Sena Jeter Naslund-Karen Mann Graduate School of Writing

Poetry and CNF faculty member Erin Keane shares tips for preparing to be a good “in-conversation” partner for book tour events, drawing on her experience as a frequent conversation partner for her local bookstore and her years as a journalist. Read it now on our faculty blog at Good River Review: https://buff.ly/uYSCwPz

At the Naslund-Mann School of Writing, we take PRIDE in the LGBTQIA+ voices whose stories expand our understanding of empathy and embracing identity, and remind us of the strength found in community.

Happy Pride Month!

THIS THURSDAY! Get ready for the next edition of our summer reading series, Voice & Vision!

Spalding University's Naslund-Mann School of Writing & 21c Museum Hotel Louisville will feature five exciting writers: MichaelJoseph Barber, Willie Davis, David Dominé, Susanna Spearman, and Katie Williams.

Hosted by Lynnell Edwards
Thursday, June 18, 2026
6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
21c Museum Hotel, 700 West Main St., in downtown Louisville

Congratulations to current Spalding University MFA student Raluca Comanelea on the publication of her flash fiction "Of Love" in the Spring 2026 issue of Digging Press.

Read it here: https://buff.ly/siPN4UA

We're proud to share Spalding University faculty member Neela Vaswani’s essay, "I had a Neighbor Whose Husband Constantly Shouted," which was recently published in Electric Literature.

Check it out: https://buff.ly/ieAjHAm

Announcing our new Associate Programs Director, Whitney Collins, stepping into the role July 1! Click here to read all about Whitney: https://buff.ly/8JTwnbl

Our Spring 2026 Residency is in the books! From our Distinguished Visiting Author, Kaveh Akbar, to faculty Bruce Marshall Romans' SPIDER-NOIR (ahem, Lectorium premiere), to KY Shakespeare in Central Park, to our 25th ANNIVERSARY (!) party--it was so wonderful to be together with all of our talented students and faculty!

Big congrats to our recent graduate Laura Candler! Laura is the winner of the 2026 Chapbook Competition (a collaboration between The Poets Corner, Toad Hall Editions, & the Camden Festival of Poetry) & she'll be in conversation next Sunday with the contest judge, Aimee Nezhukumatathil! Register for this Zoom session here: https://buff.ly/LDW0koi

“Common Name: These poems keep turning toward the world—toward the child’s voice, the river’s body, the small, bright pop of a flower—and in that turning, they make a place where wonder and worry can stand side by side without shame. They remind us that close attention is its own kind of devotion, that to name what is fragile, fleeting, and alive means to love it more fully.” —Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Spalding University Writers! Elderfly Press is currently seeking submissions for their upcoming anthology, Mother Monster/Father Fiend. The collection explores the uncanny and unsettling edges of parenthood.

Elderly Press is now accepting entries in fiction (1,000 - 5,000 words), creative nonfiction (up to 3,000 words), and poetry (up to 5 poems).

Deadline to submit is June 15, 2026.

More info and submit: https://buff.ly/RUSDdWh

Huge congrats to screenwriting faculty Bruce Marshall Romans on the premiere of SPIDER-NOIR! Bruce is a writer and co-executive producer of this new series starring Nicholas Cage. Watch in black and white OR color starting today on Prime.

Plus, our lucky students get to hear Bruce chat a bit about the series this week while he is on campus at Spalding University leading a TV Writing Workshop during our spring residency!