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November Events

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Butler Events

11/4 – Wednesday Writing Club
Efroymson Center for Creative Writing, 10:00 AM

Writers of all genres gather and hold each other accountable to write for a set number of minutes.Writing club is like fight club; the first rule is no talking during writing club. If you try to leave before the time is finished, other members will punch you in the face. Metaphorically, of course. The group meets every Wednesday in the ECCW.

11/6 – Poetry Lunch Hour – Denis Johnson
Efroymson Center for Creative Writing, 12:30 PM

Poetry readers of all backgrounds and skills are invited to the ECCW for a discussion of Denis Johnson’s poetry. The writer, who will be visiting Butler this month, is best known for his fiction works like Jesus’ Son or Train Dreams, but this is your chance to become a true Johnson super-fan by discussing poetry selections from his book, The Incognito Lounge. Lunch will be provided with RSVP 24 hours in advance, and a selection of poems will be emailed so no book purchase is necessary. RSVP to mdunn1@butler.edu. All Butler students, faculty, and staff are invited, along with MFA alumni.

11/11 – Denis Johnson Reading
Atherton Union, Reilly Room, 7:30 PM

Denis JohnsonThe Vivian S. Delbrook Visiting Writers Series presents a reading by Denis Johnson.

Johnson is the author of numerous novels, including Fiskadoro (1985); Tree of Smoke, winner of the 2007 National Book Award; and Nobody Move (2009). Jesus’ Son (1992), his collection of short stories, was made into a movie of the same name. Johnson’s latest novel, The Laughing Monsters, was released in November.

Admission is free and open to the public without tickets. For more information, call 317-940-9861.

11/12 – Q & A with Denis Johnson
Efroymson Center for Creative Writing, 12:00 PM

The writer will answer questions from students in an intimate, casual environment.

11/13 – Poetry Lunch Hour- Dean Young
Efroymson Center for Creative Writing, 12:30 PM

Whether it’s your first time reading poetry since that required poem Freshman year, or you hold a Ph.D in poetry, you are invited to partake in a lively discussion of poetry. This week’s selections will be by visiting writer, Dean Young. All perspectives are welcome! Lunch will be provided with RSVP 24 hours in advance, and a selection of poems will be emailed so no book purchase is necessary. RSVP to mdunn1@butler.edu. All Butler students, faculty, and staff are invited, along with MFA alumni. Poet for this week to be announced.

11/13 – Dialogue
Efroymson Center for Creative Writing, 6:00 PM

The MFA students are meeting to decide the future format and structure of the revived student writing group Dialogue. Possible ideas include:

1) reading/sharing our work in front of a small-ish supportive audience
2) flash fiction pieces
3) bringing in something you’re stuck on and soliciting advice
4) movie night!
Email Tristan (tristanamelia9@gmail.com) with questions or ideas.

11/16 – Dean Young Reading
Robertson Hall, Johnson Board Room, 7:30 PM

dean-young

The final reader of this semester’s Vivian S. Delbrook Visiting Writers Series is poet Dean Young. Young earned his MFA from Indiana University, and is recognized as one of the most energetic, influential poets writing today. His numerous collections of poetry have won many awards including the Academy Award in Literature, a Stegner Fellowship from Stanford University, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry in 2005.

Admission is free and open to the public without tickets. For more information, call 317-940-9861.

11/18 – Q & A with Dean Young
Efroymson Center for Creative Writing, 1:00 PM

The poet will answer questions from students in an intimate, casual environment.

Indy Events

10/28 – 11/16 Ann Katz Festival of Books & Arts
Indianapolis JCC

Visit the JCC website to get a list of all events including youth poetry workshops and appearances by local authors Dan Wakefield and Barb Shoup.

11/5 – 11/7 VonnegutFest

The world’s only VonnegutFest, an Indianapolis-wide celebration of the power of the arts and humanities to help us communicate, returns in 2015 from November 5-7. From the popular Timequake Clambake to a panel discussions on religion and Vonnegut to frank conversations about veterans using the arts to heal, the city will honor their native son Kurt Vonnegut with a wide variety of events. Click here for a complete list of times and events.

11/13 Michael Poore
Ball State

The author will be on Ball State’s campus to read from his novel, Up Jumps the Devil. Following his presentation, he will be available for a brief time of Q & A and book signing. The event is free and open to the public.

11/14 – 11/15 Indiana Writer’s Center Fall Writer’s Retreat

Fall back to that exciting writing project—or fall forward to something new. Come to the scenic Oakwood Retreat Center (near Muncie) for a writer’s retreat. Spend the weekend getting inspired, writing, sharing your work, and making new friends.

11/18 Scott Russell Sanders
University of Indianapolis

Bloomington resident Scott Russell Sanders has written 20 books of fiction and nonfiction. He is a distinguished professor emeritus of English at Indiana University, where he taught from 1971 to 2009. He will present a reading followed by a brief Q & A.

