MFA in Creative Writing

Mississippi University for Women offers a low-residency MFA in creative writing with fiction, poetry, nonfiction, drama, translation, and new media.

[ponderreview]

Announcing our Pushcart Prize nominees!

Our next submission period begins Dec. 15.

Order your copy or send us your work: ponderreview.submittable.com

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Congratulations to our Pushcart nominees!

Issue 17 is at the printer and should arrive soon! We're also busy reading for Issue 18, so send us your poems or order a copy of our latest issue at poetrysouth.submittable.com.

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HBCU Marching Bands in Mississippi

Check out Dominique Lewis's feature article in Mississippi Folklife on HBCU marching bands! Congratulations, Dominique!

https://mississippifolklife.org/articles/mississippi-hbcu-bands-preserving-black-southern-cultural-traditions-through-unmatched-music-drills-dance-and-soul

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Intro Journals Project

Congratulations to Alexis Jemal, AWP Intro Journals Prize Honorable Mention in Prose for “Lost Identity or Evolution?,”

Creative Nonfiction #IntroJournalsProject

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Christian Collier, poet

Look who was just featured at the Poetry Society of Tennessee's 68th annual Poetry Festival. Congratulations, Christian! #poetry

68th Annual Poetry Festival

PST’s 68th Annual Poetry Festival is on tap April 26 with in-person and virtual program tracks. Start early at an April 25 event. Registrati

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It's our 9 year anniversary on Tumblr 🥳

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Congratulations Karol Lagodzki!

We're thrilled for Karol Lagodzki to see that his debut novel Controlled Conversations has been named one of five finalists for the PEN/Hemmingway Debut Novel Award.

Announcing The 2025 PEN America Literary Awards Finalists - PEN America

PEN America is honored to announce the Finalists for the 2025 Literary Awards. The 2025 Awards will confer around $350,000 to writers.

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PEN/Hemmingway Longlist

Huge congratulations to Karol Lagodzki, whose debut novel, Controlled Conversations, made the PEN/Hemingway longlist in 2025! We're proud of you, Karol!

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For those planning to apply to our program, a couple of updates:

We are now accepting applications in Slate. This will help us communicate better with applicants than our old system.

Our pre-application packet can now also be submitted in Slate, instead of by email.

Our priority deadline for Summer 2025 or Fall 2025 applications is March 1.

[ponderreview]

Call For Submissions

Today we begin our next reading period for Ponder Review Volume 9, Issue 1

Send us your fiction, poetry, CNF, plays, art, newmedia

December 15, 2024 — March 15, 2025

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AWP25

We've reserved our table in the Book Fair for #AWP25. Writers, come see us at T1133 when you head to LA March 26-28.

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Submissions Closing Soon!

With just one more week in our reading period, we'd especially love to see more CNF, short plays, and new media, though we're also always looking for poetry, fiction, and flash! Send us your work. Deadline for our next issue: Sept. 15.

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Summer 2024 MFA Residency Readings

Our MFA program has just finished a week of readings at our residency. All are linked to the video archived on Facebook (you do not have to login to Facebook to view them):

May 25 — Erin Matson, Morgan Raper, Kendall Dunkelberg, and Dominique Lewis

May 26 — Jennifer Armstrong, Kerri Roe, Rebecca Anderson Bright, and Michelle Stoll

May 27 — Kerri Roe, Rachel Sedore, Kendall Dunkelberg, and Madison Nanney

May 28 — Teresa Nicholas, Rebecca Anderson Bright, T. K. Lee, and Tony Hughes

May 29 — Alasdair Rivers, Ellen Ann Fentress, and Magnolia Jane Dill

May 30 — Leslie Cardwell, Christian Collier, Brandy Wilson, and Dena Pruett

May 31 — Alexis Jemal, Megan Prestridge, Mary Miller, and Elaine Monaghan

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Heading to AWP in Kansas City?

Stop by our table at the Book Fair — T1248.

We'd love to talk, and we'll have sample copies of our magazines Ponder Review and Poetry South, plus swag, candy, and flyers.

[weltysymposium]

Videos of This Weekend's Symposium

Did you miss the symposium Oct. 19-21? Never fear, you can watch the archived videos. Each heading is linked to the video in our Facebook group.

Thursday, Oct. 19, 7:30pm Katy Simpson Smith, The Weeds

Friday, Oct.20, 9am-12pm Lee Durkee, Stalking Shakespeare Maurice Carlos Ruffin, The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You De’Shawn Charles Winslow, Decent People K. Iver, Short Film Starring My Beloved’s Red Bronco

Friday, Oct.20,  1:30-4:30pm Ann Fisher-Wirth, Paradise is Jagged Halle Hill, Good Women: Stories Claude Wilkinson, Soon Done with the Crosses Ephemera Prize Reading

Saturday Oct.21,  9:30am-12:30pm Ethel Morgan Smith, Path to Grace Christie Collins, The Art of Coming Undone Ellen Ann Fentress, The Steps We TakeExodus Brownlow, I'm Afraid That I Know Too Much About Myself Now

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Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium 2023 Schedule

Thursday, Oct. 19, 7:30pm Katy Simpson Smith, The Weeds

Friday, Oct.20, 9am-12pm 9:00 Lee Durkee, Stalking Shakespeare 9:40 Maurice Carlos Ruffin, The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You 10:30 De’Shawn Charles Winslow, Decent People 11:10 K. Iver, Short Film Starring My Beloved’s Red Bronco

Friday, Oct.20,  1:30-4:30pm 1:30 Ann Fisher-Wirth, Paradise is Jagged 2:10 Halle Hill, Good Women: Stories 2:50 Claude Wilkinson, Soon Done with the Crosses 3:30 Ephemera Prize for High School Writers

Saturday Oct.21,  9:30am-12:30pm 9:30 Ethel Morgan Smith, Path to Grace 10:10 Christie Collins, The Art of Coming Undone 11:00 Ellen Ann Fentress, The Steps We Take 11: 40 Exodus Brownlow, I'm Afraid That I Know Too Much About Myself Now

Mississippi University for Women, Columbus, Mississippi Poindexter Hall, Kossen Auditorium Or live stream at our Facebook Group (no need to be on FB to watch) All times are approximate except start times

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We are gearing up for next week's Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium, Oct. 19-21!