The MFA is celebrating a whole roster of new faculty, many of whom began teaching for our program this semester. Poets Dexter Booth, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Douglas Manuel, and Sandra Simonds join longtime faculty poet Mark Neely. Returning nonfiction faculty members Bonnie J. Rough, Jill Christman, and Kate Hopper are now joined by Lily Hoang and River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Book Prize-winner Angela Morales. New and returning fiction faculty include Nayomi Munaweera, Derek Palacio, and Matthew Salesses. Also joining the fiction side, and representing the first steps toward a new track specializing in science-fiction and fantasy writing, are Brian Conn and Sarah Monette. Along with River Teeth and the Ashland Poetry Press, the MFA will once more be a presence at the annual AWP conference, this year held in Tampa.
With the addition of our new faculty, the Ashland MFA has become a program that is truly celebrating and promoting diversity. This builds upon the sturdy foundation already in place: a curriculum based on writing and editing a book-length project, our unique single-residency model (as opposed to the two residencies of most low-res MFA programs), and the sense of community engendered by the way we run our non-residential, online semesters. It also looks like our Paris residency will resume this summer, offering students a chance to study in the city of lights and experiencing all that such a journey entails.
