21st Annual Scissortail: The Poster

2026: Schedule of Readings

21^st Annual: Scissortail Creative Writing Festival
April 2 - 4, 2026
East Central University
Ada, Oklahoma 

Thursday, April 2

I. 9:30 – 10: 45 Estep Auditorium 

Cody Baggerly: East Central University
Hardly Been Born
Ann Howells: Carrolton, Texas
Travelin Shoes
Paul Austin: Norman, Oklahoma
Two Love Stories: Lost and Found 

II. 11:00 – 12: 10 Estep Auditorium

Tom Murphy: Corpus Christi, Texas
To All the Women
Linda Neal Reising: Poseyville, Indiana
One Hundred Years of Kicks
Walter Moore: Tarleton State University
My Lungs are a Dive Bar & other poems 

III. 11:00 - 12:10 Regents Room

Ron Wallace: Durant, Oklahoma
Somewhere There’s a Horse
Luri Owen: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Along the Way
Alan Gann: Dallas, Texas
Consider the Dirt 

*** Lunch ***

21st Annual Scissortail: Featured Authors

Traci Brimhall, a University Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing and Narrative Medicine at Kansas State University, is celebrated for her unique poetry that intertwines the ordinary with the surreal. She has authored five poetry collections, including the upcoming "Love Prodigal" (Copper Canyon Press, 2024), and her work has been prominently featured in journals such as The New Yorker, Orion, The New Republic, and The New York Times Magazine. Brimhall's teaching experiences, supported by fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, National Parks Service, and Academy of American Poets, have spanned diverse settings from farm schools to medical communities, reflecting her commitment to fostering creative expression across varied environments.

As the current Poet Laureate of Kansas, Brimhall has focused her initiatives on uniting the state's agricultural heritage with literary arts. Her advocacy includes projects like poetry cookbooks, food-based mad lib poems, and bringing poetry to the State Fair, aiming to enrich the lives of all Kansans through language.

Brimhall's literary contributions extend beyond poetry to include essays published in prestigious journals such as Georgia Review, The Southern Review, and Prairie Schooner. Her accolades include awards like the Barnard Women Poets Prize for "Our Lady of the Ruins," and her work has been recognized in Best American Poetry anthologies.

Educationally, Brimhall holds degrees from Florida State University (BA), Sarah Lawrence College (MFA), and Western Michigan University (PhD). At Kansas State University, where she directs the creative writing program and holds the Donnelly Faculty Award in English, she continues to inspire and mentor aspiring writers.

Her numerous residencies and fellowships include an Artist-in-Residence position at Bighorn Canyon through the National Parks Service and the My Time fellowship from the Writers Colony at Dairy Hollow. Brimhall's scholarly pursuits also include the Karnes Fellowship from Purdue Libraries, focusing on the unpublished poems of Amelia Earhart.

Traci Brimhall's career exemplifies a profound dedication to poetic innovation, community engagement, and scholarly exploration, making her a pivotal figure in contemporary American poetry and beyond.

Joseph Fasano is a writer and educator. He studied mathematics and astrophysics at Harvard University before changing his course of study and earning a degree in philosophy, with a focus on philosophy of language after Wittgenstein. He did his graduate study in poetry at Columbia University, working with Mark Strand, Lucie Brock-Broido, Richard Howard, and others. Beyond his Professorships, Fasano is passionate about developing inclusive learning communities outside the walls of academic institutions. As an educator, his mission is to help each student synthesize diverse fields of study to develop a unique and informed voice, a depth of attention, and a capacity to break free of reductive mindsets. His "Poetry Prompts," originally designed to help children create, have spread around the world, helping millions of people of all ages find their voices through the craft and magic of poetry.

Fasano is the author of two novels: The Swallows of Lunetto (Maudlin House, 2022) and The Dark Heart of Every Wild Thing (Platypus Press, 2020), which was named one of the "20 Best Small Press Books of 2020." His books of poetry are The Last Song of the World (forthcoming from BOA Editions, 2024); The Crossing (Cider Press Review, 2018), praised by Ilya Kaminsky for its "lush drive to live, even in the darkest moments"; Vincent (2015), which Rain Taxi Review hailed as a "major literary achievement";  Inheritance (2014), a James Laughlin Award nominee; Fugue for Other Hands (2013), which won the Cider Press Review Book Award and was nominated for the Poets' Prize, "awarded annually for the best book of verse published by a living American poet two years prior to the award."

