The EOU New Nature Writing Con returns for a third year

The EOU New Nature Writing Con returns for a third year

The EOU New Nature Writing Con returns for a third year

LA GRANDE, Ore. - The EOU MFA Program in Creative Writing and the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences are excited to announce the third EOU New Nature Writing Con, which will take place June 19-21, Friday evening through Sunday morning.

As part of the MFA program's special concentration in Landscape, Ecology, and Community, the conference seeks to highlight authors and recent books that are pushing the boundaries of eco-writing, broadly construed, especially in the Northwest. The conference consists of two days of readings, conversations, and classes that bring together readers, students, MFA faculty, and award-winning visiting writers. All readings and conversations are free and open to the public. The conference's six classes are by registration for just $75.00.

The conference kicks off Friday, June 19, at 7 p.m. at hq (112 Depot Street) with an EOU MFA Faculty reading featuring Claire Boyles, Laura Da', and Melissa Mathewson reading from new and forthcoming books. Claire Boyles's second book and debut novel is Appraisals (W.W. Norton), forthcoming in August. Laura Da's latest poetry collection is Severalty (U Arizona P 2025). Melissa Matthewson's second essay collection The Fire Trees is due out later this year.

At 8 p.m. at hq, visiting writer Annie Lampman presents her book The Origin of Ava: A Novel (Torrey House Press 2026), an ornithological tale in which "three lives are drawn together by fate, flight, and the healing power of nature." She is a professor of creative writing at the Washington State University Honors College. Among other honors, she is the recipient of a literature fellowship from the Idaho Commission on the Arts and a national wilderness artist's residency through the Bureau of Land Management. She lives in Pullman. She'll read and be in conversation with Megan Kruse.

A full day of programming follows on Saturday, June 20, in EOU's Zabel Hall. At 11 a.m. in Zabel 101 (Lewis Auditorium), visiting writer Katherine Larson presents her book Wedding of the Foxes: Essays (Milkweed 2025), "an elegant collection of lyric essays that embraces fractures, contradictions, and the interconnectedness of life on Earth." She is the recipient of the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award for her first book Radial Symmetry as well as a Ruth Lily Fellowship and Kate Tufts Discovery Award, among other honors. She lives in Tucson. She'll read and be in conversation with Melissa Matthewson.

At 1 p.m. in Zabel 101, visiting writer Miranda Schmidt presents her debut novel Leafskin (Stillhouse Press 2025), "a tale of queer love, new motherhood, and ecological interconnectedness." She is also the author of a poetry chapbook and book of spells, The Cemetery Cure. Her writing has appeared in Triquarterly, Orion, Electric Literature, Catapult, and other places. She lives in Portland. She'll read and be in conversation with Molly Reid.

Saturday night will feature the MFA program's annual thesis reading from 7-9 p.m. at hq. It will showcase 12 graduating students reading short excerpts from their work, each introduced by their faculty mentor.

For registered participants, the conference also offers six 1-hour classes taught by visiting writers Annie Lampman, Katherine Larson, and Miranda Schmidt and by MFA faculty members Laura Da', Melissa Matthewson, and Molly Reid. These classes will run on Saturday at 9 am, 10 am, 2 pm, and 3 pm, and on Sunday at 9 am and 10 am. Topics include "Writing with Trees," "The Remote & Forgotten: Writing Place as Character," "Writing Toward Your Dead Nature Writers: Literary Ancestors as Craft," "Haibun Workshop," "On Walking the Land and Memory Palaces: Considering Land and History in the Creative Process," and "If these Walls Could Talk: The House as More than Setting." All classes will be held in Zabel Hall 107.

Additionally a light luncheon on Saturday is also included as part of conference registration. A full schedule can be found via the conference website: https://www.eou.edu/mfa/2026-new-nature-writing-con/. Registration for classes is via: https://commerce.cashnet.com/EOU.