Graduate Programs MFA Alumni Graduate Alumni MFA Program in Creative Writing

Graduate Alumni : MFA Program in Creative Writing

Welcome! This page is intended to give you a sense of what our graduates have achieved since they received their degrees. You can view a list of recent achievements by our alumni, or of books they have published or of significant honors and awards which they have won.

If you are a graduate of the MFA Program, please take a moment to visit the section of our site built specifically for you and your fellow MFA Alums. Once there you'll be able to lets us know what you've been up to, edit your contact information and find and connect with your fellow alums. Check it out!

Another feature you might be interested in is the general MFA Forum. This section of the site—though not an exclusively alumni feature—offers the opportunity to discuss a wide range of topics with anyone affiliated with the MFA Program (including alumni, current students, and interested parties). Registrations for these two sections of the site have been separated for security purposes, so you'll need to register twice in order to use both. To visit the MFA Forum, click here.

MFA Alumni: Recent Achievements

2006

Jason Bredle '00 has won the 2006 New Issues Poetry Prize for his collection of poems, Standing in Line for the Beast.

2005

Sean Norton '01 has published a collection of poems, Bad With Faces, Red Morning Press, 2005.

Elizabeth Kostova '04 has published a novel, The Historian, 2005.

Rattawut Lapcharoensap '03 has just published a collection of stories, Sightseeing, 2005.

Suzanne Hancock '04 has published a collection of poems, Another Name for Bridge, Mansfield Press, 2005.

Jess Row '01 has just published a collection of stories, The Train to Lo Wu, 2005

Stefan Kiesbye '01 has just published a novel, Next Door Lived a Girl, 2005.

Porter Shreve '98 has a new novel coming out, Drives Like a Dream, 2005.

Susan Jane Gilman '93 has just published her second book, a memoir, entitled Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress, 2005.

2004

Jason Bredle '00 just won the Diagram/New Michigan Press Prize for his collection of poetry, A Twelve Step Guide, 2004

Jardine Libaire '97 just published a novel, Here Kitty Kitty, 2004.

Elwood Reid '96 just published his 4th book, D.B., a novel in 2004.

Raymond McDaniel '95 just published a collection of poems, Murder (a violet), 2004.

William Lychack '91 has published a novel, The Wasp Eater, 2004, and has a book of stories, The Architect of Flowers, forthcoming.

Laura Kasischke '87, who is currently on our faculty, published a new book of poems, Gardening in the Dark, 2004.

Sebastian Matthews '93 published a memoir, Weeding My Father's Garden, 2004.

2003

Tung-Hui Hu '03 won the Contemporary Poetry Series competition with his book of poems, The Book of Motion, University of Georgia Press, 2003

Michael Byers '96 published a novel, Long for this World, 2003

Paula Mclain '96 published a memoir, Like Family: Growing Up in Other People's Houses, 2003.

Pailsley Rekdal '96 published a chapbook of poems, The Invention of the Kaleidoscope, 2003

Patricia Ward '95 published her debut novel, The Bullet Collection, 2003

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MFA Alumni: Published Literary Books

(in alphabetical order)

Thomas J. Anderson, III '88
At Last Round Up, poetry, Chapbook Series, (poetry collection) lift books, 1996.

Laurence Barrett '89
Gambling with History: Ronald Reagan in the White House, Doubleday, 1983

Amy Quan Barry '97
Asylum, University of Pittsburgh Press, August 30, 2001
Controvertibles, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2004

Scott Beal '96
Two Shakespearean Madwomen vs. the Detroit Red Wings, poetry (chapbook), White Eagle Coffee Store Press, Fall 1999

Jason Bredle '00
A Twelve Step Guide, poems, Diagram/New Michigan Press, Fall 2004
Standing in Line for the Beast, poems, New Issues Press, 2006

Michael Byers '96
Long for this World, novel, Houghton Mifflin, 2003
The Coast of Good Intentions, stories, Houghton-Mifflin, 1998

Brenda Cardenas '95
Between the Heart and the Land/ Entre el corazon y la tierra: Latina Poets in the Midwest co-editor (Anthology) March/Abrazo Press, September 2001.

