To write works of literature is to engage in the world. At the University of Arizona, we believe it is the responsibility of an MFA program to feed that connection, inviting students to respect this essential engagement, and to augment it with opportunities to connect with the wider world. We offer several opportunities for MFA students to develop a “course of study” parallel to that which takes place in the classroom, and in so doing strengthen their links to this region, the Sonoran desert and its people, as well as develop skills that will be useful to them in the marketplace.

 

Working with the University of Arizona Poetry Center, the Creative Writing MFA Program offers the following options for work outside the classroom.

 

Interns will work alongside Poetry Center staff to present one of the nation’s longest running literary reading and lecture series; coordinate student contests and a summer residency program for emerging writers. Duties include scheduling events, developing itineraries for visiting writers, generating copy for marketing materials (press release, brochures, etc.), soliciting media stories, developing advertising copy, coordinating volunteers for events, soliciting contest entries, managing database and award presentations.

 

Library Administration (one position)  

The intern will enhance the accessibility of the nation’s most prestigious collection of contemporary poetry by maintaining the Center’s audio/video database and collaborating with librarians on collection development and exhibition research. Duties may also include cataloging, collection maintenance, exhibition research, and annotating books for monthly e-newsletter library feature.

 

The intern will work with Poetry Center staff to develop and implement education programs from early education through community classes and workshops for adults. A major component of this internship will be developing a new High School Outreach program for Southern Arizona Schools. Elements may include a field day activities and special events, such as the Poetry Center’s Annual Bilingual Corrido Contest and the National Poetry Out Loud Recitation Contest. 

 

In this program under development, docents will be recruited from the MFA program to offer tours of the Poetry Center library and facility and will be prepared to conduct brief poetry activities for visiting groups. Docents will also be sent into schools and community organizations to promote the work of the Poetry Center and the reading and appreciation of poetry and literature.

 

Requires 2-semester registration in “At the Intersection of Writing and Teaching: Creative Writing in the K-5 Classrooms.” In this year-long program, Creative Writing graduate students develop skills as artist-educators. In the fall semester, students complete coursework enabling them to create integrative curriculum for K-5 students, drawing on their own creative processes as readers and writers. In the spring semester they gain teaching experience in elementary schools. Second year students serve as field instructors in the fall semester. In addition to providing graduate students with tools to prepare them for teaching, this program encourages students to reflect upon various ways writers can contribute to their communities. The program is committed to serving underserved and underperforming schools.

 

 

Editor-in-Chief position, a full-year position, academic credit; other editorial positions available.

 

Administrative positions running student-based reading series and/or putting together literary salons.

 

Managing Editor position, putting together a collection of work by graduates.

 

 

Kore Press is a non-profit literary arts organization that has been publishing women since 1993. As a community of literary activists devoted to bringing forth a diversity of voices through works that meet the highest artistic standards, we publish women's writing that deepens awareness and advances progressive social change.

 

Publishing internships are available for summer and fall semesters (6-10 hours a week.)  Duties may include assisting with publicity; maintaining website; filling book orders; promoting new titles; producing content for monthly email newsletter; communicating with authors; staffing tables at bookfairs; general correspondence; grants research, assisting with readings and other events; coordinating fundraising activities and general administrative support. Interns are expected to atttend weekly staff and occasional board meetings. Interns will report to Lisa Bowden, Publisher. Academic credit available.

 

·Chax Press
Chax Press is a nonprofit small literary press that also is active in the arena of book arts. Founded in Tucson in 1984, Chax has published some 100 books of various kinds, from chapbooks to fine art literary
books to trade paperback books.

Interns at Chax Press learn a variety of tasks and experience first-hand the workings of a literary small press. The work includes nonprofit administrative work, nonprofit fundraising, literary editorial work,
literary events management, book order fulfillment (shipping & distribution), promotion of the press & of books, press studio maintenance, and hands-on book arts practices required for  letterpress
printing and hand bookbinding. Sometimes interns may specialize in one of the following: book arts work, nonprofit fundraising and grantwriting, promotion of literary books.

Interns work 8 hours per week on average, though some hours will be spent in the studio, some in outside projects, and some at events such as poetry readings and literary and art talks. Schedules must be coordinated with the press in advance, but the press schedule is subject to change from week to week, and flexibility of intern schedule is required.

