spotlight
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...
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,...
Second-year MFA student Lana Reeves announces book deal
Apr. 6, 2026—Penguin Random House will publish second-year MFA student Lana Reeves‘ debut poetry collection KAMA’ĀINA in 2027. Lana hails from O’ahu, Hawai’i and received her BA with honors from Harvard University, where her thesis, under the direction from former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith, was certified summa cum laude. Learn more about Lana and her work...
Creative Writing Program to host reading of MFA graduates – April 23
Apr. 6, 2026—On Thursday, April 23, the Creative Writing Program will celebrate our graduating cohort with a reception and reading of new work, featuring Langston Cotman, Kumari Devarajan, Ajla Dizdarević, Sydney Mayes, Athena Nassar, and Iman Saleem. Thursday, April 23 Alumni Hall 202 Memorial Hall 6:00 PM Reception 7:00 PM Reading Open to the public ...
Graduating Majors Celebration – May 7
Mar. 27, 2026— Email with questions. MORE NEWS
Poet Prageeta Sharma to join Vanderbilt Reading Series – February 19
Jan. 28, 2026—Thursday, February 19 Book-signing, 6:30 PM Reading, 7:00 PM Vanderbilt Special Collections Library 1101 19th Ave South Nashville, TN 37212 Prageeta Sharma is the author of six collections of poetry, most recently, Onement Won (Wave Books, 2025) and Grief Sequence (Wave Books, 2019). Her honors and awards include a 2025 NEA Creative...
Mitchell S. Jackson to join Vanderbilt Reading Series – February 12 (new date)
Jan. 6, 2026—Thursday, February 12 Book Signing, 6:30 PM Reading, 7:00 PM Vanderbilt Special Collections Library 1101 19th Ave South Nashville, TN 37212 (Due to weather, this reading has been postponed from January 29.) Mitchell S. Jackson is the winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing...
MFA Student Sydney Mayes Awarded The FSG Writer’s Fellowship
Dec. 18, 2025—The 2026 FSG Writer’s Fellowship has been awarded to the poet Sydney Mayes. President and Publisher of FSG Mitzi Angel says: “Sydney Mayes is a poet of talent and originality. Her work is at once lucid and lyrical, archivally informed and new, cerebral and attentive to the body. Drawing from intimate and national histories, from...
Alum Donika Kelly fronts Poets & Writers Magazine
Nov. 17, 2025—Poet Donika Kelly, who received her PhD in English from Vanderbilt, is featured in the November/December 2025 issue of Poets & Writers Magazine, following the publication of her third volume of poetry, The Natural Order of Things, from Graywolf Press. “In a time when escapist fantasies dominate the fiction charts, The Natural Order of Things is...
2025 Creative Writing newsletter now available
Nov. 13, 2025—The newsletter can be viewed by clicking here. PDF Version