M.F.A. in Creative & Professional Writing
The M.F.A. Program in Creative & Professional Writing at William Paterson University, established in 2011, has graduated many poets, essayists, columnists, and writers of other disciplines. Through workshops, internships, thesis seminars, and literature, pedagogy, and linguistics classes, students are exposed to all avenues of the writing world. Recent alumni have gone on to pursue careers in college instruction, Ph.D. coursework, and jobs in the publishing industry. The program's current students are industrious, too, boasting publications in national and international journals, as well as attending conferences within the field of English and writing.
M.F.A. ALUMNI
Hailing from Paterson, NJ, Tiona D. Harris ('22) is a freight train overloaded with artistic versatility, endless aspirations, and dreams she hopes to achieve in her lifetime. She graduated with her B.A. in Psychology and English-Writing with a minor in Women & Gender Studies, and her MFA in Creative and Professional Writing. Tiona transitioned into higher education, becoming an Adjunct Professor within the Developmental Studies Department at Passaic County Community College and a Graduate Resident Director at William Paterson University. She is continuing her education at WPU in their Clinical and Counseling Psychology program; she will be graduating in 2024 to gain her LPC. She has had multiple pieces of her work published in Harness Magazine and Verve Romance titled: Accepting the Reality of Your 20s. She is adding to her finished manuscript, Tri-State Mafia: Makayo, currently working on her second book within the TSM series. On any given day, you will find her reading for fun, writing prose, and dabbling in poetry to express herself while painting and singing at the top of her lungs when the mood strikes.
Hailing from Columbus, Ohio, Steven Underwood ('22) is an award-winning writer with a penchant for finding the magic in the hypercritical. Honest to his experiences, Underwood has published essays on Blackness and identity with Oprah Magazine, BET, LEVEL, MTV News, Essence, Cassius Life, and Banango Street, including an essay entitled “I Should’ve Talked Black” and other critical voyages into race and masculinity. His debut memoir Forever for the Culture: Notes From the Black Digital Arts Renaissance debuts in 2024 and his debut novel, Sundiata, debuts in 2025.
Diana Davis Olsen (‘18) uses her history MA to give fiction the ring of authenticity. She has studied with Nebula Award winning author Cat Rambo, and attended the highly competitive speculative fiction workshops Taos Toolbox (2015), Viable Paradise (2016), and Futurescapes (2022). Her epic fantasy novel, Fortunes of War, has received interest from agents, and is in final edits. She will be querying in 2023 under the pen name Diana Davis. See more at: https://writingmercenary.com/
It took Karthik Purushothaman ('17) three years to transition from aerospace engineering to creative writing; from Chennai to New Delhi. In this time, he has written five short stories, two plays, a record's worth of songs and a selection of poems, with one international publication. He is currently enrolled in the M.F.A. program at William Paterson University of New Jersey, in the fiction concentration, expecting to graduate in 2017 with a full-length manuscript.
Joseph C. Jiuliani ('17) lives and writes in Paterson, New Jersey, with his Pomeranian, Sherly, and his partner, Emily. He is currently working on his thesis: a novella about 1940s Japanese-American internment (also, shadow governments and time-travel). His Pushcart Prize-nominated personal essay, "Of Stealing and of Being Stolen" can be found in Map Literary.
Kara Jorgensen ('16) is an author, teacher, and crafter from Central New Jersey. She has published 7 novels that revolve around the intersection of history, queerness, and the supernatural. You can find her on her website www.karajorgensen.com discussing queer books, history, weird science, and the merits of genre fiction.
Kevin Moore ('16) transferred to William Paterson in 2011 as an English major with a concentration in literature. After completing his BA in 2013, he continued at William Paterson in the Master’s program focusing on literary theory and analysis of contemporary fiction. He also worked in the University’s Writing Center as a tutor and as a graduate assistant for the English department. After graduation, he worked as an adjunct professor at both William Paterson and the County College of Morris teaching composition courses as well as developmental English. In January of 2019, he was hired as a full-time instructor at the County College of Morris where he continues teaching composition and developmental English.
