Books by Creative Writing Students & Alumni

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The Department of Creative Writing prides itself upon student success. Our students and alumni have published more than 200 books and chapbooks.

Jason Mott's first novel became the ABC TV series The Returned and his fourth, Hell of a Book, won the National Book Award
Brad Land's debut memoir became the 2016 movie Goat
Hannah Dela Cruz Abrams received a $25,000 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer's Award and a $50,000 Whiting Writers Award
Ben Hoffman received a $30,000 Fellowship Award at the Wisconsin Institution for Creative Writing (in addition to a $25,000 NEA Grant)
Arianna Nadia Nash won the Philip Levine Prize for Poetry
Rochelle Hurt won the Barrow Street Book Prize
Leah Osowski won the Wick Poetry Prize at Kent State
Emily Carr won the New Measures Poetry Prize
Emma Bolden won the Cowles Poetry Book Prize
Xhenet Aliu won the Prairie Schooner Book Prize
Ashleigh Bryant Phillips won the C. Michael Curtis Short Story Book Prize

The list of prizes and books goes on and on—and with publishers such as HarperCollins, St. Martins, Algonquin, Viking, Ballantine, Morrow, Random House, Simon and Schuster, and more.

In addition to books, alumni have published many hundreds of poems, stories, essays, and reviews in prominent and vital venues.

Indeed, here are a few of the magazines with which recent students published while still in the program: The Georgia Review, Black Warrior Review, The Journal, Crazyhorse, Indiana Review, Colorado Review, Agni, North American Review, Green Mountains Review, Third Coast, Puerto del Sol, Passages North, Oxford American, River Teeth, Creative Nonfiction, Fourth Genre; The Paris Review Daily, Poetry International, Granta Online, and The Nation.

Published

Hannah Dela Cruz Abrams (MFA '07)

The Man Who Danced With Dolls (Madras Press, 2011)

Lavonne J. Adams (MFA '99)

Through the Glorieta Pass (Pearl Books, March 2009)

Xhenet Aliu (MFA '07)

Brass (Random House, 2018)
Domesticated Wild Things, and Other Stories (University of Nebraska Press, 2013) —Winner of the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Fiction—

Peter C. Baker (MFA '14)

Planes (Knopf/Penguin Random House, 2022)

Meghan Barnes (MFA '11)

So Long: Short Memoirs of Loss and Remembrance (Telling Our Stories Press, 2012)

Anne Clinard Barnhill (MFA '01) - Remembering Anne Barnhill 🕯

The Beautician's Notebook (Moonshine Cove Publishing, LLC, 2017)
Queen Elizabeth's Daughter (St. Martin's Griffin, 2014)
At the Mercy of the Queen: A Novel of Anne Boleyn (St. Martin's Press, 2012)
Coal, Baby (FinishingLine Press, 2012)
What You Long For (Main Street Rag, 2009)
At Home in the Land of Oz: Autism, My Sister, and Me (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2007)

Thomas Scott Benedict (BFA '08)

Worlds: The Conciousness Code (Worlds Publishing, 2021)

George Bishop, Jr. (MFA '01)

The Night of the Comet (Ballantine Books, 2013)
Letter to My Daughter (Random House, 2010)

Emma Bolden (MFA '05)

The Tiger and the Cage: A Memoir of a Body in Crisis (Soft Skull, 2022)
House is an Enigma (Southeast Missouri State University Press, 2018) — Winner of the 2017 Cowles Poetry Prize—
medi(t)ations (Noctuary Press, 2016)
Geography V (Argus House Press, 2014)
Maleficae (GenPop Books, 2013)
The Chapbook, Volume 2: This Is Our Hollywood (The Chapbook, 2013)
The Sad Epistles (Dancing Girl Press, 2008)
The Mariner's Wife (Finishing Line Press, 2008)
How to Recognize a Lady (published as part of Edge by Edge, the third in Toadlily Press' Quartet Series, 2007)

Michelle Boyajian (MFA '05)

Lies of the Heart (Viking Adult, 2010)

