Launched by the University of Arkansas Creative Writing & Translation program in 2016, the Arkansas International publishes transnational literature, bringing writers around the world into conversation with each other. Our magazine features work from over 70 countries, from Egypt to Brazil, South Korea to Russia, as well as U.S. writers working out of regions not centered by the literary marketplace. We support fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and graphic storytelling, in translation and source English alike. 

The term international not only represents geographical points on a map, but also the wide spectrum of human experience. We value work that challenges limiting ideas of what defines “world” vs “regional” literature, and we support marginalized writers whose work complicates assumptions. We believe that art has a vital role in global culture, transcending borders and upending all forms of discrimination. Past contributors have included Clare Cavanagh, Álvaro Ortiz, Aimee Bender, Shin Kyung-sook, Uchenna Awoke, Martín Espada, Leila Aboulela, Mary Ruefle, Silas House, and Antonio Moresco—alongside debut writers like Ghassan Zeineddine, who received his first book contract after his feature in Issue #12. 

Our concern is place and how it influences the human imagination for what is possible. In addition to the magazine, we regularly review new books that speak to this concern, as well as feature literary interviews with writers who explore it in their work. We also offer two annual awards:  The Henry Dumas Prize for Fiction and The C.D. Wright Prize for Poetry, both named for innovative Arkansan writers who wrote about place in transformational ways. These prizes are given to English language writers from any nation who have not yet published full-length books. 

The Arkansas International is primarily staffed by student editors enrolled in the MFA program. Our project is made possible by a partnership between the University of Arkansas and the Arkansas International Literary Magazine, Inc., 501(c)(3). Our Founding Editor-in-Chief was the celebrated poet, translator, and professor Geoff Brock, who directed the magazine from 2016 - 2022. In 2021, the Arkansas International was awarded The Whiting Award for Literary Magazines. In 2023, we were shortlisted for the CLMP Firecracker Award for General Excellence.