University of Nebraska MFA in Writing

04/20/2026

Congratulations to Emily Klaumann and Emmy Potter, finalists in Southeastern Louisiana University's Inkslayer Playwriting Contest!

In Emily's "Lords of Song-Ladies of Fate," Lydia Zeitler dreams of being a recognized composer and pianist, but 1820 Vienna society demands marriage. A mischievous will-o’-the-wisp offers to change her fate, for a price.

Emmy's "Sotto Voce" follows two young women from different backgrounds who study with a demanding voice teacher, igniting ambition, art, and rivalry, triggering events that reshape their lives and careers.

Both plays were developed in the MFA in Writing. Emily and Emmy will graduate this summer.

Southeastern Louisiana University’s Inkslinger Playwriting Contest, now entering its 13th year, is dedicated to discovering and championing new theatrical voices.

04/02/2026

Join Jim Peterson at Larksong Writers Place tomorrow (4/3) at noon CDT, details below:

03/16/2026

Congratulations to Michael Lundy (MFA '10), whose fiction "American Testament" is live on The Milk House:

A community comes together to take care of one of its biggest problems, in Michael Lundy's short story "American Testament."

01/26/2026

Congratulations to fourth-semester student Emmy Potter, winner of the Gary Garrison National Ten-Minute Play Regional Award for American College Theatre Festival Region 5, encompassing Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. "Manifest Destiny" will now advance to Nationals. Good luck, Emmy!

01/07/2026

Support Kim Louise's (MFA '19) FROZEN CHARLOTTES at the Shelterbelt Theatre Jan 29 through Feb 15!

Thursdays and Fridays at 7 p.m.
Saturdays at 2 p.m.
Sundays at 6 p.m.
ASL Signed Performance Feb 13

https://shelterbelt.ludus.com/index.php?sections=events&widget=1.

11/03/2025

A reading of Kim Whiteside's (MFA '19) one-act play "Wanted Negrotarians" will take place on Saturday, 11/15, at 2 pm at Joslyn Castle & Gardens. The play is set in 1920s Harlem, where a young girl eavesdrops on the secret meetings of some of the city's most influential artists and intellectuals. The reading is part of this year's Lit Fest, 11/13-11/16, honoring the Harlem Renaissance

Joslyn Castle & Gardens & Metropolitan Community College present the 16th Annual Art & Literary Festival celebrating the Harlem Renaissance! The Joslyn Castle & Gardens and Metropolitan Community College are […]

10/08/2025

begins today and concludes at noon Central tomorrow, October 9. UNO College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media Associate Dean Melissa Berke has pledged $500 if 19 more people give $5! 100% of donations go to fellowship support for incoming and returning students:

I’m ready to support MFA in Writing on October 8, 2025 during Wear Black, Give Back: UNO Giving Day 2025. Learn more about MFA in Writing

07/10/2025

Cheryl Dyer, who will graduate this summer, interviewed Terry Belew (MFA '23) about his forthcoming poetry collection, THE DEEP BLUE OF NEPTUNE, winner of The Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize from The Kent State University Press: "The program definitely helped me revise many of the poems and also encouraged me to challenge myself by using form. I also think the program helped me discover a larger writing community and encouraged accountability post-MFA, which has helped me continue to write and participate in the literary community." Pre-order here: https://www.kentstateuniversitypress.com/2025/the-deep-blue-of-neptune/

Big thanks to Cheryl Dyer for talking with Terry Belew, author of The Deep Blue of Neptune—selected as winner of the Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize. It’s coming in September from Kent State U…

05/08/2025

Listen to Jude MacAllen Tatman, who will earn his MFA this summer, describe his time before and during the program. Congrats, Allen!

NEW EPISODE. After writing poetry for nearly 50 years, Jude MacAllen Tatman enrolled in an MFA program. In this episode, he sits down with Jared to discuss what it’s like to revisit poems he drafted in the 1980s along with crafting new work. Plus, he discusses writing about his life’s most consequential crossroads, treating writing like work, and finding faculty who make themselves available to students even in a low-residency program.

https://www.jaredmccormack.com/mfawriters-jude-macallen-tatman

Jude MacAllen Tatman is a poet from Missouri who is in his final semester at the University of Nebraska Omaha’s low-residency program (). MacAllen has been writing poetry off and on for fifty years while also serving as a deckhand on towboats, playing semi-pro baseball in West Texas, delivering pizzas, waiting tables, owning a bar, working as an historian in Missouri State Parks’ Historic Preservation Program, and even once participating in an episode of Jeopardy. His poem, “Salvation,” was published in the literary journal Envy’s Sting, and his chapbook, "Echoes: Selected Poems & Stories 1984-2023," is now available.

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04/09/2025

Today we're excited to share a collaborative interview between two authors, Jamie Wendt and Cat Dixon, who both graduated from the UNO MFA in Writing program. Read the full segment to learn what they shared about their latest books, poems, and writing....
https://thegoodlifereview.com/2025/04/08/a-conversation-between-poets-cat-dixon-and-jamie-wendt/