We are so excited about the opening of the Louis Armstrong House Museum‘s new Louis Armstrong Center, which will house a 60,000-piece archive across the street from where Armstrong himself lived, in Corona, Queens.

We’re very familiar with this archive over at QC: We’ve been partnering with the LAHM for over a decade on a fellowship that allows our MFA in Creative Writing students to gain access to these materials so that they can create new writing projects based on their new insights into Armstrong’s life.

Ultimately, we’re so happy that everyone can see more of these items–homemade tape recordings, scrapbook photo collages, pages and pages of notes. Louis Armstrong is an American icon, and now the people can spend even more time with Louis!

We’re happy this Center is getting the national attention it deserves! If you want to read more (or listen) about this news, you can check out the story on NPR:

https://www.npr.org/2023/07/06/1186099303/louis-armstrongs-dazzling-archive-has-a-new-home-his

Eugene Lim is the author of the four novels Fog & Car(2008), The Strangers(2013), Dear Cyborgs (2017), Search History (2021) and the chapbook “The Basement Food Court of Forking Paths” (2020). His writings have appeared in such journals as The New Yorker, The Believer, Granta, Fence. Honors include a book award from the Association of Asian American Studies and Big Other’s 2021 Award for Fiction. He runs Ellipsis Press, known for publishing innovative fiction. 

Check out all our faculty on our faculty page!

Just a quick shoutout to our graduating class of 2023–we know you’re going on to great things as writers!

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The Queens College MFA Program in Creative Writing & Literary Translation is opening again for applications in creative nonfiction between April 5th and May 5th.

Located in the most culturally and linguistically diverse county in the nation, the Queens College MFA program attracts students dedicated to crossing boundaries in genre, craft, and language. Queens College offers tracks in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and literary translation. Students exercise a role in building their writing community through residencies at the Louis Armstrong House Museum and the program’s national literary journal, Armstrong Literary.

Queens College also partners with Cave Canem, Hanging Loose Press, Kundiman, and the college’s ESL program. Teaching opportunities and scholarships are available.

All students study multiple genres and work with award-winning faculty dedicated to their success. In addition to a curricular commitment to excellence in craft, the program emphasizes professional opportunities for students in publishing, arts organizations, and education.

To apply, go to https://www.qc.cuny.edu/ga/applying/ or click here.
Please submit your writing sample to mfadirector@qc.cuny.edu

Our own Nicole Cooley has three poems in this issue of Plume–go check them out!

https://plumepoetry.com/three-poems-31/?fbclid=IwAR2J5yuWYlTOEGBC7vRyX1XuS-fgjW7FV_Cye6ZnGc4RguFXz43KuIRa2nQ

Our own Kimiko Hahn was featured yesterday in a segment for PBS NewsHour about the power of poetry! You can check it out here:

This is exactly what QC MFA brings to the table!

Congratulations Kimiko!

We are so pleased to announce that our own Kimiko Hahn has just been elected as one of the fifteen-member Board of Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets.

“All that we publish, program, and promote at the Academy of American Poets is fueled by the collective wisdom, imagination, and expertise of our Chancellors,” said Tess O’Dwyer, Chair of the Board. “It’s exhilarating to congratulate poets extraordinaire Kimiko Hahn, Ilya Kaminsky, Ed Roberson, and Patricia Smith on their election and welcome them into the leadership of the Academy.”

Chancellors serve six-year terms during which they consult with the organization on artistic matters, judge the organization’s largest legacy prizes for American poets, and act as ambassadors of poetry in the world at large. 

To read more about this momentous feat, please visit the Academy website: https://poets.org/academy-names-new-chancellors-hahn-kaminsky-roberson-smith

Congratulations, Kimiko!!!

MFA alum Ariel Francisco (Translation, 2021) has a new poem in this issue of The New Yorker!

Congratulations! So proud of you, Ariel!!!

Read “Baton Bleu” here:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/01/23/baton-bleu

MFA alum Eric Becker’s latest translation, of Lilia M. Schwarcz’s Brazilian Authoritarianism: Past and Present (Princeton University Press), is available now wherever books are sold. This book from Princeton University Press, digs beneath the mythos of the tolerant and peaceful Brazilian society, to reveal a more troubling truth.

It’s sure to be a fascinating read, made all the more poignant by Eric’s adept translation!

https://bookshop.org/p/books/brazilian-authoritarianism-past-and-present-lilia-moritz-schwarcz

Now in their 20th year, the PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants promote the publication and reception of translated world literature into English. Established by a gift from Priscilla and Michael Henry Heim in response to the dismayingly low number of literary translations appearing in English, the fund has supported more than 200 projects.

Richard Prins’ translation from the Swahili of Walenisi by Katama Mkangi

From the judges’ citation: A touchstone of Kenyan literature, Katama Mkangi’s Walenisi begins with a reimagination of events from the dictatorial Kenyatta and Moi regimes. The novel’s protagonist, sentenced to death for “talking too much,” miraculously escapes his fate by piloting the space ship intended as his grave to the utopian planet Walenisi, where a journey of self-discovery begins. Blending parable and science fiction, Mkangi, who was imprisoned for his pro-democracy advocacy, satirizes global capitalism and postcolonial authoritarianism while presenting a speculative vision of an egalitarian future. Richard Prins translates this thrilling ride with humor and verve — a rare chance for English-speakers to read an Africanfuturist work originally written in an indigenous African language.

https://pen.org/literary-awards/grants-fellowships/announcing-the-2023-pen-america-literary-grant-winners/