Arkansas literature has an emerging consciousness, though it still lags behind other Southern states such as Mississippi and Georgia in the promotion of its literary culture. University of Arkansas Press is probably the state's largest publisher of books, though there do exist some notable small presses in the state: August House, Rose Publishing Group, and Chenault and Gray. The University of Arkansas's M.F.A. program has graduated a number of notable writers, including Lewis Nordan, John Dufresne, Steve Yarbrough, and more. In 2004, the state held the first annual Arkansas Literary Festival in Little Rock, attracting famous writers from around the nation. The Porter Prize is the state's most prestigious literary award. State nickname: Magnolia State Other U.S. States Capital Jackson Largest city Jackson Governor Haley Barbour Official languages English Area 125,546 km² (32nd)  - Land 121,606 km²  - Water 3,940 km² (3%) Population (2000)  - Population 2,697,243 (31st)  - Density 23. ... Plaque on University of Arkansas campus The University of Arkansas (also known as the U. of A. or simply Arkansas) is a public, coeducational, land-grant university system. ... John Dufresne is an American author that has published three novels, one book of short stories, a non-fiction book on the subject of writing, and collaborated on a novel with group of other authors. ... There is also a Littlerock, California. ...

List of Arkansas residents and natives who have achieved a national stature for their writing

• Maya Angelou, whose I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings tells the story of her young life in Stamps, AR.
• Dee Brown, author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
• Jack Butler, nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his novel, Living in Little Rock with Miss Little Rock.
• John Gould Fletcher, 1938 winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.
• Ellen Gilchrist, winner of the 1984 National Book Award for her collection of short stories, Victory over Japan and author of over twenty works of fiction.
• Donald Harrington, winner of the Robert Penn Warren Award for his many novels which take place in the fictional town of Stay More, AR.
• Mars Hill, author of the novel, The Moaner's Bench, nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
• Jo McDougall, another Pulitzer nominee whose latest collection of poetry, Dirt, has been highly praised by critics.
• Charles Portis, author of True Grit, which was made into a movie starring John Wayne.

Maya Angelou (born Marguerite Annie Johnson, April 4, 1928 St. ... I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an autobiographical journey through the early years of the life of the author Maya Angelou. ... Dee Brown ( February 29, 1908 – December 12, 2002) was an American novelist and historian. ... Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, first published in 1970, is a history of Native Americans in the American West in the late nineteenth century, and their displacement and slaughter by the United States. ... Categories: Last native speakers | 1901 births | 1986 deaths | Stub ... The Pulitzer Prize is a United States award regarded as the highest honor in print journalism. ... John Gould Fletcher (January 3, 1886 - May 20, 1950) was a Pulitzer Prize winning Imagist poet and author. ... 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The National Book Awards is the most important literary prize in the United States, presented annually for the best book by a living US citizen published in the US. The awards have been presented since 1950 in at least one category, and is presently awarded in each of four categories... Mars Hill is the name of two places in the United States: Mars Hill in Maine Mars Hill in North Carolina Mars Hill is also another name for the Areopagus in classical Athens. ... In English, dirt can refer to several things: Soil on the ground. ... True Grit is a 1969 Western film which tells the story of a teenaged girl, out for revenge for her fathers death, who hooks up with a United States marshal and a Texas Ranger to find her fathers killer. ... John Wayne (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), nicknamed Duke, was an American film actor whose career spanned the evolutionary phase of American cinema, appearing in silent movies and talkies alike. ...

Literary journals in Arkansas

• Arkansas Literary Forum, an online publication of Henderson State University, which has published such notable Arkansas Writers as Jack Butler and Donald Harrington.
• Arkansas Review: A Journal of Delta Studies, a tri-annual journal published by Arkansas State University; it is the successor to the Kansas Quarterly.
• The Oxford American, a quarterly journal of Southern culture co-founded by John Grisham and now published by the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.