Susan Comninos '91
Poetry featured in The Blueline Anthology, Syracuse University Press, 2004

Sara Corbett '92
Venus to the Hoop : A Gold-Medal Year in Women's Basketball
Doubleday, June 1997

Arthur Corriveau '94
Housewrights (novel), forthcoming from Penguin, June 2002

Jose Dalisay '88
The Lavas: A Filipino Family, Manila: Anvil, 1999
The Best of Barflys, Manila: Anvil, 1997
The Island, Manila: Ayals Foundation, 1996
Penmanship and Other Stories, Manila: Cacho, 1995
Six Modern Filipino Heroes, Manila: Anvil, 1993
Sarcophagus and Other Stories, U of the Philippines Press, 1992
Killing Time in a Warm Place, Manila: Anvil, 1992
Oldtimer and Other Stories, Manila: Asphodel, 1984

Sharon Dilworth '88
Women Drinking Benedictine, stories, Ohio State University, Jan. 1999
The Long White, stories, University of Iowa Press in hardcover, W.W. Norton in paperback, 1988

David Edwards '90
Burning All Illusions: A Guide to Personal and Political Freedom, South End Press, 1996
Free to be Human: Intellectual Self-Defense in an Age of Illusions, Green Books, 1995

John Flynn '86
Washing Apples In Streams, chapbook of poetry, So-called press, 2000
Moments Between Cities, poetry, Edwin Mellen Press, 1997

John Fulton '97
More than Enough (novel), Picador USA, forthcoming August 2002
Retribution, short stories, Picador, USA July 2001

Gail Gilliland '87
The Demon of Longing: Stories, Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2001
Being a Minor Writer, University of Iowa Press, 1994

Susan Gilman '93
Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress, a memoir, Warner Books, 2005
Kiss My Tiara, essays and pieces, Warner Books, February 2001

Paula K. Gover '87
White Boys and River Girls, stories, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1995
A Woman Like Me, Algonquin, 1994

Alyson Hagy '85
Graveyard of the Atlantic, stories, Graywolf, 2000
Keeneland, a novel, Simon and Schuster, 2000
Hardware River, Poseidon Press, 1991
Madonna on Her Back, Small Press Distribution, 1986

Suzanne Hancock '04
Another Name for Bridge, poems, Mansfield Press, 2005

Kathleen Halme '86
Equipoise, poems, Sarabande Books, 1998
Every Substance Clothed, poems,University of Georgia Press, 1995
The Everlasting Universe of Things, North Carolina Writers' Network, 1994

Miles Harvey '91
The Island of Lost Maps: A True Story of Cartographic Crime, nonfiction, Broadway Books, September 2000; G K Hall & Co, largeprint edition, April 2001

Josh Henkin '93
Swimming Across the Hudson, a novel, Putnam & Sons, 1997

Tung-Hui Hu '03
The Book of Motion, poems, University of Georgia Press, 2003

Stewart Ikeda '92
What the Scarecrow Said, Harper Collins/Regan Books, June 1996

Kimberly Kafka '85
Skin Contact, a novel, Dutton, May 2002.
True North, a novel, Dutton, March 2000 (paperback: March 2001).

Laura Kasischke '87
Gardening in the Dark, poems, Ausable Press, 2004
Dance and Disappear, poems, University of Massachusetts Press, May 2002
What It Wasn't, Carnegie-Mellon University Press, March 2002
The Life Before Her Eyes, novel, Harcourt Brace, Feb. 2002; Harvest Books, paperback, forthcoming November 2002
White Bird in a Blizzard, novel, Hyperion, 1999
Fire & Flower, poems, Alice James Books, December 1998
Suspicious River, novel, Houghton Mifflin, April 1996; Mariner Books, paperback, June 1997
Housekeeping in a Dream (Carnegie Mellon Poetry Series), Carnegie-Mellon University Press, 1995
Wild Brides (Poems), New York University Press, 1992
Brides, Wives, and Widows (Herland, No. 15), American Studies Press, 1992

Josie Kearns '94
New Numbers, New Issues Press Poetry Series, March 2000; March Street Press, 1995
Life After the Line (Great Lakes Books), Wayne State University Press 1990

Stefan Kiesbye '01
Next Door Lived a Girl, a novel, Low Fidelity, 2005

Judith Kirscht '85
Engaging Inquiry: Research and Writing in the Disciplines with Mark Schlenz, Prentice Hall, 2001

Elizabeth Kostova '04
The Historian, novel, Little, Brown 2005

Rattawut Lapcharoensap '03
Sightseeing, stories, Grove, 2005

Kate Larrabee '94
An Everyday Savior (a novel), Four Walls Eight Windows, June 2002.

