Penn Creative Writing Program

The 2026 Creative Writing prize portal is officially open!

The Creative Writing Prizes recognize excellence in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, journalistic writing and podcasting, scriptwriting and reviews.

Submission are due Friday, February 20, at 12pm, noon.

My Couples Retreat With 3 AI Chatbots and the Humans Who Love Them I found people in serious relationships with AI partners and planned a weekend getaway for them at a remote Airbnb. We barely survived.

Read the latest from Sam Apple in WIRED Magazine

Join the LARB Book Club in reading Professor Sebastian Castillo's "Fresh, Green Life" this summer!

Thinking about MFA programs? Excellent (and searchable) database from our friends at Poets & Writers, including full and low residency and online options. www.pw.org/mfa

We're so proud of Cosmic Writers’ founder and executive director, Penn Alum Rowana Miller, who has been selected as a 2025 @aspenideas Festival Fellow! Congrats, Rowana!

Faculty member Syd Zolf has won an Independent Creative Production Grant from the The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation, which they'll use to complete their sixth book of poetry, Neutrøis, a project exploring notions of “third,” nonbinary gender. Congratulations to Syd! sachsarts.org/grant-awards...

Collaborating toward a better future for all | Penn Today The 12 winning teams of the inaugural Draw Down the Lightning grants were celebrated by Penn leadership at a reception, bringing to life the vision of In Principle and Practice.

The Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing in collaboration with the Kelly Writers House has been awarded an inaugural Draw Down the Lightning grant to offer publicly accessible programming exploring the relationship between creativity and telling the truth.

Jeez, it was a tough year for our judges...so much great work. Find out who won here: creative.writing.upenn.edu/index.php/ho...

Abbey Mei Otis wins Beltran Award for Innovative Teaching:
Congratulations to Creative Writing instructor Abbey Mei Otis, the winner of the 2025-2026 Beltran Award, presented to a faculty member who teaches writing in the extracurricular context of the Kelly Writers House.

Check out the beautiful cover art for the Italian translation of Artist-in-Residence Anna Badkhen's Bright Unbearable Reality! Cronache di un mondo in movimento is out now from Gramma Feltrinelli, translated from the original by Gioia Gerzoni. Cover art by Diana Ejaita.

Tomorrow (April 22)!

Check out the beautiful cover art for the Italian translation of Artist-in-Residence Anna Badkhen's Bright Unbearable Reality! Cronache di un mondo in movimento is out now from Gramma Feltrinelli, translated from the original by Gioia Gerzoni. Cover art by Diana Ejaita.

Poem of the week: The Stopover by Giovanni Pascoli, translated by Taije Silverman and Marina Della Putta Johnston A swan appears to sing the aurora borealis into existence in this visionary nature poem with an unexpected war connection

Check out Taije Silverman's translation of Giovanni Pascoli's 'Il Transito' selected by Carol Rumens as The Guardian's "Poem of the Week"!

Episode 18: And yet, not yet: a trans-poetics: Syd Zolf — JULIE CARR In episode 18, I talk with poet and theorist Syd Zolf about two of their recent projects, No One’s Witness: A Monstrous Poetics , a critical book that draws from Black studies as it engages the probl...

Syd Zolf recently joined Julie Carr on the podcast Return the Key. Their conversation explores writing, grief and loss, intergenerational trauma, the notion of the unanswerable question as a foundational Jewish practice, and the idea of witnessing from the position of the “no one.” Listen below:

Windward Review creative journal (Texas A&M University) invites submissions to Vol. 23: Conversations and catalyzing connections. Especially interested the epistolary and ekphrastic.
Deadline is March 17, 2025, by noon CST.
tinyurl.com/fv3t98u2

What an amazing night it was! The people have the power!

Senior thesis explores Bayard Rustin’s civil rights vision | Penn Today Fourth-year Connor Nakamura’s research delves into Rustin’s life, work, and legacy as a thinker and leader.

Creative Writing minor Connor Nakamura is featured in Penn Today! Check out this great article on Connor's senior thesis research on the life, work, and legacy of Bayard Rustin:

Poster for March 6, 4-6 pm table reading of Coming Out! A Documentary Play About Gay and Lesbian Life and Liberation. RSVP to rbracho@sas.upenn.edu

March 6, 2025, a 4pm-6pm table reading of Coming Out! A Documentary Play About Gay and Lesbian Life and Liberation by gay historian Ned Katz. RSVP to rbracho@sas.upenn.edu

Who Is In the Room?: Queer Strategies for Redefining the Role of the Theater Director With this book, Brooke O’Harra takes up directing as an artistic practice in and of itself. Speaking beyond and against craft, O’Harra drives the art of directing forward. O’Harra investigates a serie...

Congratulations to my friend and neighbor Brooke O'Harra, whose forthcoming book on directing, "Who is in the Room", is a must-read for anyone interested in theater.
www.routledge.com/Who-Is-In-th...

2025 Penn Creative Writing Prizes now open for submissions! Multiple genres! Cash prizes up to $500! Open to ALL currently enrolled Penn students! Deadline is 12 pm noon March 7. creative.writing.upenn.edu/honors-award...

Event flyer for the English & Creative Writing Majors & More Dinner

Please join English and Creative Writing on March 4th for our annual Majors & More Dinner! RSVP at www.college.upenn.edu/node/1336

The Majors & More program offers a relaxed opportunity to share a meal with faculty, staff and current students while exploring majors, minors and course offerings.