MFAW News

Hugh Ryan “Writing is the Last Thing I Do”: 5 Questions for Hugh Ryan
By Craig Morgan Teicher

Hugh Ryan graduated from the Bennington Writing Seminars in 2009 and went on to publish two acclaimed books of nonfiction, When Brooklyn Was Queer (2019) and The Women’s House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison, which won the Stonewall Book Award/Israel Fishman Award for Nonfiction and the Warren Johansson Award. He has taught nonfiction at the Writing Seminars since 2022, and just sold his next book, Becoming History, a memoir in essays. He talked with me about turning research into writing and falling back in love with the essay.

Image of Etan Kerr-Finell Etan Kerr-Finell Selected as Residential Teaching Fellow at Bennington Writing Seminars

Etan Kerr-Finell, a fourth term MFA student in poetry, has been selected to be the eleventh Residential Teaching Fellow at Bennington Writing Seminars.

Image of Sarah Zoric Sarah Zoric Selected as Residential Teaching Fellow at Bennington Writing Seminars

Sarah Zoric, an MFA student in fiction, has been selected to be the tenth Residential Teaching Fellow at Bennington Writing Seminars.

open books 2022: A Year in Books

In 2022, undergraduate and Bennington Writing Seminars alumni and faculty published over 50 books. Their writing spanned a wide range of genres from nonfiction essays, memoirs, and biographies, to novels, poetry, young adult literature, and short stories.

image of bookshelf Bennington Books Gift Guide for 2022 (and Beyond!)

Whether you’re looking for the perfect gift for a loved one or for yourself this holiday season (you deserve a ‘lil treat), we’ve rounded up a handy list of new and classic books written by the Bennington community to delight even the pickiest of readers.