Jason Bradford (MFA '16) - A Celebration of Jason Bradford 🕯

Stellaphasia (North American Review Press, 2022)
The Inhabitants (Final Thursday Press, 2013)

Dan Camacho (MFA '09)

A Brief History of Wilmington (Java Dog Press, 2018)

Emily Carr (MFA '04)

Up the Shinbone Superlatives (Horse Less Press, 2012)
13 Ways of Happily (Parlor Press, 2011)
Directions for Flying / 36 fits: a young wife's almanac (Furniture Press Books, 2010)

Bill Carty (MFA '07)

We Sailed on the Lake (Bunny Presse/Fonograf Editions, 2023)
Huge Cloudy (Octopus Books, 2019)
Refugium (Alice Blue Books, 2012)

Jonathan Russell Clark (MFA '16)

An Oasis of Horror in a Desert of Boredom (Fiction Advocate, 2018)

Tim Conrad (MFA '09)

The Machine We Trust (Cornerstone Press, 2024)

Sarah Creech (BFA '05)

The Whole Way Home (William Morrow, 2017)
Season of the Dragonflies (William Morrow, 2014)

Patrick Culliton (MFA '06)

Sam’s Teeth (Subito Press, 2017)

Kate Cumiskey (MFA '06)

Ana (Finishing Line Press, 2022)
The Women Who Gave Up Their Vowels (Finishing Line Press, 2021)
Yonder (Silent E Publishing, 2014)
Surfing in New Smyrna Beach (Arcadia Publishing, 2010)

Samantha Deal (MFA '13)

Something Opened (Black Lawrence Press, 2019)

Daren Dean (MFA '03)

Roads: A Novel (Cowboy Jamboree Press, 2023)
This Vale of Tears ( Cowboy Jamboree, 2021)
The Black Harvest (University of West Alabama's Livingston Press, 2021) < book trailer>
I'll Still Be Here Long After You're Gone (CJ Press, 2019)
Far Beyond the Pale (CreateSpace, 2010)

Nicola DeRobertis-Theye (MFA ’15)

The Vietri Project (HarperCollins, 2021)

Brian Devido (MFA '01)

Every Time I Talk to Liston (Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2004)

Regina DiPerna (MFA '13)

A Map of Veins (Floodgate Poetry Series, 2018)

Alexa Doran (MFA '15)

DM Me, Mother Darling (Bauhan Publishing, 2021) —Winner of the 2020 May Sarton New Hampshire Poetry Prize—
Nightsink, Faucet Me a Lullaby (Bottlecap Press, 2019)

Kevin Dublin (BFA '10)

How to Fall in Love in San Diego (Finishing Line Press, 2017)

Jason Frye (MFA '05)

Moon Asheville (Moon Travel, 2023)
Moon Great Smoky Mountains (Moon Travel, 2022)
Moon Road Trips: Blue Ridge Parkway (Avalon Travel, 2015)
Moon North Carolina Coast (Avalon Travel, 2014)
Moon North Carolina (Avalon Travel, 2014)

Adam Gnuse (MFA '19)

Girl in the Walls (Ecco-, 4th Estate /HarperCollins, 2021)

Nina de Gramont (MFA '06)

The Christie Affair (St. Martin's Press, 2022)
The Distance from Me to You (Putnam's Sons, 2015)
The Last September (Algonquin, 2015)
The Boy I Love (Simon & Schuster, 2014)
Meet Me at the River (Atheneum, 2013)
Rogue Touch (Kingswell, 2013)
Every Little Thing in the World (Atheneum, 2010)
Gossip of the Starlings (Algonquin Books, 2008)
Choice: True Stories of Birth, Contraception, Infertility, Adoption, Single Parenthood and Abortion, co-editor (MacAdam Cage, 2007)
Of Cats and Men (Random House, 2002)

Evan Gray (MFA '17)

Body Birth (Above/Ground Press, 2019)
Dusk Melody (Shirt Pocket Press, 2019)
Blindspot (the Rest (Garden-Door Press, 2018)

Dina Greenberg (MFA '11)

Nermina's Chance (Atmosphere Press, 2021)

