Graduate Students

Students in UIUC's M.F.A. in Creative Writing program come from diverse educational and cultural backgrounds, and their work in prose and poetry explores a wide range of literary styles. While enrolled in the program, students past and present have published writing in the PANK, Passages North, Mid_American Review, Cincinnati Review, Massachusetts Review, Zoetrope: All-Story, Paris Review, Copper Nickel, Sou'wester, Alaska Quarterly Review, Sycamore Review, Image, Denver Quarterly, South Carolina Review, Arkansas Review, Georgia Review, Black Warrior Review, Texas Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Grain, Kalliope, 13th Moon, North Dakota Quarterly, Raven Chronicles, Berkeley Fiction Review, Michigan Review, Phoebe, BorderSenses, Boxcar Review, RHINO, Pebble Lake Review, Storyglossia, Fiction International, Oxford Magazine, The Believer, and elsewhere.

Third Year

Laura Adamczyk (fiction)

BA, Creative Writing and Spanish, Knox College

MA, Creative Writing, Northwestern University

Wilmington, Illinois

Kendra Chapman (poetry)

BA, English, Davidson College

Louisville, Kentucky

Michael Don (fiction)

BA, Psychology, Tufts University

St. Louis, Missouri

Angela Hine (poetry)

BA and MA, English/Creative Writing, Pittsburg State University

Bartlett, Kansas


Second Year

Khaleel Gheba (poetry)

BA, English, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Ellicott City, Maryland

Roya Khatiblou (fiction)

BS, Microbiology (English Minor), Arizona State University

MA, Creative Writing, Northwestern University

Glendale, Arizona

Sean MacIntyre (fiction)

BA and MA, English, California State University at Northridge

Los Angeles, California

Natalie Mesnard (fiction)

BS, Mathematics, Virginia Commonwealth University

Richmond, Virginia

Rachel Samanie (poetry)

BA, English Literature, University of California, Berkeley

Pismo Beach, California

Lucilena Williams (poetry)

BA, English, Colorado College

Bellingham, Washington


First Year

Sara Fan (poetry)

BA, Political Science, Ohio State University

Scaggsville, Maryland

Ceridwen Hall (poetry)

BA, Anthropology and History, Wellesley College

Cincinnati, Ohio

Avery Irons (fiction)

BA, Political Science, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

JD, Columbia University School of Law

Calgary Martin (poetry)

BA, English, Brooklyn College

Sammamish, Washington

Greg Rodgers (fiction)

BA, Native American Studies, University of Oklahoma

Nafissa Thompson-
Spires (fiction)

BA, California State University, San Bernadino

PhD, Vanderbilt University

Rialto, California