mfa in creative writing

FALL 2020 - SPRING 2023

I pursued a long-time dream of a graduate degree in creative writing, and in April 2023, I graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with an MFA in Creative Writing: Fiction.

• I wrote a lot! I finished drafts of two novels, wrote essays, and a poetry chapbook. As a Dietrich Fellow my first year, I was able to prioritize my writing. My work has been published in Poets.org, Call Me [Brackets], Salt Hill Journal, and elsewhere. I am the Winner of the 2021 Jean Meyer Aloe Graduate Poetry Award and Third Place Winner of the 2021 Nordan-Kinder Award in Fiction. You can read some of my writing here.

• I supported BIPOC and feminist voices by working for all three years with Aster(ix) Literary Journal, the last two as Managing Editor. I was the lead organizer on six print issues, several digital folios, and organically grew our Instagram following by over 1,000. You can read more about my work with Aster(ix) here.

• I taught Seminar in Composition and Intro to Fiction. I loved teaching undergraduates and empowering them to consider the ways that writing can support their work and dreams, no matter their major. You can read more about my teaching philosophy, syllabus, and student reviews here.

• I built community. I developed and codified, as a volunteer, the Pitt MFA Community Initiative to create support structures for graduate writing students at the University of Pittsburgh which included new institutional supports, reading and graduation events, a Discord digital community space, a welcome picnic event, and an in-depth guide that included everything from neighborhood housing recommendations to class requirements. I wrote a public-facing guide with advice on how to apply to an MFA in Creative Writing (or not!).