New Madrid Anniversary

Happy 10th Anniversary to New Madrid, the national journal of the low-residency MFA program at Murray State University. In her Editor’s Introduction, Ann Neelon takes a look back, noting that “as milestones go, a decade is not insignificant, especially for a low-residency program like ours that operates, within the university budget, according to a make-or break financial model much like that of a small business.”

In looking to the future, Neelon resolves to “keep getting better,” with plans underway “to start up a literature option in Ireland. April 2016 marks the centenary of the rebellion immortalized by William Butler Yeats in his poem, ‘Easter, 1916.’ and our plan is to take advantage of the many exhibits and events the government of Ireland has planned in commemoration. Our first study-abroad course, to be offered in June of 2016, will use the Easter Rising as a lens through which to examine the entanglement of literature, history, and politics. The course will be open to alumni as well as current students.”