David Harris-Gershon (MFA '09)

What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife? (Oneworld Publications, 2013)

Eli Hastings (MFA '04)

Clearly Now, the Rain: A Memoir of Love and Other Trips (ECW Press, 2013)
Falling Room (Bison Books, 2006)

Jeremy Hawkins (MFA '11)

The Last Days of Video (Soft Skull Press, 2015)

Joy Hewett (MA '91)

Blue Water White Sand (Silk Hope Press, 2017)

Ben Hoffman (MFA '13)

Together, Apart (Origami Zoo Press, 2014)

Kirsten Holmstedt (MFA '06)

Soul Survivors (Stackpole Books, 2016)
The Girls Come Marching Home: Stories of Women Warriors Returning from the War in Iraq (Stackpole Books, 2009)
Band of Sisters: American Women at War in Iraq (Stackpole Books, 2007)

Elizabeth King Humphrey (MFA '03)

Idiot's Guide: Gluten-Free Eating (DK Publishing, Inc., 2014)
The Feminist Movement Today (Mason Crest, 2013)

Lauren Hodges (MFA '07)

Less Stress, More Calm (Sound Wisdom, 2024)

Rochelle Hurt (MFA '11)

The J Girls: A Reality Show (Indiana University Press, 2022) —Winner of the Indiana Review 2021 Blue Light Books Prize—
In Which I Play the Runaway (Barrow Street Press, 2016) —Winner of the Barrow Street Book Prize—
The Rusted City: A Novel in Poems (White Pine Press, 2014) —Winner of the Marie Alexander Poetry Series 2012 Open Submission Reading—

Erato Ioannou (MFA '01)

Not in the Ornamental Teapot, stories (Room for Art, 2020)
So Many Islands, an anthology (Telegram Books, 2018)
Tell Me A Tale, an anthology (Armida Publications, 2012)
Cats Have it All (Armida Publications, 2004)
Cyprus Engraved: A Book of History and Direction ( Cyprus Museum, 2002)

Graham Irvin (MFA '18)

I Have a Gun (Rejection Letters Press, 2024)
Liver Mush (Back Patio Press, 2022)

Ever Jones (MFA '08)

nightsong ( Sundress Publications, 2020)

Nancy J. Jones (MFA '98)

Molly (Crown, 2000)

Kristine A. Kaiser (MFA '99)

Shawna Kenney (MFA '07)

Live at the Safari Club: A History of Hardcore Punk in the Nation’s Capital (Rare Bird Books, 2017)
Book Lovers: Stories (editor) (Seal Press, 2014)
Imposters (Mark Batty Publisher, 2008)
I Was a Teenage Dominatrix (Last Gasp of San Francisco, 2001)

Gwendolyn Knapp (MFA '06)

After A While You Just Get Used To It: A Tale of Family Clutter (Gotham/Penguin Random House, 2015)

Keith Kopka (MFA '11)

Count Four (University of Tampa Press, 2020) —Winner of the 2019 Tampa Review Prize—
Asking a Shadow to Dance: An Introduction to the Practice of Poetry (Great River Learning, 2018)

Drew Krepp (MFA '15)

Salt Marsh King (Bancroft Press, 2014)

Brad Land (MFA '02)

Pilgrims Upon the Earth: A Novel (Random House, 2007)
Goat: A Memoir (Random House, 2005)

Rory Laverty (MFA '07)

Aluminum Alley: The American Pilots Who Flew Over the Himalayas and Helped Win World War II (Globe Pequot / Stackpole Books, 2023)

Johannes Lichtman (MFA '12)

Calling Ukraine: A Novel (Simon & Schuster, 2023)
Such Good Work (Simon & Schuster, 2019)

Martha Lundin (MFA '17)

The In-Between State (Cornerstone Press, 2022)
Challenges for LGBTQ Teens (Teen Problems) (Reference Point Press, 2020)
Dealing with Gender Dysphoria (Reference Point Press, 2020)

Robert Dean Lurie (MFA '05)

