Friends, I’m thrilled to share I’ll be teaching a hybrid genres workshop with Missoula Writing Collaborative in January 2024. The course is built around the late C. D. Wright’s definition of “tramp poets,” and is based on one of my favorite courses I took led by one of my favorite tramp poets: Chris Dombrowski.
More in the flyer below. And click here to sign up! (never mind my misspelled name as I try to)
Hi, friends. I’m delighted to share I’ve published a piece in Missoula’s new independent newspaper, The Pulp. It was a bit of a whirlwind: I met editor/cofounder Erika Fredrickson on Monday, she asked if I’d be interested in writing the story, and it was on their website by Thursday. It would not have happened without Erika’s keen editorial eye (my first draft was… rough) and the great staff at the Headwaters Foundation, the organization that commissioned the Día De Los Muertos ofrenda seen below.
I’m looking forward to telling more stories like this one with The Pulp and other outlets, local and beyond. Do you have a story that needs to be told? Are you looking for someone with an engaging voice and ethical approach? Get in touch!
I’m thrilled to be organizing a reading celebrating 50 years of CutBank literary journal at this year’s Montana Book Festival. With William Kittredge as the founding editor-in-chief and having published literary luminaries such as William Stafford, Richard Hugo, Mary Karr, Rita Dove, and many more, CutBank is worthy of celebration.
And the lineup of readers and speakers will not disappoint. So far Chris La Tray, Montana’s new poet laureate, and Judy Blunt, outgoing director of the University of Montana’s MFA program, are confirmed. Kim Barnes and Robert Wrigley are planning on attending. We hope you can join us for this amazing, free event!
I’m excited to announce my haibun (prose + haiku) “Hyperphagia” appeared in Word Dog Quarterly, Volume 2! The piece went through several iterations before it landed in print, and the WD editorial team had some great final thoughts. So glad that a piece that started out in Sean Hill’s Creative Research class has a home.
Here’s a picture of two of the creatures who inspired the piece. Get your copy of Word Dog Quarterly here!
Check out my profile on Josh Crumpton of Spoke Hollow Outfitters in Wimberley, TX, in Modern Huntsman Volume 9 or on the Tecovas Outpost blog.
I received delightful news today in my school inbox. Brian Blanchfield, director of the University of Idaho’s Creative Writing MFA program, selected an essay I wrote for AWP’s Intro Journals Project.
This essay began as an anonymous post on Anne Helen Petersen’s Culture Study Substack – I’m Mike, the last teacher account. I worked on it this semester in Sean Hill’s creative research course, getting great feedback from my amazing, supportive colleagues. There’s no way it would have been selected if it weren’t for the revisions that grew out of their advice.
Now I just have to wait 4 – 5 months to find out if I won.
Update: I didn’t win, but Brian Blanchfield accepted a position at the University of Montana, which feels like a win. I’d rather get to hang out with Brian than see this essay in print, and I can keep trying. Hopefully I’ll have an update down the road.
Mark Schoenfeld 