A national literary journal, Nashville Review, has been launched by graduate creative writing students at Vanderbilt University. It can be accessed at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/english/nashvillereview/.
Nashville Review will be issued three times a year, in the spring, fall and summer. It will operate under a broad definition of literature, including fiction, poetry, comics, songs and films. There will also be interviews of distinguished artists.
“Anyone can submit,” said editor Matthew Baker. “We’ve had hundreds of submissions and interest from 45 countries on our website.”
The first issue, live April 1, features poetry by Rickey Laurentiis and Heather Derr-Smith, fiction by Pamela Main and others and music by Sufjan Stevens and Tyler James. There are interviews with poet Beth Bachmann and novelist Salvador Plascencia. For a full listing of the contents, please see the website.
Submissions were screened by Vanderbilt MFA creative writing students, and no current Vanderbilt students were permitted to submit.
Vanderbilt launched its MFA creative writing program in 2006. Poets & Writers magazine ranked the program No. 18 in the country in its November/December 2009 issue. Poets & Writers ranked programs in eight categories, including size, duration, cost of living, teaching load and curriculum focus. Vanderbilt – which admits three poetry and three fiction writers to its program each year – was ranked No. 4 in the country for selectivity.
Faculty in the MFA Creative writing program includes fiction writers Tony Earley, Lorraine Lopez, Alice Randall and Nancy Reisman; poets Mark Jarman, Sandy Solomon, Beth Bachman, Kate Daniels and Rick Hilles; and nonfiction writer Peter Guralnick. For more information, visit http://www.vanderbilt.edu/english/creative_writing.
Media contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu