Hunter MFA Faculty Read from their Newest Work

On April 23, four renowned authors, all faculty members in Hunter's MFA program in Creative Writing, came together to read from their new or soon-to-be-published work. It was a rare opportunity for the 200 writers, students, and other guests in attendance to get a taste of the diverse talent of some of Hunter's finest.

Nathan Englander, winner of the PEN/Malamud Award, read from the long-awaited and highly-praised What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, his first short story collection in 13 years. Fiction writer, memoirist, and book reviewer Kathryn Harrison read from an unpublished collection of personal essays. Her latest novel, Enchantments, was called "splendid and surprising" by The New York Times. Tom Sleigh, winner of the prestigious Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and the inaugural John Updike Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, read from his seventh poetry collection, Army Cats. MFA executive director and two-time Booker Prize winner Peter Carey -- called recently by The Economist "one of the finest living writers in English" -- read from his new novel, The Chemistry of Tears, slated for release in the U.S. on May 15.

Hunter President Jennifer J. Raab opened the event, offering special thanks to guest Susan Hertog ('65), sponsor of the Creative Writing Hertog Fellowship program, which allows MFA students to collaborate with leading authors as research assistants. Hertog is an acclaimed author herself; her most recent book, Dangerous Ambition, a dual biography of Rebecca West and Dorothy Thompson, was published last fall.