A winner of the RATTLE Poetry Prize, he serves on the Editorial Board of Alice James Books, and he is the Founder of the Poem for You Series, a digital space offering recitations of listeners' favorite poems by request. His writing has appeared in The Times Literary Supplement, The Yale Review, The Southern Review, The Missouri Review, Boston Review, American Poets, Measure, Tin House, American Poetry Journal, The Adroit Journal, American Literary Review, Verse Daily, the PEN Poetry Series, the Academy of American Poets' poem-a-day program, and other publications. It has been widely anthologized and translated into many languages, including Spanish, Swedish, Lithuanian, Chinese, Russian, and Ukrainian. He is also a songwriter, and his debut album, The Wind That Knows The Way, is available wherever music is sold or streamed.

Chera Hammons is a winner of the 2017 PEN Southwest Book Award through PEN Texas and the 2020 Helen C. Smith Memorial Award through the Texas Institute of Letters. She holds an MFA from Goddard College and formerly served as writer-in-residence at West Texas A&M University. Her work, which is rooted in love for the natural world, appears in Baltimore Review, Pleiades, Poetry, Rattle, The Southern Review, The Sun, The Texas Observer, and elsewhere. Her fifth full-length poetry collection, Birds of America, is forthcoming from The Dial Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. She lives on the windswept prairies of the Texas Panhandle. In her free time, she enjoys reading, birdwatching, spending time with her horses and donkeys, and caring for her houseplant collection, which is slowly but surely taking over her entire living space.

2026: Scissortail Biographies

Rilla Askew is the author of five novels, two books of stories, and a collection of creative nonfiction. She’s a PEN/Faulkner Finalist and recipient of the WILLA Award, Western Heritage Award, Oklahoma Book Award, and the Arts and Letters Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her poems and essays have appeared in Nimrod, Tin House, World Literature Today, and elsewhere. “Convergence,” first published in AGNI magazine, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She teaches creative writing at the University of Oklahoma.

Actor and poet Paul Austin is the author of Spontaneous Behavior, the Art and Craft of Acting and Mother and Son, both published by Turning Plow Press, and Notes on Hard Times, published by Village Books Press. His work has appeared in This Land, Sugar Mule, Oklahoma Review, More Monologues by Men, and Newport Review. A collection of his writings, Late Night Conspiracies, was performed with jazz ensemble at New York’s Ensemble Studio Theatre. Austin will be reading from his latest collection.

Cody Baggerly is an Oklahoma poet from Chickasaw Country. His work has been featured in ECU's literary journal, Originals, the Rising Phoenix Review, the Dublin California Poetry Walk, Wingless Dreamer, Alien Buddha, White Winged Doves: A Stevie Nicks Poetry Anthology, Literature Today, San Pedro River Review, Dos Gatos Press, and the NoSleep Podcast. He has also presented his poetry at the Scissortail Creative Writing Festival, the Woody Guthrie Festival, and he is the host of the First Monday Open-Mic in Ada, Okla.

2026 Undergraduate Research Contest

Prizes: * 1^st - $250 * 2^nd - $150 * 3^rd - $100
(Plus Books & Honorable Mentions) 

Guidelines:

• Contest is open only to currently enrolled undergraduate students.
• To be eligible, students must attend the Festival. Recognition will occur Friday evening, April 3, 2026.  (Please do not submit if you cannot attend the festival).
• Submissions must be confirmed by a sponsoring faculty member.
• Each institution is allowed a maximum of 5 (five entries); This includes ECU.
• Each institution is responsible for selecting its contestants.
• Submissions are limited to one of three categories: 1) one piece of short fiction (up to 7500 words), or 2) one piece of creative nonfiction (up to 7500 words), or 3) up to three poems (150 lines total).
• Prizes will not be designated by genre, but will be awarded for best writing.
• All entries must be the original work of the student. Any use of AI is unacceptable!
• All entries must be neatly typed; please double-space prose entries.
• Entries will not be returned, so keep your originals.
• No identifying marks should be on the manuscript itself, except for the title.
• Provide separate Cover page with contact information: 1) Student’s Name; 2) Student’s email address AND mailing address 3) Faculty Member’s Name & Email address 3) Institution 4) Classification 5) Phone number 6) Title of original work submitted
• Submit work by email to Dr. Joshua Grasso at jgrasso@ecok.edu. In the subject line of your email submission, type “Scissortail Undergraduate Contest.”
• Professor Grasso will screen entries, then an outside judge will judge all entries that meet minimum guidelines.

DEADLINE: Email entries to jgrasso@ecok.edu  must be received by Midnight March 6, 2026. There will be no exceptions. Recognition of writers will occur Friday April 3 as part of the Scissortail Creative Writing Festival held at East Central University (April 2 - 4, 2026). Please regularly visit  www.ecuscissortail.blogspot.com to view festival updates. Contact: Ken Hada, khada@ecok.edu (580) 559-5557 for information regarding the Festival.

