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Michener Center for Writers Alumnus Success Stories

The Michener Center for Writers recently shared some great success stories from graduates of their MFA program.

Nathan Harris’ debut novel The Sweetness of Water was chosen for Oprah’s Book Club. The book was released on June 15 from Little, Brown and Company and it has also been longlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize. It follows two brothers in the waning days of the Civil War as they are hired by homesteaders who have lost their own son in the war.

Plus, fiction alum Rachel Heng had her story “Before the Valley” published in The New Yorker. The story follows a woman in a senior-living facility in Singapore as she discovers something unexpected about the career of a fellow resident. New Yorker editor Deborah Treisman interviews Heng about the story and her inspiration.

This made me consider the various ways in which callousness and cruelty are built into our society, in the name of pragmatism or some other utilitarian goal, and the toll this can take on the vulnerable, the elderly, the forgotten.

The Michener Center for Writers is the “only MFA program in the world that provides full and equal funding to every writer.” The program is three years and fully funded. Writers are admitted in a primary genre and also study a secondary genre. There are no teaching duties so fellows can commit themselves fully to their writing. As of Fall 2020, they are no longer requiring GRE scores to apply.

Sponsor Spotlight :: Michener Center for Writers MFA in Writing

Michener Center for Writers logoThe Michener Center for Writers is the only MFA program in the world that provides full and equal funding to every writer, yet it is the extraordinary faculty and sense of community that most distinguishes them. Theirs is a three-year, fully funded residency program with a unique interdisciplinary focus. While writers apply and are admitted in a primary genre—fiction, poetry, playwriting, or screenwriting—they also study a secondary genre during their time in Austin.

Enrolled students have no teaching duties, allowing them to fully commit themselves to their writing. Only 12 writers are admitted to the program each year so that faculty have ample time to devote to every writer. Current faculty includes Joanna Klink, Lisa Olstein, Roger Reeves, Dean Young, Edward Carey, Oscar Casares, Peter LaSalle, Bret Anthony Johnston, Elizabeth McCracken, Deb Olin Unferth, Stuart Kelban, Richard Lewis, Cindy McCreery, Beau Thorne, Annie Baker, Liz Engelman, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Kirk Lynn, and KJ Sanchez.

Writers also have the opportunity gain professional editing experience with literary magazine Bat City Review; a collaborative process between the Michener Center for Writers, the New Writers Project, and Studio Art.

Stop by their listing at NewPages to learn more.