Study Abroad Summer Session MyYSS

Yale Writers' Workshop Faculty Bios

You are here

Home    /    Courses & Programs    /    Yale Writers' Workshop    /    Faculty Bios    /    Yale Writers' Workshop Faculty Bios

Yale Writers' Workshop Faculty 2024 

Our faculty are accomplished writers and editors.

"I loved Dr. McCauley! She inspired me to keep working and improving my writing, and also connected us with the publishing journal she works for internships! Her comments and critiques were extremely helpful to my writing."

Fiction

Sybil Baker

Website:  http://www.sybilbaker.net

Sybil Baker's latest novel is Apparitions. She is also author of four other works of fiction, including While You Were Gone (IPPY Silver Award winner),  The Life Plan, Talismans, and Into This World, which received an Eric Hoffer Award Honorable Mention and a Foreword’s INDIES Book of the Year finalist. Her essay collection Immigration Essays was the 2018-2019 Read2Achieve first year selection at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. A UC Foundation Professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Sybil received a 2017 Individual Artist's Fellowship from the Tennessee Arts Commission for her work.

Jotham Burrello

Website:  https://jothamburrello.com/

Jotham Burrello is the director of the Yale Writers’ Workshop. His novel, Spindle City, was longlisted for the PEN/Hemingway award, and a finalist for the Connecticut Book Award. His writing has appeared in literary journals, the Hartford Courant, the Christian Science Monitor, and he’s a proud winner of The New Yorker caption contest. He’s currently writing a new novel. He teaches writing at Central Connecticut State University, founded the CT Lit Fest, and is the former publisher of the award-winning Elephant Rock Books.

Trey Ellis

Trey Ellis is an American Book Award Winning novelist, two-time Emmy and Peabody winning filmmaker, NAACP Image award winning playwright, essayist and Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia University’s School of the Arts.  His acclaimed first novel, Platitudes, was reissued by Northeastern University Press along with his influential essay, The New Black Aesthetic.  He is also the author of Home Repairs and Right Here, Right Now and Bedtime Stories: Adventures in the Land of Single-Fatherhood.

Molly Gaudry

Website:  https://www.mollygaudry.com/

Molly Gaudry is the author of the verse novel Desire: A Haunting and the hybrid memoir, Fit Into Me: A Novel: A Memoir. Her verse novel We Take Me Apart was a finalist for the Asian American Literary Award and shortlisted for the PEN/Osterweil. She teaches at Stony Brook University.

Jennifer Maritza McCauley

Website:  http://www.jennifermaritzamccauley.com

Jennifer Maritza McCauley is the author of the cross-genre collection Scar On/Scar Off which received an IPPY award and When Trying to Return Home, a short story collection, which was an New York Times Editors' Choice, called one of the Best Short Fiction Books of the Year according to Kirkus Reviews and a "Best Book to Read in 2023" by Today. She has been granted fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Kimbilio and CantoMundo. She teaches at the University of Houston-Clear Lake and is fiction editor at Pleiades.

Amy Shearn

Website:  https://www.amyshearnwrites.com/

Amy Shearn is the award-winning author of the novels Dear Edna Sloane, Unseen City, The Mermaid of Brooklyn, and How Far Is the Ocean From Here, as well as the forthcoming Animal Instinct (Putnam, 2025). She has worked as an editor at Medium, JSTOR, Conde Nast, and other organizations, and her work has appeared in many publications including the New York Times Modern Love column and Slate. Amy lives in Brooklyn with her two children.

Non-fiction

Mary Collins

Website:  http://www.marycollinswriter.com

Nonfiction offers a cornucopia of forms and a chance to explore the self, society, history and life! Mary Collins has embraced the challenge in her 30-year career and published biography, memoir, humor, personal essay, travel, opinion and, in 2023, an experimental collection of illustrated flash nonfiction essays. Her book, At the Broken Places: A Mother and Trans Son Pick Up the Pieces (Beacon), which she co-authored with her son Donald Collins, received several national awards and recognition. This is her sixth year with the Yale Summer Writing Program.

Lisa Page

Website:  https://english.columbian.gwu.edu/lisa-page

Lisa Page is co-editor of We Wear The Mask: 15 True Stories of Passing in America. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, LitHub Weekly, Playboy, The Chicago Tribune and other publications and anthologies, including Skin Deep: Black Women and White Women Write About Race. Lisa has worked as an editor, speechwriter, lyricist, and actor. She is the former President of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. She is the Director of Creative Writing at the George Washington.

