus visits, including the pathbreaking artist Sandra Cisneros, winner of the Poetry Foundation’s 2022 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.
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Fresno State’s Master of Fine Arts Program in creative writing announced Southern California author William Archila won the 2023 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry book contest
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Fresno State’s Department of Theatre and Dance, in collaboration with the Department of English’s MFA Creative Writing Program, presents “Lit Night” at the Dec. 5 performance of “Seminar.”
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With $2,905 in initial gifts from 39 students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community friends — most of those coming during Fresno State’s annual Day of Giving campaign — the English Department successfully established the new English Department Scholarship fund in 2022.
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More than 100 writers will gather in Fresno’s Tower District on Saturday, Oct. 14 for LitHop 2023, the city’s free literary festival.
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Fresno State’s Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing will host three author readings in the month of October — one featuring the program’s faculty authors, one a celebration of contemporary queer literature, and one welcoming back to campus an alumni author with three new poetry collections being published this fall.
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Celebrating the professional accomplishments of students, alumni, and faculty in Fresno State’s Department of English and Creative Writing Program.
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This compilation includes news between January and May 2023
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Meet five English alumni who’ve gone on to successful careers outside of teaching or publishing.
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“I grew up silenced and sheltered from society, but through education, community and art, I’ve discovered a place in a world I didn’t believe had space for me.”
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Creative writing and literature students from Fresno State’s Department of English will headline the “Fresno Writers Live” performances at the 2023 Rogue Festival, scheduled for March 3 through 11 in Fresno’s Tower District.
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The Fresno State Master of Fine Arts Program in creative writing announced Georgia author Éric Morales-Franceschini has won the 2022 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry book contest, which includes a $2,000 award and publication of his debut full-length poetry collection, “Syndrome.”
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Three alumni authors from Fresno State’s Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing published their debut books in 2022.
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At least half of the writers performing at LitHop have connections to Fresno State as students, faculty, or alumni.
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Kudos to #FresnoWriters is an ongoing series on the Fresno State MFA blog, celebrating the professional accomplishments of students, alumni, and faculty in Fresno State’s Creative Writing Program and the Department of English.
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Author and Fresno State professor Mai Der Vang was honored May 9 as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, for her groundbreaking book of documentary poetry, “Yellow Rain.”
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Now a graduate student, Hermelinda Hernandez Monjaras won the Mireyda Barraza Martinez Prize for Social Justice Writing twice as an undergraduate in 2020 and 2021.
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Maya Pindyck has won the 2021 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry book contest, which includes a $2,000 award and publication of her book, “But the Orange Tree.”
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Nine of Prof. Brynn Saito’s creative writing students enjoyed an impromptu afternoon of awe, history, and inspiration last week when they visited the acclaimed Stonewall Uprising art exhibit. Here is their reaction…
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What she didn’t know was that her graduate work as an editor with The Normal School literary magazine would not only give her a taste of the publishing world but would also help her build a vast and strange arsenal of random facts.
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Kudos to #FresnoWriters is an ongoing series republished from the Fresno State MFA blog, celebrating the professional accomplishments of students, alumni, and faculty in Fresno State’s Creative Writing Program and the Department of English.
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Kudos to #FresnoWriters is an ongoing series on the Fresno State MFA blog, celebrating the professional accomplishments of students, alumni, and faculty in Fresno State’s Creative Writing Program and the Department of English.
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Not even a global pandemic can keep the Department of English’s highest degree program from celebrating 25 years of alumni accomplishments
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Fresno State alumna Megan Anderson Bohigian has been named the City of Fresno’s fifth poet laureate, serving as the city’s literary ambassador.
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“For someone like me to be here, there was a lot of luck involved, my own hard work and persistence, timely opportunities, but most of all, the support from family and community. Their care and acknowledgement drive me.” ~Jer Xiong
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Fresno State’s Department of English will host multiple distinguished authors and scholars this spring for virtual campus visits.
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Six students were named as winners in the 4th Annual Art Song competition at Fresno State. During the competition, the poetry and composition finalists worked with vocalists to perform original works during the festival
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Theatre students and recent alumni from Fresno State’s Department of Theatre and Dance and creative writing students from the Department of English will headline two shows at the 2021 Rogue Festival, happening virtually March 5 through 14.
