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The Creative Writing Program at Dillard University
Dillard is
one of very few Historically Black Colleges and
Universities (HBCUs ) where students can study the
writing field in a program designed according to the
national standards set by the Association of Writers and
Writing Programs (AWP). Since 1995, Dillard University
students have success in and outside of classes.
Because of
the expectations of readers and the industry, we
encourage our students who pursue writing to Major in
English; for others more interested in magazine
publishing, music, or feature writing, we encourage them
to major in Mass Communications or any subject content
of their choice such as Theater, Art, Music, even
Education. We offer a full range of courses in each
genre: creative non-fiction, drama, fiction, poetry,
screenplays, and preparation for industry. We now offer
advanced classes in all areas. The full catalogue of
courses and majors is available online through the
website. On campus, students publish their creative
work in The Dillard Review, a journal of arts
and letters, which provides hands-on-practice in all
aspects of publishing from editing and writing, to
layout, design, and production.
Off campus,
our students won national, regional, and local prizes in
literature and have published in anthologies and other
journals. After graduating, some students work in the
industry at publishing companies, newspapers, teach
workshops, or work at other journals. Others work in
the industry performing at venues such as Slams, at the
Apollo Theater, and on Def Poetry Jam. Many continue
their studies toward advanced degrees. One Dillard
graduate completed the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) and the
Ph.D. in Creative Writing and is a university professor;
he has also won fellowships to the prestigious Cave
Canem, Bread Loaf, and most recently the Bunting
Fellowship of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
at Harvard University, Cambridge. Others completed the
MFA in Drama writing and in Poetry; they are also
professors who continue to write, perform, and publish.
Also, at least another two former students are in the
process of completing graduate school.
In addition,
Dillard University students are taught by award-winning
writers. As Director of the Program, my book,
Red Beans and Ricely Yours: Poems,
won the PEN/Oakland Josephine Miles Award in Poetry in
2006 and the T. S. Eliot Prize in Poetry in 2005 from
Truman State University Press. My essays, fiction, and
verse appear in anthologies and journals. My
screenplay, “Rockin’ for a Risen Savior,” a full-length
documentary on the ring-shout worship Easter Vigil of
Black women in rural Louisiana, is in negotiation for
production. My colleague, Dedra Johnson’s novel,
Sandrine’s Letter to Tomorrow,
was honored by The Times Picayune Book Editor as
the “Best debut novel of 2007.” Dedra Johnson’s short
fiction appears in anthologies and journals, and she has
produced short screenplays. We consult with local,
state, regional, and national arts agencies and are
members of AWP.
In addition,
The Creative Writing Program curriculum is enhanced with
visits by a cadre of some of the best writers in our
nation and the world. Guest Writers to Dillard
University include most recently Nikki Giovanni, Alice
Wilson Fried, Valentine Pierce,
Ishmael Reed, Charles Johnson, Pearle Cleage, prior
to her passing Gwendolyn
Brooks, Haki Madhubuti,
Ngugi wa Thiong'o,
Al Young,
Kalamu ya Salaam,
E Ethelbert Miller,
Tom Dent, Brenda Marie
Osbey, a Dillard graduate and former Poet Laureate of
Louisiana. We are uniquely poised to provide a
well-rounded educational experience for budding writers,
as well as the skills necessary to aid them in pursuing
advanced study or industry employment. Every industry
in the world employs writers. Good writers do well.
Red Beans and
Ricely Yours,
Dr.
Mona Lisa Saloy
Associate Professor of English
Director, The Creative Writing Program
The Division of Humanities, where
creativity blossoms
Mona
Lisa Saloy is associate professor of English and Founding Director of
Creative Writing at Dillard University, and Director of The
Daniel C. Thompson/Samuel Du Bois Honors Program. Dr.
Saloy's first collection of verse,
Red Beans and Ricely Yours: Poems, won the T. S. Eliot Prize
in poetry for 2005, published by Truman State University Press. She
has also won fellowship from the National Endowment for the
Humanities and from the United Negro College Fund/Andrew W.
Mellon Foundation. Her poems have appeared in anthologies,
magazines, journals, and film. She received her PhD in English
and MFA in creative writing from Louisiana State University and
her MA in creative writing and English from San Francisco State
University. Displaced by Hurricane Katrina, Saloy
was a
visiting associate professor of English and creative writing at
the University of Washington for the 2005/2006 academic
year.
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posted
1 June 2010 |
