Congratulations to Alain Park (fiction, 2013), who has been selected as the 19th recipient of the Joan Beebe Teaching Fellowship at Warren Wilson College.

A resident of Chicago, Park also holds an MFA in print media from the Cranbrook Academy of Art and a BFA in printmaking/studio art from the University of Arizona. He has taught at St. Xavier University and also brings extensive experience in publishing and journal editing to this position. His fiction has appeared in Bitter Oleander, Four Way Review, Beloit Fiction Journal, Zone 3, and elsewhere.

“It feels like such an incredible boon to have this chance,” says Park, “to further hone my craft, articulate to others the lessons the MFA program imparted. I’m thrilled to be in the position to do so, to start giving back in whatever small way I can, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity.”

Instituted in 1997, the Beebe is one-year teaching fellowship at WWC, open only to alumni of the MFA Program for Writers. The Beebe Fellow teaches five courses in the undergraduate creative writing program, supervises the group of undergraduates who attend the January MFA residency, assists with the undergraduate literary magazine, and generally takes part in the life of the College. Application guidelines are posted on the program website and on the Friends of Writers blog each September for the next academic year’s fellowship.

 

We’re pleased to announce the Summer 2016 faculty of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College:

Debra Allbery (Director)

Charles Baxter

Karen Bender

Robert Boswell

Karen Brennan

Liam Callanan

Christopher Castellani

Robert Cohen

Stephen Dobyns

Daisy Fried

Lauren Groff

Jennifer Grotz

Brooks Haxton

David Haynes

T. Geronimo Johnson

Rodney Jones

Sally Keith

Maurice Manning

Heather McHugh

Kevin McIlvoy

Matthew Olzmann

Steven Schwartz

Alan Shapiro

Joan Silber

Debra Spark

Peter Turchi

Ellen Bryant Voigt

C. Dale Young

March 28, 2016

Statement on “Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act”

To the community:

The North Carolina legislature’s passage last week of a new law barring local anti-discrimination measures (known as HB2: “Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act”) has been greeted with concern and alarm on many college campuses across the state, including ours.

The Warren Wilson community remains deeply committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. We support members of our LGBTQ community who may not feel safe and welcome in the state as they express their dismay over this legislation. We reject any and all appeals to homophobia and transphobia, as we also condemn appeals to racism and misogyny in this election season.

 

Read the rest of President Solnick’s letter here: A Statement on “Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act”

If you are a writer of color interested in learning more about the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers, please join us at a reception at AWP Los Angeles!  Warren Wilson MFA faculty, alumni, and current students will be there, and we’ll be sharing information about  apprenticeship in craft, our grants and scholarships, and the Holden Fund for Diversity. Time and location are as follows:

Friday, April 1st
8:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Los Angeles Athetic Club Ballroom
431 West 7th Street; Los Angeles, CA 90014

Immediately following the reception, we’ll be hosting a 40th anniversary celebration in the same location, from 9:00 p.m. – midnight! Please join faculty past and present, alumni, and students in commemorating this occasion. Light refreshments will be provided.

You can view both event flyers here:

Prospective Students of Color Reception

40th Anniversary Celebration

The MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College will once again have a table at the AWP Conference. This year’s gathering will be held in Los Angeles. The Bookfair is open Thursday, March 31 to Saturday, April 2, from 9:00 to 5:00. We seek volunteers, in one- or two-hour shifts, to answer questions from prospective students and to talk about their experience in our MFA program.

If you’re coming to AWP and are able to donate some of your time toward staffing our table, please contact Warren Wilson alum Noah Stetzer (poetry, July 2014) at [email protected] by March 12 with specifics about your availability. Noah will coordinate the schedule, and will be back in touch with you to confirm.

Our thanks in advance for your assistance. As one of our recent print ads stated: “Our graduates are our best advertisement.” Your many successes, and your abiding enthusiasm for our program provide impressive evidence of what the Warren Wilson MFA yields and makes possible for your lives as writers.