Scott Lasser '89
Battle Creek, a novel, Weisbach/William Morrow, 1999; Paperback: Harper-Perennial 2000.

Jardine Libaire '97
Here Kitty Kitty, a novel, Little, Brown, 2004.

Michael Loncar '95
66 Galaxie, poems, Middlebury College, University Press of New England, Fall 1998

Deanne Lundin '97
The Ginseng Hunter's Notebook, poetry, New Issues, April 1999

William Lychack '91
The Architect of Flowers, stories, Houghton Mifflin, forthcoming
The Wasp Eater, novel, Houghton Mifflin, 2004
Games People Play: Russia, Children's Press, 1996
Games People Play: England, Children's Press, 1995

Daniel Lyons '92
Dog Days, a novel, Simon and Schuster, 1998
The Last Good Man, a novel, University of Massachusetts Press, 1993
The First Snow, stories, University of Massachusetts Press, 1993

Sebastian Matthews '93
Weeding My Father's Garden (memoir), W.W. Norton, 2004
The Green Man Walks Across America (poems), Salmon Press, 2003.

James Mayes '92
Small Favors: Short Stories, Alyson Publications, 1994; paperback, 1998

Raymond McDaniel '95
Murder (a violet), poems, Coffee House Press, 2004

Paula McLain '96
Like Family: Growing Up in Other People's Houses: A Memoir, Little Brown and co., 2003
Less of Her, poetry, New Issues Poetry Series, 1999

Sarah Messer '91
Bandit Letters: Poems, New Issues Press Poetry Series, August 2001
Red House: A Memoir of Place, Viking, Fall 2002

Marc Nesbitt '97
Gigantic, short stories, Grove Press, March 2002

Sean Norton '01
Bad With Faces, poems, Red Morning Press, 2005

Michael Paterniti '91
Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein's Brain, Dial Press, July 2000; G K Hall & Co, largeprint edition, December 2000; Dell Books, Paperback, June 2001

Diane Raptosh '86
Labor Songs, poetry, Guernica, 1999
Just West of Now, poetry, Guernica, 1992

Elwood Reid '96
D.B., novel, Doubleday, 2004
Midnight Sun, novel, Doubleday, September 2000; Anchor Books, paperback, March 2002
What Salmon Know, stories, Doubleday, 1999
If I Don't Six, a novel, Doubleday, 1998

John Reinhard '90
On the Road to Patsy Cline, with John Minczeski (editor), New Rivers press, October 1996
Burning the Prairie, poems, New Rivers Press, 1988

Kathryn Reiss '88
The Strange Case of Baby H (History Mysteries, 18), Pleasant Company, (forthcoming August 2002)
Paint By Magic (Harcourt, May 2002)
The Riddle of the Prairie Bride, (Pleasant Company, March 2001)
Paperquake: A Puzzle, (Harcourt Brace, 1998)
Ghost in the Dollhouse Trilogy: Dollhouse of the Dead, The Headless Bride, Rest in Peace (Scholastic, 1997)
Pale Phoenix, (Harcourt Brace, 1994)
Dreadful Sorry, (Harcourt Brace, 1993)
The Glass House People, (Harcourt Brace, 1992)
Time Windows, (Harcourt Brace, 1991)

Paisley Rekdal '96
The Invention of the Kaleidoscope, poems (chapbook), Black Warrior Review, 2003
Six Girls Without Pants: Poems, Eastern Washington University Press, November 2002
The Night My Mother Met Bruce Lee : Observations on Not Fitting in, essays, Pantheon Books, October 2000; Vintage Books, paperback, April 2002
A Crash of Rhinos, poems,University of Georgia Press, October 2000

Rebecca Reynolds '91
Daughter of the Hangnail, poetry, New Issues Press, 1997

William Craig Rice '88
Public Discourse and Academic Inquiry, Garland Publications, February 1996

Jess Row '01
The Train to Lo Wu, stories, Dial Press, 2005

Gay Rubin '89
On a Good Day, stories, Plain View Press, November 1998

Ruth Schwartz '85
Edgewater, poems (The National Poetry Series), Harper Perennial, forthcoming July 2002
Singular Bodies (poems), Anhinga Press, September 2001
Accordian Breathing and Dancing (Pitt Poetry Series), University of Pittsburgh Press, April 1996; paperback November 1995

