CLARKSVILLE, TN – Austin Peay State University undergraduate students interested in creative writing recently received an immersive opportunity to visit Chicago and learn firsthand from Pulitzer Prize finalist Rebecca Makkai, the 2025-2026 Roy Acuff Chair of Excellence.
Alongside students attending as part of a study away excursion, Destiny Biggs, Eder Robles Torres and Benjamin Lehtola were chosen from a competitive applicant pool, with funding provided by the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts.
Exploring Chicago’s literary past, present, and future was a key component of this trip. Students stopped by numerous bookstores and completed Chicago’s Literary Hall of Fame tour, visited the American Writers Museum and attended the Neo-Futurist Theatre for a production of The Infinite Wrench. Makkai also gave a lecture and held a discussion in the Fine Arts Building, while facilitating student exploration of the exhibition space and artists’ studios…