11/22 Vicki Drane Author Promotional Event
Indy Reads Books, 2:00 -4:00 PM

Vicki Drane Promotions hosts a book event for popular published authors! There will be book readings, giveaways, and opportunities to purchase books from a variety of book genres. It will be a smorgasbord of books and fun!

MFA Student Shares Publishing Secrets

Posted by MS

Screen Shot 2015-10-26 at 12.45.14 PMTracy Mishkin is a Poetry MFA student with a long list list of publications. “My goal when I entered the MFA program was to write more, write better, and send out my work more often with the hope of publishing a book,” Tracy said.

She’s published 39 poems and has 10 more forthcoming. She’s also published a chapbook, I Almost Didn’t Make It to McDonald’s, in 2014 and is currently sending out manuscripts for another. She is an active member of InterUrban, an inclusive writing group of Indianapolis poets, including many Butler MFA students and alumni. Tracy agreed to share her experience with publishing and writing.

  • With all the acceptances, there must be some rejections? How do you handle them?

I have sent out 417 poems since August 2014. I have also sent out 73 chapbook and full-length manuscripts. It doesn’t bother me to get a rejection, especially now that I get a decent number of acceptances. Once I started getting some rejections that were not form letters and that encouraged me to submit again, I knew I was headed in the right direction.

  • Do you have a routine or regular habit for publishing? Do you set aside time for submitting like you do for writing?

I am very organized about my submissions. I check my CRWROPPS email folders regularly, and I track my submissions on a spreadsheet. I try to write and submit on weekends and a couple nights a week. I try to balance between writing, revising, and submitting and not get stuck on one of these activities for too long.

  • How has the Butler MFA been helpful to your writing?

The poetry faculty have supported me in developing a poetics that pushes beyond the surface and faces challenging themes without detouring into comedy or drowning in the literal. Consider the advice I received from Alessandra Lynch in 2013: “Channel your frustration in other directions. . . . Lift off a bit from the literal situation by stepping outside the room, linking this scene with others in your life or the world or nature.”

Something else the Butler MFA has helped me with: being able to articulate my aesthetic. The poetry faculty encourages us to prepare for thesis writing by asking us to write about our work, to be able to see it from the outside and articulate what it does. The first time Chris Forhan asked me to write about what my work does, I felt terrified and overwhelmed, but I am much more comfortable with that process now.

  • What advice do you have for hopefuls who have not been published?

Use CRWROPPS (or a similar resource) and don’t give up. I avoid sending more than 3 poems to any one journal, and each poem will only be sent to 3 journals at the same time. That helps me cope with rejections, too. A rejection means that now I can send that poem to 3 more places–and hopefully it has been revised in the interim and is stronger.

Want to read some of Tracy’s poems? Here’s a list of her most recent publications and a link to her chapbook.

The Akbar Reading

Posted by MS

Dan

Over fifty people packed the Broad Ripple Brewpub for the first Akbar reading. The new reading series promised short, entertaining readings, free beer trivia, and the chance to engage with other writers in the Butler community. The Akbar delivered on all points. In the spirit of keeping the boring stuff short, the reading series formally known as The Kaveh Akbar (ahem!) Endowed Reading Series, is now called simply  “The Akbar.”

 

akbarreading

The reading began with a series of poems by Allyson Horton. Her reading experience was evident as she captivated the large, rowdy crowd with her womanly, jazzy poems and haikus. The unmarried poet jokingly gave marriage advice after reading “Husband number 4.”

Fiction candidate Logan Spackman’s reading was punctuated with hardy laughter and dramatic page tossing. He read an excerpt of his thesis project, a novel involving a small town mystery, twins in the basement, and boozing parents. Are there better ingredients for a novel?

Andy Levy, Butler English Department Chair and MFA nonfiction professor, provided an incredibly personal essay on grief and closure. “Spoiler: you’ll never find it,” Levy read. The essay centered around the loss of his friend who died in Pan Am flight 103 before he made it as the literary superstar many thought he’d be.

The winners of the free beer trivia contest were Claire Leo, Erin Harris, and Tracy Mishkin. They sure know their drunk writers.

akbar1

The readers wowed, but the best part of the night was the eclectic group assembled in the pub. It was standing room only as members of the first Butler MFA graduating class mingled with first year students, professors, and everyone in between. Old and new friends encouraged each other in our common mission on being a better writer.

Save the date for the next Akbar reading Wednesday, December 16th, 7:00pm at the Brewpub. The lineup includes Butler MFA director and nonfiction professor Hilene Flanzbaum, fiction candidate Greg O’Neill, and poetry candidate Rachel Sahaidachny. Plus, inappropriate trivia presented by John Eckerd. See you at the Akbar!

