St. Louis, MO (PRWEB) February 17, 2015

Maryville University has announced award-winning poet Dana Levin will become the University’s first-ever Distinguished Writer-in-Residence, beginning in Fall 2015. Levin’s appointment coincides with academic program revisions in the humanities and English to reflect a stronger focus on creative writing.

“I couldn’t be happier that Dana Levin is joining us as Maryville’s first Distinguished Writer-in-Residence,” said Cherie Fister, MFA, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “To host an artist and educator with her talent and experience presents a tremendous opportunity for the Maryville community.”

Most recently, Levin’s poems have been chosen for inclusion in the 2015 Best American Poetry series and Boston Review’s Top Poems of 2014. Her first book, In the Surgical Theatre, was chosen by Pulitzer prize-winning author Louise Glück for the 1999 American Poetry Review/Honickman First Book Prize and went on to receive nearly every award available to first books and emerging poets. Copper Canyon Press published Levin’s second book, Wedding Day, (2005), and her most recent, Sky Burial, which The New Yorker called “utterly her own and utterly riveting.” Sky Burial was noted for 2011 year-end honors by The New Yorker, the San Francisco Chronicle, Coldfront, and Library Journal.

“It’s exciting to join Maryville just at the moment when the University is turning towards creative writing with renewed vigor,” Levin said. “I look forward to working with student writers of all stripes.”

Levin will teach two courses at Maryville University beginning in Fall 2015—Advanced Creative Writing and Write Short: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry. She will also offer writing tutorials for individual students working on major projects. Levin’s residency is exclusive to fall semesters over the next five years.

A teacher of writing for more than 20 years, Levin is currently co-chair and faculty of the Creative Writing and Literature department at Santa Fe University of Art and Design in Santa Fe, N.M. She is also on the faculty for the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, N.C. Previously, Levin served as the Russo Endowed Chair in Creative Writing at the University of New Mexico, and as faculty and chair of the Creative Writing and Literature department at the College of Santa Fe.

“We’re excited to welcome Dana. She brings a wide range of teaching experience and national recognition as a poet, and her courses will be a great addition to the new narrative arts concentration in the English major,” said Bebe Nickolai, associate dean of humanities, director of the humanities and English programs, and assistant professor.

The academic program in English at Maryville has recently been revised to include optional concentrations in Narrative Arts, Fantasy & Science Fiction and Video Literacy, which will involve interdisciplinary study across the humanities and other academic areas.

About Maryville University

As a private, independent university, Maryville enrolls nearly 6,000 students and offers more than 75 degrees at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels. Maryville has forged its outstanding reputation based on academic outcomes, small classes, individualized student attention, and academic excellence.

Media Contact:

Marcia Sullivan

Vice President, Integrated Marketing and Communications

Maryville University

O: 314.529.9340

C: 314.277.7233






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