Category Archives: Students

Alumni, Awards, Events, Faculty, Opportunities, Students

2025 English Department Writing Awards Announced

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On Monday, April 7, the English Department celebrated winners of the 2025 writing contests, as well as outstanding alumni and teachers, at its 2025 Spring Awards Ceremony.

Outstanding Alumni awards went to Dulce-Marie Flecha and Katherine Hazelrigg. Teaching and service awards went to Andrew Bode-Lang, Daniel Tripp, Amy Cooper White, Niyyah Jackson, and Claire Williams.

The full list of this year’s undergraduate and graduate writing award winners, as well as the names of judges, is on our 2025 writing contest winners’ page.

The undergraduate creative writing contests for 2026 are already open for submissions! The deadline to submit is January 26, 2026. Students can review contest guidelines and submit their work on the department’s writing contest page.

Students

Meet the Students in our Graduate Degree Program of Creative Writing

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Penn State’s integrated undergraduate/graduate program in creative writing welcomes ten new students this fall 2024 to join the nine continuing into their second year of the program. Though some members of the cohort come from places such as Long Island, south Florida, and Mexico, most call Pennsylvania home. Drawing from the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien, John Steinbeck, Mary Oliver, and J.D. Salinger, these students are inspired to write by fantasy, the natural world, and their own experiences. Outside of the world of the pen, these writers spend their free time wandering art museums, playing in bands, and working in ceramic studios. Check out the profiles of our first and second-year students on the (“Student Bios” page)!

Awards, Publications, Students

Maggie Dressler Wins 2024 AWP Intro Journals Award

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Maggie Dressler, a recent graduate of the BAMA program, was selected as a winner of the 2024 Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) Intro Journals Project for her essay “My Identity is Disputed Territory,” about growing up in Ramallah, in the West Bank, with parents who were Christian aid workers from the US.

The AWP Intro Journal Project is a literary competition for the discovery and publication of the best new works by students currently enrolled in AWP member programs. Program directors nominate student work from all genres, and winners are selected for publication in participating literary journals.

Maggie’s essay will be published by Reed Magazine in an upcoming issue. Congratulations, Maggie!

Events, Students

Congratulations to 2024 BA/MA Graduates!

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On Friday, April 19, 2024, the Penn State creative writing community gathered to listen to excerpts from the final projects by nine BA/MA students who will graduate with their MA in creative writing this spring.

Pictured below are the BA/MA Class of 2024 (L to R): back row–Nikolai Korbich, Ava Wendelken, Emmanuela Eneh, Aliyah Rios, Barbara Kutz, Margaret Dressler; front row–Kiera Sargent, Cynthia Rodi, Eliza Nicewonger.

Congrats to the graduates!

9 graduating BAMA students posing

 

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 2026, said farewell to Alison Jaenicke, who has served as Assistant Director of Creative Writing for the past 11 years, and welcomed the new Assistant Director of CW, Ellen Skirvin.

BAMA Student Aliyah Rios reads to a full house.

 

Events, Reading Series, Students

Matthew Salesses Visits Penn State

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During a visit to Penn State the week of February 19,  award-winning novelist Matthew Salesses interacted with students and faculty during a fiction-writing class visit, a panel discussion on the antiracist and student-centered classroom, and a public reading, where he read from his most recent novel The Sense of Wonder and answered questions.

Below are a few photos from the February 22 reading, where BA/MA student and creative writing intern Dana Lynch introduced the author.

(Lynch is pictured with Salesses in the first photo; BA/MA student Maria Pavlenko is pictured with Salesses in the second).

(photo credit for Salesses at podium: Marissa Cruz)
Opportunities, Publications, Students

Submit to Undergraduate Writing Contests by 1/22/24

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The English Department’s Annual Undergraduate Writing Contests offer students the opportunity to earn recognition and cash prizes for their fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. In addition, first-place winners may opt to have their work published in the student literary journal Kalliope. 

Visit the department’s writing contest page for details. Submit by Monday, January 22, 2024!

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Students, Uncategorized

Meet The New BA/MA Students!

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BAMA

We welcomed 10 new students into the BA/MA program this fall 2023 to join the 9 students continuing into their second year. They come from places as far away as Bogotá, Columbia, and as nearby as Virginia, although most call Pennsylvania home. From fantastical realism to poetry to realistic non-fiction, these students each have their own artistic style. These bookworms also enjoy many other things beyond reading and writing, such as music, juggling, travel, sports, or just spending time with their loved ones. Check out the profiles of our first and second year BA/MA students on the “Student Bios” page!

Awards, Students

2023 English Department Awards Dinner Honors Contest Winners

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typewriter with purple flowers
Photo by Joyce McCown on Unsplash

On Tuesday, April 11, the English Department will celebrate its 2023 Writing Contest winners (along with those individuals receiving outstanding alumnus and teaching awards), at its 2023 Spring Awards Ceremony.

You can find a full list of this year’s writing award winners, as well as the names of judges, on our 2023 writing contest winners page.