Judge: Brent Newsom received the 2020 Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award in poetry from Poets & Writers, and he wrote the libretto for A Porcelain Doll, an opera based on the life of deaf-blind pioneer Laura Bridgman. He is the author of Love’s Labors (CavanKerry Press, 2015), which was a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award in poetry. His poems have also appeared in Southern Review, Hopkins Review, PANK, Cave Wall, and other journals.

Expectations and Submission Guidelines

21^st Annual Scissortail Festival, April 2 - 4, 2026

Expectations: The Scissortail Festival is a shared experience, and all involved contribute to the success of the event. In the words of poet Major Jackson, who graced the festival in 2022, authors are expected to be “Citizens” of the festival. Authors selected for the program are expected to be a good citizen by attending sessions of fellow authors, and interacting positively with fellow authors, guests and students – the varied audience members of the festival. In short, Scissortail is a Festival celebrating creative writing, not a platform for individual egos, so put your ego in your back pocket, and come share a positive, generative experience. Thank you for contributing to the festive, inspiring, positive vibe, uplifting all who attend.

To be considered for a spot on the program, please send your best work, while considering the following guidelines. Please follow exactly.

* Authors will have not more than 20 minutes to present their material – this is the total time at the mic, including any comments you make in addition to the presented material.

* Scissortail is a reading festival. No workshops, how-to, propaganda or pre-arranged panels are acceptable. Reading sessions feature a mixture of authors and genre.

* Fiction and creative nonfiction writers are encouraged to Excerpt their submission to fit into the time restraints (The appeal of a narrative may, in fact, be heightened by presenting a carefully selected excerpt, rather than speed-reading).

* Due to the number of participants, it is not possible to accommodate scheduling requests.

* Please understand that Ada, Oklahoma is a small town with very limited public transportation and has a limited number of hotel rooms. Ada is a two-hour drive from the Oklahoma City airport, three hours from DFW (in good traffic) and two and half hours from Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Scissortail Festival is unable to provide shuttle service to and from these airports, so please consider these factors before submitting.

* Sessions usually consist of 3 or 4 readers per session. Authors may NOT exceed 20 minutes total time at the mic – including prose, including commentary. Please respect your audience and fellow readers by diligently adhering to time restraints.

Submit by email: 1) complete contact information 2) the title of your program and the work to be considered – please consider the time restraints per reader. 3) a paragraph-length biographical narrative summarizing publications and significant accomplishments (please write bios in 3^rd person).

Deadline for submission is December 15, 2025. The schedule will be announced as early as possible, in January, and certainly by early February at the latest.

Send email submissions to: scissortailfestival@gmail.com. Identify “Scissortail Submission” in the subject line.

Please check your calendar before submitting. Participants are not charged registration fees, nor are authors compensated. Ecuscissortail.blogspot.com is the official location for information, schedules, bios, etc. Please check that site regularly for information and updates.

22nd Annual R. Darryl Fisher Creative Writing Contest

East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma presents

Oklahoma’s Most Prestigious High School Writing Competition

Fiction: 1st Place: $250; 2nd place $150; Three 3rd places $100

Poetry: 1st Place: $250; 2nd place $150; Three 3rd places $100
Five Honorable Mention Certificates

Guidelines:

* All Oklahoma high school students (9th - 12th grade) are eligible.

* Poetry (up to 100 lines) or Short Fiction (up to 6,000 words) is acceptable.

* Limit 5 poems and 1 short fiction piece per student.

* All entries must be the original work of the student.

* Absolutely, any use of AI, computer-generated “work” is unacceptable!

* All entries must be neatly typed; please double-space fiction entries.

* Entries will not be returned, so keep your originals.

* No identifying marks should be on the manuscript itself, except for the title.

* Provide cover page with contact information: 1) Student’s name; 2) High School and Teacher’s name 3) Classification (senior, junior, etc.) 4) Phone number, Email and student’s mailing address. (Work submitted without a mailing address for each student will not be judged)

DEADLINE: Conventional mail must be postmarked on or before Monday, February 16, 2026. Email entries must be sent via email by 11:59 p.m. on February 16, 2026. There will be no exceptions.

Recognition: The names of winning writers will be posted online on this website. Awards will be mailed to students as gift cards.

Poetry Submissions: send work electronically as attached files to jgrasso@ecok.edu or mail to Dr. Joshua Grasso, East Central University, Dept. of English & Languages, 1100 E. 14th St., Ada, OK 74820

Fiction Submissions: send work electronically as attached files to mwalling@ecok.edu or mail to Dr. Mark Walling, East Central University, Dept. of English and Languages, 1100 E. 14th St., Ada, OK 74820

Contest Information: Dr. Joshua Grasso (580-235-3197); Dr. Mark Walling (580-559-5440). Scissortail Creative Writing Festival Information: Dr. Ken Hada (580-559-5557)