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The Fresno State Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing announced Texas author E.C. Belli has won the 2020 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry book contest, which includes a $2,000 award and publication of her second book, “A Sleep That Is Not Our Sleep.”
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Six Fresno State graduate students in the Master of Fine Arts Program have been awarded scholarships to attend the 2021 Desert Nights, Rising Stars virtual conference at Arizona State University.
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Fresno State’s locally grown, nationally known literary magazine, The Normal School, ended its print-edition era by earning high marks for gender parity for the sixth year in a row in a nationwide report. The magazine also had an essay published and two essays mentioned in the newest editions of the annual Best American series.
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Four alumni authors from Fresno State’s Master of Fine Arts Program in creative writing published their first books in 2019 and 2020, including National Book Award for Poetry finalist Anthony Cody.
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Just one week after his first book finished as a finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry, author and Fresno State alumnus Anthony Cody’s yet-to-be-published second book won a top regional award for distinguished master’s thesis.
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Dr. Emiliano Treré, a senior lecturer in media ecologies and social transformation at Cardiff University in Wales, will deliver a keynote address entitled “Taming the Sublime: The Ambivalent Political Implications of Technological Visions” as part of the fourth annual Students of English Studies Association symposium on Dec. 10 and 11.
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Dressed up in black, with a bowtie, burgundy jacket and matching burgundy Pumas, author and Fresno State alumnus Anthony Cody waited with anticipation in the virtual green room for the 71st National Book Awards to be announced.
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Kudos to #FresnoWriters is a regular series on the Fresno State MFA blog, celebrating the professional accomplishments of students, alumni, and faculty in the Creative Writing Program and the Department of English at Fresno State.
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Author and Fresno State alumnus Anthony Cody’s debut poetry collection, “Borderland Apocrypha,” has been named a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Poetry.
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The book hatching will be a virtual gathering to launch the recent publication of poets Juan Felipe Herrera and Anthony Cody’s new poetry collections, “Every Day We Get More Illegal” and “Borderland Apocrypha.”
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The Fresno State Creative Writing Alumni Chapter presents #FresnoWriters Live, a virtual reading to celebrate the new nonfiction book “Doomed to Fail: The Incredibly Loud History of Doom, Sludge, and Post-metal,” the second book from Fresno writer J.J. Anselmi.
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The Fresno State Creative Writing Alumni Chapter presents #FresnoWriters Live, a virtual reading to celebrate the new story collection “Kafka in a Skirt: Stories from the Wall,” the sixth book from Fresno writer Daniel Chacón.
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Kudos to #FresnoWriters is a regular series on the Fresno State MFA blog, celebrating the professional accomplishments of students, alumni, and faculty in the Creative Writing Program and the Department of English at Fresno State.
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March 25, 2020, was supposed to be a monumental day for Fresno State’s Department of English, as it was set to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its annual Young Writers’ Conference. But due to public health precautions for COVID-19, long-time conference coordinator Tanya Nichols had to do what so many artists have done during the pandemic — improvise.
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The unique competition adds another layer to the annual Art Song Festival competition.
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“I am an anomaly. And because I am an anomaly, I will continue to create forward, give to poetry, make poems, explore the experimental, nurture spaces for communities on the margins, and foster the truths and anomalies in others through mentoring, workshops, and universities.”
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The student-organized Chicanx Writers and Artists Association will host two visiting authors on campus this spring and will release the latest edition of its popular literary journal, Flies, Cockroaches & Poets.
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Thanks in part to a grant from California Humanities, the Fresno State Master of Fine Arts program will bring to the community a new four-part reading series this spring, Diverse Voices in Contemporary Fiction.
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Kudos to #FresnoWriters is a regular series on the Fresno State MFA blog, celebrating the professional accomplishments of students, alumni, and faculty in the Creative Writing Program and the Department of English at Fresno State.
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These educators are dedicated teachers with a range of classroom experiences — from graduate teaching associate positions at Fresno State, to area high schools and community colleges — and they represent the latest standouts among our English and Creative Writing graduate program alumni who’ve decided to keep their higher-ed teaching work at home in the Central Valley.
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As Fresno State rolls out their crowdfunding platform, three areas in the College of Arts and Humanities look to raise funds for scholarships, student travel and preserving local history. The campaigns end on Oct. 31.