Christina Shea '89
Moira's Crossing, a novel, St. Martin's Press, New York, 2000

Marc J. Sheehan '86
Greatest Hits, poetry, New Issues Press, 1998
The Cursive World, poetry, Ridgeway Press, 1991

Spencer Short '97
Tremolo: Poems, Harper Collins, July 2001

Porter Shreve '98
Drives Like a Dream, a novel, Houghton Mifflin, 2005
The Obituary Writer, a novel, Houghton Mifflin, June 2000

Glori Simmons '97
Graft, poetry collection, Truman State University Press, December 2001

Susan Skramstad '88
The Singing Teacher, a novel, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, April 1992

Leah Stewart '96
Body of a Girl, Viking Press, August 2000; Paperback, Penguin USA, July 2001

Sarah Stone '98
The True Sources of the Nile, novel, Doubleday, April 2002

Nicklaus Suino '88
Arts of Strength, Arts of Serenity, Weatherhill, December 1996
Practice Drills for Japanese Swordsmanship, Weatherhill, October 1995
The Art of Japanese Swordsmanship, Weatherhill, June 1994

Patricia Ward '95
The Bullet Collection, novel, Graywolf 2003

Suzanne Wise '94
The Kingdom of the Subjunctive, poetry, Alice James Books, Jan. 2000

David Wolf '91
Open Season (poems), Center Press Books, 1999

Simone Zelitch '86
Moses in Sinai, a novel, Black Heron Press, December 2001
Louisa, a novel, Putnam Publications, August 2000; Paperback, Berkley Publications, December 2001
The Confessions of Jack Straw, Black Heron Press, 1991

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MFA Alumni: Significant Honors and Awards

(in order of graduating year)

Tina Datsko '85
Public Corporation for the Arts honor for screenplay, La Paz, 1990
Los Angeles Arts Council Award, 1989

Alyson Hagy '85
Nelson Algren Award for Short Fiction, 1994
National Endowment for the Arts Literature Program's Syndicated Fiction Program, ca. 1994

Ruth Schwartz '85
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, 1992
First Prize, Nimrod Hardman/Pablo Neruda Award, 1991
First Prize, New Letters Literary Award for Poetry, 1991

John Flynn '86
H.G. Roberts Foundation, First Place in Personal Essay, 1990

Kathleen Halme '86
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry, 1997-98
Balcones Poetry Prize, 1996
University of Georgia Press Contemporary Poetry Series, 1995
National Endowment for the Humanities, Modern Poetry Association, and the American Library Association' s Poets in Person Grant, 1995
North Carolina Writers' Network Harperprints Competition winner for The Everlasting Universe of Things, 1994

Diane Raptosh '86
Idaho Commission on the Arts Fellowship in Creative Writing, 1991
Rocky Mountain Women's Institute Fellowship, 1990

Paula Gover '87
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Creative Writing, 1996
Balch Award for best story published by The Virginia Quarterly Review for "White Boys and River Girls," 1992

Laura Kasischke '87
Alice James Books' Beatrice Hawley Award, 1998
Individual Arts Grant for Women from Money for Women/ Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, 1995
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry, 1994
Alice Fay Di Castagnola Award by the Poetry Society of America, 1993
Pushcart Prize for "Woman Kills Sweetheart with Bowling Ball," 1992
Passage's North's Michigan Sesquicentennial Poetry Competition, First Prize for "Parade," 1998

Jose Dalisay '88
University of East Anglia's David T K Wong Fellowship, England, 1999
Cambridge Seminar Fellowship, UK, 1998
Hawthornden Castle Fellowship, Scotland, 1994

Sharon Dilworth, '88
Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, University of Georgia Press, 1993& 1995
Distinguished Short Story named in Best American Short Stories, 1990
Iowa Award for Short Fiction for The Long White, 1988

Katherine Pancoast-Nagamura '88
Printed Matter's First Place Poetry Award for "Blue Skiff," 1993
Maron Reilly Award for Excellence in Teaching at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, 1991

Kathryn Reiss '88
School Library Journal "Pick of the Crop" for "Dreadful Sorry", 1993
American Library Association "Best Book for Young Adults" for Time Windows, 1991
State of Maryland's "Blackeyed Susan Young Reader Medal" for Time Windows, 1991
New Jersey State Council on the Arts Grant for Writers
Edgar Allan Poe Award nominee (twice) for Pale Phoenix and Paper Quake.
South Carolina's "20 Best Books" List for 2000 for Paper Quake.

