APSU hosting free writer’s retreat with Pulitzer Prize finalist Rebecca Makkai

By: Dr. Andrea Spofford October 7, 2025

Rebecca Makkai during a reading at Austin Peay State University hosted Sept. 18, in the Mabry Concert Hall. | Photo by Kaos Armstrong

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Pulitzer Prize finalist Rebecca Makkai, Austin Peay State University’s 2025-26 Acuff Chair of Excellence, is returning to Clarksville to host a free writer’s retreat from Nov. 1-5 at Haynes House Sanctuary.

Hosted by Austin Peay’s Creative Writing program and the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, the retreat is open to APSU students and the general public. Community writing days are Nov. 1 and 2, with a creative writing reading and celebration on Nov. 5.

The Haynes House Sanctuary opened in June 2024 after a full renovation of the property. It offers events, groups, and enriching learning opportunities like Rebecca Makkai's writer's retreat. | Contributed photo

How to Apply:

Space is limited to 10 community members. To apply, please submit the following materials to Dr. Raymond Deeren at deerenr@apsu.edu by Oct. 17.

1. A statement of intent including previous writing experience and/or publications, and a synopsis of a current writing project you plan to work on during the retreat 

2. A 10-15-page writing sample if prose; a 3-5-piece portfolio if poetry

Submissions are due no later than 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 17, and acceptance letters will be sent out in mid-October.  

Retreat Schedule  

Saturday, Nov. 1  

• 11 a.m.: Welcome Lunch  

• Noon - 3 p.m.: Craft Talks, Exercises, Lessons 

• 3-5:30 p.m.: Writing and Workshop 

Sunday, Nov. 2  

• 9 a.m.: Welcome Breakfast 

• 9:30 a.m.: Craft Talks, Exercises, Lessons 

• Noon - 1 p.m.: Lunch  

• 1-4 p.m.: Writing and Workshop 

• 4 p.m.: Dismissal 

About Haynes House Sanctuary  

Haynes House Sanctuary offers a welcoming space where individuals are invited to deepen their connection to self and others while experiencing personal growth in a safe and sacred community. Cultivating authentic relationships is at the core, while values of community, connection, belonging, growth and well-being allow for an all-inclusive approach that nurtures body, mind and spirit. Learn more about Haynes House here.

About Rebecca Makkai 

Rebecca Makkai is the author of the New York Times bestselling I Have Some Questions For You as well as four other works of fiction. Her third novel, The Great Believers, was one of the New York Times' Best Books of the 21st Century, a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize and the 2018 National Book Award, and the winner of the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize, among other honors.  

A 2022 Guggenheim Fellow, Makkai teaches graduate fiction writing at Middlebury College, Northwestern University, and the Bennington Writing Seminars, and she is the artistic director of StoryStudio Chicago. Learn more about Makkai's work by visiting her website.

As the 2025-26 Acuff Chair of Excellence, Makkai will visit APSU creative writing classes, work directly with students and regional community members, and curate a reading at this spring’s Zone 3 Writers’ Festival (April 16-18, 2026). 

To learn more about Zone 3 Press, contact Dr. Raymond Deeren, co-coordinator of APSU’s Creative Writing program, at deerenr@apsu.edu. 

About the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts

Since 1985, the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts (CECA, or "seek-ah") has been providing students, the Clarksville community, and the Middle Tennessee region with engaging experiences through the Art + Design, Creative Writing, Music, and Theatre & Dance programs at APSU. CECA brings as many as 85 guest artists to Clarksville each year and presents up to 100 public arts and culture events annually, including concerts, exhibitions, artist lectures, master classes, artist residencies, and more. In addition, CECA provides the arts faculty at APSU with research opportunities to enhance their professional growth as well as numerous student scholarships each year to support APSU's own emerging artists.  

To learn more about CECA, contact Dr. Andrea Spofford at spofforda@apsu.edu. 

About the Acuff Chair of Excellence  

In 1985, country music legend Roy Acuff generously established an endowment to enrich the arts community at APSU and in Clarksville Montgomery County. The result was the Roy Acuff Chair of Excellence, which brings regionally and nationally acclaimed artists to APSU to share their expertise with students and the community in a dynamic atmosphere of unrestricted experimentation. The Acuff Chair rotates between APSU's four creative arts programs—Art + Design, Creative Writing, Music, Theatre & Dance—and has been filled each year with residencies by nationally and internationally known artists since its inception.