HUNTER COLLEGE
THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
Dept. of English
695 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10065
T: 212 772 5164 F: 212 772 5411 mfa@hunter.cuny.edu
Toni Morrison, Sharon Olds, Salman Rushdie
The wonderful thing about studying in the red hot center of the
literary world is that everybody lives here, or visits here; and
it is astonishing how many of these distinguished writers have a
soft spot for Hunter College. So don't be surprised if Salman Rushdie
or Michael Ondaatje turn up in class (they have already) or if Lucille
Clifton or Anne Carson come to read and talk to you, or you find
yourself high above Manhattan, at dinner in the President's dining
room, and there is Toni Morrison, just across the table.
Great writers are often great teachers, and you'll come across many
of them when they read at our celebrated Distinguished Writers Series
or walk into your classroom and take their seat at the table.
Refer to our Calendar to see who else is coming to visit us. Or enter your email address in this box to receive updates:
In the list below, all writers gave readings of their work.
*Marks writers that also led an MFA craft class or workshop.
†Marks writers that also attended a dinner with MFA students.
Distinguished Writers,
Spring 2009
Paul Muldoon* — Thursday February 26, 2009
Kent Haruf* — Wednesday March 25, 2009
Mary Karr* — Monday, April 6th, 2009
Mark Strand* — Monday April 20, 2009
Kamila Shamsie* — Wednesday May 6, 2009
Distinguished Writers Series Spring 2009
Kamila Shamsie, May 6 Mark Strand, April 20 Mary Karr, April 6 Don DeLillo, March 16 (MFA class visit only) Kent Haruf, March 25 Paul Muldoon, February 26
Distinguished Writers Series Fall 2008
Edward Hirsch, November 13 Darin Strauss and Jeff Talarigo, October 20 Yusef Komunyakaa and Michael Thomas, October 7 Edmund White, September 23
Distinguished Writers Series Spring 2008
Russell Banks*†, April 17 Frank Bidart*, April 9 Anne Carson, March 13 Frank McCourt, March 4 Anne Winters and Gary Shteyngart*, February 21
Distinguished Writers Series Fall 2007
Lynn Emanuel, December 6 Michael Cunningham, November 13
Robert Pinsky, October 25
Annie Proulx †, October 4 Kathryn Harrison, September 20
Distinguished Writers Series
Spring 2007
Peter Carey & Tom Sleigh, May 1 Claire Messud, April 24 Eavan Boland*, April 12 Nathan Englander*†, March 13
Colum McCann, February 13
Distinguished Writers Series
Fall 2006
Marie Howe, November 30
Ian McEwan*†, November 6 Deborah Eisenberg*, October 12 Richard Price*, September 26
[Seamus Heaney was unable to attend, for personal reasons]
Distinguished Writers Series
Spring 2006
Sharon Olds, Robert Pinsky and
C.K. Williams, May 4
Jonathan Franzen*, April 4
Eva Hoffman, March 21 Junot Diaz*, March 13
Philip Gourevitch, February 28
Distinguished Writers Series
Fall 2005
Derek Walcott, December 8
Colson Whitehead, November 15
Louise Gluck*†, October 27 Adrienne Rich, Cornelius Eady, Joy Harjo, Yusef Komunyakaa, Jan Heller Levi and Donna Masini, October 6
Walter Mosley*, September 13
Distinguished Writers Series
Spring 2005
Jean Valentine*, May 10 Jhumpa Lahiri †, April 21 Julian Barnes †, April 13
Mark Doty, March 9 Paul Auster, February 15
Distinguished Writers Series
Fall 2004
Tribute to Lucille Clifton, featuring Toni Morrison, Sharon Olds, Robert Hass, Brenda Hillman, Maxine Kumin, Li-Young Lee, Elizabeth Alexander, Quincy Troupe, Kevin Young, Haki R. Hadhubuti, Gerald Stern, Galway Kinnell, Walter Mosley and Sonia Sanchez,
November 18 Jamaica Kincaid, November 1 Andrew Sean Greer*, September 28 Salman Rushdie*†, September 21
Distinguished Writers Series
Spring 2004
Toni Morrison, May 20 Anne Carson, May 6 Michael Ondaatje, April 15 Wallace Shawn, March 9
Other writers who have visited the MFA program
2002-2003
Siri Hustvedt & Robert Hughes, December 2, 2003 Paul Auster, Ariel Dorfman & Edith Grossman, November 11, 2003
Carol Muske-Dukes, May 15, 2003 Nancy Milford, December 4, 2002 Gary Shteyngart, October 1, 2002
Blair Writers-in-Residence 1999-2003
Brenda Hillman*, 2003 Li-Young Lee*, 2002 Mona Simpson*, 2002 Cristina Garcia*, 2001 Philip Levine*, 2000 Grace Paley*, 2000 Michael Cunningham*, 1999
Blair Reading Series
1999-2003
Brenda Hillman*, March 26, 2003
Li-Young Lee*, April 18, 2002 Mona Simpson*, March 21, 2002 Mark Doty*, April 4, 2001 Peter Ho Davies, March 15 2001 Dorianne Laux, February 26, 2001 Cristina Garcia*, November 7, 2000 David Mura*, October 5, 2000 Billy Collins & Cornelius Eady,
May 5, 1999 Lucia Cordell Getsi & Joan Larkin,
April 13 1999 Pearl Abraham & Emer Martin,
March 25, 1999 Cristina Garcia*, February 11, 1999
