Creative Writing

The English Department is home to a thriving Creative Writing program. Our faculty have collectively published dozens of books of fiction, poetry, literary nonfiction, and criticism. They have won awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ingram Merrill Foundation, and the Fulbright Program, as well as University-wide awards for outstanding teaching and mentoring. For undergraduates, we offer a track within the English major, as well as a certificate in Creative Writing. For graduate students, we offer a PhD. Students at all levels focus on either fiction, poetry, or literary nonfiction. We are home to an undergraduate journal, Short Vine, a book publisher, Acre Books, and the nationally prominent literary journal The Cincinnati Review. Our PhD program was ranked eighth in the country by Poets & Writers.

Non-Fiction Reading & Talk: Memoir, Mental Wellness, and the Arts by Jonathan Mathias Lassiter, Ph.D.
Co-Sponsor: Helen Weinberger Center for Drama & Playwriting
February 5, 2026; 5:30pm EST 
Elliston Poetry Room, 646 Langsam Library

Fiction Reading by Mariah Rigg
Februrary 12, 2026; 5:30 pm EST
Elliston Poetry Room, 646 Langsam Library 

The Writer and the Literary Agent: A Conversation Featuring Mariah Rigg and Amy Bishop-Wycisk
February 13, 2026; 3:30 pm EST
Elliston Poetry Room, 646 Langsam Library

Fiction Reading by Danielle Dutton
March 24, 2026; 5:30 pm EST
Elliston Poetry Room, 646 Langsam Library

Talk by Joyelle McSweeney, Elliston Poet-in-Residence
March 31, 2026; 5:30 pm EST
Elliston Poetry Room, 646 Langsam Library

Poetry Reading by Joyelle McSweeney, Elliston Poet-in-Residence
April 2, 2026; 5:30 pm EST
Elliston Poetry Room, 646 Langsam Library

Poetry Reading by Kathryn Cowles and Donald Revell
April 23, 2026; 5:30 pm EST
Elliston Poetry Room, 646 Langsam Library

Learn more about the Visiting Writers Series