In the News

The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum & Educational Center recently held its Summer Writers’ Retreat. Over the course of the week, twelve talented writers came together to hone their skills and to form a community in Northeast Arkansas at the site where Ernest Hemingway penned much of his iconic novel A Farewell to Arms.

Garry Craig Powell of Conway, AR, served as mentor for the retreat. Powell grew up in England and attended the universities of Cambridge and Durham, and later, the University of Arizona. He has lived in Spain and Portugal, Poland and the United Arab Emirates, which is the setting for his novel-in-stories, Stoning the Devil (Skylight Press, 2012), which was long-listed for the Frank O’ Connor Short Story Award and the Edge Hill Short Story Prize. The book has been described as “mesmerizing” by both George Singleton and Naomi Shihab Nye. His short stories have appeared in Best American Mystery Stories 2009, McSweeney’s, Nimrod, New Orleans Review and other literary magazines, and he has been awarded fellowships by the Writers Colony at Dairy Hollow, the Hambidge Foundation, and the Arkansas Arts Council. Garry Craig Powell is an Associate Professor in the Writing Department at the University of Central Arkansas, where he teaches creative writing to undergraduates and graduate students, and he is completing a historical novel about the life of Gabriel D’ Annunzio, Italy’s greatest poet, playwright, playboy, and war hero in the early twentieth century–and also, arguably, the “John the Baptist” of the Fascist movement. For more information, see his website, garrycraigpowell.com.

Writers began each day with time to write and then came together to look at samples of Hemingway’s writing as models for their own. They enjoyed lunch together at the Educational Center and ended the afternoon with a group meeting to reflect, share, and discuss the processes used by each writer. The format allowed writers time to focus on their own creative interests, to receive feedback on their work, and to form relationships with other writers. Writers also enjoyed a reading of Powell’s own work.

Writers’ Retreats are held twice annually at the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum in Piggott. The next retreat is scheduled for Nov. 2-6, 2015, with Pat Carr of Fayetteville serving as mentor. The museum will also hold a special writing retreat for military veterans in July. This special opportunity is held in partnership with the Arkansas Humanities Council.

The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum has announced the winners of its 2nd Annual Short Fiction contest. Justin Lee Hunsperger of the University of Central Arkansas won first place for his story “Coming Home,” which the judge said “is a wonderfully written piece that illuminates the familial struggles of addictions of all sorts and the pains they bring to families.” Hunsperger is a junior mid-level education major, with an emphasis on language arts and science. He is a native of Missouri and spent nine years as a combat medic.

Sheree Hackworth of Lyon College and Logan Hilliard of the University of Arkansas were runners-up for the prize. Joining Hunsperger, Hackworth, and Hilliard on the shortlist are La’Teaikia Alexander (University of Arkansas), Keith Laster (University of Arkansas), Kelby Newcomb (Lyon College), and M. Jackson Tyler (John Brown University).

The contest was judged by Roland Mann, a writer, editor, speaker, and professor. He is best known for co-creating and writing the comic series Cat & Mouse. As editor, Roland is best known for his work at Malibu/Marvel Comics where he edited a host of titles. He also served as Editor and Publisher of Silverline. In addition to his work in comics, Roland has been a newspaper editor, and more recently he teaches Creative Writing at the university level. He is also a frequent speaker at writing workshops/conferences. His first novel, Buying Time, was published in 2010. Roland can be found on his website www.rolandmann.me.

The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Short Fiction Contest is open to undergraduate students at public and private institutions in the state of Arkansas.

The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center will sponsor its Second Annual Short Story Contest. This is a state-wide competition open to all undergraduate students currently enrolled in an Arkansas college or university, regardless of major. The only stipulations are that the submitted material must be an unpublished fictional short story on any subject matter no more than five pages in length. All submissions are due to the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum no later than March 31, 2015. Winners will be notified by the end of April.

Last year, forty-four entries were submitted from eleven institutions across the state.  Emily Hill, a sophomore at Hendrix College in Conway, won first place.

This year’s judge is Roland Mann of Orlando, Florida. Mann is a writer, editor, speaker, and professor. He is best known for co-creating and writing the comic series Cat & Mouse. As editor, Roland is best known for his work at Malibu/Marvel Comics where he edited a host of titles. He also served as Editor and Publisher of Silverline. In addition to his work in comics, Roland has been a newspaper editor, and more recently he teaches Creative Writing at the university level. He is also a frequent speaker at writing workshops/conferences. His first novel, Buying Time, was published in 2010. Roland can be found on his website www.rolandmann.me.

Students interested in the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Short Story Contest should contact us.

