Murray State Creative Writing Program and Reading Series

Notations, the undergraduate literary journal of Murray State, is taking submissions for the 2024 issue through is week!

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
**Open to all currently enrolled Murray State undergrads
**Email up to 4 poems, 1-2 works of creative nonfiction, and/or 1-2 works of fiction to [email protected].
**Fiction and CNF works should be double-spaced and no longer than 15 pages.
**All submission should be in WORD format.
**Include your first & last name, major & minor, and the title & genre of each submission in your email.

DEADLINE:
Friday, February 23 at midnight!

QUESTIONS:
Email [email protected]

THIS YEAR’S EDITORS:
Marian Bailey
Ava Chuppe
Spencer Feibelmann
Hannah Foote
Dustin Goheen
Ava Hurt
Eve Jacobson
Jonathan Knowles
Shelbi Owen
Morgan Tinin
Jay Turner

The event with Dr. Caitlin Williams scheduled for this evening has been cancelled. We hope to reschedule it!

Registration for spring 2024 begins next week, and the Department of English and Philosophy is here for it! Check out special topics courses and professional writing courses being offered! Many of our classes are open to non-majors, too. Ask your advisor for more information!

Join us today!!

Thursday, October 26, the creative writing program will host author Amy Wright for a writer’s talk and reading!

The writer’s talk is at 3:30PM in Faculty Hall 208, and the reading is at 7:30pm in Waterfield Library Gallery. All are welcome to attend.

Amy Wright grew up on a family farm in southwest Virginia to earn an B.A. from the University of Virginia, M.A. from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and Ph.D. from the University of Denver. She is a Professor of English at Austin Peay State University who strives through her teaching and writing to promote environmental sustainability and healing through meaning-making. She served as the 2022 Wayne G. Basler Chair of Excellence at East Tennessee State University and has been awarded two Peter Taylor Fellowships to the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop, an Individual Artist Grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission, and a fellowship to the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her contest-winning essays have featured in Georgia Review, Fourth Genre, Kenyon Review, Minding Nature, and elsewhere. Wright co-edited and introduced the Virginia volume of The Southern Poetry Anthology and is Senior Editor of Zone 3 journal and Nonfiction Editor of Zone 3 Press. Author of three poetry books and six chapbooks, her nonfiction debut, Paper Concert (Sarabande Books) won the 2022 Nautilus Gold Award for Lyric Prose.

Mark your calendars! The Department of English and Philosophy invites interested students to experience CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981) on Tuesday, November 14 at 7:00pm at Maiden Alley Cinema in Paducah, Kentucky. We're offering FREE tickets to 40 lucky MSU students! Transportation may also be available (first come, first served - some restrictions may apply). DR. ANDY BLACK WILL INTRODUCE THE FILM AT 6:30. For tickets and transportation, please contact Dr. Josh Adair
([email protected]).

Join the Department of English and Philosophy tomorrow -- Wednesday, October 18 at 5:00pm in Faculty Hall 208 — for a presentation by guest speaker Dr. J. Aaron Simmons: “Existentialism in the Mountains: Why Going Camping with Kierkegaard Can Help You Live a Better Life.”

“Too often our lives are defined by the pressure to succeed, to be more, to do more, to have more. But existential philosophy and outdoor activities such as camping, mountain biking, backpacking, and trout fishing can help us to realize that there is more to life than a series of external accomplishments. Rather than success, we should seek a life of ‘faithfulness.’ By ‘faith’ I do not mean anything religious, but simply the idea that we must embrace risk with direction in order to make the most of our time (since we don’t have an unlimited amount of it).”

J. Aaron Simmons is a Professor of Philosophy, a widely published author, a popular speaker, and also a trout fisherman and mountain biker. Specializing in philosophy of religion and political philosophy, Simmons is the former President of the Søren Kierkegaard Society (USA). Simmons is an active public philosopher and hosts the YouTube channel, "Philosophy for Where We Find Ourselves."

The event is free and open to the public.

On Thursday, October 26, the creative writing program will host author Amy Wright for a writer’s talk and reading!

The writer’s talk is at 3:30PM in Faculty Hall 208, and the reading is at 7:30pm in Waterfield Library Gallery. All are welcome to attend.

Amy Wright grew up on a family farm in southwest Virginia to earn an B.A. from the University of Virginia, M.A. from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and Ph.D. from the University of Denver. She is a Professor of English at Austin Peay State University who strives through her teaching and writing to promote environmental sustainability and healing through meaning-making. She served as the 2022 Wayne G. Basler Chair of Excellence at East Tennessee State University and has been awarded two Peter Taylor Fellowships to the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop, an Individual Artist Grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission, and a fellowship to the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her contest-winning essays have featured in Georgia Review, Fourth Genre, Kenyon Review, Minding Nature, and elsewhere. Wright co-edited and introduced the Virginia volume of The Southern Poetry Anthology and is Senior Editor of Zone 3 journal and Nonfiction Editor of Zone 3 Press. Author of three poetry books and six chapbooks, her nonfiction debut, Paper Concert (Sarabande Books) won the 2022 Nautilus Gold Award for Lyric Prose.

Join the Department of English and Philosophy one week from today, on Wednesday, October 18 at 5:00pm for a presentation by guest speaker Dr. J. Aaron Simmons: “Existentialism in the Mountains: Why Going Camping with Kierkegaard Can Help You Live a Better Life.”

“Too often our lives are defined by the pressure to succeed, to be more, to do more, to have more. But existential philosophy and outdoor activities such as camping, mountain biking, backpacking, and trout fishing can help us to realize that there is more to life than a series of external accomplishments. Rather than success, we should seek a life of ‘faithfulness.’ By ‘faith’ I do not mean anything religious, but simply the idea that we must embrace risk with direction in order to make the most of our time (since we don’t have an unlimited amount of it).”

J. Aaron Simmons is a Professor of Philosophy, a widely published author, a popular speaker, and also a trout fisherman and mountain biker. Specializing in philosophy of religion and political philosophy, Simmons is the former President of the Søren Kierkegaard Society (USA). Simmons is an active public philosopher and hosts the YouTube channel, “Philosophy for Where We Find Ourselves.”

The event is free and open to the public.

Also, save the date for the next event, on November 6, with guest speaker Dr. Caitlin Williams!

Posted • This week, ESO will be hosting our Faculty Rant Night!! You won't want to miss it!

Don’t miss our events this week! Creative writing grad school panel on Wednesday at 6:30 in Faculty Hall 105, and a podcast listening party on Thursday at 12:30pm in Faculty Hall 400. All are welcome.

Join us for the next event in the Humanities Series on Thursday, September 28! We’ll have a podcast listening party to hear Natalie Haynes discuss “Stone Blind.” All are welcome!

Next week, the creative writing program will host an information session on graduate school and creative writing. All are welcome, and there will be plenty of time for Q&A!