Chax Press will accept a maximum of 3 interns per semester.  These are unpaid positions, with academic credit available.  Shorter, intensive internships in the summer sometimes possible.

Please email chax@theriver.com with inquiries, and/or call 520-275-4330.
No inquiries for fall 2009 internships will be accepted until April 23,
2009. 
 

Internships available in writing, editing, and design within this 20-year-old, national nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places. Hours to be determined, academic credit to be determined. Rebecca O'Sullivan. 520-623-5252 x 302.

VOICES is a nonprofit that runs after-school programs for youth ages 14 to 21. Our mission is to provide youth with a safe space, positive relationships and the skills training to document real-life stories and
the platform to share them with the world because we believe stories are an agent of change. Youth in our program learn rhetorical and visual analysis, writing and photography skills, interviewing skills and life skills. Our teaching approach is based on a "collaborative mentoring" model, where both adults and youth learn from each other. We are seeking two to four graduate students to help run programs. Graduate students will be supervised by our Writing Director, who is a Ph.D. candidate in Rhetoric and Composition at The University of Arizona. Graduate students will be spending four to six hours at our downtown Tucson location. This is an excellent opportunity for anyone who wants to further their careers as educators, community organizers, or professionals in the nonprofit field. We are looking for a commitment of four to six hours a week for one to two years. 

Please contact
Stephanie Balzer, Executive Director stephanie@voicesinc.org, or Katie Johnson, Writing Director katie@voicesinc.org.
Voices, Inc.
48 E. Pennington St.
Tucson, AZ 85701
520.622.7458 (w)
www.voicesinc.org

 

Editorial internships at alternative newsweekly, academic credit available. 
From the editor: 
 

 

Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) is a discretionary grant program from the U.S. Department of Education that is designed to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education. The Tucson GEAR UP Project serves approximately 3,600 students in the Sunnyside and Tucson Unified School Districts. Many of these students are from families where Spanish is spoken at home and are English-language-learners. The GEAR UP project provides the students, their parents and teachers with key college readiness components and activities including academic workshops; tutoring; summer academies; field trips; and curriculum support and professional development for school personnel. Paid position. Available positions posted each spring. 

 

Intern opportunity for the Tucson Indian CenterArtsReach Program. We are looking for a candidate with a strong background in creative writing, creative journal publication (design and editing), and knowledge of and/or experience working with Native people.  Students with experience working in Writers/Poets in the Schools programs are especially qualified.  Students with creative writing pedagogical knowledge (such as Laynie Brown's class on school residencies) would be very well suited to the internship.

Duties would include: administrative duties such as assisting the ArtsReach Program Specialist with community readings, scheduling residencies, tracking residency paperwork, editing and designing the publication *Dancing with the Wind*, and distribution/promotion of this journal.

Interested students should contact Josette Arvizu, ArtsReach Program Specialist at the Tucson Indian Center: jarvizu@ticenter.org.  Please submit a letter of interest and CV/resume in this initial email.

·Inside/Out
Editorial/administrative internship for non-profit program serving Pima County Juvenile Detention Center and Pima Vocational High, academic credit to be determined.
 From Inside/Out:

Inside/Out attempts to embody poetry's spirit of good mischief, healing and serendipityof ice melting on a hot stove, by engaging very diverse sectors
in our Tucson community in dialogue about the many interrelated crises the
city, state and planet face. Global warming. Peak oil. Depeleting
aquifers. Damaged ecosystems and expanding populations. Writers and
artists need to shape debates about these issues, to clarify and ground
them; to serve as translators for scientists trying to communicate to
policymakers and the public how precarious our situation might be.
MFA students will help us Inside/Outers (instructors and staff) teach weekly
classes to three groups which write and anonymously exchange poetry and
mini-essays: incarcerated teens and adults, and students at a leading
alternative school. Each year we publish two chapbooks of student writing
housed at the Poetry Center and all branches of the Pima County Public
Library. These and other materials are used to influence policy debates in
Arizona and beyond. We're flexible; we'd want to nourish you, as writers
and students, and give you room to create your schedules and share with us
the talents which matter most to you. The Pima County Public Library,
Tucson Parks and Recreation, Pima County Juvenile and Adult Detention
Centers, and Poetry Center are some of our partners.