Submitted by: Sandy Longhorn, slonghorn@uca.edu on 02/11/2025
ArkaText, the UCA Creative Writing program’s celebration of Arkansas writers and the Phillip H. McMath Post Publication Book Award, takes place February 25 – 27! All events are free and open to the public (bring a friend!). We look forward to seeing you there.
T.L. Simpson, YA Novelist, Strong Like You
Tuesday, February 25
10:50am Craft Talk, WTH 331
12:15pm Reading, WTH 331
T.L. Simpson is an award-winning journalist and novelist living in Arkansas. He is currently the editor of his hometown paper, The Courier. His fiction draws from his experiences growing up in the Ozarks, covering both sports and crime. Simpson lives in the Arkansas River Valley, between the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains with his wife and four children. His debut contemporary YA novel Strong Like You is out now. His next novel, Cope Field, due out in April, received a starred review from Kirkus, was named one of their most anticipated YA reads of Spring 2025 and was one of five books they highlighted as must adds to your TBR.
Lesha Shaver, Book Artist & Binder
Wednesday, February 26
12:00pm Craft Talk, WTH 331
Lesha Shaver holds an MFA in Poetry from Purdue University and is a practicing traditional hand bookbinder and member of the Guild of Book Workers. Her love of bookbinding began in Memphis where she took private lessons and continued her education in the form of an apprenticeship in Albuquerque, New Mexico at Against the Grain Books with additional advanced training at J&B Quality Bindery in Little Rock, Arkansas and the School for Formal Bookbinding in Plains, Pennsylvania. She opened Little Mountain Bindery in 2005 where she enjoys teaching community-based classes in book arts and caring for books of all kinds.
Katie Hartsock, Winner of the Phillip H. McMath Post-Publication Book Award in Poetry
Thursday, February 27
1:40pm Craft Talk, WTH 331
6:00pm Award Ceremony and Reading, WTH 331
Katie Hartsock grew up around Youngstown, Ohio, where Mill Creek Park remains one of her favorite places in the world. She is the author of Wolf Trees (2023) and Bed of Impatiens (2016), both from Able Muse Press. She is an associate professor of English at Oakland University, where she teaches creative writing, English literature, and classical mythology. Hartsock holds a PhD in Comparative Literary Studies from Northwestern University, an MFA from the University of Michigan, and a BA in English Literature with a minor in Classics from the University of Cincinnati.
Sponsored by the Department of Film, Theatre, and Creative Writing and the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the University of Central Arkansas
Contact: Sandy Longhorn (slonghorn@uca.edu)