When you study creative writing at Mount Mercy, you learn not only from your fellow students and our faculty, but also from the many prestigious writers who visit campus and share their expertise and vision.

Every semester Mount Mercy University hosts at least one visiting writer. During each visit, there is a Q&A—your time to ask the writers questions—and an evening reading—the writers' time to share their most recent work with you. You'll also have the chance to chat with the visiting writers over dinner or while they are signing your book.

Past visiting writers include poet laureates, award-winning journalists, best-selling novelists, and Oprah-picks.

Visiting Writers: Fall 2019

Patricia Park Thursday, November 7 // 3:30 PM Q&A // Flaherty Community Room (204 Basile Hall) Thursday, November 7 // 7 PM Reading // Flaherty Community Room (204 Basile Hall)  Patricia Park is the author of the acclaimed novel Re Jane, a modern-day reimagining of Brontë’s Jane Eyre set in New York City and Seoul. She teaches in the MFA Program in Creative Writing at American University. She has written for publications such as The New York Times and Guardian, and she has received fellowships from Fulbright, Jerome Foundation, The Center for Fiction, and others. She lives in Brooklyn.

Mount Mercy University has proudly hosted poet laureates, best-selling novelists, and writers who have won the National Book Award, the Booker Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, and the Nobel Prize.

Fiction Writers
Sandra Benitez, Chris Bohjalian, Charles Baxter, Ethan Canin, Ana Castillo, Lan Samantha Chang, K. L. Cook, Stuart Dybek, Larry Heinemann, Khaled Hosseini, Bharati Mukherjee, Thisbe Nissen, ZZ Packer, Josef Skvorecky, Barry Unsworth, Mary Helen Stefaniak, Benjamin Percy, Samrat Upadhyay, Daniel Orozco, Karen Russell, Cristina Henriquez, Keith Lesmeister

Creative Nonfiction Writers and Journalists
Amy Butcher, Anne-Marie Cusac, Joy Castro, Matt Freedman, Patricia Hampl, Alex Kotlowitz, John T. Price, Scott Russell Sanders, Patricia Foster, Tim Wise

Poets
Jorie Graham, Joy Harjo, Robert Haas, Ted Kooser, Li-Young Lee, Heather McHugh, Czeslaw Milosz, Naomi Shihab Nye, Susan Power, Gary Soto, William Stafford, Camille Dungy, Michael Sowder, Frank X Walker, Jennifer Perrine, Drew Dellinger, James McKean, Aaron A. Abeyta

"Visiting writers . . . let you see and know the process of a professional." —Casey Birkecht '13 

"The joy of the Visiting Writers Program is about connecting to a kindred soul. Aspiring writers are able to discuss their own fears and doubts with someone who has experienced the journey." —Kim Flugga-Ciha ’11