Here follows a sampling of our distinguished alumni.

2000s > 1990s > 1980s > 1970s > 1960s

ADAM CLAY (poetry 2005) is the author of The Wash (Parlor Press 2006). His poems appear in Denver Quarterly, Barrow Street, CutBank, and elsewhere. He co-edits the online journal Typo.

NIC PIZZOLATTO (fiction 2005) is the author of Between Here and the Yellow Sea (MacAdam/Cage 2006). He has published stories in The Atlantic Monthly, The Missouri Review, The Iowa Review, and other journals.

TONY TOST (poetry 2004) is the author of Invisible Bride (LSU 2004, winner of the Walt Whitman Award), which American Book Review called "one of the more interesting and engaging avant-gardist efforts of recent memory," and of Amplifier for Hercules (Iowa 2007). His work has appeared in Fence, Jacket, Verse, and elsewhere. He co-founded and co-edited the online journal Octopus before launching his own journal, Fascicle.

SANDY LONGHORN (poetry 2003) is the author of Blood Almanac (Anhinga 2006, winner of the Anhinga Prize for Poetry). Her poems have appeared in Black Warrior Review, Gulf Coast, Boulevard, and elsewhere. She currently teaches at Pulaski Technical College, North Little Rock.

BRIAN SPEARS (poetry 2002) was a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford from 2002-2004. His poems appear in various journals, and he is the recipient of a 2005 Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Prize.

CHELSEA RATHBURN (poetry 2001) is the author of The Shifting Line (U. of Evansville 2005, winner of the Richard Wilbur Award). Her poems have appeared in The New Criterion, The Formalist, The Hudson Review, and elsewhere.

ROB GRIFFITH (poetry 2000) is the author of Necessary Alchemy (1999 Tennessee Chapbook Prize) and Poisoning Caesar (Finishing Line Press 2004). His poems have appeared in journals including Poetry, The Formalist, and Another Chicago Magazine. He is a founding editor of Measure and teaches at the University of Evansville, where he was named the 2005 Outstanding Teacher of the Year.

OTIS HASCHEMEYER (fiction 2000) was a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford from 2000-2002. His work has appeared in journals including The Sun, Missouri Review, and Alaska Quarterly Review, and in anthologies including The Best New American Voices 2003 and Politically Inspired: Fiction for Our Time.

ALISON PELEGRIN (poetry 2000) is the author of The Zydeco Tablets (Word Press 2002) and several chapbooks. Here poems have appeared in Poetry, The Southern Review, Ploughshares, and elsewhere. She teaches at Southeastern Louisiana University.

2000s > 1990s > 1980s > 1970s > 1960s

MICHAEL DOWNS (fiction 1999) is the author of House of Good Hope (Nebraska 2007), which received the River Teeth Literary Nonficion Prize. His stories appear in Gettysburg Review, Five Points, Georgia Review, and elsewhere. The recipient of an NEA fiction fellowship, he teaches at Towson University.

BETH ANN FENNELLY (poetry 1998) is the author of Open House (Zoo 2001, Kenyon Review Prize) and Tender Hooks (Norton 2004). Her poems have been anthologized in Poets of the New Century, The Penguin Book of the Sonnet, Best American Poetry (three times), and The Pushcart Prize Anthology. Her awards include the Diane Middlebrook Fellowship from the University of Wisconsin and an NEA Fellowship. She teaches at the University of Mississippi. 

TOM FRANKLIN (fiction 1998) has published a collection of short stories, Poachers (William Morrow 1999), and a novel, Hell at the Breech (William Morrow 2003). The recipient of a grant from the Arkansas Arts Council and a Guggenheim Fellowship, he is currently the John and Renee Grisham Writer-in-Residence for at the University of Mississippi.

THOM SATTERLEE (translation 1998) is the author of one volume of poetry, Burning Wyclif (Texas Tech 2006), and the translator of another, Henrik Nordbrandt's The Hangman's Lament (Green Integer 2003). His poetry has appeared in Image, Southwest Review, The Southern Review, and on Poetry Daily. He teaches at Taylor University.

MICHAEL CATHERWOOD (poetry 1997) is the author of Dare, forthcoming from The Backwaters Press. His poetry has appeared in Agni, Black Warrior Review, Kansas Quarterly, and elsewhere. His awards include an AWP Intro Award for Poetry and a fellowship from the Nebraska Arts Council. He teaches at Creighton University.

PAULA HAYDAR (translation 1997) has translated many books of fiction and poetry from Arabic into English, including several novel by Elias Khoury and, most recently, This Side of Innocence by Rachid al-Daif (Interlink 2001).

KATRINA VANDENBERG (poetry 1997) is the author of Atlas (Milkweed 2004), a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award. Her poems have appeared in The American Scholar, The Iowa Review, on the website Poetry Daily, and elsewhere. She has received fellowships from the Fulbright and Bush foundations.

