Join the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) on January 9, 2023, from 6 pm–7:15 pm for a screening of Reservation Dogs with Migizi Pensoneau (Ponca and Ojibwe) as part of the Evening Reading Series. Presented by the Master of Fine Arts program in Creative Writing (MFACW) from Monday, January 9 through Friday, January 13, the Evening Reading Series features program mentors and Lannan Visiting Writers. Each evening will engage its audience with poetry, memoir, or fiction from some of today’s most vibrant and vital writers.

Migizi Pensoneau (Ponca and Ojibwe) is a screenwriter, producer, actor, and IAIA alum. He played Ray Ray in three episodes of Reservation Dogs, Roy Crooks in three episodes of Rutherford Falls, and was a writer for episodes of Barkskins and Two Sentence Horror Stories. Pensoneau has also covered scripts for Warner Brothers and The Sundance Institute, and he has written several published pieces on the interaction of Native Americans and popular culture.

Evening Reading Series Events

• January 9, 6 pm–7:15 pm (MST): Screening of Reservation Dogs with Migizi Pensoneau (Ponca and Ojibwe)—CLE Commons
• January 10, 6 pm–7:15 pm (MST): Readings by Pam Houston, Esther Belin (Diné), and Keenan Norris—CLE Commons and livestream
• January 11, 6 pm–7:15 pm (MST): Readings by Bojan Louis (Diné), Toni Jensen (Métis), and Kimberly Blaeser (Minnesota Chippewa Tribe)—CLE Commons and livestream
• January 13, 6 pm–7:15 pm (MST): Readings by Kelli Jo Ford (Cherokee Nation), Layli Long Soldier (Oglala Lakota), and Raquel Gutiérrez—CLE Commons and livestream

MFA in Creative Writing

The Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing is designed as a two-year program with two intensive week-long residencies per year (summer and winter) at IAIA. Students and faculty mentors gather for a week of workshops, lectures, and readings. At the end of the residency week, each student is matched with a faculty mentor, who then works one-on-one with the student for the semester. IAIA’s program is unique in that we emphasize the importance of Indigenous writers speaking to the Indigenous experience. The literature we read carries a distinct Native American and First Nations emphasis. The MAFCW offers four areas of emphasis: poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and screenwriting.

The deadline to apply for the 2023 academic year is Feb. 1 by 5 pm (MST).