Nancy Eimers & Bill Olsen at the KBAC

A large and greatly appreciative audience listened to poets Nancy Eimers and Bill Olsen reading from their work at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center on Saturday.

Nat O'Reilly Guest Edits Antipodes

The June 2009 volume of Antipodes: North American Journal of Australian Literature features a special issue on "Fear in Australian Literature and Film," guest edited by WMU alum, Dr. Nathaneal O'Reilly and by Jean-Francois Vernay. Nat, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Tyler since graduating from WMU in 2008, serves as the Vice President of the American Association of Australian Literary Studies and is author of eight scholarly articles on Australian literature and culture. Congratulations, Nat, on another fine accomplishment.

Nelson wins NIMROD Pablo Neruda Prize

Doctoral student Mike Nelson has won this year's prestigious NIMROD Pablo Neruda Prize for his poem "Acacia." His poem was selected from among 784 poetry submissions and chosen by contest judge poet Marie Howe. Nelson will be awarded $2,000 and the publication of his poem in the fall issue of NIMROD. He will be brought to the Nimrod Writers Conference in Tulsa for the Awards Ceremony and will teach a poetry workshop at the conference. Nelson's poem "Light Sonnet for the Lover of a Dark," was published in THE PENGUIN BOOK OF THE SONNET.

Bell's Brewery Gives to Local Arts Organizations, Including New Issues

Bell's Brewery has awarded $100,000 in grants to 18 local arts, humanities and children's organization, including a $5,000 grant to New Issues Poetry & Prose. Read the Kalamazoo Gazette article.

This grant couldn't have come at a better time. On July 13, the Gov. Granholm dissolved the Department of History, Arts, and Libraries, which is home to the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA). MCACA has provided New Issues with numerous grants for their Inland Seas Poetry Series. The future of arts funding in Michigan is even more uncertain. MCACA will not be eliminated, but it will be moved to the Michigan Strategic Fund of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. ("Gov. Jennifer Granholm's executive order closes Michigan's Department of History, Arts and Libraries" Grand Rapids Press)

WMU Ph.D. Candidate's Writing Success

Ph.D. candidate Michael Fischer was a finalist for Nimrod Magazine's "Katherine Anne Porter Prize" for his story "Crybaby Lane".  Another story from the same collection, "Subhumanz," was just accepted by the Tusculum Review.