The Books of 2023
The latest additions to Bennington’s rich literary history have hit bookstore shelves. Their authors join Bennington notables, including Donna Tartt '86, Kiran Desai '93, Michael Pollan '76, Ann Goldstein '71, Anaïs Duplan '14, Anne Waldman '66, Cynthia Sweeney MFA '13, Jamie Quatro MFA '09, Amy Gerstler '01, Morgan Jerkins MFA '16, and Charles Bock '97.
Together, Bennington alumni and faculty have won twelve Pulitzer Prizes. Three have served as U.S. poets laureate, and four have been honored as MacArthur Geniuses. Countless among them have written New York Times bestsellers and National Book Award winners.
This year, undergraduate and Bennington Writing Seminars alumni and faculty published more than 20 nationally reviewed books. They have been noted by NPR, chosen as books of the year by the New York Times, and honored by the National Book Foundation. Their writing spanned a wide range of genres from nonfiction essays, memoirs, and biographies to novels, poetry, young adult literature, and short stories.
The Words That Remain
This novel by Stênio Gardel, translated by visiting faculty member Bruna Dantas Lobato ’15, was this year's winner of the National Book Award for Translated Literature.
How to Say Babylon
Safiya Sinclair ’10 wrote this memoir, which has been named an NPR Best Book of the Year, one of the New York Times Notable Books of 2023, and a New Yorker Best Books of the Year.
The Weeds
This novel by Bennington Writing Seminars faculty member Katy Simpson Smith was included among the New Yorker's Best Books of the Year and noted as a “must read” by The Boston Globe.
Bennington Writing Seminars Alumni and Faculty Publications
- The Oud Player of Old Cairo, Fiction, by Jasmin Attia MFA ’21
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The Last Animal, Fiction by Ramona Ausubel, BWS faculty
Named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, NPR, and Oprah Daily
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Tender Machines, Poetry, by J. Mae Barizo MFA ’13
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Call Up the Waters, Short Stories, by Amber Caron MFA ’16
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Creature, Poetry, Michael Dumanis, BWS faculty
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Romantic Comedy: Poems by James Hall MFA ’00
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At the Hour Between Dog and Wolf, Fiction, by Tara Ison MFA ‘99
Named an Editors' Choice by the New York Times Book Review, received a starred review from Kirkus
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I’ll Take Everything You Have, Young Adult, James Klise MFA ’05
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Before All the World, Fiction, Moriel Rothman-Zecher MFA ’23
An NPR Best Book of the Year
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Small in Real Life, Short Stories, by Kelly Sather MFA ’15
Winner of the 2023 Drue Heinz Literature Prize
Undergraduate Alumni and Faculty
- Drawing Botany Home, Memoir, by Lyn Baldwin '88
Winner of the 2023 Banff Mountain Book Competition: Environmental Literature Award
- The Shards, Fiction, by Bret Easton Ellis ’86
New York Times Bestseller
- Writing for Stage and Screen, Nonfiction, by Sherry Kramer, faculty member
- Brooklyn Crime Novel, Fiction, by Jonathan Lethem ’86
A New Yorker Best Books of the Year
- Moving Parts (&), Artist’s Book by Mary Lum, faculty member emerita
- Lush Lives, Fiction, by J. Vanessa Lyon, faculty member
Booklist, starred review
- Justice and the Interstates, Nonfiction, by Amanda Phillips de Lucas ’11
- In the Lobby of the Dream Hotel, Fiction, by Genevieve Plunkett '11
- The Book, Poetry, by Mary Ruefle ’74
Coming in 2024
How to Make a Few Billion Dollars, Nonfiction, by Brad Jacobs ’77
Are you an alum who has published a book? Please let us know by submitting a short description and links to classnotes@bennington.edu.
For more about Bennington’s Literary programs, visit the following: