SAIC Writing Program: MFA and BFA in Writing

05/14/2026

~The Master of Fine Arts in Writing Program~at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
cordially invites you to attend our capstone readings by graduating students on
Friday, May 15, 2026

at the Maclean Ballroom,
112 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago

4:30 p.m. reception with hors-d'oeuvres
5:30–7:30 p.m.: readings
~free~

featuring:
• d.l.adams
• Nick Aiello
• Malaika Ali
• Tikkun Bambara
• Jason Benson
• Monica West
• Zoey Gringlas
• Lori Hile
• Kae Johnston
• Chintamani Anil Kinjavadekar
• Olive Maurstad
• Sara Rani Meenakshi Puli Reddy
• Elena Wu
• féi iká shumarí
• Shirley Zhong

curated by Carson Becker with Ruth Margraff,
and TAs Sara Rani Meenakshi Puli Reddy and Elizabeth Branstetter
painting by Zoey Gringlas from “Untitled (No Actual Ground)” 2026

03/18/2026

You are invited!

01/03/2026

10/21/2025

Congratulations Forbes! Saic writing professor emeritus

Raccoon you better be cool Thought I saw you on Broadway Eating King Fish’s barbecue Some people claim raccoon you pretty Swear raccoon tame like a kitty But raccoon bites you if you get too close I saw raccoon on Lenox Avenue Stealing milk from a baby Thought I saw a black cat on the corner But.....

10/18/2025

This just went live bravo Gaines!

My body remembers every hurt in its bones, and every slight in its dreams

11/06/2023

Please join us Wednesday, November 8th at 3:15 for our first Graduate Reading of the year from Maya Odim & Claire Lobenfeld.

We will be in the Writing Department, Lakeview Room 803 or on Zoom
https://saic-edu.zoom.us/j/83439379005

Maya Odim is an interdisciplinary artist exploring rhythms, patterns, and qualities of speech through both the written word and a developing choreographic praxis, thickening what constitutes performance space.

Claire Lobenfeld is a writer who favors language over traditional narrative structures through a focus on sound, image, and disruption of syntactical norms. She generates live texts as a member of [[Rehearsal]].

05/13/2022

As part of Writing Program faculty member Ruth Margraff's Professional Practices class, rising BFAW seniors have produced an in-house, limited edition book!

Featured in this book are the portfolios of BFA students Ifeoluwa Abiodun Segun-Abugan, Yu Ye, Splash Celes, F. T. Cald and John Cook; and BFAW students Sam Donnell and Izabella Sifuentes (cover design). The layout was designed and implemented by course TA and MFAW student Joshua Craig.

Congratulations, all!

05/11/2022

2022 BFA in Writing Thesis Reading
Saturday, May 21 at 5:00 p.m.
The LeRoy Neiman Center, 37 S. Wabash Ave.

Join us as students graduating from SAIC’s Bachelor of Fine Arts in Writing program read, perform, and otherwise represent their work in traditional as well as hybrid and experimental forms, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, scripts, electronic media, and performance.

Visitors to SAIC galleries and academic buildings are required to show a state-issued picture ID and either proof of vaccination or negative test results from a COVID-19 test professionally administered within the last 72 hours. Masks are required in all campus buildings.

04/15/2022

Faculty member Jesse Ball's newest book, Autoportrait, is out in August.

From Catapult:
"In this new memoir, Jesse Ball’s 'humane curiosity' (James Wood) invites the reader into a raw and personal account of love, grief, and memory. Inspired by the memoir Édouard Levé put to paper shortly before his death, Autoportrait is an extraordinarily frank and intimate work."

Congratulations, Jesse!

04/13/2022

On June 13, the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame, in partnership with After Hours Press and Third World Press, will release Wherever I'm At: An Anthology of Chicago Poetry. This anthology tells a story of Chicago through its finest living poets and artists. It includes more than 160 contributors, including the majority of our essential poets who've lived and worked and written about our city for the past several generations.

Several contributors have strong ties to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, including faculty members Calvin Forbes, Rosellen Brown, James McManus, and Elise Paschen!

The official book launch of Wherever I’m At: An Anthology of Chicago Poetry will be held on June 13, 2022, at the Logan Center. On May 15 at the Chicago Cultural Center, as part of the American Writers Museum's “American Writers Festival,” a panel of anthology contributors will discuss the new book and the role of Chicago poetry at home and nationally. A similar panel event will take place at the Chicago History Museum on July 12.