On April 25, 2025, we celebrated nine BA/MA graduates who have earned their MA in creative writing. At the event, students read excerpts from their final projects

To begin, fiction writer Maria Pavlenko read from her thesis titled, Home Wherever You Are.

Claire Williams read from her collection of poetry, Going Back To The Body.

Matthew Ramos read a short story from his collection, Malegría.

Ashleigh Earyes, a fiction writer, read a story from her thesis, Experience Being Human.

Dana Lynch, who concentrates in nonfiction, read from her successful application to the MFA program at Columbia. Her essay collection is entitled, Thank You To My Parents.

Melissa Zavala, also a nonfiction writer, read an excerpt from her thesis, To Get That Far.

Fiction writer Paige Harris read from her thesis titled, Apologies For Ghosts.

Julianna Herriott, who concentrates in fiction, concluded the reading with an excerpt from her thesis, The Blackhall Effect.

Congratulations, graduates! We will miss you and look forward to following your writing journeys.

In addition to celebrating the graduating BA/MA class with family, faculty, and friends, we also welcomed the 10 incoming members of the BA/MA class of 2027 and said farewell to the wonderful Toby Thompson who has taught creative writing at Penn State for forty years.