POC Mentorship: Graduate Faculty Writers of Color - Part 3/3 (Texas to Wyoming)

Go back and read Part 1 || Go back and read Part 2

Here's the third and final post detailing the graduate faculty writers of color teaching in MA, MFA, and PhD programs in states Texas to Wyoming. As before, if I've missed anyone whose permanent faculty at in a graduate creative writing program, please let me know and I'll add them in. These posts are largely meant to help us all have a better perspective of what's out there, who's teaching where, and where you might go if you're hoping to work with a creative writing mentor who is also POC.

TEXAS

Our Lady of the Lake University (MA-MFA)
- Octavio Quintanilla (Poetry)
Sam Houston State University (MFA)
- Ching-in Chen (Poetry)
Texas State University (MFA)
- Cyrus Cassells (Poetry)
- Visiting Faculty:
  - T. Geronimo Johnson (Fiction)
University of Houston (MFA/PhD)
- Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (Fiction, Poetry)
- Mat Johnson (Fiction)
- Roberto Tejada (Poetry)
University of Houston-Victoria (MFA)
- Diana Lopez (Fiction)
- Saba Razvi (Fiction, Poetry)
- Adjuncts:
  - A.J. Ortega (Fiction, adj)
University of Texas-Austin (MFA)
- Oscar Casares (Fiction)
- Roger Reeves (Poetry)
University of Texas-Dallas (MA/PhD)
- Manuel Luis Martinez (Fiction)
University of Texas-El Paso (MFA) - residency / online
- Rosa Alcalá (Poetry)
- Daniel Chacón (Fiction)
- José de Piérola (Fiction)
- Sasha Pimentel (Poetry)
- Luis Arturo Ramos (CNF, Fiction)
- Benjamin Alire Saenz (Fiction, Poetry)
- Andrea Cote-Botero (Poetry)
- Tim Z. Hernandez (Fiction, Poetry)
University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley (MFA)
- Elvia Ardalan (Poetry)
- Emmy Pérez (Poetry)
- Christopher Carmona (Fiction, Poetry)
- José Antonio Rodríguez (Poetry)
- Adjuncts:
  - Robert P. Moreira (Fiction)

UTAH

University of Utah (MFA/PhD)
- Michael Mejia (CNF)
- Paisley Rekdal (Poetry)

VERMONT

Bennington College (MFA) - low residency
- Kaitlyn Greenidge (Fiction)
- Major Jackson (Poetry)
- Gregory Pardlo (Poetry)
- Clifford Thompson (CNF)
Vermont College of Fine Arts (MFA) - low residency option
- Brian Leung (Fiction)
- Tomás Q. Morín (Poetry)
- Martha Southgate (Fiction)

VIRGINIA

George Mason University (MFA)
- Tania James (Fiction)
- Kyoko Mori (CNF, Fiction)
- Helon Habila Ngalabak (Fiction)
Hollins University / Jackson Center for Creative Writing (MFA)
- T.J. Anderson III (Poetry)
- Pauline Kaldas (CNF, Fiction, Poetry)
Old Dominion University (MFA):
- Luisa A. Igloria (Poetry)
- Tim Seibles (Poetry)
Randolph College (MFA):
- Kaveh Akbar (Poetry)
- Kaitlyn Greenidge (CNF, FIction)
- Mira Jacob (CNF, Fiction)
- Erika L. Sánchez (Poetry)
- Layli Long Soldier (Poetry)
- Phillip B. Williams (Poetry)
University of Virginia (MFA)
- Jeffrey Renard Allen (Fiction, Poetry)
- Rita Dove (Poetry)
Virginia Commonwealth University (MFA)
- ina M Ferreira Cabeza-Vanegas (CNF, Translation)
Virginia Tech (MFA):
- Nikki Giovanni (Poetry)
- Lucinda Roy (CNF, Fiction, Poetry)
- Carmen Gimenez Smith (Poetry)

WASHINGTON

Pacific Lutheran University (MFA) - low residency
- Rick Barot (Poetry)
- Oliver de la Paz (Poetry)
- Rigoberto Gonzalez (CNF, Fiction, Poetry)
- Camille Dungy (CNF, Poetry)
University of Washington (MFA)
- Pimone Triplett (Poetry)
- Shawn Wong (Fiction) - teaches undergraduate courses now (used to teach graduate)
Western Washington University-Bellingham (MFA)
- Kristiana Kahakauwila (Fiction)
- Jane Wong (Poetry)