Begin the Begin: R.E.M.'s Early Years (Verse Chorus Press, 2019)
We Can Be Heroes: The Radical Individualism of David Bowie (Liberty Island Media, 2016)
The Edge: Life Lessons from a Martial Arts Master (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013)
No Certainty Attached: Steve Kilbey and The Church (Verse Chorus Press, 2009)

Josh MacIvor-Andersen (MFA ’11)

Rooted: The Best New Arboreal Nonfiction (Outpost 19 Books, 2017)
On Heights & Hunger (Outpost 19 Books, 2016)

Catherine McCall (MFA '03)

Lifeguarding: A Memoir of Secrets, Swimming, and the South (Harmony Books, 2006)

Corinne Manning (MFA '10)

We Had No Rules (Arsenal Pulp, 2020)

JM Miller (MFA '08)

Wilderness Lessons (FutureCycle Press, 2016)

Jacob Steven Mohr (BFA ’16)

Dead Letters: Episodes of Epistolary Horror (Crystal Lake Publishing, 2023)
Nightfall and Other Dangers (JournalStone, 2023)
The Unwelcome (John Hunt Publishing, 2021)
Daughter of Man (World Castle Publishing, 2018)
The Book of Apparitions (Ugly Sapling, 2016)

Mamie Morgan (MFA ’06)

My Husband Is Learning to Draw (Finishing Line Press, 2024)
Everyone I’ve Danced with Is Dead (Jackleg Press, 2024)

Amelia Morris (MFA '09)

Wildcat (Flatiron Books, 2022)
Bon Appétempt (Grand Central Publishing, 2015)

Jamie Mortara (MFA '13)

Good Morning American I Am Hungry and on Fire (YesYes Books, 2018)
Some Planet (YesYes Books, 2015)
Small Creatures/Wide Field (tNY.Press, 2014)

Jason Mott (MFA '08)

Hell of a Book (Dutton Press, 2021) —National Book Award Winner—
The Crossing (Harlequin/Park Row, 2018)
The Wonder of All Things (Mira Books, 2014)
The Returned (Mira Books, 2013)
The First: A Prequel to The Returned (Mira Books, 2013)
...Hide Behind Me... (Main Street Rag, 2011)
We Call This Thing Between Us Love (Main Street Rag, 2009)

Ariana Nadia Nash (MFA '11)

Instructions for Preparing Your Skin (Anhinga Press, 2013) —Winner of the Philip Levine Prize in Poetry—
Our Blood Is Singing (Damask Press, 2012)

Yvette Neisser Moreno (MFA '00)

Grip Winner of the Gival Press Poetry Award (Gival Press, 2012)
South Pole/Polo Sur (translation) (Settlement House Books, 2011)
Difficult Beauty: Selected Poems (1987-2006) (translation) (Cross-Cultural Communications, 2009)

Brenda Nicholas (MFA '15)

Day Swallows Night (Broadstone Books, 2023)
Adrift a Fourth Wave (Kelsay Books, 2021)
Hari Om, Hurry Home (Finishing Line Press, 2021)

Derek Nikitas (MFA '00)

Extra Life (Polis Books, 2015)
The Long Division (St. Martin's Minotaur, 2009)
Pyres (St. Martin's Minotaur, 2008)

Ali Nolan (MFA '14)

Master the Marathon (Penguin, 2021)

Leah Poole Osowski (MFA '14)

Exceeds Us (Saturnalia Books, 2023)
Hover Over Her (Kent State University Press, 2015) —Winner of the Stan & Tom Wick Poetry Prize—

Miriam Parker (MFA '08)

Room and Board (Penguin Random House, 2022)
The Shortest Way Home (Penguin Random House, 2018)

Rebecca Petruck (MFA '07)

Boy Bites Bug (ABRAMS/Amulet, 2018)
Steering Toward Normal (ABRAMS/Amulet, 2014)

Katie Prince (MFA '15)

Tell This to the Universe (YesYes Books, 2024)

Ashleigh Bryant Phillips (MFA '17)

Sleepovers (Hub City Press, 2020) —Winner of 2019 C. Michael Curtis Short Story Book Prize—

