Graduate Program Events
The Creative Writing Reading Series brings nationally acclaimed authors to campus, with readings taking place in the Peter Shields Library. Recent poets, novelists, and creative nonfiction guests to our program have included Natalie Shapero, Alexandra Chang, Salvador Plascencia, Jennifer Foerster, José Vadi, Jesse Nathan, Sandra Lim, Jos Charles, Rae Armantrout, Karen Brennan, Chiyuma Elliott, Louise Gluck, Garth Greenwell, Fanny Howe, Donika Kelly, Nayomi Munaweera, Tommy Orange, Micah Perks, Diane Seuss, Danez Smith, and Mai Der Vang.
Fig + Axle, a student-run reading series, is the heart of program community. At monthly Fig + Axle evenings, students read their work-in-progress at venues such as Sophia’s Thai Kitchen, the Avid Reader Bookstore, the UC Davis Graduate Art Studio, and our beautiful Wyatt Deck, in the leafy green heart of the UC Davis Arboretum.
Poetry in Davis is a Davis community poetry reading series, run by Dr. Andy Jones, on Thursday nights at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Many of our current students and faculty members, as well as poets from the area and around the country, give readings in this thriving series.
Stories on Stage is a local collective that brings the page to life. Stories on Stage pairs writers with seasoned actors who read their work at the Sudwerk Brewery in Davis.
The end of the year Graduate Exhibition at the Jan and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum is an opportunity for MFA students to display their work in wildly creative fashions that push beyond simply reading at a podium. The Graduate Exhibition, undertaken in conjunction with students in all fields of art, from music to design, brings the entire arts community at Davis together.
Resources for Writers At Davis and Beyond
There’s a lot for writers in Davis to explore outside the Creative Writing Program. The University boasts a thriving arts community with an abundance of resources. The Manetti Shrem Museum of Art offers provocative and engaging exhibitions. The Mondavi Center for Performing Arts brings world-class performers and writers to campus for concerts and talks. Every year, the Art Studio Program’s Visiting Artists Series brings painters, sculptors, photographers, and mixed-media practitioners as well. Sacramento and San Francisco boast world-class arts communities. Community of Writers and Napa Valley Writers Conference are two nearby summer writer conferences that students from the program have often attended.
Collaboration in the Arts
We love interdisciplinary work at UC Davis. In recent years, our writers have collaborated with artists in the Art Studio MFA and composers from the Music department. They’ve shown these projects publicly at the Shrem Museum and elsewhere. We’re always looking for new ways to encourage these partnerships.
Prizes
The English Department hosts yearly prize competitions, including the Deirdre Hackett Award for Experiential Learning and the Jack Hicks Award in English.