Writing Program at Johns Hopkins University

10/09/2026

All you local Naltimore students and alumni, I hope to see you at this year’s Baltimore Writers Conference.

Want to sell a nonfiction book on proposal? Don’t spend a lot of time researching how. (Writing a book takes long enough!) Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson will teach you in an hour. And don’t spend a lot of money to learn. Register for the Baltimore Writers’ Conference before 10/23 for our early-bird rate: $85. That includes admission to all panels, talks, and quick critiques. It also includes morning refreshments, a catered lunch, and a w**e and cheese reception. To learn more and register, visit our website (link in bio).

We’re grateful to our sponsors for helping us keep registration rates as low as possible: the graduate professional writing program, the Dean’s Office in the College of Liberal Arts, the Community College of Baltimore County and the Johns Hopkins MA in Writing program.

And another big thank you to Dickinson for joining us. Her extraordinary biography of Claire McCardell is out now in paperback, and her forthcoming book, THE RUBY SLIPPERS (about the heist of the most expensive shoes in the world), will be out next year.

10/07/2026

Congratulations to MA in Writing Student Kevin Snyder who is a roll these days! His short story, "Motel Moths," was nominated by January House Literary Journal for both Best of the Net and the Pushcart this week. And, happy to say, he also just published a new flash piece, "A-Frame Gorillas," in Dishsoap magazine.

The afterlife is a wrestling match. Greco-Roman, body-on-body skin jousting. Two at a time on a single matted podium flanked by dual lines of disrobed challengers. The A-frame shape of bodies comes into view about a mile back from the stage, perched against each other like tentpoles.

09/27/2026

Sharing this post from one of our beloved alum, Elizabeth Doerr, who is a co-founder of the organization Scribente Maternum. (I'll be hosting a dinner for participants one night so maybe I'll see you there.)

Write Like a Mother Writing Retreat is Coming to Baltimore

Scribente Maternum's fifth annual Write Like a Mother retreat will be held October 22-25, 2026 in the Charles Village neighborhood of Baltimore.

Every writer—of any age at any stage—who identifies as a mom (or grandma or auntie or anything else) is invited to attend. This retreat includes sessions with Afrominimalist author Christine Platt, Well-Read Black Girl founder Glory Edim, and Master Reiki practitioner Emily Souder. It also includes all meals, a curated writing experience through the Baltimore Museum of Art, time and space to write, as well as connection with the unique and wonderful writer-moms of the Scribente Maternum community.

Registration is open, but is filling quickly. You Deserve to Be Here funds are available. Reach out to hello@scribentematernum with any questions. Follow the link below for more information and to register.

Scribente Maternum is a restorative community for writers who identify as moms. Write and retreat with us in Baltimore, Maryland, October 22-25, 2026.

09/27/2026

PEN/Faulkner Foundation is hiring an executive director if any of you alumni out there fit the bill.

Executive Director   The PEN/Faulkner Foundation champions the breadth and power of fiction in America. The Foundation is dedicated to the idea that fiction creates empathy within and among communities and advances civil discourse and that American culture thrives when stories from diverse perspect...

09/14/2026

Congratulations to student Kacie England! One of the flash pieces she wrote during our Bar Harbor summer residency was published by the Penn Review.

Drywall is the least creative of the trades, my father said. He spoke in tight, lyrical quips: carpentry creates, electrical ignites. I listened, considering his verses as I fussed with the bookshelves I’d invited him over to inspect, shelves he made for me some time ago. The white built-ins were ...

09/09/2026

Please join MA in Writing faculty member Mark Farrington on September 19 at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, where he will be reading from his debut novel Loss of Life. He’ll be joined by his friend, author and fellow Johns Hopkins professor Michelle Brafman, for a discussion of writing process and technique. The event will take place on Saturday, September 19, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at The Writer’s Center, 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, MD. It’s free, but they do ask that you register in advance. Mark’s novel and Michelle’s novels, including her newest, will be available for purchase.
https://writer.org/free-events/
https://writer.org/event/mark-farrington/

The Writer’s Center welcomes writer and longtime Johns Hopkins professor Mark Farrington for a reading from his new novel LOSS OF LIFE and discussion of fiction techniques with former student and author Michelle Brafman. FREE & open to the public. RSVP below. Mark Farrington recently retired after...

08/07/2026

Congratulations to MA in Writing student Molly Tierney. Those in Bar Harbor for the residency may recall that she shared a flash piece she wrote as part of the group exercise (inspired by Sabrina Imbler's book). Molly's flash piece is going to be published by "Gone Long." I'll share the link when it's up.

08/07/2026

It's nearly two weeks since our summer residency in Bar Harbor, Maine, ended and I'm finally sitting down to share the remaining photos, including shots of all the students who participated in the final fab open mic night.

08/07/2026

Congratulations to faculty member Josh Rolnick; his new book will be published by Tivoli. Many of us from the MA in Writing Program--students and faculty--had the pleasure of hearing him read from this forthcoming novel while at our summer residency in Bar Harbor.

07/23/2026