WASHINGTON DC

American University (MFA)
- Kyle Dargan (Poetry)
- Patricia Park (Fiction)
- Visiting faculty:
  - Dolen Perkins-Valdez (Fiction)

WEST VIRGINIA

WISCONSIN

University of Wisconsin-Madison (MFA)
- Amy Quan Barry (Poetry)
- Danielle Evans (Fiction)
- Amaud Jamaul Johnson (Poetry)
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (MA/PhD)
- Kimberly Blaeser (CNF, Poetry)
- Brenda Cárdenas (Poetry)
- Maurice Kilwein Guevara (Fiction, Translation)

WYOMING

Go back and read Part 1 || Go back and read Part 2

Neil Aitken is the author of two books of poetry, Babbage's Dream (Sundress 2017) and The Lost Country of Sight (Anhinga 2008), winner of the Philip Levine Prize. A former computer programmer and a Kundiman poetry alumnus, he holds an MFA in Creative Writing from UC Riverside and a Ph.D. in Literature & Creative Writing from USC. He is the founding editor of Boxcar Poetry Review, the administrator of Have Book Will Travel, and a board member of Poetry East West. (www.neil-aitken.com | neil.aitken@gmail.com | @neil_aitken)

Sep 12, 2018

De-Canon: A Celebration of Our Summer Events & A Look Forward

Our stay at Mile Post 5 has been a phenomenal experience. We have enjoyed having a large space to ourselves in which we’ve been able to not only exhibit the entire (and continually expanding) collection of books, but create a space where we’ve hosted readings, offered writing workshops, provided room for meetings, and enabled writers and artists of color to interact with each other, as well as the local community. Here’s an overview of what' we’ve done this summer.

Mar 6, 2018

Some Notes for AWP 2018

Although De-Canon does not have a formal presence at AWP this year (that is, we didn't invest in a table), we will still have a presence of sorts. If you'd like to chat about the project, discuss past or future post topics for the blog, or want to learn more about how to have your own books included in the archive, stop by Table 1136 in the bookfair to find Neil who is representing Boxcar Poetry Review & Have Book Will Travel.

Mar 2, 2018

Owning the Means of Production, Part 2: POC-Edited Literary Journals

In this post, we survey the landscape of literary journals and provide a listing of currently operating journals which are helmed by POC editors. In total, we found __ literary journals whose mastheads list a writer of color as their editor-in-chief. Many also feature additional associate editors and staff members who are also POC. Some of these journals have been around since the 70s, but many are newer online journals, having come into existence in the last 5 years.

Feb 22, 2018

Owning the Means of Production, Part 1: POC-run Presses

If we hope to truly challenge or reimagine literary canon, it is not enough to consider the academic programs where young writers are taught and trained. We must look beyond the classroom and the professoriate, past endless reams of syllabi making and remaking what constitutes canon, and consider the practical matter of how these texts enter the field in the first place. In this post, we present a list of POC-helmed presses that are currently in operation.

Feb 7, 2018

Upcoming Poetry Book Prize Contests for POC Writers

Although the field of literary publishing is still primarily populated by white editors and publishers, there are some POC-owned and directed publishers and a number of new and well-established poetry book prizes that are judged by respected POC authors and which seek to champion work of writers from particular communities of color. If you're a POC poet with a book manuscript in need of a home, here's a list of upcoming contests you might want to try

Feb 2, 2018

POC Writers and Their Libraries

Over the past week and a half, we've been gathering images of POC writers and their libraries, as well as asking readers and writers of color to contribute their thoughts on the importance of building a personal library and how books by other POC writers have impacted their lives.

This post showcases responses from and glimpses into the libraries of Kazim Ali, Francisco Aragón, Jackson Bliss, Genève Chao, Shu-Ling Chua, Oliver de la Paz, M. Evelina Galang, Nathania Gilson, Jenna Le, Gemma Mahadeo, Meera (@ashmeera101), and Brian W. Parker.

Jan 26, 2018

A Library of One's Own

It's hard to explain exactly why having a personal library is so valuable -- and why it is particularly valuable to a person of color (writer or reader) to build a library for oneself. Here are a few ways of thinking about the value and purpose of a personal library -- and what it can enable in ourselves.

"The history of English is inextricably tied to the history of war, to the history of empire; they cannot be separated. And hence our literature cannot be separated from these histories. Language is one of the most powerful weapons of war. It is also one of the war's first victims."

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