Intensive

Kirsten Bakis

Website:  https://kirstenbakis.com/

Kirsten Bakis is the author of King NYX (2024) which Victor LaValle called “a novel of delicious disquiet,” as well as the award-winning Lives of the Monster Dogs, which Jeff VanderMeer called “a classic.” She has been teaching at the Yale Writers’ Workshop since 2012.

Sergio Troncoso

Website:  https://www.sergiotroncoso.com

Sergio Troncoso is the author of eight books, most recently Nobody’s Pilgrims, which won the Gold Medal for Best Novel- Adventure or Drama in English from the International Latino Book Awards. He also wrote A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant’s Son, which Junot Díaz called “a masterwork” and “an extraordinary performance.” Troncoso edited Nepantla Familias: An Anthology of Mexican American Literature on Families in between Worlds, which received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews. A Fulbright scholar, Troncoso is past president of the Texas Institute of Letters.

Write Here, Write Now

Patricia Ann McNair

Website:  http://www.patriciaannmcnair.com

Patricia Ann McNair's collection of stories, The Temple of Air, won Southern Illinois University Devil’s Kitchen Readers Award, Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year, and was a finalist for Society of Midland Authors Fiction Award. It will be reissued in May 2024. Responsible Adults (stories), was named a Distinguished Favorite by The Independent Press Awards.  And These Are The Good Times (essays), was a Montaigne Medal finalist. McNair is an associate professor emerita in Creative Writing at Columbia College Chicago. She lives in Tucson, Arizona.

First Ten Pages: Fiction and Memoir

LaTanya McQueen

Website:  http://www.latanyamcqueen.com

LaTanya McQueen is the recipient of grants from the National Endowment of the Arts (2022 Fellowship in Prose) and the Elizabeth George Foundation. She is the author of two books—the essay collection And It Begins Like This (Black Lawrence Press, 2017) and the novel When the Reckoning Comes (Harper Perennial, 2021). She is an Assistant Professor of English and teaches in the MFA program at NC State.

Personal Essay/Memoir

Mishka Shubaly

Website:  http://www.mishkashubaly.com/writing.html

Mishka Shubaly is an author, songwriter, and storyteller. His most recent work, Cold Turkey: How to Quit Drinking By Not Drinking was a New York Times bestseller. He was awarded the Dean’s Fellowship for Fiction by Columbia University. His seven nonfiction Kindle Singles for Amazon have all been bestsellers. He tours around the world and has shared the stage with everyone from Yeah Yeah Yeahs to Richard Price. I Swear I’ll Make It Up to You, his hardcover memoir, was released in 2016. In 2022, Shubaly released a collection of his Kindle Singles The Long Run and Other True Stories with a forward by Jeff Bezos.

Short Stories / Novel Excerpts

Louis Bayard

Website:  http://www.louisbayard.com

Louis Bayard is the author of 10 novels, including The Pale Blue Eye, adapted into the global #1 Netflix release starring Christian Bale, Jackie & Me, ranked by the Washington Post as one of the top novels of 2022, the national bestseller Courting Mr. Lincoln, The Black Tower, and Mr. Timothy, as well as the young-adult novel, Lucky Strikes. His work has been translated into more than a dozen languages.

Christina Chiu

Website:  http://www.christinachiu.org

Christina Chiu is the Grand Prize Winner of the James Alan McPherson Award for her novel Beauty, a Kirkus Best Books of 2020. She is also author of Troublemaker and Other Saints, winner of the Asian American Literary Award. Chiu’s stories appear in Tin House, Kweli Journal, Washington Square, and elsewhere. She curates The Pen Parentis Literary Salon. She is a founder of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop and received her MFA from Columbia University.

Ethan Rutherford

Website:  https://www.ethanrutherford.com/

Ethan Rutherford’s fiction has appeared in BOMB, Tin House, Electric Literature, Ploughshares, One Story, and The Best American Short Stories.  His first book, The Peripatetic Coffin, received honorable mention for the PEN/Hemingway Award and was a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection.  His second collection, Farthest South, was published by A Strange Object in May 2021, and his novel, North Sun, will be out in 2025.  He teaches Creative Writing at Trinity College lives in Connecticut with his family.

