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Creative Writing Alumni


Alumni of the Creative Writing Program have published books of poetry and fiction in the finest presses in the country and their work has graced the pages of magazines and journals like The New Yorker, the Atlantic Monthly and Paris Review.

Praying Naked by Katie Condon

Katie Condon is the author of Praying Naked (Mad Creek Books), winner of the 2018 The Journal Charles B. Wheeler Poetry Prize. Her poetry has appeared in The New YorkerTin HousePrairie Schooner and many other places. She is an Assistant Professor at Southern Methodist University.

Line Study of a Motel Clerk by Allison Pitinii Davis

Allison Pitinii Davis is the author of Line Study of a Motel Clerk (Baobab Press) and Poppy Seeds (Kent State University Press), winner of the Wick Poetry Chapbook Prize. Her poems have appeared in Best American Poetry, the Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day series, The New RepublicMissouri Review and many other places.

I'd Walk with My Friends if I Could Find Them by Jesse Goolsby

Jesse Goolsby is the author of the short story collection Acceleration Hours (University of Nevada Press) and the novel I’d Walk With My Friends if I Could Find Them (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). His fiction and essays have appeared in places like EPOCHThe Kenyon ReviewNarrative MagazineSalon, and Pleiades. He is the recipient of the Richard Bausch Short Story Prize, the John Gardner Memorial Award in Fiction, and his work has been listed in both Best American Essays and Best American Short Stories and selected for Best American Mystery Stories. He serves as Acquisitions Editor for the literary journal War, Literature and the Arts.

Basin Ghosts by Jessie Graves

Jessie Graves is an associate Professor of English and Poet-in-Residence at East Tennessee State University. His collections include Basin Ghosts (Texas Review Press) and Tennessee Landscape with Blighted Pines (Texas Review Press) and he is the winner of the Weatherford Award, the Book of the Year Award from the Appalachian Writers’ Association, and the Thomas and Lille D. Chaffin Award.

Jessie Janeshek is the author of three book-length collections of poetry—MADCAP (Stalking Horse Press), The Shaky Phase (Stalking Horse) and Invisible Mink (Iris Press)—and several chapbooks, including Spanish Donkey/Pear of Anguish (Grey Book Press), Rah-Rah Nostalgia (dancing girl press) and Supernoir (Grey Book). She is an Associate Professor of English at Bethany College.

Code by Charlotte Pence

Charlotte Pence is the author of two book-length collections of poetry—Code and Many Small Fires (Black Lawrence)—two chapbooks—Weaves a Clear Night (Flying Trout) and The Branches, the Ax, the Missing (Black River)—and the editor of the Poetics of American Song Lyrics (University of Mississippi). Her work has appeared in Kenyon ReviewNorth American ReviewDenver QuarterlySouthern Review and many other places. She is the Director of the Stokes Center for Creative Writing at the University of South Alabama.

The Beautiful Wishes of Ugly Men by Adam Prince

Adam Prince’s award-winning fiction has appeared in The Missouri ReviewThe Southern Review, and Narrative Magazine, where has was named one of the best new writers in the country. He is currently serving as the Stokes Visiting Writer at The University of South Alabama. His first book, a short story collection called The Beautiful Wishes of Ugly Men, is available from Black Lawrence Press.

Praise Nothing by Josh Robbins

Joshua Robbins is the author of the poetry collection Praise Nothing (University of Arkansas Press). He is the recipient of the James Wright Poetry Award, the New South Prize and multiple Pushcart nominations.

The Queen of Spades by Michael Shou-Yung Shum

Michael Shou-Yung Shum is the author of the novel Queen of Spades (Forest Avenue Press). His work has appeared places like Literary HubThe Writers ChronicleFiction Writers Review.

Rare Earth by Bradford Tice

Bradford Tice is the author of two books of poetry: Rare Earth (New Rivers Press), which was named the winner of the 2011 Many Voices Project and What the Night Numbered (Trio House Press). His poetry and fiction has appeared in such periodicals as The Atlantic MonthlyNorth American ReviewThe American ScholarMississippi Review, as well Best American Short Stories, 2008. He currently teaches at Nebraska-Wesleyan University.

My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh

M.O. Walsh is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels The Big Door Prize (Putnam) and My Sunshine Away (Putnam) and the short story collection The Prospect of Magic (Livingston Press). His fiction and essays have appeared in EPOCHSouthern ReviewOxford AmericanBest New American Voices, and many other places. He currently directs The Creative Writing Workshop at the University of New Orleans.