MFA Students Meet Award Winning Authors

Posted by MS

The past two weeks have brought huge literary names to Butler as part of the Vivian S. Delbrook Visiting Writers Series. MFA students have had the opportunity to attend readings on campus, dine with the authors, and participate in intimate Q & A sessions. This unique opportunity rounds out the Butler MFA education by providing the chance to meet and learn from some of the most successful and talented people in the writing profession.

oates

Joyce Carol Oates was at Butler September 28th and 29th. She spoke to students about the importance of finding the perfect voice for your work as well as how to create a disciplined writing life.

stern

Photo Credit: http://shootforthemoonphotos.tumblr.com/

Gerald Stern and Anne Marie Macari were at Butler October 7th and 8th. The poets shared their work and spoke on influence and how poetry changes through a long career. Students were impressed by the ninety year old poet’s lively spirit. Though Stern is a hugely renowned, award winning poet, Macari also impressed students with her work and were grateful for her insight into poetry.

laila

Laila Lalami visited Butler October 13th and 14th. In her incredibly candid conversation Laila shared her thoughts on everything from Donald Trump, to privacy, to Facebook. She encouraged students to gain world experience before writing. She remarked a writer should both entertain and inform, but only in a way that is entertaining.

Don’t miss out on the final two visiting writers of the semester. Denis Johnson visits Butler on November 11th and 12th and Dean Young will be on campus on November 16th – 18th.

Butler MFA in Print

Posted by MS

Congratulations to our talented MFA students and alumni who published stories, poems, and essays this summer and early fall. Here at the Butler MFA, we celebrate hard work and enjoy seeing the result in print. Enjoy reading from this extensive list of deserving work.

Bailey Merlin’s poem “A Great Greco Roman Romance” was awarded Honorable Mention in the 84th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition.

Maria Cook published an essay, “My Maddening Quest to Get My Tubes Tied at Age 20,” this September in Marie Clare.

Laura Kendall published an essay in Vela titled “The People This Body has Housed.”

John Eckerd has two poems in the fall issue of  2River Review, “Bloomington” and “Laura” under his pen name, John Leo.

Luke Wortley’s story “A Pathetic Little Sound” is featured in Limestone: Art. Prose. Poetry.

Chris Speckman has two poems, “Preshrunk” and “Bathwater” in the Autumn 2015 edition of Rust + Moth.

Kaveh Akbar has poems published in Philadelphia Review of Books and decomP. He recently attended Bread Loaf and also received an invitation to the BOAAT Writer’s Retreat with Eduardo Corral.

Alex Mattingly has a story in the print issue of Midwestern Gothic and another in Crimespree Magazine. He was also a storyteller at Indy Tale‘s August show.

Zach Roth and Luke Wortley published their first print issue of their growing literary magazine, Axolotl.

Don’t foget about these upcoming events!

10/13: Laila Lalami reading, 7:30, Atherton Union

10/14: Laila Lalama Q & A, 12:00, ECCW

10/14: Writing Club, 10-12, ECCW

10/14: Kaveh Akbar *ahem!* endowed reading, 7:00, Broad Ripple Brewpub

 

Butler MFA in Print

Posted by MS

Congratulations to our talented MFA students and alumni who published stories, poems, and essays this summer and early fall. Here at the Butler MFA, we celebrate hard work and enjoy seeing the result in print. Enjoy reading from this extensive list of deserving work.

Bailey Merlin’s poem “A Great Greco Roman Romance” was awarded Honorable Mention in the 84th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition.

Maria Cook published an essay, “My Maddening Quest to Get My Tubes Tied at Age 20,” this September in Marie Clare.

Laura Kendall published an essay in Vela titled “The People This Body has Housed.”

John Eckerd has two poems in the fall issue of  2River Review, “Bloomington” and “Laura” under his pen name, John Leo.

Luke Wortley’s story “A Pathetic Little Sound” is featured in Limestone: Art. Prose. Poetry.

Chris Speckman has two poems, “Preshrunk” and “Bathwater” in the Autumn 2015 edition of Rust + Moth.

Kaveh Akbar has poems published in Philadelphia Review of Books and decomP. He recently attended Bread Loaf and also received an invitation to the BOAAT Writer’s Retreat with Eduardo Corral.

Alex Mattingly has a story in the print issue of Midwestern Gothic and another in Crimespree Magazine. He was also a storyteller at Indy Tale‘s August show.

Zach Roth and Luke Wortley published their first print issue of their growing literary magazine, Axolotl.

Don’t foget about these upcoming events!

10/13: Laila Lalami reading, 7:30, Atherton Union

10/14: Laila Lalama Q & A, 12:00, ECCW

10/14: Writing Club, 10-12, ECCW

10/14: Kaveh Akbar *ahem!* endowed reading, 7:00, Broad Ripple Brewpub