Smith new editor for poetry series
FAYETTEVILLE -- Patricia Smith, a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in poetry, has been named the next editor of the Miller Williams Poetry Series published by the University of Arkansas Press.
Smith will select the winner and finalists for the 2022 Miller Williams Poetry Prize. Winners receive $5,000.
The University of Arkansas Press publishes the work of the prize winner and finalists.
Smith, a two-time Pushcart Prize winner and a winner of the NAACP Image Award, will take over from former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins, the series editor since 2015.
"Billy Collins is serving his last year as editor for 2021," said Mike Bieker, director of the University of Arkansas Press.
The press accepts submissions the year before the prize is awarded. The award is named in honor of Williams, an accomplished poet who co-founded the University of Arkansas Press.
In a statement released by UA, Smith said poets tell "huge unwieldy stories within tight and gorgeously controlled confines, stories that are structurally and sonically adventurous, and it's magic every time it happens."
Violence facility opens for students
FAYETTEVILLE -- Advocacy help for University of Arkansas, Fayetteville students is available at the new and recently renovated Pat Walker Health Center's Sexual and Relationship Violence Center.
"We want survivors of sexual and relationship violence to know that this space is for them," Mary Alice Serafini, executive director of the health center, said in a statement.
An open house set for Thursday follows fall renovations at the center's location in the UA Garland Center.
UA is retiring the name STAR Central, which refers to support, training, advocacy and resources on sexual assault and sexual violence.
"Creating this center provides an opportunity for us to offer a single-entry point for students seeking assistance and information," Mary Wyandt-Hiebert, director of the new center, said in a statement.
Graduate assistants who work with Wyandt-Hiebert, and student peer educators are based at the center, which has a full-time receptionist, said UA spokesman Zac Brown. Students can call, email or walk in for help.
The new center is separate from UA's Title IX office, which investigates reports of misconduct.
"Dr. Wyandt-Hiebert is not a required reporter, but provides personal support throughout the reporting, investigating, and adjudicating/prosecuting processes, should the student choose to report to Title IX or law enforcement officials," Brown said in an email.
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