Whitworth Writers Workshop

10/24/2026

On the desk: a spiral notebook, a pen at work, and Virginia Woolf's The Waves. At the Whitworth Writers Workshop, careful reading is where the writing begins, and between residencies each writer works one-on-one with a mentor who reads their pages with the same care. It's a low-residency MFA, so your life stays where it is while you gather with us five times over two years.

Our January cohort has room for one poet and one creative nonfiction writer. Applications are due Nov. 1, and you'll find everything you need on the MFA page on Whitworth's website.

10/23/2026

Last month program alum Ann Swindell ('12) published Secrets in the Castle Library (WhiteCrown Publishing), the third novel in her In the Castle Library series. A new professor and a museum director dig through the castle library for the truth about Queen Alma, who vanished a century ago, and the search becomes a question of whether they will trust God with a story larger than their own. The first two books in the series have each won two awards, and we're late to the celebration but very glad to join it. Congratulations, Ann. Find it wherever you buy books.

Writing toward a book of your own? Our January cohort has room for one poet and one creative nonfiction writer, and applications are due Nov. 1. The application is on the MFA page of Whitworth's website.

10/17/2026

Congratulations to program alumna Charlotte Donlon ('18) on her new book, Spiritual Direction for Writers! It offers wise companionship for writers facing the real conditions of their artistic and actual lives. Out now from Here Below Books. 📚

Details:

Spiritual Direction for Writers® Book Updates, Notes, and Preorder Links- Order and read the new Spiritual Direction for Writers book. You don’t need to write every day to be a writer. You don’t need perfect conditions, endless hours, or a life free from doubt. What you need is permission to br...

10/16/2026

Read the new by program alumna Jane Clark Scharl ('19) in the latest **Literary Matters**: a striking late-autumn meditation.
https://www.literarymatters.org/19-1-there-must-have-been-some-flower-of-eden/

10/15/2026

Big news for program alum Vic Sizemore ('09)! He's been named University of Tennessee at Martin's 2026 Paul Meek Literary Legacy Speaker, with a public talk on Nov 12. 👏
deets: https://news.utm.edu/2026/10/12/novelist-sizemore-to-speak-at-paul-meek-library/

10/14/2026

ANNOUNCING GUEST FACULTY FOR OUR JANUARY RESIDENCY: Joy Jordan-Lake!

We are thrilled to welcome Joy Jordan-Lake to Whitworth for our January residency — a #1 Amazon bestselling author, Christy Award winner, and one of the most compelling voices writing historically inflected literature (and on faith, courage, redemption, hope etc)

Joy is the author of more than a dozen books, including "Blue Hole Back Home", the bestselling "A Tangled Mercy," and "Under a Gilded Moon". Her newest novel is "Echoes of Us," a sweeping dual-timeline story set on St. Simons Island during World War II.

Applications for January 2027 are open now. Come write with us.

Apply at www.whitworth.edu/mfa

10/06/2026

The accidental blessing of Ben Palpant! The author spend the week with us, starting our morning's orienting in worship ✨

10/05/2026

Hey look, 👀 I just added Spiritual Writing mentor Mark S. Burrows' new translation of the DUINO ELEGIES to our faculty book page: https://a.co/d/06Qrx9RJ

09/28/2026

Hey look, 👀 I just added Poetry Mentor Mischa Willett's new book THIS GIFT CARD HAS ALREADY BEEN REDEEMED to the Whitworth MFA faculty book page!
https://a.co/d/06Qrx9RJ

09/22/2026

Every residency, moments like these remind us why we gather—to grow, to challenge, to inspire each other.

Do you know any aspiring writers? You could tell them to come. ✨