Institutional News
Words, Words, Words
In 2019, undergraduate and Bennington Writing Seminars alumni and faculty published over 65 books.
Their writing spanned across a wide range of genres from nonfiction essays, memoirs, and biographies, to novels, poetry, young adult literature, and short stories.
Excited to begin your own legacy as a published writer?
Check out what the undergraduate Literature and Writing Program at Bennington is all about, or learn more about a Bennington Education in general by contacting our Admissions Office.
Sing to It
By Amy Hempel
High Heel
By Summer Brennan '01
Lima :: Limón
By Natalie Scenters-Zapico
Awards
Booklist's Top Ten New Novels of 2019
The Other Half of Happy by Rebecca Balcárcel MFA '02
Buzzfeed
Lima :: Limon by Natalie Scenters-Zapico
Good Housekeeping
Once More We Saw Stars by Jayson Greene MFA '21
Sing to It by Amy Hempel
National Book Awards
Dunce by Mary Ruefle '74
Be Recorder by Carmen Giménez Smith
National Book Critics Circle Award
Dunce by Mary Ruefle '74
Poetry Society of America
Laura Cresté '13, forthcoming in 2020
2019 New Mexico/Arizona
Zozobra Poems by Jules Nyquist MFA '07
When Brooklyn was Queer
By Hugh Ryan MFA '09
Once More We Saw Stars
By Jayson Greene MFA '21
Be Recorder
By Carmen Giménez Smith
2019 Bennington Writing Seminars Publications
- Jennifer Acker MFA '11, , Delphinium
- Sally Ashton MFA '03, , WordFarm
- Sally Ashton MFA '03 and Amy Gerstler MFA '11, , Madhat Press
- William Ayers MFA '02, , Teachers College Press
- Rebecca Balcårcel MFA '02, , Chronicle Books
- Remica Bingham-Risher MFA '05, (contributor)
- Julie E. Bloemeke MFA '01 and Tami Haaland MFA '00, , Terrapin Books (contributor)
- Mark Conway MFA '98, , Four Way Books
- Carrie Cooperider MFA '18, Best Small Fictions: 2019 Anthology, Sonder Press (contributor)
- Jack El-Hai MFA '09, , University of Minnesota Press
- Jane Elkin MFA '18, , Gelles-Cole Literature (contributor)
- Teresa Fazio MFA '18, s, Praeger (contributor)
- Melissa Febos, Faculty, , Simon & Schuster (contributor)
- Melissa Febos, Faculty, , McSweeneys (contributor)
- Melissa Febos, Faculty, Seal Press (contributor)
- Melissa Febos, Faculty,, Black Balloon Publishing (contributor)
- Sean Gandert MFA '16, , 47North
- Amy Gerstler MFA '11 and Didi Jackson MFA '14, (contributor)
- Carmen Giménez Smith, Faculty, , Graywolf Press
- Tanya Grae MFA '13, , YesYes Books
- Jayson Greene MFA '21, , Knopf
- Debra Gwartney MFA '06, , University of New Mexico Press
- Tami Haaland MFA '00, (contributor)
- JoeAnne Hart MFA '00, , University of Iowa Press
- Amy Hempel, Faculty, , Scribner
- Chelsea Hodson MFA '17, , Softskull Press (contributor)
- Jenn Hollmeyer MFA '12, , University of North Texas Press
- Joanna Kadish MFA '15, , Riverfeet Press (contributor)
- Elizabeth Knapp MFA '00, , Washington Writers Publishing House
- Matthew Landrum MFA '10, , SPD Books
- Keith Lesmeister MFA '14, , New American Press (contributor)
- Denton Loving MFA '14, , Blair (contributor)
- Jill McCorkle, Faculty, Margaret Rich MFA '12, and Sharon Swanson MFA '07, , UNC Press (contributor)
- Melissa McInerney MFA '15, , FutureCycle Press (contributor)
- Rena J. Mosteirin MFA '18 and James E. Dobson, , Punctum Books
- Rena J. Mosteirin MFA '18 and Sue Repko MFA '12, , Senile Monk (contributor)
- Jules Nyquist MFA '07, Zozobra Poems
- Oona Patrick MFA '01, (co-editor), UMass Press
- Ivy Pochoda MFA '11, , Granity (collaboration with Kobe Bryant)
- Namrata Poddar MFA '16, , Kitaab (contributor)
- Meaghan Quinn MFA '14, , Route 7 Press
- Ricky Ray MFA '20, , Diode Editions (re-release)
- Irina Reyn MFA '06,, Thomas Dunne Books
- Hugh Ryan MFA '09, , St. Martin's Press
- Ricco Siasoco MFA '01, , Gaudy Boy
- Sarah Sousa MFA '09, , C&R Press
- Sarah Sousa MFA '09, , Cow Creek
- Angelique Stevens MFA '17 and Clifford Thompson, Faculty, , University of Nebraska Press (contributor)
- Dalena Storm MFA '15, , Black Spot Books
- Niloufar Talebi MFA '05, , L'Aleph
- Niloufar Talebi MFA '05, , Copper Canyon (contributor/translator)
- Brent Terry MFA '01, , Main Street Rag
- Clifford Thompson, Faculty, , Other Press
- Clifford Thompson, Faculty, , Library of America (contributor)
- Erin Trahan MFA '11, , Routledge (contributor)
- Claire Vaye Watkins, Faculty, , Chronicle Books (contributor)
2019 MFA in Public Action Publication
- Caroline Woolard MFA '20, , Pioneer Works Press
2019 Undergraduate Alumni and Faculty Publications
- Kathleen Alcott, Visiting Faculty, , Ecco Press
- Summer Brennan '01,, Bloomsbury Academic
- Fran Bull '60, , Damiani
- Bret Easton Ellis '86, , Knopf
- Lis Harris '61, , Beacon Press
- Joan Price '65, , Mango
- Roxana Robinson '68, , Sarah Crichton Books
- Mary Ruefle '74, , Wave Poetry
- Natalie Scenters-Zapico, Former faculty, , Copper Canyon Press
- Amanda Sullivan '09, , Rowman & Littlefield
2020: A Preview
In 2020, along with welcoming a new group of Bennington undergraduates and Bennington Writing Seminars candidates—and the many works they will ultimately pen—the College is eagerly anticipating a robust lineup of 2020 publications, including:
- Imaginary Museums, a debut short story collection by Nicolette Polek '15, winner of the .
