Join us on Tuesday, November 11, 2025 at 6 p.m. in McGowan South 105 in celebration of Mark Turcotte’s appointment as the new Illinois Poet Laureate. Turcotte will do a poetry reading alongside DePaul University English faculty and poets Kathleen Rooney, Chris Green, Mark Arendt and Tara Betts. See the flyer below for more information.
Last year, Avery Cunningham (MAWP ‘16) released her debut novel The Mayor of Maxwell Street via Disney/Hyperion. “The year is 1921, and America is burning. A fire of vice and virtue rages on every shore, and Chicago is its beating heart,” the book states. The novel follows a Black debutante who hires a low-level speakeasy manager to uncover the head of an underground crime syndicate, against the backdrop of Prohibition-era Chicago. We chatted with Cunningham about the extensive historical research the book required, what inspired her to write the story, her experience in editorial for… Read Article →
It’s scholarship application season, and the English Department offers several awards for graduate students. MFA/MAWP students are encouraged to apply for the Craig Sirles, Charles Arlington, and Dontrey S. Britt-Hart scholarships. MALP students are encouraged to apply for the Craig Sirles and Charles Arlington scholarships. Awards typically range from $1,200 to $9,000, and students are welcome to apply for more than one scholarship. Writing samples may be required. The deadline to apply is November 3, 2025. All applicants must complete the FAFSA form. For information and to apply, please see the Scholarship Connect link.
As the month quickly comes to a close, check out these upcoming submission deadlines for fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry and more: Tahoma Literary Review – Oct. 31, 2025 Fiction Nonfiction Poetry Indiana Review – October 31, 2025 Fiction Nonfiction Poetry The Hopkins Review – October 31, 2025 Creative Nonfiction/Personal Essay Fiction Poetry Critical Writing FICTION – October 31, 2025 Literary and Experimental Fiction Translations The Hope Prize – October 31, 2025 Global Writer’s Prize – Short Story Competition Michigan Quarterly Review – November 1, 2025 General Submissions in Prose and Poetry 2025 Jesmyn Ward Fiction Prize… Read Article →
Celebrate the arts at DePaul October 23-26 at various events across the Lincoln Park Campus. Schedule by venue: Art Tent in the Quad (Fullerton @ Seminary) Friday, October 24 @ 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (visual artworks w/screenings and performances) Saturday, October 25 @ 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. (visual artworks w/screenings and performances) Student Center 120A/B (2250 N. Sheffield) Sunday, October 26 @ 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (visual artworks w/screenings and performances) The Art School (1150 W. Fullerton, 3rd Floor) Thursday, October 23 @ 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Friday, October 24 @ 1:00 p.m…. Read Article →
Join Kathleen Rooney, a professor of English at DePaul, and her sister Beth Rooney, photographer and journalist, for a discussion about their new children’s book Leaf Town Forever. The event will take place on Wednesday, November 5 at 6 p.m. CDT in Arts & Letters 103. See below for more information.
Do you want to develop skills for transformative dialogue across differences? Are you passionate about building bridges across faith, political and cultural perspectives? Check out the Bridgebuilding Fellowship to gain skills in dialogue across difference, listening, storytelling, discernment and interfaith. Bridgebuilders engage across difference in ways that respect others’ identities, foster mutually inspiring relationships and promote cooperation in service of the common good. Information sessions can be found below:
In 2022, Caroline Macon Fleischer (MFA ‘20) released her debut novel The Roommate, a work she started as a graduate student at DePaul for her MFA thesis. Fleischer is a writer, editor, and theatremaker, and teaches creative writing at Loyola University. Her second novel, A Play About A Curse, is set for release on October 21, 2025, via CLASH Books. We sat down to chat about the upcoming release and its key inspirations, writing processes, her time at DePaul and background in theatre, and what advice she has for students. This interview has been edited for clarity… Read Article →
It’s scholarship application season, and the English Department offers several awards for graduate students. MFA/MAWP students are encouraged to apply for the Craig Sirles, Charles Arlington, and Dontrey S. Britt-Hart scholarships. MALP students are encouraged to apply for the Craig Sirles and Charles Arlington scholarships. Awards typically range from $1,200 to $9,000, and students are welcome to apply for more than one scholarship. Writing samples may be required. The deadline to apply is November 3, 2025. All applicants must complete the FAFSA form. For information and to apply, please see the Scholarship Connect link. Feel free to check out… Read Article →
The contest is open to all fiction and nonfiction writers. Narrative is looking for short shorts, short stories, essays, memoirs, photo essays, graphic stories, all forms of literary nonfiction, and excerpts from longer works of both fiction and nonfiction. Entries must be previously unpublished, no longer than 15,000 words, and must not have been previously chosen as a winner, finalist, or honorable mention in another contest. Narrative winners and finalists have gone on to win Whiting Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, the Pushcart Prize, and the Atlantic prize, and have appeared in collections such as Best American Short Stories, Best American Nonrequired Reading, and many others. View the recent… Read Article →
Here are some upcoming deadlines for chapbook, book or literary awards, contests and prizes. All deadlines are at the end of this month! Persea Books Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize A prize of $1,000 and publication by Persea Books is given annually for a debut poetry collection by a writer who identifies as a woman. The winner also receives an optional six-week, all-expenses-paid residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy. Writers who are either U.S. citizens or who currently reside in the United States are eligible. Entry fee: $30 Deadline: October 31, 2025 Northwestern University Press Drinking… Read Article →
Mark Turcotte, professor and DePaul’s Distinguished Writer in Residence, will be the honored guest as Poet Laureate of Illinois at the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture on Saturday, October 11 from 12-2 p.m. The event is free and will feature the poets Luis Tubens, Mayda Del Valle and Dr. Yolanda Nieves. Click here for more information!