Write Here, Write Now

Emily Barton

Website:  https://www.emilybarton.com/

Emily Barton’s three novels are The Book of Esther, Brookland, and The Testament of Yves Gundron. She writes short fiction, essays, and book reviews, primarily for The New York Times Book Review. Her work has earned grants from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. She taught at Yale for five years, currently serves as Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Oberlin, and is excited to return to YWW this summer.

On Campus

Jade Wong-Baxter

Website:  https://www.goldinlit.com/jade-wong-baxter

Jade Wong-Baxter joined the Frances Goldin Literary Agency in 2021, after spending three years at Massie & McQuilkin Literary Agents. Jade is looking for adult literary/upmarket fiction and narrative nonfiction, with an emphasis on narratives by and about people of color, as well as the perspectives of marginalized identities. Her clients include Chris Belcher (Pretty Baby, Avid Reader; a 2022 Lambda Literary Award Finalist); Delia Cai (Central Places, Ballantine, 2023); and Hannah Matthews (You or Someone You Love, Atria, 2023). June 7 @ 2 pm

Sophie Cudd

Sophie Cudd is a literary agent at The Book Group, formerly with William Morris Endeavor. She represents a variety of fiction and nonfiction, including New York Times bestsellers, groundbreaking debuts, highly anticipated children's books, Grammy-award winning songwriters, and James Beard award-winning chefs. Sophie has a degree in English Literature and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She splits her time between Nashville and New York City. June 7 @ 2 pm

Sonya Huber

Website:  http://www.sonyahuber.com

Sonya Huber is the author of eight books, including the essay collection Love and Industry: A Midwestern Workbook, the writing guide Voice First: A Writer’s Manifesto, the award-winning essay collection on chronic pain, Pain Woman Takes Your Keys, and the activist memoir-in-a-day Supremely Tiny Acts. She teaches at Fairfield University and in the Fairfield low-residency MFA program. June 2 @ 2 pm

Christopher Madden

Website:  https://www.woodhallpress.com/

Christopher Madden is an author, educator, editor, and publisher. He is a founding partner of Connecticut’s Woodhall Press where he serves as the executive editor. He teaches literature at Fairfield University, publishing in the Fairfield MFA program, and is a student thesis advisor for the Johns Hopkins University MA in Creative Writing. He is the editor of numerous prize-winning books and has worked with poet laureates, New York Times bestselling authors, and emerging writers. June 2 @ 3:30 pm

Roma Panganiban

Website:  http://twitter.com/romapancake

Roma Panganiban graduated from Allegheny College with a degree in English and Psychology, followed by postgraduate study in Modern and Contemporary Literature & Culture at the University of York (UK). She began her publishing career at The Gernert Company before joining Janklow & Nesbit in 2019; her list focuses on literary & upmarket fiction and narrative nonfiction, particularly by marginalized writers. She lives in Brooklyn and on the internet. June 7 @ 2 pm

W.K. Stratton

Website:  http://www.wkstratton.com

A Western Heritage Award-winning poet,  W.K. (Kip) Stratton is the author of the Los Angeles Times bestseller The Wild Bunch: Sam Peckinpah, a Revolution in Hollywood, and the Making of a Legendary Film as well as nine other books. A finalist for the National Magazine Award, he has written for Texas Monthly, GQ, Outside, Sports Illustrated, Texas Highways, and other magazines. He's a past president and fellow of the Texas Institute of Letters. He lives in Austin. June 3 @ 2 pm

Jacinda Townsend

Website:  http://www.jacinda-townsend.com

Jacinda Townsend is the author of Mother Country (Graywolf, 2022), winner of the 2023 Ernest Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. Mother Country is also short-listed for both the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards. Townsend's first novel, Saint Monkey (Norton, 2014), winner of the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize and the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for historical fiction, was an Honor Book of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. June 6 @ 7:30 pm

Maria Whelan

Website:  https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/maria-whelan/

Maria studied English and drama at the University College Dublin, then obtained her master’s in modern literature from the University of Edinburgh. Maria enjoys a blend of literary and commercial fiction, as well as speculative fiction and magical realism. She is fond of novels that straddle the cultural divide and speak to the current cultural moment or examine overlooked facets of society. Her authors include Luke Dumas, Audrey Burges, Vanessa Cuti, and Sarah Fay. June 7 @ 2 pm

