A Literary Life
Imaginative reasoning is key to the literary life. Poetry, fiction, memoir: all hinge on the imagination and the intellect, on rhyme and reason, on technique and design. In our creative writing workshops, students refine their voices, develop their aesthetics, strive for originality, reflect on their cultures, research the past, consider the future. They engage the senses, play with words, experiment with form; they invent, provoke, inspire, speculate; they question and answer. All the while they gain insights into human nature and the world around them. And they hone the professional skills that prepare them for a workplace that’s driven by communication, social networking, and the articulate and precise expression of complex ideas.
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Literary Readings & Events
Creative Writing Reading Series
The Department of English hosts readings and discussions by acclaimed and renowned poets, novelists, and memoirists; in past years, we’ve featured Roxane Gay, Natasha Tretheway, Jesmyn Ward, and others.
Creative Writing Month
Every October, the Department of English hosts a month-long celebration of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, with readings, panel discussions, and other events and projects. Creative Writing Month includes Publishing Week, featuring literary agents and editors. We also prepare for November’s National Novel Writing Month.
National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month, and UNL English hosts readings and discussions, as well as Poem in Your Pocket Day and other poetry projects, throughout the month.
No Name Reading Series
The No Name Reading series features the best in poetry and prose from graduate student writers in the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The monthly readings take place at Barrymore's, an 18+ venue adjacent to Lincoln's Rococo Theatre.
Publications & Projects
Prairie Schooner
Prairie Schooner, founded in 1926 at the University of Nebraska, is widely recognized as one of the premiere literary magazines in the nation. Glenna Luschei Editor-in-Chief Kwame Dawes and Managing Editor Siwar Masannat lead a team of undergraduate interns, graduate editorial staff, and alumni readers who help publish the quarterly literary magazine.
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Laurus
Laurus, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's undergraduate literary magazine, publishes fiction, poetry, non-fiction and visual artwork created and edited exclusively by UNL undergraduates. The magazine publishes and prints its annual issue every spring, and publishes additional mini-issues online throughout the year.
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Slam Poetry
The UNL Slam Poets are a group of students promoting creative expression through the writing and performing of slam poetry. Poetry slams held throughout the year feature visiting poets and give students an opportunity to perform their original poetry. Each spring, a team of student poets compete in the national College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI).
Timothy Schaffert
Adele Hall Chair of English and Director of Creative Writing
Stephen Behrendt
George Holmes Distinguished Professor of English
James Lowell Brunton
Assistant Professor of Practice and Coordinator of Film Studies
Joy Castro
Willa Cather Professor of English and Ethnic Studies
Director of Institute for Ethnic Studies
Kwame Dawes
George Holmes Distinguished Professor of English and Glenna Luschei Editor of Prairie Schooner
Chris Harding Thornton
Lecturer
Katie Marya
Lecturer and Associate Director, Writing Program
Poetry
Creative Nonfiction
Translation (Spanish-English)
Latin American Literatures
Women's Literatures
Chigozie Obioma
James E. Ryan Associate Professor of English
Shawn Rubenfeld
Lecturer
Pascha Sotolongo Stevenson
Assistant Professor of Practice
Hope Wabuke
Associate Professor of English
Stacey Waite
Susan J. Rosowski Associate Professor of English and Chair of the Graduate Program and Director of Composition and Rhetoric
Ava Winter
Lecturer