Northwestern University's MA in Writing & MFA in Prose and Poetry Programs

05/27/2026

This Friday, May 29, 2026 join MFA fiction alumnus Ignatius Valentine Aloysius for a book launch at 7 pm at Roscoe Books in Chicago.

His second collaborative poetry collection is Everything I Touch Is—& Isn’t—You (Roadside Press), a collaboration with recent Santa Cruz, CA poet laureate David Allen Sullivan! Also featuring Carlos Cumpián, Faylita Hicks, and Nina Sudhakar!

05/16/2026

Last night’s MFA faculty reading with .stewart312 John McCarthy 🖊️📚!!

05/04/2026

MA & MFA Faculty Reading
Next Friday, May 15!
6:30 PM
In-person at The Book Cellar
4736 N. Lincoln Avenue
Chicago
Northwestern University School of Professional Studies
Featuring Rachel Swearingen JJames Stewart Donna Seaman, Naeem Murr & John McCarthy, hosted by Christine Sneed- please join us for a convivial literary event!

04/18/2026

Congratulations to fiction faculty member Laurie Lawlor who won the Society of Midland Authors' Children's Reading Round Table Award for her nonfiction book Many Voices: Building Erie, the Canal That Changed America!

Building Erie, The Canal That Changed America

04/16/2026

There's still time to apply for classes starting in September 2026! Our next admissions deadline for the MA in Writing & the MFA in Prose & Poetry is July 15.



Northwestern University School of Professional Studies

More information available here:

Explore Northwestern's creative writing MFA. MFA in prose and poetry specializations include poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, popular fiction, publishing and more.

02/26/2026

What inspires a novel, and how do writers sustain their craft?

Award-winning author and Northwestern faculty member Naeem Murr discusses his new novel Every Exit Brings You Home (W.W. Norton, February 2026) and his work with students in Northwestern University's MA in Writing & MFA in Prose and Poetry Programs.

In this interview, Murr reflects on the origins of the novel and the rewards of mentoring emerging writers.

Read the interview: https://sps.northwestern.edu/stories/news-stories/mfa-creative-writing-naeem-murr-every-exit-brings-you-home.html

02/25/2026

MFA alumnus and editor Tim Chapman, Author & Artist recently published a new issue of his journal LitBop - Kindle edition available here and hard copies also available from your favorite bookstore.

Litbop: Art and Literature in the Groove is an annual literary journal that publishes fiction, poetry, art, and photography. Every issue features work by a diverse group of creators from around the world. This, our fifth issue, is the first to include essays. Contributors for this issue include a...

02/19/2026

Fiction faculty Gina Frangello recommends two books on the craft of writing in a new Word Cafe post 🖋️📘

Summer reading lists abound and we thought we’d ask various members of our community to share what they’re reading or recently read and enjoyed. Here is a sampling of different books that have have captured our students’, faculty’s, staff’s and alumni’s imaginations. Happy reading!

02/19/2026

Congratulations to MFA fiction alumnus Allison Epstein who has received the National Jewish Book Award for her third novel, FAGIN THE THIEF, "in which Epstein created a powerfully imagined backstory of the famous thief and ringleader in Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist. The other finalists were Mrs. Lilienblum’s Cloud Factory by Iddo Gefen and Boy From the North Country by Sam Sussman."

Northwestern University School of Professional Studies

https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/book/fagin-the-thief

With Fagin the Thief, American novelist Allison Epstein takes on Charles Dickens, one of literature’s most iconic authors, and Oliver Twist, one of his most beloved tales.

02/10/2026

Congratulations to fiction faculty Naeem Murr, whose new novel, EVERY EXIT BRINGS YOU HOME (W. W. Norton & Company) was published on Tuesday, 2/3! His release party is on 2/26, 7 PM CT, at Women & Children First Bookstore, 5233 N. Clark St., Chicago. An interview with Naeem for The National Book Review is linked to below.

A Man’s Meditation on Homeland and Exile