Writers Institute
Home to Susquehanna University’s nationally recognized writing program, the Writers Institute delivers an outstanding experience to its students. With accessible, expert faculty and the Visiting Writers Program, which brings acclaimed authors to campus to give readings and engage with students, the institute is the nucleus of a vibrant community of published writers.
A creative writing major at Susquehanna University will earn you more than an undergraduate degree. You’ll learn a craft while developing skills for lifelong benefit from faculty who, among them, have not only published dozens of books and won national literary prizes, but also have received many university teaching awards.
Highly respected visiting authors and editors visit campus every academic year. They attend classes, participate in workshops, dine with students, give public readings and leave behind their impressions of our program. Many have commented that we have an M.F.A.-level program, one of the best they’ve ever seen.
News
Scholarships Announced
The Writers Institute will offer as many as 10 creative writing scholarships for incoming majors in 2012. More »
Big Hollywood Names Set to Star in Film of Tom Bailey Novel
Glenn Close, James Franco and Brit Marling recently signed on to star in the film version of The Grace That Keeps This World, the 2005 novel by Susquehanna University Professor of English and Creative Writing Tom Bailey. The movie will be directed by Azazel Jacobs from a screenplay adapted by Matthew Aldrich. More »
2012 Creative Writing Graduate Wins Prestigious Poetry Award
Kim Stoll accepted the Norman Mailer Award for College Poetry Writing at the center's fourth annual Benefit Gala in New York City on Oct. 4, 2012. More »
Karla Kelsey, Ph.D.
This widely published and decorated poet cultivates a passion for writing among her students. »
Faculty Accolades
Catherine Dent
Formite Press in Vermont has agreed to publish her short story collection Unfinished Stories of Girls. This publication is tentatively scheduled for late 2013, early 2014.
Gary Fincke
He is to be included in an anthology of stories chosen from the past fifteen years of the Flannery O'Connor Prize winning books published with The University of Georgia Press. Nancy Zadris, the editor, has chosen "The History of Staying Awake" from Gary's 2004 collection of short stories Sorry I Worried You to appear in the anthology when it is published this February.
Tom Bailey
Big Hollywood names are set to star in the film adaptation of Tom Bailey's novel The Grace That Keeps This World. Glenn Close, James Franco and Brit Marling recently signed on to star in the film version of the 2005 novel by Susquehanna University Professor of English and Creative Writing Tom Bailey. The movie will be directed by Azazel Jacobs from a screenplay adapted by Matthew Aldrich. More »
For High School Students
Submit a writing piece for publication, come to campus for a summer workshop, or attend a fall workshop session. More »
Student Publications
Three student-run literary magazines give students the chance to get published and get real-world experience.
GO South Africa
Memoirist Glen Retief leads students to his native South Africa on this GO Short program where students write travel essays about their experiences. More »
Follow us on TWITTER
Find us on 
Watch us on YOUTUBE
Explore all