An online home for the American University Creative Writing MFA community
By Will Schick I’ll never forget the way certain things could make me feel on deployment. The way a rocket blast could jolt me awake, and rattle its way through my bones. The way a helicopter could make me feel utterly helpless as it would […]
By Austine Chilton Model Today American University’s MFA program welcomes Allison Wright for the Spring Bootcamp. This session will focus on state of the literary journal, as well as strategies for submissions and pitfalls to avoid during the submission process. Allison Wright is the executive […]
By Nick Chhoeun Dungeons and Dragons was created in the 1970s and I’ve always been familiar with the name but I have never given much thought to playing it. It sounded tedious and boring. I thought it was an outdated dice rolling game. However, in […]
By Austine Model People suggest books to me all the time. The moment I mention I write or study literature, the first impulse for many is to recommend a book or an author to me. While I, of course, appreciate this, I have more books […]
Here are a few recent student, faculty, and alumni wins that are making us happy this month: Jenny Molberg, a 2010 AU MFA alumna, won a 2019 NEA Fellowship. After graduating from AU, she went on to earn her PhD from University of North Texas […]
By Tara Campbell If one were to write a list of literary accolades for contemporary writers, it would read a lot like Min Jin Lee’s biography. Her work has garnered fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study at Harvard. With […]
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 Will Schick Available for the first time in English, Hassan Blasim’s collection of short stories titled The Corpse Exhibition will twist your stomach into knots in a manner of sentences as it takes you on a topsy-turvy tour of life inside a modern war zone. You […]
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 […]