Scott Wordsman's ('16) poems have appeared in Thrush, Slipstream, Forklift/Ohio, Main Street Rag, Reality Beach, and other journals. His work has been nominated for Best New Poets and Best of the Net. Scott writes book reviews for Colorado Review and teaches within the English Department at William Paterson University.
Elizabeth Levine ('15), M.A., M.P.H., M.F.A. is a graduate of the WPU MFA Program. She is a trilingual author and poet and teaches as Adjunct Faculty in the English Department at William Paterson University. Her debut chapbook, The Ribbon Around the Bomb, addresses the subject of poets who have committed suicide and is available for purchase by Finishing Line Press. Her bilingual poem “Where We Walked,” “After the Drive By,” and "Scavenger Girl" have been published in the Montclair Write Group Sampler. Her second poetry chapbook, God Doesn’t Live at Our House Anymore is a collection of poems that directly relates to her identity as a mother before and after her daughter’s death. Her third chapbook Ranting deals with social justice issues including immigration, higher education, and criminal justice. Her fourth chapbook Savage is a collection of poems about addiction and mental illness.
Her novel, What Remains, written under the pseudonym Charlotte Clear, is currently being adapted as a play under the title “And She Was There.” Levine’s novel deals with themes of trauma and resiliency. One of the chapters, “Powerless”, which takes place in Bolivia and is written in English and Spanish, was chosen and produced as a Selected Short by the New Jersey Playwrights in the first New Jersey Selected Shorts in 2015 and produced at WPU. A second chapter, “What Is Lost” was selected for the Creative Writing Panel of the North Eastern Modern Language Association’s International Conference in Toronto, Canada.
Her novel, What Remains, written under the pseudonym Charlotte Clear, is currently being adapted as a play under the title “And She Was There.” Levine’s novel deals with themes of trauma and resiliency. One of the chapters, “Powerless”, which takes place in Bolivia and is written in English and Spanish, was chosen and produced as a Selected Short by the New Jersey Playwrights in the first New Jersey Selected Shorts in 2015 and produced at WPU. A second chapter, “What Is Lost” was selected for the Creative Writing Panel of the North Eastern Modern Language Association’s International Conference in Toronto, Canada.
Daniel Tulino ('15) is a Professor-In-Residence and Instructor for the Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Education Department. He is also a PhD student in the Rowan College of Education with a specialization in Language and Literacy. He received his B.A. in English, his M.A. in English Writing, and his M.F.A. in Professional and Creative Writing from William Paterson University. He teaches courses such as Schools & Society and Teaching & Learning, and serves as a PIR at Quarter Mile Lane School in Bridgeton. Mr. Tulino has also served as an ELA teacher and the ELA Specialist in the Irvington Public Schools for ten years prior to coming to Rowan University and taught English Composition I and II at Passaic County Community College, for five years. His research and work focuses on curriculum and critical pedagogy.
Judy Ryan Hall ('14) is a writer and itinerant teacher of writing who has lived in such far flung places as Iceland, Sudan, Germany and New Jersey, though currently she is faculty at Bard High School Early College in Newark. Her MFA from William Paterson University was completed in 2014. She has been published in Brevity, Split Lip Magazine, The Blueshift Journal and many other places. Judy is also a fiction reader for Literary Orphans. Her novel, Max Runs, based on her MFA thesis, was listed in the Mslexia Competition and was published in 2019 from Eliezer Tristan Publishing. She has a blog on Facebook called Voluptuous Mermaid, so titled because of her love of being in water. Her website is under construction at www.judyryanhall.com.
N. West Moss ('13) the author of the short-story collection The Subway Stops at Bryant Park (Leapfrog Press), will be releasing her newest book, Fruitless with Algonquin in 2021. The memoir has already garnered positive attention, winning the 2018 Faulkner-Wisdom gold medal. Her fiction has been published in McSweeney’s, the New World Review, The Saturday Evening Post, Cahoodaloodaling,The Stockholm Review, Salt,Blotter Magazine, and The Westchester Review, among many others. Her creative nonfiction has appeared in Salon, The New York Times, Brevity, Memoir Journal, Sou-Wester, Ars Medica, and Hospital Drive Magazine, among others. She has been a visiting scholar at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and taught at William Paterson University, Montclair State University, and Passaic County Community College. She holds a BA from Sarah Lawrence College, a Master of Secondary Education from Mercy College, and an MFA in Creative Writing from William Paterson University.