William Rice '88
Templeton Foundation Grant, 1997
Bradley Fellow, Arts and Culture, Heritage Foundation, 1996
Earhart Grants, 1993, 1995

Susana (Suki) Wessling '89
Maryland Poetry Review's Fiction Contest, First Prize for "Gringa" (ca. Dec. 1992)
Pushcart Prize nomination for "All Night Diner" (ca. Dec. 1992)

John Reinhard '90
McKnight Artist Fellowship, Loft Award of Distinction in Poetry, 1998.

Katherine McGovern '91
Henfield/TransAtlantic, 1998
Nelson Algren Award for Short Fiction, 1996
Stanford University's Stegner Fellowship in Fiction, 1994-96

Sarah Messer '91
Massachusetts Historical Society's Mellon Grant, Research Fellow (ca. 1999)
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry, 1999
American Antiquarian Society, Creative Writing Fellow, 1999

Rebecca Reynolds '91
Norman Faber First Book Award for Daughter of the Hangnail, 1998

Stewart Ikeda '92
Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Authors Award Series (finalist) for What the Scarecrow Said, 1997

Daniel Lyons '92
Granta Magazine's "Best of Young American Novelists" Regional Winner for The Last Good Man, 1996
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, 1994
Story read at the Symphony Space Reading Series broadcast on NPR, 1993
Associated Writing Programs' Short Story Manuscripts Contest winner for The First Snow, 1993
Playboy College Fiction Contest, First Prize for "The Greyhound," 1992

Marie Ashley-France '93
The MacGuffin Award in Poetry, 1st Place, Schoolcraft College, 1994

Joshua Henkin '93
James Fellowship for a Novel in Progress for Swimming across the Hudson , 1997
PEN Syndicated Fiction Award for "Juggling," 1993
National Public Radio's "The Sound of Writing" broadcast "Juggling," 1993
Story selected for nationwide syndication in the annual PEN/Syndicated Fiction Project, 1992

Josie Kerns '94
Hunt Contest First Place, 1997
Poetry Northwest's MacLeod-Grove Prize for series of poems, New Numbers, 1995

Suzanne Wise '94
Bellingham Review's 49th Parallel Poetry Award

Michael Loncar '95
Bread Loaf Writers' Colony's Bakeless Prize for 66 Galaxie, 1999

Kathryn Stein '95
Black Warrior Review Award for "Mill Witch," 1997

Michael Byers '96
Friends of American Writers Literary Award for Long for this World
Academy of Arts & Letters Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction for The Coast of Good Intentions
Whiting Prize for The Coast of Good Intentions
New York Time's Notable Books, 1998 for The Coast of Good Intentions
PEN/Hemingway Award (finalist) for The Coast of Good Intentions
Stanford University's Stegner Fellowship in Fiction, 1996-98

Susan Hutton '96
Stanford University's Stegner Fellowship in Poetry, 1996-98

Paula McLain '96
Academy of American Poets' Greenwall Fund Grant

Paisley Rekdal '96
National Poetry Series finalist, 1997
Tennessee Williams Scholarship (ca. 1997)
Fulbright Fellowship, 1996-7

Amy Barry '97
University of Wisconsin's Institute for Creative Writing Diane Middlebrook Poetry Fellow, 1999
Stanford University's Stegner Fellowship in Poetry, 1997-99

Catherine Seto '97
Glimmer Train Fiction Award, Second Place for "The Other," 1997
Charles Johnson Award for "Bees," 1997

Glori Simmons '97
Stanford University's Stegner Fellowship in Fiction, 2003-5
Poetry Society of America's George Bogin Memorial Award, Second Prize, 1999

Ronald Nyren '98
Stanford University's Stegner Fellowship in Fiction, 1998-2000

Michael Haskell '99
Whiting Fellowship, 1999

Laura Kopchick '99
National Society of Arts and Letters Prize, First Place for "Cicadas"

Jess Row '01
Whiting Fellowship, 2002

Melodie Edwards '03
First Prize in the Crazyhorse nonfiction contest, 2003

Tung-Hui Hu '03
Contemporary Poetry Series competition for, The Book of Motion, 2003

Nathan Jones '03
Carol Houck Smith Fiction Fellow, U of Wisconsin, 2003-4

John Lee '03
Carol Houck Smith Fiction Fellow, U of Wisconsin, 2004-5

Rachel Richardson '04
Stanford University's Stegner Fellowship in Poetry, 2004-6

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