Benjamin Rachlin (MFA '15)

Ghost of the Innocent Man (Little, Brown, 2017)

Dawn Evans Radford (MFA '99)

Oyster Flats (Pottersville Press, 2007)

Michael Ramos (MFA '16)

The After: A Veteran's Notes on Coming Home (The University of North Carolina Press, 2024)

Cindy Horrell Ramsey (MFA '06)

Boys of the Battleship North Carolina (John F. Blair, 2007)

S. Craig Renfroe, Jr. (MFA '00)

A La Carte: Short Stories That Stir the Foodie in All of Us (editor) (Main Street Rag, 2010)
XX Eccentric: Stories About the Eccentricities of Women (editor) (Main Street Rag, 2009)
Flirting With Ridicule (Main Street Rag, 2005)
You Should Get That Looked At (Main Street Rag, 2004)

Carmen Rodrigues (MFA '10)

The Universal Laws of Marco (Simon & Schuster, 2019)
34 Pieces of You (Simon & Schuster, 2012)
Not Anything (Penguin Teen, 2008)

Jane Virginia Rohrer (MFA '18)

Fake Floating (Above/Ground Press, 2019)

Anne Russell (MFA '99)

Tropical Depression (Bradley Creek Press, 2013)
The Wayward Girls of Samarcan, A True Story (Bradley Creek Press, 2012)
Seabiscuit: Wild Pony of the Outer Banks (Coastal Carolina Press, 2001)
Wilmington: A Pictorial History (Donning Pub, 1994)

Dana Sachs (MFA '00)

All Else Failed: The Unlikely Volunteers at the Heart of the Migrant Aid Crisis (Bellevue Literary Press, 2023)
The Secret of the Nightingale Palace: A Novel (William Morrow, 2013)
If You Lived Here (HarperCollins, 2008)
The House on Dream Street (Seal Press, 2003)

E.J. Schwartz (MFA '21)

Before We Were Blue (Flux, 2021)

Kristina M. Serrano (BFA '12)

Slow Echoes (Forever More Publishing, 2016)

Ryan Spooner (BFA '09)

Regret (Lettered Streets Press, 2014)

Megan Starks (MFA '10)

House of Ash & Brimstone (Gatewalkers) (City Owl Press, 2019)

Sarah J. Stephens (MFA '22)

Quicksand (Finishing Line Press, 2023)
Where All The Birds Are Dancing (Finishing Line Press, 2020)

Faydra Stratton (MFA '03)

Denali Summer (Orange Blossom Publishing, 2023)
Devil Springs (Filles Vertes Publishing, 2020)
Love on Main—a Romance Anthology (Filles Vertes Publishing, 2020)

Barbara Sullivan (MFA '11)

Garden Perennials for the Coastal South (UNC Press, 2003)

Anna B. Sutton (MFA '13)

Savage Flower (Black Lawrence Press, 2021) —Winner of the 2019 St. Lawrence Book Award—

Kate Sweeney (MFA '09)

American Afterlife (UGA Press, 2014)

Gabriella Tallmadge (MFA '13)

Sweet Beast (Trio House Press, 2021) —Winner of the 2020 Louise Bogan Award—

Daniel Nathan Terry (MFA '10)

City of Starlings (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2015)
Waxwings (Lethe Press, 2012)
Days of Dark Miracles (Seven Kitchens Press, 2011)
Capturing the Dead (National Federation of State Poetry Societies Press, 2008) —Winner of the Stevens Poetry Manuscript Prize—

Jessica Thummel (MFA '12)

The Cure for Lonely (Freight Books, 2017) —Winner of the Dundee International Book Prize—
other titles available from Jessica Thummel

Eric Tran (MFA '13)

Mouth, Sugar, and Smoke (Diode Editions, 2022) —Winner of the Oregon Book Award—
The Gutter Spread Guide to Prayer (Autumn House Press, 2020) —Winner of the 2019 Rising Writer Contest—
Revisions (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2018)
Affairs with Men in Suits (Backbone Press, 2017)