Our MFA in Creative Writing program was profiled by the College of Arts and Sciences for embarking on a new chapter of literary success.

Members of the top-ranked program are celebrating a raft of honors, awards and new publications.  

Honorees include the following:

• George Saunders G’88, professor of English, being longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

• Mary Karr, the Jesse Truesdell Peck Professor of Literature, releasing a book of poetry titled “Tropic of Squalor” (HarperCollins, 2018).

• Dana Spiotta, associate professor of English, being shortlisted for the St. Francis College (SFC) Literary Prize, along with Deb Olin Unferth G’98.

• Jonathan Dee, assistant professor of English, publishing “The Locals” (Random House, 2017) to critical acclaim and commercial success.

• Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah G’16, Chanelle Benz G’12, Daniel Magariel G’13 and Joe Mungo Reed G’15 making their authorial debuts.

• Wendy Chen G’17 participating in the 2017-18 Wrolstad Contemporary Poetry Series in Portland, Oregon. 

• Students Herve Yves Comeau and Rohan Chhetri receiving Syracuse’s Robert B. Menschel Public Service Fellowship Award and Per Diem Press’ inaugural poetry prize, respectively.

“We’re a close-knit community of writers, dedicated to addressing the challenges of the literary process and focusing on the craft and quality of fine writing,” says Christopher Kennedy G’88, associate professor of English and director of the M.F.A. program. “One of our prime strengths is the excellence of our students, many of whom are published by major presses and magazines and win prestigious awards. Their success speaks to the thorough, consistent attention they receive from their peers and from our world-class faculty.”

Read the full list of sucesses and interviews with Saunders, Karr, Spiotta, and more.