We made it through 2025 and kicked off 2026 strong with a fantastic month of successes from our students, alumni, and faculty! Whether it's casting award winning Hollywood actors in our films, publishing new novels, or winning screenplay awards, we've made sure the world knows we're here and ready to make our mark for another year. Make sure to check out everything our creative writing MFA crew have to celebrate below, and maybe add a few things to your reading list this month!
MAGGIE DOWNS - Article Contribution
Maggie Downs contributed to the Wall Street Journal’s “The 10 Best Places to Visit in 2026.”
A historic city celebrating the birthday of a nation. A solar eclipse with a side of world-class cuisine and art. A bucolic wine region without the price-gouging. Consider this list fuel for your 2026 wanderlust.
“The 10 Best Places to Visit in 2026” | Author Website
ARLON JAY STAGGS - Read of the Month
Arlon Jay Staggs’ debut novel, “Leta Pearl’s Love Biscuits,” was named Southern Literary Review’s Read of the Month.
First, you’re entranced by the title: Leta Pearl’s Love Biscuits (Koehler Books 2025). Then, buckle up. You’re about to enter three-hundred mischievous pages of 1982 small-town Alabama in this wildly entertaining romp by Arlon Jay Staggs.
Southern Literary Review | "Leta Pearl's Love Biscuits" | Author Website
SEAN MCCOY - Screenplay Award
Sean McCoy’s screenplay “Handler” was short listed for the Barnstorm Fest screenplay competition.
Barnstorm is the leading festival for emerging screenwriters and independent voices. Barnstorm is not just a screenplay competition, its goal is to help you develop your script for production.
LEENA PENDHARKAR - Film Cast
Leena Pendharkar’s film “Days with Dandekar” added “Life of Pi” star Suraj Sharma and “Glee” actor Iqbal Theba to cast.
Emmy-nominated filmmaker Leena Pendharkar wrote and directed the project, which follows R.K. Dandekar (Theba), a man who embarks on an existential journey after losing his job of more than 35 years. His quest to recover his cherished 1989 Volvo – traded away by his well-meaning family – becomes a voyage of self-discovery as he encounters various individuals who help him navigate this new chapter.
Variety Article | Filmmaker Website
GAIL MACKENZIE-SMITH - Essay Published
Gail Mackenzie-Smith’s satire piece “What You’re Watching Isn’t What You’re Really Watching” was published on McSweeney’s.
“You think you’re watching a woman being shot in the face by an ICE agent, but what you’re really watching is a woman trying to run an ICE agent over and the agent firing at her in self-defense. You think you’re watching an ICE agent walk up to a woman’s car asking her to leave, which she does, but what you’re really watching is a woman turn her car around and try to run the agent over.”
“What You’re Watching Isn’t What You’re Really Watching”
T.J. TRANCHELL - Podcast Guest Host
T.J. Tranchell guest hosted on the podcast Holy Terrors to discuss “Heretic.”
For our first official episode, Brian and Pat are joined by author and teacher T.J. Tranchell to discuss one of the most effective Holy Terrors of recent years, HERETIC from 2023. We discuss the authenticity of the depiction of LDS missionaries, the veracity of the various arguments presented in the film, and how Hugh Grant gave us the best ever performance of "Creep." Like the movie, the discussion is at times deep, at times funny, and we hope enlightening and entertaining.
Holy Terrors Podcast | Author Website
SAM REILLY - Flash Fiction in Podcast
Sam Reilly’s flash fiction, “Adrift,” was featured in the NoSleep Podcast.
It's an exclusive bonus episode for our Sleepless Sanctuary members! The NoSleep Podcast is proud to present: Suddenly Shocking Vol. 21. A collection of 20 short stories that go by in an instant yet leave a lingering chill down your spine.
HEATHER SCOTT PARTINGTON - Fiction Judge
Heather Scott Partington was fiction award chair for the National Book Critics Circle’s 2025 publishing awards.
