McNeese MFA Alumnus Featured at the Festival of Words

McNeese State University Master of Fine Arts alumnus Tyler Robert Sheldon was featured in the 2019 Festival of Words held in Grand Coteau.

The annual festival features award-winning writers from across the U.S. who conduct community readings and writing workshops. Sheldon was one of three artists featured, along with novelist Yuri Hererra and spoken word poet Donney Rose. The writers also worked with local students in the “drive-by-poetry” events held throughout the city, where students perform dramatic readings of works by the visiting writers.

“The classes and workshops I took at McNeese while working on my MFA aided me in my progress as both a writer and a teacher – skills I’ve taken with me into my doctoral studies and independent workshops like the Festival of Words,” says Sheldon. “The brightest point of Lake Charles, Louisiana, McNeese is both safe haven and crucible for writers and teachers who hope to advance rapidly in their liberal arts abilities.”

Sheldon’s five poetry collections include “Driving Together” (2018) and “Consolation Prize” (2018). He is editor-in-chief of MockingHeart Review and his poetry, fiction, artwork, and criticism have appeared in The Los Angeles Review, Pleiades, The Tulane Review, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature and Tinderbox Poetry Journal. A Pushcart Prize nominee and recipient of the Charles E. Walton Essay Award, he earned his MFA at McNeese in 2019 and is currently pursuing a doctorate in composition and rhetoric at Louisiana State University. View his work at TylerRobertSheldon.com.