JOHN HENNESSY (fiction 1996) has published poems in The Yale Review, The New Republic, The Sewanee Review, and elsewhere. His first collection, Bridge and Tunnel, will be published in 2007 by Turning Point Books. He teaches undergraduate creative writing and literature classes at the University of Massachusetts and lives in Amherst.

MICHAEL RAY TAYLOR (fiction 1996) is the author of Cave Passages (Scribner 1996) and Dark Life (Scribner 1999). He teaches at Henderson State University.

ELIZABETH OEHLKERS WRIGHT (translation 1996) is the translator of Ernst Peter Fischer's Beauty and the Beast and of a forthcoming book by Turkish-German poet Zafer Senocak. Her translations have appeared in Agni, Seneca Review, and Another Chicago Magazine; her honors include Agni’s William Arrowsmith Translation Award and an NEA Translation Fellowship. She is translation editor for Perihelion.

BRAD BARKLEY (fiction 1995) is the author of two novels, Alison's Automotive Repair Manual (St. Martins 2003) and Money, Love (Norton 2000), and two story collections. He teaches at Frostburg State and in the Stonecoast MFA program.

SUSAN PERABO (fiction 1994) is the author of a novel, The Broken Places (Simon & Schuster 2001) and a story collection, Who I Was Supposed to Be (Simon & Schuster 1999). The latter was named a "Book of the Year" by the Los Angeles Times, the Miami Herald, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She teaches at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA.

GORDON GRICE (poetry 1993) has published work in The New Yorker, Harper's, and Granta. His books include The Red Hourglass: Lives of the Predators (Delacorte 1998) and Rough Beasts (forthcoming, Dial/Random House). In 1999, he received a Whiting Writers Award.

IAN MORRIS (fiction 1991) is the managing editor of TriQuarterly. His essays, stories, and reviews have appeared in various national magazines and on public radio.

DALE RAY PHILLIPS (fiction 1990) has had stories in Best American Short Stories, The Atlantic Monthly, GQ, Zoetrope, and elsewhere. His debut collection, My People's Waltz (Norton 1999), was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

CHARLES RAFFERTY (poetry 1990) is the author of three books of poetry: During the Beauty Shortage (M2 2005), Where the Glories of April Lead (M2 2001), and The Man on the Tower (Arkansas 1995).

2000s > 1990s > 1980s > 1970s > 1960s

AL MAGINNES (poetry 1989) has three books of poetry: Film History (Wordtech 2005), The Light in Our Houses (Pleiades 2000), and Taking Up Our Daily Tools (St. Andrews 1997).

MARGARET McMULLAN (fiction 1989) is the author of Crossing No-Bob (forthcoming from Houghton Mifflin), How I Found the Strong (Houghton Mifflin 2004, winner Indiana Best Young Adult Book of Fiction), and In My Mother’s House (Thomas Dunne Books 2003, PEN/Faulkner nominee). Her essays and stories have appeared in Glamour, Chicago Tribune, TriQuarterly, and elsewhere. She has received fellowships from the Indiana Arts Commission and the NEA, and she teaches at the University of Evansville, in Indiana.

LEX WILLIFORD (fiction 1987) is the author of Macauley's Thumb, co-winner of the 1993 Iowa School of Letters Award for Short Fiction, and the co-editor of The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction. His work has appeared in Glimmer Train, Southern Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, and elsewhere. He has received fellowships from the NEA and the Wurlitzer Foundation, and he teaches at UTEP.

JO McDOUGALL (poetry 1986) grew up on a rice farm in the Arkansas delta. She is the author of five books of poetry, most recently Satisfied with Havoc (2004) and Dirt (2001), both from Autumn House Press.

MARY TROY (fiction 1986) is the author of several story collections, most recently Cookie Lily (SMU 2004). She directs the MFA program at University of Missouri-St. Louis.

LUCINDA ROY (poetry 1985) is the author, most recently, of two novels, The Hotel Alleluia (2000) and Lady Moses (1998), both from HarperCollins. She is the Alumni Distinguished Professor of English at Virginia Tech, where she co-directs the Creative Writing Program.

STEVE YARBROUGH (fiction 1985) is the author of books including Prisoners of War (Knopf 2004), Visible Spirits (Knopf 2001), and The Oxygen Man (MacAdam/Cage 1999). A finalist for the 2005 PEN/Faulkner award, he has received the Mississippi Authors Award, the California Book Award, and an NEA Fellowship. He teaches at Cal State Fresno.

PAMELA CARMELL (translation 1984) has translated several books from Spanish, most recently With Eyes and Soul (White Pine 2004) by the Cuban poet Nancy Morejon.

JOHN DUFRESNE (fiction 1984) is the author of many books, including Johnny Too Bad: Stories (Norton 2005), Deep in the Shade of Paradise (Norton 2002), and Louisiana Power & Light (Norton 1994). He teaches at Florida International University.

LEE MARTIN (fiction 1984) is the author of books including The Bright Forever (Random House 2005), which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Quakertown (Dutton 2001), and From Our House (Dutton 2000). His work appears in Harper's, The Georgia Review, The Southern Review, and elsewhere. He directs the Creative Writing Program at Ohio State.

