We have to bring some special attention to Words Without Borders, and not just because MFA alum Eric Becker has been the Senior Editor there for several years now, but because WWB is one of the few magazines in the world dedicated to literature in translation. One of the things that makes our program so unique is our dedicated translation track, which means we share in the very same global literary conversation that Words Without Borders publishes in their pages.

This anniversary is the perfect time for this write-up in The New York Times, “Celebrating Literature That ‘Brings the World Close’,” which highlights the importance of what WWB does, especially in the midst of all the strife occurring around the world as we speak.

Being situated in the most diverse place on the planet naturally connects us to the world at large around us, through all the cultures that surround our humble program. That’s why we’re so grateful to WWB for creating unparalleled access to the world’s literary voices, because we all need to hear each other.

Congratulations on 20 years, and here’s to 20 more!

Congratulations to MFA alum Jasper Lo, who’s just published his first reported piece in The New Yorker, about City Council members running for office in Brooklyn’s recently redrawn, majority-Asian district.

Go read “What Will It Take to Win Brooklyn’s First Majority-Asian District?” for this deep dive into this complicated political situation, involving race and safety!

Congrats, Jasper!

Queens College Special Collections and Archives recently acquired a curated box of over 60 zines from BlackMass Publishing that explore politics, jazz, religion, architecture, and other themes. We were able to celebrate this acquisition with an open archives visit and a a conversation with BlackMass publishers Yusuf Hassan and Kwamé Sorrell 

BlackMass Publishing is an independent press promoting and publishing material by Black artists founded by Yusuf Hassan in 2019. Combining archival photographs and found print material with poetry and jazz music, BlackMass grapples with the blurred lines and idiosyncrasies which make up the collective improvisation of African diasporic culture.

Sponsored by Queens College Library Special Collections and Archives, the Queens College MFA Program, and Queens College Africana Studies, with the generous support of the Pine Tree Foundation of New York.

We were so happy to announce when MFA alum Rebecca Suzuki was the most recent winner of the Loose Translations Award from Hanging Loose Press, which publishes one work of translation each year. We’re doubly excited to tell you about the buzz surrounding the upcoming publication of this hybrid volume of poetry, especially since another MFA alum, Jay Boss Rubin (an emerging but respected translator in their own right) has written a glowing, in-depth review of When My Mother Is Most Beautiful for Asymptote!

Jay delivers insights into this work as only a fellow translator could, highlighting issues of translation and culture that will speak to our multicultural nation. To use a brief quote:

“Across the delightful hybridity, the author achieves thematic cohesion through her enthusiastic embrace of multilingualism. From the first entry to the last, Suzuki demonstrates multilingualism’s ability to make more resonant questions of identity that, trapped within a single tongue, remain stifling.”

https://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2023/11/02/language-is-the-horse-on-rebecca-suzukis-when-my-mother-is-most-beautiful/#more-33026

This is just one example of the supportive, inclusive community we build here at QC MFA every day!

A special congratulations to MFA alum Hannah Lee, for winning the 2023 Birdhouse Prize from Ghostbird Press!

An independent chapbook press founded by MFA alum Peter Vanderberg, Ghostbird Press gives back to the QC community by partnering with the MFA Program to publish one chapbook submitted by a graduating MFA student, starting their post-MFA life with a publication under their belt.

Hannah’s book will come out in the spring, so stay tuned for more details on that!