Austin Anderson, a second-year student in the graduate creative writing program at Oregon State University - Cascades, has been named the winner of the 2015 Association of Writers & Writing Programs Intro Journal Award in Poetry.
“This is one of the most prestigious and competitive national awards among master’s in fine arts writing programs,” said program director Emily Carr. “M.F.A. programs throughout the United States each nominate two students per genre, and only eight are chosen as winners.”
The Intro Journals Project is a literary competition for the discovery and publication of the best new works by students currently enrolled in AWP member programs. The project culminates in awards in poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. Program directors are invited to nominate students’ works, which are selected for publication in participating literary journals.
Anderson’s poem, “When Asked How Many, I Didn’t Know” was nominated by Carr and selected by award-winning American poet Philip Metres to receive the AWP Intro Award in Poetry. “When Asked How Many, I Didn’t Know” will appear in the literary journal Iron Horse Literary Review.
The Iron Horse Literary Review was founded in 1999 at Texas Tech University. Recent contributors to the journal include high profile writers like Bob Hicok, Molly Peacock and David St. John.
Established in 2013, the OSU-Cascades low-residency M.F.A. in creative writing incorporates instruction in the craft and profession of creative writing. Students each embark on a long-distance and individualized course of study with a faculty mentor and twice a year join fellow students for intensive 10-day residences of craft workshops, literature lectures and professional seminars at Caldera near Sisters, Ore.
Anderson is the first student from the program to be nominated for the AWP Intro Journal Award in Poetry. He lives in Orem, Utah and anticipates graduating from the M.F.A. program in 2015.
About OSU-Cascades: Located in Bend, Ore., Oregon State University’s branch campus features outstanding faculty in degree programs that reflect Central Oregon’s vibrant economy and abundant natural resources. Eighteen undergraduate majors, 30 minors and options, and three graduate programs include computer science, energy systems engineering, exercise and sport science, hospitality management, and tourism and outdoor leadership. The branch campus will expand to a four-year university in fall 2015.