DONALD HAYS (fiction 1983) is the author of The Dixie Association, nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award, The Hangman's Children, chosen by the L.A. Times Book Review for its critics' choice list, and Dying Light: Stories. He teaches fiction writing at the University of Arkansas.

MICHAEL BURNS (poetry 1981) is the author of several books of poetry, most recently It Will Be All Right in the Morning, and the editor of Essays on the Poetry of Mona Van Duyn and of Miller Williams and the Poetry of the Particular. His poems have appeared in such journals as Poetry, The Southern Review, and Paris Review. He won an NEA poetry fellowship in 1995. He teaches at Missouri State University.

2000s > 1990s > 1980s > 1970s > 1960s

JACK BUTLER (poetry 1979) is the author of seven books of fiction and poetry, including Jujitsu for Christ (Viking 1988) and Living in Little Rock with Miss Little Rock (Knopf 1993). He has published poetry, short fiction, and reviews in many national magazines, including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and The New York Times Book Review.

JOHN DuVAL (translation 1979) has published many acclaimed translations from various romance languages and has received several major translation awards. He directs Arkansas's translation program.

LEE K. ABBOTT (fiction 1977) is the author of many story collections, including All Things, All at Once: New and Selected Stories (Norton 2006), Wet Places at Noon (Iowa 1997), and Love is the Crooked Thing (Algonquin 1986). His work has appeared in such venues as Harper's, The Atlantic Monthly, and The New York Times Book Review, and his fiction has often been reprinted in The Best American Short Stories and Prize Stories: The O'Henry Awards. He received two fellowships from the NEA and, in 1991, a Major Artist Fellowship from the Ohio Arts Council.

STEVE STERN (fiction 1977) is the author of seven books of fiction, including Lazar Malkin Enters Heaven (Viking 1986), The Wedding Jester (Graywolf 1999), and The Angel of Forgetfulness (Viking 2005). He teaches at Skidmore.

C.D. WRIGHT (poetry 1976) is the author of nine collections of poetry, including Steal Away: Selected and New Poems (Copper Canyon 2002) and, most recently, Cooling Time: An American Poetry Vigil (Copper Canyon 2005). Her many awards include an appointment as poet laureate of Rhode Island in 1994, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and, in 2004, a MacArthur Fellowship. She edits Lost Roads Publishers with poet Forrest Gander and is the Israel J. Kapstein Professor of English at Brown.

JOHN BIGUENET (poetry 1975) is the author of a novel, Oyster (Ecco Press 2002), and a story collection, The Torturer's Apprentice (Ecco Press 2001). He co-edited Theories of Translation: An Anthology of Essays from Dryden to Derrida and The Craft of Translation, both from U. of Chicago press. The winner of an O. Henry Award, he has published fiction, poetry, and essays in such journals as Granta, Zoetrope, and Ploughshares. He is the Robert Hunter Distinguished Professor at Loyola University in New Orleans.

GORDON OSING (poetry 1974) is the author of several books, most recently Things That Never Happened (2005) and Apo/Calypso (2002), both from Spuyten Duyvil. He has taught at the University of Memphis since 1973.

R.S. GWYNN (poetry 1973) is the author of five collections of poetry, including No Word of Farewell: Selected Poems, 1970-2000 (Story Line Press). In 1997, he was named University Professor at Lamar University, Lamar’s highest academic rank.

LEON STOKESBURY (poetry 1972) is the author of several books of poetry, most recently Autumn Rhythm: New and Selected Poems. He has also edited several books, including The Made Thing: An Anthology of Contemporary Southern Poets and Articles of War: A Collection of Poetry about World War II. He teaches in the graduate creative writing program at Georgia State University.

JOHN WOOD (poetry 1971), described by one critic as "the most lucid and engaging of the postmodern southern poets," won the Iowa Poetry Prize twice, for The Gates of the Elect Kingdom (Iowa 1997) and In Primary Light (Iowa 1994). He directs the Creative Writing Program at McNeese State, where he is also a professor of Photographic History, and he edits 21st: The Journal of Contemporary Photography.

ROBERT WARD (fiction 1970) is the author of several novels, including Grace (St. Martin's 2000) and Shedding Skin (Harper & Row 1971), which Publisher's Weekly in 1995 called "the quintessential hippie '60s novel." He has also written extensively for television (Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, etc).

2000s > 1990s > 1980s > 1970s > 1960s

BARRY HANNAH (fiction 1967), the first student to receive an MFA in fiction writing from Arkansas, is the author of eight novels and four story collections. His novels include Geronimo Rex (Knopf 1972, winner of the William Faulkner Prize), Nightwatchmen (Viking 1974), Hey Jack! (Dutton 1992), and Yonder Stands Your Orphan (Grove/Atlantic 2001). He has twice been nominated for the National Book Award. His work regularly appears in Esquire, Harper’s, and The New Yorker, and his numerous award and honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Robert Penn Warren Award. Formerly director of the Iowa Writer’s Workshops, he is currently writer-in-residence at the University of Mississippi.