Hunter College

Through the Hertog and Sainsbury Fellowships, all Fiction and Creative Nonfiction students have the opportunity to conduct research for an established writer. Recent writers students have conducted research for include: Jennifer Egan, Colson Whitehead, Yiyun Li, Hernan Diaz, Edwidge Danticat, Alexander Chee, Melissa Febos, ZZ Packer, Jia Tolentino, Ottessa Moshfegh, Sigrid Nunez, Valerie Luiselli, Zadie Smith, Claire Messud, Nathan Englander, Phillip Lopate, Cheryl Strayed, Mary Gaitskill, Frank Bruni, William Finnegan, Rivka Galchen, and Kaitlyn Greenidge.

Through the Thomas Hunter and Sainsbury Fellowships, all Poetry students have the opportunity to conduct research for an established poet, publication or poetry organization. Recent examples include Poets’ House, Cave Canem, Four Ways Books, Kimiko Hahn, Grace Schulman, Marie Howe, Fanny Howe, Jean Valentine, and Edward Hirsch. The Poetry program also can facilitate internships with the Threepenny Review and Graywolf Press.

The MFA’s Distinguished Writers Series invites a diverse array of prominent authors each semester to visit classes and give public readings. Recent authors include: Leslie Jamison, Terrance Hayes, Phil Klay, Porochista Khakpour, Lucy Sante, Eula Biss, Greg Pardlo, Laura Kasischke, Vievee Francis, David Adjmi, Elif Batuman, Helen MacDonald, Pankaj Mishra, and Claudia Rankine.

The program’s Creative Nonfiction track begins in process and springs from personal perspective—whether it be essays, opinion, reportage, memoir, or hybrid forms of storytelling. Creative Nonfiction seeks students who are committed to the connections between their experiences and the broader world.