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Didi Jackson’s Tennessee Book Award to be celebrated
May. 1, 2026—Humanities Tennessee will celebrate Didi Jackson, the recipient of the 2025 Tennessee Book Award for Poetry. The reading and reception will take place Saturday, May 2, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM at Parnassus Books in Nashville. Didi Jackson is an assistant professor of English and the author of the poetry collections My Infinity and Moon...
Katerina Krizner and Audrey Welch receive Outstanding Undergraduate English Major awards
Apr. 28, 2026—The Department of English has named Katerina Grace Krizner (Tallahassee, FL, also a recipient of a Moore Prize for Creative Writing) and Audrey Welch (Santa Clarita, California) as the 2026 recipients of the Outstanding Undergraduate English Major. Established in 1998 and presented in honor of the distinguished teaching careers of professors Emerson Brown, Jr., Ann...
Creative and critical honors thesis awards announced
Apr. 28, 2026—Graduating seniors Nicole Reynaga and Connor Wolfe have received 2026 Best Honors Thesis prizes. Nicole receives the award for creative thesis for her poetry collection, Anatomy of an Earthquake. Connor receives the prize for critical thesis for his exploration, Wrangling Western Exceptionalism: Subversive Mythmaking in the Anti-Western. The award is supported by the Merrill Moore Endowment. more...
Merrill Moore creative writing awards announced
Apr. 23, 2026—The Department of English and Creative Writing Program congratulate the recipients of the 2026 Merrill Moore Prizes for outstanding work in their respective genres. The awards go to graduating seniors based on “literary promise and the psychological or practical usefulness of the award.” Merrill Moore Prize for Fiction: Katerina Grace Krizner (Tallahassee, Florida) Merrill Moore...
Amanda Little’s student-led journalism project highlighted by Nashville Banner
Apr. 21, 2026—The Nashville SUNN is a high school student-led journalism project founded by Writer in Residence Amanda Little. It was recently highlighted by the Nashville Banner, which wrote, “Nashville’s teenagers are bringing back print news.” The Nashville SUNN is a training ground for students to learn about journalistic practices and ethics. These students pitch, report, fact-check...
Major Jackson’s poems we should know by heart
Apr. 20, 2026—In a recent feature for the New York Times Style Magazine, Director of Creative Writing Major Jackson and fellow poet Frederick Seidel name six poems we should all know by heart. The list includes works by 20th-century poets Lucille Clifton, Galway Kinnell, Philip Larkin, and Rainer Maria Rilke and classics by Milton and Shakespeare. The interactive...
Graduating Seniors Reading – April 24
Apr. 20, 2026—On Friday, April 24, the Creative Writing Program will celebrate our graduating seniors with a reception and reading of new work, featuring Cady Butcher, Sorin Caldararu, Eva Cheraisi, Eleni Ertel, Katerina Krizner, Colleen Newman, Tam Obisesan, Nicole Reynaga, and Jacqueline Welsh. Friday, April 24 Central Library Community Room 6:00 PM Reception 7:00 PM Reading...
PhD student Emilka Jansen receives Vanderbilt Award for Doctoral Discovery
Apr. 17, 2026—PhD student Emilka Jansen has been awarded the Vanderbilt Award for Doctoral Discovery. Granted by the Graduate School, Vanderbilt Awards for Doctoral Discovery (VADD) are designed to help graduate students with outstanding potential to accelerate progress on their research, proceed to candidacy, and/or complete their dissertation research in a timely manner. Awarded funding can be used...
MFA alum Edgar Kunz named Guggenheim Fellow
Apr. 17, 2026—MFA alum Edgar Kunz (’15) was named a 2026 Guggenheim Fellow. Edgar Kunz is the author of two books: Fixer (Ecco, 2023), a New York Times Editors’ Choice selection, and Tap Out (Ecco, 2019), which the Washington Post called “a gritty, insightful debut.” Kunz has received fellowships and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, MacDowell, Hawthornden Foundation,...
Graduating Majors Celebration – May 7
Mar. 27, 2026— Email with questions. MORE NEWS