01 Dec 2025 Author of the Month: Poet Sandy Longhorn

By Susan L. Peterson

Poet Sandy Longhorn has plenty to celebrate this season. The first draft of her latest project, “52 Parks: 52 Poems,” is complete, and work from the collection has already appeared in several notable literary journals.

The idea for the book was sparked in 2023 when Longhorn learned that Arkansas State Parks would be honoring its 100th anniversary. Inspired by the milestone, she set out to create a unique tribute: a poem for each of the state’s 52 parks.

For the past two years, she has immersed herself in the project — visiting every park, hiking the trails, researching histories, talking with fellow visitors, and photographing and chronicling her discoveries in notes and blogs. The result is a collection that captures her personal reactions and emotions to each park while acknowledging its spirit, relevance and legacy.

Longhorn’s love of writing goes back to her grade school days in Waterloo, Iowa, when she first knew she wanted to become a writer. After earning her degree in English with a concentration in creative writing from the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn., she spent six years living and working in small bookstores and independent publishing companies in Colorado Springs, Boston and other points in between. Those years were devoted to observing, listening and learning — the kind of life experience she felt she needed before turning seriously to poetry.

By 1999, she was ready to take the next step and applied to graduate programs across the country. She decided on the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, where she began a new life as both a student and a teacher. As a graduate assistant, she discovered an affinity for working with students while searching for her own voice as a poet. “I had to find out what I was passionate about and then develop a style unique to me rather than trying to emulate others.” Today, her work focuses on place-based poetry, persona poetry and hybrid writing-art projects.

After completing her Master of Fine Arts, Longhorn decided to remain in Arkansas, first teaching at the University of Arkansas Monticello, then Pulaski Technical College. During that time, she published three award-winning collections: “Blood Almanac,” “The Girlhood Book of Prairie Myths,” and “The Alchemy of My Mortal Form.” In 2016, she was honored with the prestigious Porter Fund Literary Prize, one of Arkansas’s top literary awards that recognizes substantial contributions to the state’s literary landscape.

Today, Longhorn is an associate professor of creative writing at the University of Central Arkansas, where she also serves as associate chair of the Department of Film, Theatre, and Creative Writing and Undergraduate Creative Writing Program coordinator. She continues to inspire students while balancing her teaching, administrative work and writing. She especially enjoys talking to prospective students and encourages them to consider the program at UCA, which is solely focused on creative writing and offers courses in the largest number of genres in the state.

With this new collection, Longhorn continues to enrich Arkansas’s literary landscape. In addition to her books, she has published numerous individual poems in journals and anthologies across the country. Visit 501lifemag.com to read some of her poetry.

Longhorn lives in Conway, and in her spare time she enjoys creating cut paper collages, some of which may be seen on her website. To learn more about her work — including her blog, publications and upcoming events — visit sandylonghorn.com.