Michener Center for Writers
The Michener Center for Writers is an interdisciplinary Masters of Fine Arts program in fiction, poetry, playwriting, and screenwriting at the University of Texas at Austin.
History
The program was founded in the early 1990s through a generous endowment from the late James A. Michener and Mari Sabusawa Michener. It was originally called the Texas Center for Writers, but changed its name to honor Mr. Michener after his death. The Michener Center is widely regarded as one of the top few creative writing programs in the world.
Fellowships
The program operates through competitive entry and offers a generous fellowship including tuition and other fees. It is taught by faculty from the Departments of English, Radio Television and Film, and Theatre and Dance, and also hosts visiting faculty of nationally recognized writers, who often participate in a public Reading Series.
Notable Michener alums include Kevin Powers, National Book Award Finalist and author of The Yellow Birds(novel) and Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting (poems); Brian Hart, author of Then Came the Evening and The Bully of Order; Domenica Ruta, author of the memoir With or Without You; Smith Henderson, author of the novel Fourth of July Creek; Philipp Meyer, Guggenheim Fellow, Pulitzer finalist, and author of the novels American Rust and The Son; Brian McGreevy, novelist and co-creator with fellow alum Lee Shipman of the Netflix series baed on his novel, Hemlock Grove; Mary Miller, novelist (Last Days of California) and short story writer; novelist Sarah Cornwell (What I Had Before I Had You); Alix Ohlin, author of most recently Inside and Signs & Wonders; poets Roger Reeves (King Me), Michael McGriff (Dismantling the Hills, Home Burial), Carrie Fountain (Burn Lake, Instant Winner), Bruce Snider (The Year We Studied Women, Paradise Indiana), Jenny Browne (Dear Stranger, The Second Reason, At Once), Matthew Dickman (Mayakovsky's Revolver, All American Poem); Michael Dickman (The End of the West, Flies); playwrights George Brant, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Carson Kreitzer; screenwriters Alex Smith, Kieran Fitzgerald, Elizabeth Phang, Kathleen Orillion, Ray Wright, Abhijat Joshi.