“The NBCC is delighted to announce our 2025 shortlists. Out of the many hundreds of titles that our organization carefully considered this year, these singular and striking finalists rose to the top,” says NBCC President Adam Dalva. “Each of these books is an artistic achievement. They interrogate the lives we lead, broaden our creative and social horizons, move us, and continually surprise us. Especially in this difficult time, every one of these writers and translators deserves to be celebrated – and to be widely read.”
Publishing Awards | Author Website
ROBERT J. BINNEY - Essay Published
Robert J. Binney’s essay “Front Row Salvation” was published in Atwood Magazine.
A chance encounter in the front row of a legacy rock show becomes a vivid meditation on how unguarded joy, shared experience, and generational crossover can momentarily cut through cynicism and restore faith in music – and in the future it still makes possible.
“Front Row Salvation” | Author Website
MARTIN COSSIO - Poetry Collection Published
Martin Cossio’s debut collection of poems, “Shadow Boxer,” is available for pre-order.
Shadow Boxer chronicles the author’s gym journey from skinny-fat underdog to super welterweight live dog. It combines “muted” sonnets, imaginative verse, and impactful prose to create an urgent and intense collection of fight poems that extend their theme of boxing to the fight of everyday life. At the heart is a series of meditations, blocks reminiscent of a ring and from which a fighter—lover, teacher, writer—is chiseled.
BRIAN ASMAN - Short Story Published
Brian Asman’s short story was published in the “Waterborne” horror anthology.
From drowned cities and mountain lakes to raging rivers where there is no rescue comes Waterborne as it plunges readers into the depths of aquatic terror. These stories explore the monsters that swim beneath the waves—some ancient, some newly awakened, all hungry. Full of tales of cosmic leviathans, cursed rivers, and creatures born of pollution and myth, Waterborne proves one thing: the water does not forget. And it does not forgive.
KAIRA ROUDA - Novel Published
Kaira Rouda’s newest novel, “We Were Never Friends,” was published.
The Theta Gamma Mu sorority has been summoned to Roxy's luxurious Palm Springs vacation home to celebrate the engagement of her son to Beth's daughter. But the refurbished 1920s estate is eerily reminiscent of the hotel where tragedy struck during Spring Break twenty-five years ago. Long-simmering tensions and shocking secrets begin bubbling to the surface like bodies—because while the weekend was supposed to be about celebrating the future, it's not so easy to bury the past…
“We Were Never Friends" | Author Website
SOPHIE ANN HINKSON - Poem Published
Sophie Ann Hinkson’s poem “Your Dead Body Can Wait” was published in SARKA.
I didn’t pick up the phone
In case you had died.
If I ignored the ringing
Once, twice, ten times
You would still be alive
like Paris!, narrow streets, too many people, your kitchen, never knew how to clean
sun is nice! except it reveals your grime
ta crasse dégueulasse toute cette crasse
Look! It’s everywhere, on my finger, passed inside the bowls,
a pile so high it collects the light,
your rocking world of misery, that your landlord will use against me.
“Your Dead Body Can Wait” | Author Substack
ROBERT J. BINNEY - Short Story Published
Robert J. Binney’s short story “Gifts of Providence” was published in "Starlite Pulp Review #7."
Crime, horror, westerns, surf noir, killer clowns, and existential dread—Starlite Pulp Review #7 delivers sharp, feral pulp stories that refuse to behave. If you like your fiction strange, fast, and a little unhinged, this issue was made for you.
"Starlite Pulp Review #7" | Author Website
PALLAS GUTIERREZ - Article Published
Pallas Gutierrez’s article “Short Plays Build Strong Community at Sapphest NYC” was published on Salon Avec Moi.
"A year and a half ago, Marena Faye had an idea: a festival of sapphic ten-minute plays, inspired by sapphic songs. This week, the fourth edition of Sapphest will go up at Brooklyn Art Haus. As of writing, the originally planned Saturday evening and Sunday matinee have sold out, with a third performance added on Sunday evening."
“Short Plays Build Strong Community at Sapphest NYC” | Author Website
Are you a student or alum with amazing news we should be shouting about? Email heather.scheeler@ucr.edu with all of your new awards, publications, articles, and anything else incredible that deserves a shout out!