Writing Program

Home Page: http://artsci.wustl.edu/~english/writingprogram/

The Writing Program at Washington University has evolved into a unique community of writers, scholars and critics. While the program is designed by writers for writers, it is an integral part of the English Department, closely associated with other graduate programs within the university. The internationally esteemed faculty is made up of distinguished, award-winning poets and fiction and non-fiction writers and scholars. Some of the prizes the faculty holds include the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Pushcart Prize, the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and the Academy of American Poets Prize.

The Hurst Visiting Professorship brings to the campus annually one or more distinguished writers. In addition to presenting readings and lectures, these visitors are particularly accessible to students in The Writing Program. Hurst Professors have included Hortense Calisher, Angela Carter, Amy Clampitt, Robert Coover, James V. Cunningham, Percival Everett, Paula Fox, William Gaddis, Albert Goldbarth, Philip Graham, Anthony Hecht, Ursula Hegi, Lamar Herrin, Carolyn Kizer, Maxine Kumin, Joseph McElroy, William Meredith, James Merrill, W. S. Merwin, Lisel Mueller, Iris Murdoch, Charles Newman, Robert Pack, Robert Pinsky, E. Annie Proulx, Ishmael Reed, Marilynne Robinson, Lore Segal, Alan Shapiro, Gary Snyder, Gerald Stern, May Swenson, Ellen Bryant Voight, Reed Whittemore, Joy Williams, Hilma Wolitzer, and Jay Wright, among others.

News Stories & Tip Sheets:

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The Last Cowboys at the End of the World Nick Reding to read for Writing Program Reading Series April 16 April 3, 2009 -- Nonfiction writer and St. Louis native Nick Reding will read from his work at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 16, for Washington University's Writing Program in Arts & Sciences. Reding is the author of The Last Cowboys at the End of the World: The Story of the Gauchos of Patagonia (2001), which explores a semi-nomadic culture that was once thought to have all put disappeared at the end of the 19th century.

When a Woman Loves a Man Poet David Lehman to speak for Writing Program Reading Series April 2 March 26, 2009 -- Poet David Lehman, editor of The Best American Poetry series, will read from his work at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 2, for the Writing Program in Arts & Sciences. Lehman is the author of several collections of poems, including Poetry Forum: A Play Poem: A Pl'em (with Judith Hall, 2007), Jim and Dave Defeat the Masked Man (with James Cummins, 2006), When a Woman Loves a Man (2005), The Evening Sun (2002), The Daily Mirror: A Journal in Poetry (2000), Valentine Place (1996), Operation Memory (1990) and An Alternative to Speech (1986).

"American virtuoso of the short story" Fiction writer Lydia Davis to speak for Writing Program Reading Series March 17 and 19 March 2, 2009 -- Davis Fiction writer Lydia Davis, the Fannie Hurst Visiting Professor in Washington University's Writing Program in Arts & Sciences, will present a craft talk, titled "A Beloved Duck Gets Cooked: Writing Outside the Mainstream," and a reading from her work at 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 17, and Thursday, March 19, respectively, in Hurst Lounge, Room 201, Duncker Hall on Washington University's Danforth Campus.

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Faculty Experts:

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Carl Phillips Professor of English in Arts & Sciences Carl Phillips Download Phillips is the highly acclaimed author of seven collections of poetry. His first book, "In the Blood," won the 1992 Samuel French Morse Poetry Prize and was heralded as the work of an outstanding newcomer in the field of contemporary poetry. His other books are "Cortege" (1995), a finalist for both ... Expertise: contemporary poetry, African-American literature, 20th-century poetry, homoerotic poetry, contemporary literature, ancient writers, ancient poets, … Direct contact: (314) 935-7133 / cphillips@wustl.edu

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Related News Clips:

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The Poetry of Pain Newsweek June 2, 2008 -- Newsweek's Jerry Adler writes that in her book of poems titled 'Elegy,' Mary Jo Bang finds inspiration in the darkest of places. Bang's poetry was inspired by the grief after her son's death. She teaches creative writing at WUSTL.

Mary Jo Bang Examines Grief's Poetic Form, the Elegy PBS: The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and 1 others April 11, 2008 -- In Thursday night's installment of its Poetry Series, WUSTL writer Mary Jo Bang examines grief's poetic form, the elegy. She is professor of English and director of the Creative Writing Program at WUSTL. Her fifth book, "Elegy," which won of the National Book Critics Circle Award, examines the pain and grief following the death of her son. She shares two poems from the collection. Includes a video link to this story.

Mona Van Duyn, former U.S. poet laureate, dies at 83 New York Times and 11 others Dec. 6, 2004 -- Ms. Van Duyn was selected by the Library of Congress in 1992 to serve a term as the United States poet laureate. She was the sixth laureate and the first woman to be chosen. Mona Jane Van Duyn was born on May 9, 1921, in Waterloo, Iowa. She taught at the University of Louisville, in Kentucky, and at Washington University in St. Louis, as well as at writing seminars and conferences.