In March 2020, Breyonna Taylor was shot as she slept in her home by Louisville police. Two months later, George Floyd was murdered by the police in Minneapolis. These are just the most recent victims of a long-standing history of anti-black violence and oppression. We stand beside the protestors rallying for change with the hope that this period of upheaval will result in lasting positive transformation of a society in great need of it.
We know we need diverse literature and that to achieve diverse literature, we need to especially support emerging writers of color in our program.
Thanks to the fundraising and advocacy of our graduate students, any person of color who applies to our program is reimbursed for their application fee regardless of whether they choose to attend. Our online literary journal, Arkana, actively promotes marginalized voices. The C.D. Wright Women Writers Conference was also founded to support marginalized women and women-identifying writers.
We teach the decanonization of creative writing in our creative writing courses and actively seek to diversify our curriculum and our visiting writers series.
We are committed to continuing these efforts. But most of all, we stand with those seeking change. Black Lives Matter.
Arkansas Writers MFA Program @ UCA 