We are so excited to announce that current MFA student Richard Prins has just been awarded an NEA fellowship, which will be the first the National Endowment for the Arts has ever granted in Swahili-English translation.

The fellowship will be to support the translation from the Swahili of the novel Walenisi by Kenyan writer Katama Mkangi. Walenisi is an allegorical narrative that reinterprets historical events in Kenya during the Kenyatta and Moi regimes. It opens with the protagonist, Dzombo, who is sentenced to death for “talking too much” in a dystopian society where public executions involve shoving the guilty parties inside a rocket and blasting them into space. Instead of exploding like those executed before him, Dzombo miraculously pilots the vessel through an asteroid belt of allegorical maladies.

Congratulations, Richard!!!

MFA alum Catherine LaSota has just been named the Associate Director of Social Practice CUNY, an educational network that amplifies the collective power of socially engaged artists, scholars, and advocates throughout the City University of New York’s rich tapestry of faculty, staff, and students working for social justice.

Catherine is the former Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Social Difference, and the former Assistant Director of the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, both at Columbia University. Catherine also founded and hosted the acclaimed LIC Reading Series (2015-2020), as well as The Resort writing community, which offers mentorship, coaching, workshops, and other support to writers. 

We know she’ll do great things at SPCUNY!

We are so excited to announce that our program’s next Visiting Professor will be the award-winning author Alaya Dawn Johnson!

One of the great things about our MFA Program here at Queens College is that we invite a new writer to teach with us every year so that students can dive further into different aspects and genres of writing and get a fresh perspective on their work. Johnson, who writes fantasy for both adults and young adults, will open up unique doors for our students studying under her.

We’ve included a bio below, but you can also read more about her work here on her website!

Welcome to Queens, Alaya!

BIO:

Alaya Dawn Johnson is an award-winning short story writer and the author of eight novels for adults and young adults. Her novel Trouble the Saints won the 2021 World Fantasy Award for best novel. Her debut short story collection, Reconstruction, was an Ignyte Award and a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award finalist. Her debut YA novel The Summer Prince was longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. Her short stories have appeared in many magazines and anthologies, most notably the title story in The Memory Librarian, in collaboration with Janelle Monáe. 

MFA alum Jonathan Kravetz has a novel coming out with respected independent publisher Running Wild Press this May. We’re all so excited to read How We Were Before, which you can read a description of here:

When a savage home invasion results in the death of a town’s most glamorous couple, the surviving friends and relatives of the victims must navigate the emotional aftermath: Exasperated high school Vice-Principal Zachary Rivers makes a final effort to reach a troubled student. Town librarian, Shelby Blythe—the eldest daughter of the murder victims—begins a correspondence with Billy Lawson, her parents’ murderer. Evelyn Kavanaugh, a retired marketing manager and beloved family friend of the Blythes, embarks on a luxurious cruise as a prelude to suicide. Noam Russell, Billy Lawson’s best friend, returns to Benfield to claim a share of his deceased father’s estate. Samantha Blythe’s maternal attempt to help an employee evokes a renewed desire to connect with her own family.

The spaces between stories are haunted by echoes of the deceased couple’s life—from the ignorant bliss of first impressions and great expectations to the tumultuous troubles of middle age, and, finally, an undying hope for reconciliation.

There’s sure to be more news to come, as the launch date of May 20th comes, so you should sign up for Jonathan’s newsletter to keep up on all the readings and signings to follow.

And be sure to preorder your copy of How We Were Before directly from Running Wild’s page on Bookshop.org, so you can be sure to support indie presses when you get your copy!

“Rest is an essential part of my process.”

– Briallen Hopper

Let’s face it, people want to go to MFA programs to work with particular writers: people whose work they admire, writers who can show them the right way to approach their own work. That’s why it’s so perfect that our own Briallen Hopper (author of the creative essay collection Hard to Love) has been interviewed for Famous Writing Routines, a magazine dedicated to exploring the daily habits, writing process, and work routines of some of the most renowned authors throughout history.

Check out that interview to get all of Briallen’s insights on the writing process:

Interview with Briallen Hopper: “Rest is an essential part of my process.”

This way, you know when you apply to pursue creative nonfiction here at Queens College, you’re in good hands!

If you’re thinking about working on a memoir or essays, like Briallen Hopper writes, check out our application page.

It’s about time we formally share Small Orange with all of you, our program’s own Carlie Hoffman (Founding Editor and Editor-in-Chief/Art Editor) and alumnus Ariel Franscisco’s (Assistant Editor) gorgeous online journal of poetry and respective print house: Orange Editions.

We’re so fortunate that this beautiful journal, which publishes widely among the best in contemporary poetry, has included work by our own Distinguished Professor (and recent Ruth Lilly Award-winner) Kimiko Hahn, and alumnus Rajiv Mohabir!

Check out their website for more information:

https://smallorangejournal.com/about

We’re making big news, even within our own university:

Queens College released their must-read list of books by QC faculty and alums, and guess who’s all over this list? (That’s right, it’s us!)

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Go see what all the fuss is about at the official Queens College Instagram page:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C17OGNlx89W