Virtual

Matt Bell

Website:  http://www.mattbell.com

Matt Bell is the author most recently of the novel Appleseed (a New York Times Notable Book) and the craft book Refuse to Be Done, a guide to novel writing, rewriting, and revision. He is also the author of the novels Scrapper and In the House upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods, as well as the short story collection A Tree or a Person or a Wall, a non-fiction book about the classic video game Baldur's Gate II, and several other titles. A native of Michigan, he teaches creative writing at Arizona State University. June 13 @ 7 pm

Audrey Crooks

Website:  https://www.tridentmediagroup.com/agents/audrey-crooks/

Audrey Crooks is an Agent at Trident Media Group, where she represents literary and upmarket fiction, narrative nonfiction, and select memoir. Originally from Virginia, she joined Trident in 2020. Previously, Audrey worked at the Frances Goldin Literary Agency, worked a bookseller, and from 2017-2018 she lived in Jordan, working for a nonprofit serving Gazan women refugees. Audrey’s academic background is in poetry and Middle Eastern Studies. June 14 @ 1230 pm

Kristina Marie Darling

Website:  https://kristinamariedarling.com

Kristina Marie Darling is the author of thirty-nine books, and a twice-awarded Fulbright Scholar. Dr. Darling’s work has also been recognized with three residencies at Yaddo, a Villa Lena Foundation Fellowship, a Civita Institute Fellowship, and ten residencies at the American Academy in Rome. Currently a faculty member at The Los Angeles Review of Books Publishing Workshop. Dr. Darling is Editor-in-Chief of Tupelo Press & Tupelo Quarterly. June 14 @ 2 pm

Kimberly Garrett Brown

Website:  https://kimberlygarrettbrown.com/

Kimberly Garrett Brown is the Executive Editor of Minerva Rising Press. Her best-selling novel, Cora’s Kitchen, won the 2022 Story Circle Network Sarton Women’s Book Award for Historical Fiction and the 2022 Bronze Foreword Indies Book of the Year Award for multicultural fiction. Her work has appeared in The Rumpus, Black Lives Have Always Mattered, The Feminine Collective, Today’s Chicago Woman, Chicago Tribune, and elsewhere. She lives in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. June 14 @ 2 pm

Mark Gottlieb

Website:  https://www.tridentmediagroup.com/

Mark Gottlieb, a vice president at Trident Media Group, NYC, stands as a leading literary agent with numerous industry deals. His successes include representing New York Times bestsellers and award-winning authors, securing film and TV adaptations. With a focus on career growth, he manages authors adeptly, leveraging resources at Trident. Having worked in Foreign Rights and run the Audiobook Department, Mark is dedicated to expanding his clientele and bringing authors to a broad audience, fueled by his passion for discovering and championing talented writers. June 14 @ 2 pm

Wanda Morris

Website:  http://wandamorriswrites.com

Wanda M. Morris is the acclaimed author of Anywhere You Run. It was named One of the Top Ten Crime Fiction Books of 2022 by The New York Times and has received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and Booklist. Wanda has won numerous awards including the Anthony, the Lefty and named the 2023 Georgia Author of the Year for Mystery. Anywhere You Run was also longlisted for the prestigious Mark Twain Voice in American Literature Prize. June 13 @ 12:30 pm

Julie Stevenson

Website:  https://www.mmqlit.com/

Julie is a literary agent with Massie & McQuilkin. She represents literary and upmarket fiction, suspense, memoir, graphic novels, narrative nonfiction, young adult fiction and children’s picture books. She is drawn to storytelling with unforgettable characters, an authorial command of voice, and a strong sense of narrative tension. She’s agented books that have won the Pulitzer Prize, the MWA Edgar Award, the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the Carnegie Medal for Excellence, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Caldecott Honor.  June 14 @ 1230 pm

Melissa Swantkowski

Website:  http://melissaswantkowski.com

Melissa Swantkowski is a founding editor of Bodega. She leads the fiction and creative non-fiction editing team. Her own work has been published in Joyland, American Short Fiction’s Web Exclusives, Volume I Brooklyn, The Mississippi Review, and elsewhere. You can view more of her writing and sometimes (un)related projects on her website melissaswantkowski.com.  July 14 @ 2 pm

C Pam Zhang

Website:  http://cpamzhang.com

C Pam Zhang is the author of two bestselling novels, How Much of These Hills Is Gold and Land of Milk and Honey. She a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Honoree, a Booker Prize nominee, and the winner of the Academy of Arts and Letters Rosenthal Award, the Asian/Pacific Award for Literature, and the California Book Award. Zhang’s writing appears in Best American Short Stories, The Cut, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. June 12 @ 12:30 pm