5 X Friday: MFA Alum Swati Avasthi

Ever hear of a "blog tour"? That's what young adult novelist Swati Avasthi (MFA 2010) is on, as she celebrates the publication of her second book, Chasing Shadows (Knopf). Young adult fiction has spawned a thriving world of bloggers, who for a blog tour review the author's book, ask her questions, and/or invite her to guest post. Avasthi's book has received a lot of interest, online and off, for its fresh combination of prose and comic-styled graphics: it was a November 2013 Junior Library Guild selection, and Publishers Weekly called it a "superb novel about grief, friendship, and mental illness." Check out some highlights from Avasthi's blog tour.

5 X Friday: MFA Alum Elizabeth Foy Larsen

Our annual First Books Reading takes place March 14, and we're delighted to host three first-time authors: Discover Award fiction-winner (and past 5 X Friday subject) Amanda Coplin, poet Shana Youngdahl, and the Twin Cities' own freelance writer and editor Elizabeth Foy Larsen. Larsen has been inspiring reviewers from New York to WIRED with last fall's Unbored: The Essential Field Guide to Serious Fun (Bloomsbury), written with Joshua Glenn. Chock full of quirky activities, intriguing book lists, and savvy advice for kids, the book was vetted by Larsen's own children. What did they like that didn't make it in? Read on. . . .

MFA Alum Writes NYT "Modern Love"

MFA alumna Elizabeth Foy Larsen published an essay in the New York Times' Modern Love column on Sunday, August 5. "Untying a Birth Mother's Hands" explores the experience of meeting the birth mother of Larsen's adopted daughter in Guatemala. The decision to search for the birth mother was a fraught one, Larsen writes: "Most important, what if our daughter one day resented that we made such a colossal decision when she was too young to decide if an open adoption was right for her?" Larsen is working on a book about international adoption. In October, she publishes Unbored: The Essential Field Guide to Serious Fun (Bloomsbury) with Joshua Glenn, with whom she writes a column at Slate.

MFA Alums Win Emerging Writers Grants

MFA alumnae Yuko Taniguchi ('01) and Katie Hae Leo ('09) were selected as two out of five 2012 Loft Minnesota Emerging Writers' Grant Winners. The winners receive grants of up to $10,000 and will also be provided with professional assistance "to develop and implement multifaceted plans for their artistic endeavors." The Loft received 200 qualified entries, which were narrowed down to 20 finalists. Leo is a playwright and essayist; Taniguchi, a poet and novelist. Congratulations!

English in Minnesota Magazine

The summer issue of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association magazine Minnesota features four English alumnae. Kathleen Glasgow (MFA 2002), coordinator of the Creative Writing Program, won first place in the magazine's 12th annual fiction contest with her story "Leaving"; judge Ian Graham Leask (BA 1980, MA 1986) compared the story to "a tune in your head that won't go away." Six pages later, the three editors of the up-and-coming literary arts magazine Paper Darts are interviewed: Jamie Millard, Regan Smith, and Meghan Suszynski (all BA 2009) relate how their colorful glossy started out on home printers and a Singer sewing machine.

MFA Alums Win Minnesota Book Award, McKnights

Lightsey Darst (MFA 2003) received the Minnesota Book Award for poetry for her debut collection Find the Girl (Coffee House Press, 2010). The awards were announced April 16. . . . Three out of four 2011 McKnight Artist Fellowships for Writers went to MFA alumni: John Colburn, Ethan Rutherford, and Dominic Saucedo, who will each receive $25,000. . . . In other Creative Writing Program news, MFA candidate Colleen Coyne was awarded this year's Academy of American Poets James Wright Prize for Poetry. The reader was Garrison Keillor. She will receive $100 from the Academy and possible publication in the academy anthology. BA alum Jessica Mayer and current major Madeline Summers won honorable mentions. MFA candidates Andrea Uptmor and Wahida Omar received 2011 Marcella DeBourg Fellowships. These $1000 awards are given annually to graduate students whose writing gives "creative expression to women's lives." MFA candidates Sarah Fox and Chris Keimig were awarded residencies at the Anderson Center in Red Wing, MN, for July 2011. Congratulations to all!

MFA Alumna Hopper Profiled

Kate Hopper (MFA 2005) was featured in the Minneapolis Star Tribune February 13. Hopper teaches Mother Words, a class offered at the Loft Literary Center and online. Hopper also writes the Mother Words blog.