MFA in Writing News

Pen America "Honest and Vulnerable"

Morgan Jerkins MFA '16 was interviewed as part of the Pen Ten interview series on Pen America last month. She spoke about "the responsibility of the writer" which she sees as "to be honest and vulnerable. Jerkins is the author of a forthcoming collection of essays, This Will Be My Undoing. She is currently a contributing editor for Catapult. Her take on the Colin Kaepernick controversy, "What Colin Kaepernick's National Anthem Protest Reveals About American" was published in Rolling Stone in August. 

NPR.org Great Reads

In its Guide to 2016’s Great Reads, NPR recommended Nitro Mountain by Lee Clay Johnson ’07, The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney MFAW ’13, Kookooland by Gloria Norris ’76, and The Queen of the Night by former MFAW faculty Alexander Chee.

Bennington PEN nominations PEN Nominations

Earlier this week, Mashable announced their long lists for several categories of the 2017 PEN Literary awards, which include a number of Bennington graduates.

Buzzfeed "How They Killed My Grandmother"

Last month, Buzzfeed published a memoir-style essay by Chandra Ganguly MFAW '18 called "How They Killed My Grandmother." 

Rolling Stone National Anthem Protest

Morgan Jerkins MFAW ’16 recently published an essay in Rolling Stone on “What Colin Kaepernick’s National Anthem Protest Tells Us About America.” In it, she argues that “People aren’t merely upset because he is disrespecting the flag; they are upset because [his] anger illuminates just how divided this nation is and has always been.”