As one of the longest-running creative writing MFA programs in the country, our Writing, Literature and Publishing Department has attracted an industry-active faculty that offers a diverse range of perspectives and expertise.
Our creative writing faculty are all actively writing and publishing in their respective genres. Recent faculty accolades include:
- Pulitzer Prize in Biography and Memoir
- Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts
- Guggenheim Fellowship in Creative Arts
- Fiction Honors from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association
- Massachusetts Book Award in Nonfiction
Meet Your Program Director
Your Graduate Program Director, Mako Yoshikawa, will serve as your primary faculty advisor, guiding you on course selection to ensure that you will achieve your learning objectives and satisfy the program requirements. You will also receive program and department news from your program director along with any on- and off-campus opportunities that might be of interest to you.
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Mako YoshikawaProfessor and Graduate Program Director
Mako Yoshikawa is the author of the novels One Hundred and One Ways and Once Removed. Her work has been translated into six languages; awards for her writing include a Radcliffe Fellowship. Her essays have been published in the Missouri Review, Southern Indiana Review, Harvard Review, Story, LitHub, Best American Essays, and Longreads. Her memoir, Secrets of the Sun, is forthcoming from Ohio State University Press in February 2024.
Creative Writing Faculty
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Jabari AsimProfessor
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Ben BrooksPronouns: (He/Him/His)Senior Writer-in-Residence
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Christine CassonSenior Writer-in-Residence II
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Julia GlassSenior Distinguished Writer-in-Residence
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Alden JonesPronouns: (She/Her/Hers)Writer-in-Residence
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Mary KovaleskiSr. Lecturer II
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Megan MarshallCharles Wesley Emerson Professor
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Frederick ReikenProfessor
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Peter ShippySenior Affiliated Faculty - On Leave
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Daniel TobinPronouns: (He/Him/His)Professor
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Novuyo TshumaPronouns: (She/Her/Hers)Assistant Professor - On Leave
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Jerald WalkerProfessor
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Steve YarbroughProfessor
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Katie WilliamsPronouns: (She/Her/Hers)Assistant Professor and Graduate Program Director
Literature and Teaching College Composition Faculty
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Yu-jin ChangAssociate Professor and Assistant Deanyujin_chang@emerson.edu
- Department School Of Arts
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Steven HimmerPronouns: (He/Him/His)Sr Lecturer II and First Year Writing Program Director
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Maria KoundouraPronouns: (She/Her/Hers)Interim Dean, School of Arts & Assistant Provostmaria_koundoura@emerson.edu
- Department Academic Affairs
- Department School Of Arts
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Adele LeePronouns: (She/Her/Hers)Associate Professor and Associate Chair
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Stephen ShanePronouns: (He/Him/His)Senior Lecturer
Areas of Focus: Writing Center Coordinator
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Adam SpryAssociate Professor
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Rosario SwansonPronouns: (She/Her/Hers)Associate Professor
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Wendy WaltersPronouns: (she/her/hers)Professor - On Leave
Publishing Faculty
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Susanne AlthoffPronouns: (She/Her/Hers)Associate Professor and Interim Graduate Program Director
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Bill BeuttlerPronouns: (He/Him/His)Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director - On Leave
Bill Beuttler, a Chicago native, broke into journalism as a police reporter at the legendary City News Bureau of Chicago. His first teaching job was as a visiting professor of magazine journalism at Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism.
Before joining Emerson, Beuttler spent three years covering jazz for The Boston Globe, which he continues to do occasionally, and teaching journalism at Boston University. His magazine work includes stints as a senior editor at the Discovery Channel, Men's Journal, and Boston magazine, and as an associate editor at DownBeat and American Way. He has also been published in JazzTimes, Jazziz, The Atlantic, Esquire, Chicago magazine, The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Travel Holiday, Cooking Light, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and The New York Times Book Review.
His first book, Make It New: Reshaping Jazz in the 21st Century, was published in 2019 by Lever Press and is available in paperback and open access editions. DownBeat magazine called Make It New “a rewarding book that examines some of the key voices directing contemporary jazz.”
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Sarah ColeAssistant Professor
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Benoit Denizet-LewisAssociate Professor - On Leave
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Lisa DiercksPronouns: (She/Her/Hers)Professor
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Gian LombardoSenior Publisher-in-Residence
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Raquel PidalPronouns: (She/They)Assistant Professor
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John RodzvillaPronouns: (He/Him/His)Assistant Professor
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Kyanna SuttonPronouns: (She/Her/Hers)Assistant Professor
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Daniel WeaverSenior Publisher/Editor-in-Residence