Spotlight
Creative Writing MFA Alum Max McDonough Wins St. Lawrence Book Award with Debut Poetry Collection
Apr. 22, 2025—Alum Max McDonough (MFA ’17) recently won the St. Lawrence Book Award with his debut poetry collection, Python with a Dog Inside It (Black Lawrence Press). Congratulations, Max! Set on the marshlands of working-class southern New Jersey, Python with a Dog Inside It traces the tangled story of two gay brothers as they endeavor to survive...
2025 Academy of American Poets College Prize: Winner and Honorable Mentions Announced
Apr. 18, 2025—2025 Academy of American Poets College Prize Winner and Honorable Mentions Congratulations to this year’s winner of the 2025 Academy of American Poets Prize Contest, Kinsale Drake, and to the students receiving honorable mentions for their work, Lana Reeves and Christiana Castillo. Winner: Kinsale Drake, GS, MFA, for “Ram’s Head, Blue Morning Glory,...
Creative Writing MFA Alum Rita Bullwinkel Wins 2025 Award in Literature from The American Academy of Arts and Letters
Mar. 14, 2025—On March 6, The Academy of Arts & Letters announced that Creative Writing MFA Alum Rita Bullwinkel (’16) is the recipient of the Addison M. Metcalf Award of $10,000. This award honors “a young writer of great promise.” The literature awards will be presented at Arts and Letters’s annual Ceremonial in May 2025. Congratulations, Rita!...
Major Jackson Featured in Premiere Episode of Vanderbilt’s New Podcast
Mar. 13, 2025—Director of Creative Writing and Professor Major Jackson has been featured in the premiere episode of Vanderbilt’s new Quantum Potential podcast. Check out the story and the episode here.
March 20, 7 PM – Fiction Reading with Adam Ross
Mar. 3, 2025—On Thursday, March 20, Fiction Author Adam Ross will visit Vanderbilt for a book signing and a reading of his latest novel Playworld. The book signing begins at 6:30, followed by the reading at 7pm. Adam Ross is the author of the short story collection Ladies and Gentlemen, and the novels Playworld and Mr. Peanut, which was selected as...
Sixth-Year Ph.D. Student Luke Vines Shines in Inside Higher Ed
Feb. 27, 2025—Current sixth-year Ph.D. student Luke Vines was recently published in Inside Higher Education. Check out his article on the virtues of slow reading here.
MFA Alum Tiana Clark Published in The New York Times
Feb. 24, 2025—MFA Alum Tiana Clark‘s (’17) review of the Super Bowl Halftime Show was published in The New York Times on Friday, February 14. Read the full story here. Tiana Clark is the author of the poetry collections Scorched Earth, I Can’t Talk About the Trees Without the Blood, winner of the Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize, and...
Major Jackson Wins Willis Prize for American Poetry
Feb. 13, 2025—Yale Library has awarded Major Jackson the Patricia Cannon Willis Prize for American Poetry. This award honors a book published in the award period written by an American poet at any point in their career. Congratulations, Major! The announcement from Yale Library can be found here: Yale Library awards 2 prizes honoring the highest...
Recent VU MFA Graduate, Kanak Kapur, Published in The New Yorker
Feb. 9, 2025—Congratulations to Kanak Kapur (MFA ’24), whose short story “Prophecy” was published in The New Yorker! Click here for a link to an interview Deborah Treisman conducted with Kapur about the story.
VU Creative Writing Newsletter Out Now!
Jan. 8, 2025—Volume 3 of the Vanderbilt Creative Writing Newsletter (Fall ’24) is out now. The annual newsletter features program and department news, while spotlighting students, faculty and alumni. Click the image below to access it or visit this page to access all volumes of the newsletter.