Hendrix-Murphy Foundation - Programs in Literature and Language

Professors Hope Coulter and Ty Jaeger traveled with 12 students to the Emerald Isle to investigate how the literary arts have shaped, and been shaped by, Irish culture and tradition. Read about their trip to Dublin and the West Cork Literary Festival. http://bit.ly/47gvvg2

Murphy Scholar Sophia Isely ’23 deepened her experiences in language learning and the medical field through the Murphy Scholars Program. Read about her interdisciplinary projects in Ecuador, Spain, and on Hendrix College campus. http://bit.ly/3OqH9fV

The 26th annual Playwright’s Theatre will be held on Friday, September 8 at 7:00 p.m. in Cabe Theatre at Hendrix College. This event is free and open to the public. Read more about alum Dawn Branch’s play Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. http://bit.ly/3YtxTvZ

Murphy Scholar Maggie Ryan ’23 traveled internationally and explored a range of creative interests through the Murphy Scholars Program. Read about her final Murphy Scholar project in Berlin, Germany.http://bit.ly/43Tfgm6

National award-winning artist and Murphy Scholar Adaja Cooper ’23 has been an avid reader and creator from a young age. Read about how the Murphy Scholars program helped support her interests in children’s books and Revolutionary Reads. https://bit.ly/3pXRlV2

This June, eight students traveled to London for a playwriting intensive at St. Mary’s University. Read about their time crafting original dramatic works under the direction of professional playwrights and actors. https://bit.ly/44FHQsv

Recent graduate Rye Hazlett's Murphy Scholar projects were anchored in her love of creative writing. Read about how she explored her passion through all three of her Scholar projects. https://bit.ly/43DTCCi

Makenzie Henderson ’23 used her Murphy Scholar funds to travel with the Atlantis Pre-Med Shadowing Program. Read about her immersive shadowing and work experiences studying the Romance languages in Valladolid, Spain, and Genova, Italy. https://bit.ly/3pOxx6n

Students Kendra Baldwin, Dani Brumbelow, Trey Hoopchuk, Emma Sampson-Green, Margaret Sampson-Green, Kolya Souvorin, and Dominic Stevens spent four weeks of May studying Mandarin at the University of Taipei in Taiwan. Read about this international experience https://bit.ly/3NIv9Ws

We’re delighted to announce our Fall 2023-Spring 2024 public events! We have a fantastic line up of poets, playwrights, fiction writers, memoirists, and more. http://bit.ly/44CsAw6

This summer Murphy Scholar Lily Ryall ’24 traveled to Québec, Canada, to learn more about Canadian French. Read about Ryall’s project: https://bit.ly/42PRGWX. Stay tuned for additional Murphy Scholar profiles rolling out this summer.

Our very own director Hope Coulter is the winner of this year’s Meringoff Award for Non-Fiction! Her work has appeared in numerous journals, including The Yale Review, Southwest Review, and Terrain, and her collection The Wheel of Light was published in 2015 as part of the New Poets Series of BrickHouse Books. Awards for her writing include the Laman Library Writers Fellowship, the Porter Prize for Literary Excellence, and the Meringoff Award for Poetry. Congratulations, Hope! https://www.literarymatters.org/2023-05-meringoff/?fbclid=IwAR3g22tUVseAH-KlBYqPhyL_R7IqGZIG8MjEBhtM0uanY3Tkh1jaMkwtVXQ

This spring, the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation awarded $115,484 in grants for 11 student cocurricular projects, 3 faculty-led campus projects, and 3 faculty-led study-travel projects in literature and language. Students will travel the globe, deepen foreign language proficiency, develop editorial skills, examine the intersection of language and the environment, and more. Read about these exciting and immersive experiences. https://www.hendrixmurphy.org/article/1111922

Interested in supporting literacy in Central Arkansas’ schools? Stop by the AR Kids Read event at El Sur in Little Rock on May 10 to learn more about volunteer opportunities.

Interested in promoting literacy in Central Arkansas' schools? Stop by the AR Kids Read event at El Sur in Little Rock on May 10 to learn about volunteer opportunities.

Join us on Thursday, April 27 at 4:30 in the Murphy Seminar Room for the release of the Aonian, Hendrix’s annual literary magazine! Contest winners will read and discuss their work. Snacks and copies of the Aonian provided.

Join us on Friday, April 21 at 12:10 in the Murphy Seminar Room. Dr. Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach will discuss the making of her new collection of poetry 40 Weeks. Email McGill@Hendrix.edu by 12 on Thursday, April 20 for a free lunch. Let us know if you would like a vegetarian meal!

Join us on Thursday, 4/20 from 5-7 on the Murphy House Lawn for our final Word Garden of the semester! This annual potluck features Sydney Boone, Shane Brannon, Hannah Diggs, Elijah Dilday, Hannah Samuel, and Kylon Williams. Side dishes welcome but not necessary. Bring a blanket!

This year’s Murphy Visiting Scholar & Drake Lecturer Colby Gordon will discuss “Trans Natures in John Lyly’s Galatea” on Wednesday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m. in Reves Recital Hall.

Kick off National Poetry Month with a guided tour of Hendrix’s Poetry Sidewalks. Murphy Director Hope Coulter will describe the installation and how the poems were chosen. Email McGill@Hendrix.edu by noon on Thursday, 4/6 for a free boxed lunch. Vegetarian option available.