Nine of the best and brightest alumni of The City College of New York’s MFA creative writing program – all recently published authors -- return to their alma mater April 3 to discuss their postgraduate success. “Life After the MFA: My Path to Publication,” a panel discussion moderated by English professor and award-winning novelist Emily Raboteau, starts 7 p.m. in Shepard Hall room 95. It is free and open to the public.
Participants include New York Times bestselling author Brendan Kiely, a 2011 CCNY alumnus; and Lisa Ko ’12, whose novel “The Leavers” won the 2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction.
“We're proud that the creative writing being published by our graduates represents a wide array of voices and genres. This is representative of our program, one of the most inclusive in the nation," said Raboteau.
The full list panelists, their honors and latest books titles are:
- Heather Archibald, ’17, Callaloo Fellow, “Home-Home”;
- Jessie Chaffee, ’11, Fulbright Grant in Creative Writing to Italy, “Florence in Ecstasy (Unnamed Press);
- JP Howard, ’09, Lambda Literary Award Finalist, “SAY/MIRROR” (The Operating System/Press);
- Brendan Kiely, ’11, honors include the Coretta Scott King Honor Award, “The Last True Love Story” (Margaret K. McElderry Books);
- Lisa Ko, ’12, PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, “The Leavers” (Algonquin Books);
- Caits Meissner, ’17, “Let It Die Hungry” (The Operating System/Press);
- Tracy O'Neill, ’13, National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree, “The Hopeful” (Ig Publishing);
- Hasanthika Sirisena, ’06, Juniper Prize in Fiction, “The Other One” (University of Massachusetts Press);
- Abigail Welhouse, ’14, “Memento Mori.”
Graduates of the program have gone on to win the Pulitzer Prize, the Pushcart Prize, the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Fulbright Award, the O. Henry Award, a Grammy Award and more.
About The City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided low-cost, high-quality education for New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. More than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight professional schools and divisions. View CCNY Media Kit.