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The Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing at Fresno State presents an afternoon with the Fresno State MFA Faculty as part of the Fresno Poets’ Association reading series, hosted by Brynn Saito at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 26 at the Woodward Park Regional Library, 944 E. Perrin Ave.
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Fajardo-Anstine is the author of Sabrina and Corina, longlisted for the National Book Award in Fiction.
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Lacy M. Johnson is author of “The Reckonings” (Scribner, 2018), which was named a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist in criticism and one of the best books of 2018 by the Boston Globe, Electric Literature, Autostraddle, Book Riot, and Refinery29.
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As part of the College of Arts and Humanities blog series on new faces in the college, we introduce you to an accomplished professor and author who is joining the Department of English and the Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing for academic year 2019-20.
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The fall 2019 Fresno Poets’ Association reading series lineup will celebrate past and present Fresno State faculty, including an opening reading with an accomplished novelist and a retiring poet professor from the Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing.
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Kudos to #FresnoWriters is a monthly series on the Fresno State MFA blog, celebrating the professional accomplishments of students, alumni, and faculty in the Creative Writing Program and the Department of English at Fresno State.
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This month marks the fifth anniversary of Andrea Mortimer Rhoads’s death; she passed away July 24, 2014. In a June email interview, MFA communication specialist Jefferson Beavers spoke with Vuong Quoc Vu about his deep connection to Andrea’s poetry, the process of pulling together a posthumous collection to honor her, and how Andrea’s work fits into the tradition of Fresno writers.
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The Fresno State Creative Writing Alumni Chapter presents “Hot Off the Press 4” from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, June 8, at Collect Coffee Bar (3142 E. Campus Pointe Dr.) at Campus Pointe. The reading will celebrate new books from Fresno writers Sara Borjas, Lena Mahmoud and Monique Quintana.
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“I strongly believe in the value of not turning away from science or business or social sciences if you are grounded in the arts, and vice-versa.” – Leo Rowland
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She is an associate editor at Luna Luna Magazine, fiction editor at Five 2 One Magazine, and a pop culture contributor at Clash Books. She has received fellowships from the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley and the Sundress Academy for the Arts, and she has been nominated for Best of the Net.
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The Provost’s Awards were established in 1993 to recognize the outstanding teaching, research and service that is central to the mission of Fresno State. Honorees provide students with a stimulating environment that fosters learning and affirms the University as an intellectual and cultural leader in the Central Valley.
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Fresno State alumna Marisol Baca is the City of Fresno’s fourth Poet Laureate. She will be the first woman to serve as the city’s literary ambassador.
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In the Fall of 2018, a serious car accident fractured Krystal Cantu’s spine in three places — challenging her determination to continue her education. In her perseverance, she has continued to thrive in her education — earning further respect from the English department faculty and colleagues.
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Kudos to #FresnoWriters is a new monthly series on the Fresno State MFA blog, celebrating the professional accomplishments of students, alumni, and faculty in the Creative Writing Program and the Department of English at Fresno State.
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First-year MFA student Mariah Bosch and composer EJ Hinojosa’s Rogue show, “Triptych,” brings music and spoken word together in “an experimental collaboration characterized by risk and heartfelt contemplation.” The poetry explores themes of past, present, and future, while the music synthesizes jazz, rock, and baroque styles inspired by the poetry.
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WordFest 2019 will feature craft talks and a performance from authors Steven Sanchez, Yazmin Monet Watkins and Li-young Lee on Saturday, Feb. 23.
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Fresno Writers Live will feature the latest poetry and prose from 12 Fresno writers in four storytelling and spoken-word shows. The shows will include four MFA grad students, four alumni authors from the Fresno State Creative Writing Alumni Chapter, and four faculty authors from the Department of English.
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The Fresno State Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing announced California author Mark Irwin as the winner of the 2018 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry book contest, which includes a $2,000 award and publication of his 10th book, “Shimmer.”
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The Fresno State Creative Writing Alumni Chapter presents “Hot Off the Press 3” from 4 to 6 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 2 at Full Circle Olympic, 1426 N. Van Ness Ave., in the Tower District.
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Seven alumni authors from the Fresno State Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing published their first books in 2017 and 2018, following a record publishing year in 2016. In total, 15 of the program’s alumni have now published their first books in the past three years.