- Coffee by faculty member Dinah Lenney, published as part of , an essay and book series about the hidden lives of ordinary things.
- Wandering in Strange Lands by Morgan Jerkins MFA '16, which recreates her ancestors’ journeys across America, following the migratory routes they took from Georgia and South Carolina to Louisiana, Oklahoma, and California.
Wandering in Strange Lands
By Morgan Jerkins MFA '16
Fableseque
By Anna Maria Hong, faculty member
Follow Me to Ground
By Sue Rainsford MFA '17
2020 Upcoming Bennington Writing Seminars Publications
- Jen Acker, The Poets & Writers Complete Guide to Being a Writer, Avid Reader Press (contributor)
- Sean Adams '08, , William Morrow
- Albert Albonado MFA '10, JAW, Sundress
- Megan Alpert The Animal at Your Side Arlie Press
- Michael Avery MFA '17, The Cooperating Witness, Wanderlust
- Nancer Ballard MFA '07, The Science of Story: The Brain Behind Creative Nonfiction, Bloomsbury Academic (contributor)
- Julie E. Bloemeke MFA '01, Slide to Unlock, Sibling Rivalry Press
- Blake Butler MFA '06, , Riverhead
- Elaine Chapman MFA '99, Reservoir, Saint Julian Press
- Anais Duplan '14, Blackspace
- Teresa Fazio, Fidelis, Potomac Books
- Jody Forrester MFA '10, Guns Under the Bed, Oddyssey Books
- Tod Goldberg, The Darkling Halls of Ivy, Subterranean Press
- Tanya Grae, Best New Poets (contributor)
- Katherine Hill MFA '08, A Short Move, LG Publishing
- Katherine Hill MFA '08, The Ferrante Letters: An Experiment in Collective Criticism, Columbia University Press (contributor)
- Didi Jackson MFA '14, Moon Jar, Red Hen Press
- Morgan Jerkins MFA '16, , Harper
- Dinah Lenney, Faculty, Coffee (Object Lessons), Academic
- Aimee Liu, Glorious Boy, Red Hen Press
- Jill McCorkle, Faculty, Hieroglyphics, Algonquin Books
- Kate Milliken, Kept Animals, Simon & Schuster
- Marie Mockett MFA '19, American Harvest, Graywolf Press
- Emily Mohn-Slate MFA '14, The Falls, New American Press
- Joanne Nelson MFA '14, This is How We Leave, Vine Leaves Press
- Miriam O'Neal, The Body Dialogues, Lily Poetry Review Books
- Ivy Pochoda MFA '11, These Women
- Ellen Prentiss Campbell, Known By Heart: Collected Stories, Apprentice House Press
- Sue Rainsford MFA '17, , Doubleday/Scribner (UK & USA release)
- Ricky Ray, Quiet, Grit, Glory, Broken Sleep Books
- Ricky Ray, The Sound of the Earth Singing to Herself, Fly on the Wall Press
- Maya Ribault, Hôtel de la Providence, Finishing Line Press
- Shawna Rodenberg, Kin, Bloomsbury
- Katy Simpson Smith, The Everlasting, Harper Books
- Brent Terry MFA '01, The Body Electric, Unsolicited Press
- Mark Wunderlich, Faculty, The God of Nothingness, Graywolf Press
- Caroline Zancan MFA '14, We Wish You Luck, Riverhead Books
2020 Upcoming Undergraduate Alumni and Faculty Publications
- Laura Cresté '13, Poetry Chapbook
- Anais Duplan '14, Blackspace: On the Poetics of an Afrofuture, Black Ocean
- Anna Maria Hong, Faculty, Fablesque, Tupelo Press (Berkshire Prize Winner)
- Shawn MacKenzie '76, Llewellyn's Little Book of Dragons, Llewellyn Publications
- Nicolette Polek '15, Imaginary Museums, Soft Skull
- Safiya Sinclair '10, How to Say Babylon, Picador
Read a book we've missed? Share it with Communications, and we'll add it to our list.