LSU Creative Writing

We're comin in hot with another grad spotlight! Round of applause for our Pisces queen, Šari Dale! Congrats, Šari! ♓️ ✨️

This isn't an April Fools' joke!!! 🤡 Pop by LSU's HSSHC at noon this Wednesday to hear some thrilling words from English Instructor Henry Goldkamp and fellow Instructor and MFA alum Zach Shultz ('24). An artistic pairing this good hasn't come along since paper met pen (quill?)

Commencement's nearly here... and over the next couple of weeks we'll be spotlighting/congratulating our graduating MFA students! On that note, hooray for Kyler Patrick Carter! 🥳 🐯 Many congrats, Kyler!

We're buzzing this Monday morning about MFA alum Jake Zawlacki's ('23) translation of MOSQUITO by Akhmet Baitursynov 🦟 Congrats, Jake, on this brilliant achievement! You can purchase MOSQUITO now with Academic Studies Press 📖

Today's your lucky day 🤞 ☘️ TONIGHT ☘️ at Brickyard South is this semester's second installment of the Underpass Reading Series. MFA first-years Michael Romack, Jasper Graydon and Camille Hardee will read some magical original works. Come by before 7 to get a good spot!

On April 18, show up and show out for three LSU Creative Writing faculty (Adam Clay, Jesse DeLong and Ariel Francisco), two current MFA students (Sarah Brockhaus and Brooke Stanish), and an MFA alumni (Nuha Fariha) for a 'Poets of LSU' reading at the New Orleans Poetry Festival!

Endless congratulations to MFA alumna Kathleen Boland ('17) for the release of her debut novel, SCAVENGERS, with Viking! We're rushing to the bookstore now to get a copy—and so should you! 🐯

Three cheers for our three MFA third-year readers at Monday's Underpass: Sarah Brockhaus, Brooke Stanish, and Jalen Giovanni Jones! 💘 So thankful that we got to hear y'all's glorious words! And stay tuned for the next Underpass in March... be there or ELSE!

Looking for love? 💘 Come out to the always stellar Brickyard South to hear words that'll make you swoon! ❤️‍🔥 Monday is our first Underpass of the semester, with readings from three of our MFA third-years: Sarah Brockhaus, Jalen Giovanni Jones and Brooke Stanish.

Very happy #pubday to MFA Alumna Emily Nemens ('14) 🎊 Her new novel, CLUTCH, is out today! CLUTCH is a big, beautiful, and deeply absorbing novel that asks how much space and heart we can give to our friends and our families, and what space we can save for ourselves.

Clear your schedules for next Tuesday! Join us at the HSSHC to hear Creative Writing Professor Maurice Carlos Ruffin and English Instructor Tyler Robert Sheldon read from and discuss their latest books 📖

Stop everything you're doing and go read MFA alumna and current English Instructor Alejandra Vansant's ('25) latest poem, "The Tunnels," in The Shore! If you're a fan of cloud-watching, quilting, and/or top-tier poetry, you'll find so much to relish in her art 🌤️ 🪡

New year, new good news 🎆 Out of over 2,600 submissions, MFA second-year Sirong Li's story “Ground of None” received an Honorable Mention in Zoetrope’s 2025 Short Fiction Contest! Let's give her a huge round of applause for this well-deserved honor!

MFA applications due today! Our nationally-ranked MFA program hosts a thriving group of talented artists working in traditional and hybrid genres. If you value building community, advancing your craft, and/or chowing down on crawfish, send your application our way 📬

Happy first day of classes tigers! Here's a few pics from a recent holiday potluck hosted by our wonderful MFA students 🍯 We've got a TON of exciting stuff happening this semester—stay tuned! And if you're considering our MFA program, don't forget to apply by January 15 💌

Celebrate the end of finals with a reading dedicated to the art of nonfiction! Students in Instructor and MFA Alum Halley McArn's ('25) Introduction to Creative Nonfiction class will present their work at 3:30 PM on Tuesday, December 16 at Highland Coffees— open mic to follow!

MFA second-year Carolina Murriel is on the move 🚗 Her wonderful high-speed essay, "Driving My Tías Through Miami," can be found in the Spring 2025 issue of Prairie Schooner and on their website! Congratulations, Carolina! It's nothing but green lights ahead 💚

Florida apologist, karaoke all-star, and MFA alum Parker Logan ('24) has his first chapbook, LEAVING BATON ROUGE, out now with Bottlecap Press ⚜️ Raise a toast to Parker! 🍞

MFA third-year Sarah Brockhaus has a new poem in print in @LaLiterature and a forthcoming poem in @LaurelReview ! Her poem "Elegy for My Ninth Grade Natural Science Project" was also a 2025 Best of the Net Nominee from @ALitReview 🪶

If you've ever felt you needed permission to act a clown, look no further 🤡 LSU English Instructor Henry Goldkamp's rollicking debut poetry collection, JOY BUZZER, "takes a bowie knife to the absurdities of contemporary life." Get your hands on a copy now 🎪