An online home for the American University Creative Writing MFA community
By: Zoe Aslop Before the massive wheel of a stopped truck, a thin man, oblivious to a thermal radiation camera watching from miles to the east, turns a little to urinate on the sand of the Sahara, before facing the camera again, to Mecca. He…
By: Zoe Aslop As a graduate student in New York, Rachel Coonce was reading from her memoir in front of a crowd for the first time when she heard a sound coming from the audience that surprised her. “I was speaking from my heart and…
By Brahidaliz Martinez As the semester rolls over to the halfway mark, it’s a good time to make sure that you’re on top of your assignments and workshops. Besides attending office hours, critiquing your peers’ work, and revising your stories, it might be helpful to…
By: Bailey Blumenstock For the past year, in addition to the various hats I wear at AU, I’ve also had the pleasure of working in the Box Office at the Folger Shakespeare Theatre. While best known for its theatre productions, the Folger hosts a number…
By Nick Chhoeun The annual Art of Losing event took place on April 24, 2019. For those unfamiliar with this event, its mission was celebration. Every year, we lose writers and artists that impacted in our lives for the better. This event gave people the…
By Emily Smith A defining aspect of AU’s MFA program is its close relationship between faculty and students, both past and present. The Annual Faculty Reading, held this past Wednesday night at 826 DC, is the embodiment of this communal spirit. MFA faculty, current students,…
By Tara Campbell Welcome back to a new year at AU. Before the semester gets too hectic, let’s take a look around at what else is going on in the Literary DMV (see Part I). Now’s the time to plug things into your calendar so…
Nick Chhoeun A few weeks ago, DC Scores had their annual poetry performance night. The “Our Words Our City” event began with a reception of parents, teachers, coaches, friends, and students. The mission statement of DC Scores is that it “creates neighborhood teams that give kids…
By Will Schick We gather for coffee and conversation on Monday mornings in the basement of Western Presbyterian Church, a short walk from Foggy Bottom metro station, across from George Washington University’s business school. I usually try to arrive early at around 7:45 AM. By…
By Tara Campbell Photographer, novelist, essayist, art historian and critic, Teju Cole is a master of many genres. His novel (Open City), novella (Every Day is for the Thief), and essay collection (Known and Strange Things) have won enough awards and accolades to take…