Read More~ By Jefferson Beavers, communication specialist, Department of English English faculty and award-winning translator Dr. Steve Adisasmito-Smith will deliver a keynote address entitled “The Humanities: An Evolving Hope” as part of the second annual Students of English Studies Association symposium on Dec. 13 and 14 on campus. Dr. Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, dean of the College of […]
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By Jefferson Beavers For the fourth year in a row, Fresno State’s locally grown, nationally known literary magazine, The Normal School, has earned high marks for gender parity in a nationwide report. The magazine also had four essays mentioned in the newest editions of the annual Best American series. The Normal School was again celebrated in […]
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By Jefferson Beavers Dr. Peter Everwine, a professor emeritus of English at Fresno State and nationally acclaimed poet and translator, died in Fresno on Oct. 28 at the age of 88. Services for Mr. Everwine are scheduled for 11 a.m. on Nov. 10 at Farewell Funeral Services, 660 W. Locust Ave. #101 in Fresno. The […]
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The fall 2018 Fresno Poets’ Association reading series celebrates Fresno State writers, including an accomplished poet and professor emeritus, and a featured reading with two new fiction faculty from the Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing. Admission is free to all three community readings, which are sponsored by the Fresno State College of […]
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~ By Benjamin Kirk, communications specialist for the College of Arts and Humanities A decade in the making, The Normal School teamed up with San Francisco-based publisher Outpost 19 to publish a series of the magazine’s best essays. The Normal School is the locally grown, nationally known literary magazine produced at Fresno State. Graduate students […]
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Photo above: Juan Felipe Herrera gave a rousing keynote to open the symposium, followed by readings by winners of the Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize with Francisco Aragón. ~ Article and photos by Jefferson Beavers, communications specialist, Department of English More than 30 published authors from all over the country, including U.S. Poet Laureate Emeritus Juan Felipe […]
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Students from the world over are drawn to study CSU Summer Arts each summer. The opportunity to live, learn and work in an immersive environment for two weeks with world-renowned artists is just too hard to pass up. But, what draws professors to teach a class during the summer?
Three Fresno State professors from the College of Arts and Humanities can answer that.
The Fisher family transformed loss into legacy, endowing memorial scholarships for music and creative writing students in honor of their loved ones.
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Nonfiction authors Jericho Parms and Lina María Ferreira Cabeza-Vanegas will read from their work at The Normal School fall reading event on Thursday, Nov. 16, at Fresno State. The evening will feature readings from each of the authors’ latest works, followed by a reception and book signing. The Normal School reading is free and open to the public.
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California State University, Fresno continues to find new ways to honor the late U.S. Poet Laureate Philip Levine, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and professor emeritus of English, more than two years after his death. In May 2017, Fresno State dedicated the new Philip Levine Reading Room inside the Henry Madden Library, a room that now houses Levine’s extensive collection of more than 2,000 books. Levine’s wife, Frances, donated their personal library, a gift made to inspire future generations of poets and readers.
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Dr. Tim Skeen, a Fresno State professor of English, is the University’s new James and Coke Hallowell Professor of Creative Writing, starting this fall.
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A new video archive project founded in the fall of 2016 provides a way for multiple generations of creative writers to connect with authors essential to the literary fabric of Fresno. The Fresno Poets Archive Project is a series of recorded poetry and prose readings, with dates ranging from the 1980s to the early 2000s.
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Three alumni from the Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing are making their mark in academe and in publishing by successfully pursuing Ph.D.s after earning their M.F.A. degrees at Fresno State.
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~ By Jefferson Beavers, reprinted from FresnoStateNews.com Fresno State will mark the opening of the Philip Levine Reading Room inside its Henry Madden Library with a dedication ceremony at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 5. The dedication will be co-hosted by the College of Arts and Humanities, the library and Fresno State Provost Lynnette Zelezny. The ceremony […]
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~ By Jefferson Beavers, reprinted from FresnoStateNews.com Author Randa Jarrar, a Fresno State associate professor of English, won The Story Prize Spotlight Award for the best short story collection published in 2016. Jarrar’s latest book, “Him, Me, Muhammad Ali,” was published by Sarabande Books. The award, which honors works that demonstrate “an unusual perspective on the writer’s craft,” includes a […]
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The College of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State 