Creative writing senior readings return in person

The Creative Writing program at SUNY Geneseo is small but mighty—this close-knit, small community boasts some strong writers, allowing them to gain experience in small, graduate school-esque workshops in their undergraduate years. The program is centered around workshops, courses that allow writers to provide and receive feedback on pieces and learn how to navigate criticism in a group space.

All senior Creative Writing majors take a course called Senior Seminar at the end of their time at Geneseo. The course focuses on how to sustain an engaging and fruitful life as a writer after leaving the undergraduate creative writing environment. Students discuss the pros and cons of MFAs, potential fields of employment, ways to network, and how to stay connected to the literary community around them even when they aren’t a student. 

The course culminates in each student participating in their very own senior reading. At their senior readings, these individuals share the work they have created over the course of their four years at Geneseo. The three genres that the program hosts are fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Students are paired with one another, put together their favorite works they’ve created, and read them aloud for their peers, friends, and faculty that have supported them and their growth in their time here. The event serves as a celebration of these writers, and all they have accomplished.

This year is the first time since 2019 that senior readings have been held in-person here at Geneseo. These readings are special moments for the seniors that allow their professors and friends to share in celebrating all their hard work and growth as a writer. I highly encourage you to attend any and all that you can! These are a beautiful celebration of the work that our creative writers have made.

The Senior Readings for 2022 are all at 2:30 p.m. and taking place in the Doty Tower Room unless otherwise noted. Here are the dates:

Friday, April 15: Matthew Keller and Lyndsay Tudman

Monday, April 18: Nate Bedell and John Mattison

Friday April 22: Liz Louie and Sophie Montecalvo (Welles 111)

Friday, April 29: Alison DiCesare, Taylor Constantino, and Tess Woitaszek (Welles 111)

Monday 5/2: Amina Diakite and Kayla Eyler

Friday 5/6: Kat Johnson and Jenna Murray (Brodie 220)