1st Place Winner Isaiah Woods

Winners of the 13th Annual Hemingway-Pfeiffer Student Art Exhibition were announced January 31 at a reception at the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum in Piggott. The annual juried art competition invites students within a 50-mile radius of Piggott to submit art for exhibition at the museum. This year, 67 works were submitted by eight school districts in Northeast Arkansas and Southeast Missouri. Prizes for the competition were provided by the Matilda and Karl Pfeiffer Museum and Study Center of Piggott.

Student art was exhibited on the campus of ASU-Jonesboro from January 12-23. The exhibition was then on display at the museum’s Educational Center in Piggott from January 26-30, with a reception for artists and awards ceremony on January 31.

The first-place winner was Clueless by Isaiah Woods, a freshman at Bay High School. The second-place winner was Hootie by Hailey Saffell, a junior at Greene County Tech High School. The third-place winner was Skull by Cody Crittenden, a junior at Piggott High School.

Those receiving Honorable Mention awards include Jessie Martin of Bay High School; Savannah Wells, Alex Whitaker, and Carlley Riggan of Greene County Tech High School; and Ashlynn Prince and Trent Kelsey of Neelyville High School.

Author John Achor, of Hot Springs Village, Arkansas introduces amateur sleuth Casey Fremont in a newly released edition of “One-Two, Kill A Few: A Casey Fremont Mystery,” the first in the Casey Fremont series from Pro Se Productions.

Achor will be signing his mystery novel at That Bookstore in Blytheville, Arkansas, 316 W Main Street at 1 p.m. on Saturday, December 13, 2014

Struggling to recover from a disastrous marriage and contentious divorce, Casey Fremont would prefer to make ends meet with her paycheck from a temp job; but now her goal of personal and mental renewal becomes one of staying alive as she solves a riddle of murder and mayhem.

Casey Fremont is on her way to interview for a temp job when a falling body nearly lands on her. Three days later, a second man, this one from her own office, dies in a similar manner and Casey is drawn into the intrigue. She confirms her suspicions, but one of her friends ends up in the hands of kidnappers. Casey must solve the mystery before she becomes the third body to go over the railing.

“One-Two, Kill A Few” is available in print edition from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The eBook version is also available for the Kindle (Amazon) as well as Barnes & Nobel (Nook).

You can follow John Achor and Casey Fremont on Twitter and Facebook. Achor’s blog is found at: johnachor.wordpress.com

From October 27-November 14, an exhibition by James Richards, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Texas at Arlington, will be on display on the third floor of Dean B. Ellis Library in Jonesboro.  Here’s Prof. Richard’s description of his work:

“Hemingway’s writing an life have long beckoned the adventurous in spirit.  Likewise, Cuba is a place of fascination for intrepid travelers, in part because Hemingway’s spirit remains a palpable presence there.  In May 2014, the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center’s tour Hemingway’s Cuba provided both access to and excellent interpretation of this fascinating place and its connections to one of the giants of American literature.

As an artist and an academic, I’m interested in the intersection of place and creativity:  the cities, towns, landscapes and experiences that inspire ideas and great works.  Hemingway purposefully sought out places conducive to his writing–Paris and Key West, among others–but he lived and worked in Cuba longer than in any other setting.  Drawing offered a fascinating way to deeply see and experience these locales, and to document a personal response to the places and people we encountered.  These watercolor sketches offer a rare, authentic look at today’s Cuba, where past and present intertwine, and at many of the largely unchanged settings that fueled Hemingway’s imagination and some of his best writing.”

The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum announced the winners of its 1st Annual Short Fiction Contest.  Emily Hill won first place.  Hill is an Arkansas native and sophomore at Hendrix College, where she plans to major in Psychology and minor in English.  The contest’s judge believed that her story “A Fossilized Union,” “is an exceptionally inventive short-story that both magnifies the significance of our own histories and shrinks these stories in the grander narratives of the cosmos, geology, and time.”

Spencer Campbell of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock was runner-up for the prize.  Joining Campbell and Hill on the shortlist are Haley Albery (Lyon College), Kristen Elia (Lyon College), Jared Malone (Lyon College), Heather Neeley (University of the Ozarks), and Kelby Newcomb (Lyon College).

The contest was judged by Naomi Wood, author of the forthcoming novel Mrs. Hemingway.  Wood lives in London, England, and teaches Creative Writing at Goldsmiths University.  She has spent time as a fully-funded resident scholar at the Library of Congress and was the British Library’s 2012 Eccles Centre Writer in Residence.

The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Short Fiction Contest is open to undergraduate students at public and private institutions in the state of Arkansas.  This year, forty-four entries were submitted from eleven institutions across the state.