Elizabeth Martin ('12) is an Instructor in the Writing Studies Department at Montclair State University in New Jersey and a staff writer for American Mircoreviews & Interviews. Her journalism has appeared in Parsippany Life, Neighbor News, and The Suburban Trends. Her poetry and essays have been published by Hot Metal Bridge, Arsenic Lobster, Menacing Hedge, Eunoia Review, and Drunk Monkeys. She is the recipient of two New Jersey Press Association awards. Currently, she is at work on a series of essays that blend the political and historical contexts of motherhood with the anxieties, fears, and hopes of women.
Charlie Riccardelli ('12) graduated with his PhD in Creative Writing from the University of North Texas in 2018. He previously earned his MFA at William Paterson University and his BA at Susquehanna University. A New Jersey native, he currently lives in Denton, Texas where he is a professor for the Department of Technical Communication, as well as their academic advisor. He previously served as an editor/writer for American Microreviews and Interviews and assistant fiction editor for American Literary Review. His short stories and essays have appeared in various publications. He is currently seeking publication for his debut novel, a historical drama.
Susan Lago ('09) teaches composition and literature at William Paterson University. Her work has appeared, or is forthcoming, in publications such as Pank Magazine, Word Riot, Per Contra, Monkeybicycle and Prime Number. In 2011, one of her short stories was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She is currently at work on a collection of connected short stories.
Visit her website at http://SusanLago.wix.com/susanlago or follow her on Twitter: Susan Ell (@SusanLago).
Visit her website at http://SusanLago.wix.com/susanlago or follow her on Twitter: Susan Ell (@SusanLago).
Billy Tooma (’09) went on to become a tenured professor of Essex County College’s English faculty and is currently serving as Chair of the Humanities & Bilingual Studies Division. He has had essays and poems published in various magazines and journals since his time at WPU ended, but is most proud of his short story anthology, Shin’s Shadow & Other Stories, which he began during his time as a graduate student. Tooma’s work as a documentarian has resulted in films such as Poetry of Witness and his nine-part docuseries, Ken Forsse: Come Dream with Me Tonight. He was awarded his Doctor of Letters degree from Drew University in 2017.
Michael J Lawrence ('03) has a Masters in English with a Writing Specialization from William Paterson University and has published in literary journals such as Mobius: The Journal of Social Change and The Paumanok Review. Although his first love has always been literature, he has had an enjoyable career in the fitness industry in management. His debut novel, The Broken Light of a Different Sun, was published in October 2022 by Moonshine Cove Publishing. Broken Light is a psychological thriller, sort of Patricia Highsmith meets Breaking Bad.
You can reach him at his website: mjlawre.com
You can reach him at his website: mjlawre.com
In 2007 Maryann McFadden ('99) "won the literary lottery" according to writing blogs, when her previously self-published novel, The Richest Season, sold at auction to Hyperion Books. The Richest Season began in William Paterson's Master's in English program with a concentration in Writing as a short story, and went on to be expanded for her thesis project before she completed it a year later. The Richest Season became a Target Breakout Novel and was awarded an Indie Next Pick by The American Booksellers Association. Her next 2 novels, So Happy Together (being rereleased as Cape Cod Light) and The Book Lover, are also Indie Next Picks. Her 4th novel, The Cemetery Keeper's Wife, is a historical novel set in her NJ hometown and is a novel she believes she was destined to write. Maryann is a speaker and writing coach, and loves to chat with book clubs. Her unusual publishing journey has inspired many aspiring authors. Maryann lives in Northwest New Jersey. You can reach her at [email protected] or her website: maryannmcfadden.com
Maryann's first novel began in William Paterson's Master's in English program with a concentration in Writing.
Maryann's first novel began in William Paterson's Master's in English program with a concentration in Writing.
M.F.A. CANDIDATES
Adrian Class is an Ecua-Rican writer from Jersey City. He has a background in hip hop and slam poetry. Adrian is currently working on his first collection of short stories titled "From 5 West to Now."