By Audrey Forbes
College of Fine Arts and Communication Media Office
CONWAY — A launch party for the second issue of Arkana, the online literary journal of the University of Central Arkansas’s Arkansas Writers MFA Program, is set for 3 p.m. Monday, April 24, at the Lantern Theatre in downtown Conway.
Members of UCA’s MFA program in creative writing will be hosts.
Each of the magazine’s genre editors will read selections of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and translation from the upcoming publication. The launch will also unveil cover art for the issue, which will be published on the Arkana website (www.arkanamag.org) following the event.
Rachel Hoge, second year MFA candidate and managing editor of Arkana, shared the magazine’s vision for writers and UCA alike.
“Our literary mission is to seek and foster a sense of shared wonder by privileging art that asks questions, explores mystery and works to discover and uncover the overlooked, the misunderstood and the silent,” Hoge said.
Following the readings, the audience will be able to vote on which pieces should be nominated for the Pushcart Prize — a national award that recognizes the best short stories, poetry and essays across America — in addition to the yearly anthology Best of the Net.
The concept for Arkana was created in spring of 2016, and the Arkansas Writers MFA Program released the first issue in November.
The online-only journal is managed by graduate student staff and editors and accepts submissions in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, translation, illustrated narrative, scriptwriting, book reviews and artwork.
Contributors to the second issue include Ace Boggess, Matthew Caldwell, Pauline Fan, Karin Gall, Kirsten Hemmy, Andrea Jurjevic, Judith Kessler, Shahé Mank, Elizabeth Oness, Cassandra Rockwood-Rice, J.D. Schraffenberger, Shawnta Smith and Michael Zimmerman.
The Lantern Theatre is located at 1021 Van Ronkle Street in Conway.
For more information about the event, contact Hoge at hogerachel@gmail.com. To view Arkana’s first issue or learn more about the magazine, visit www.arkanamag.org.
The UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication includes the Departments of Art, Music, and Film, Theatre and Creative Writing, as well as the School of Communication. The college’s primary mission is the preparation of the next generation of artists, educators, and communicators. For more information about CFAC, visit www.uca.edu/cfac or call 501-450-3293.
