A multimedia concert celebrating the 250th anniversary of America’s founding spotlights a famous poem by Allison Hedge Coke, distinguished professor of creative writing at UC Riverside. Hedge Coke’s “America, I Sing You Back,” published in 2011, is one of three related poems that inspired “I Hear America Singing,” a traveling stage production.
UC Riverside has been selected to host Belgian audio producer and educator Frank Duchêne next spring as a Fulbright scholar in residence. “This is a great recognition of the teaching and research happening in the UCR Music Department,” said Liz Przybylski, a professor of music at UCR, who led the effort to bring Duchêne to campus.
Sara Hovda, a student in the Master of Fine Arts program at UC Riverside, has won the 2026 Trio Award for her debut poetry manuscript, “Night’s Grammar.” “I was honestly beside myself,” Hovda said.
Erika Villeroy da Costa, a graduate student in critical dance studies at UC Riverside, has been awarded a 2026 Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship. Da Costa will use the $52,000 grant to support her research on first-generation members of the Afro-Brazilian dance troupe Balé Folclórico Mercedes Baptista.
Allison Benis White’s most recent poetry collection, “A Magnificent Loneliness,” was awarded the 2025 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Poetry. “This recognition of ‘A Magnificent Loneliness’ is what writers dream about," White said. "And I’m grateful to represent UC Riverside, and our Creative Writing Department, with this honor.”
