The Stegner Fellowship program is a two-year creative writing fellowship at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. The award is named after

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

Wallace Stegner Wallace Earle Stegner (February 18, 1909 – April 13, 1993) was an American novelist, writer, environmentalist, and historian. He was often called "The Dean of Western Writers". He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 and the U.S. National Book Award ...

(1909–1993), a

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

writer,

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

, and Stanford faculty member who founded the university's creative writing program. Ten fellowships are awarded every year, five in fiction and five in poetry. The recipients do not need a degree to receive the fellowships, though many fellows already hold the terminal M.F.A. degree in creative writing. A workshop-based program, no degree is awarded after the two-year fellowship. Prior to 1990, many fellows also enrolled in Stanford's now-defunct

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

program in creative writing. Fellows receive a stipend of $50,000 per year, as well as health insurance and their tuition fee for Stanford. Fellows are required to live close enough to Stanford to be able to attend all workshops, as well as other department-related readings and events.

History

Stegner founded the Stanford creative writing department and fellowship program in 1946. Initial funding was supplied by Dr. E. H. Jones, brother of the chair of the Stanford English Department, Richard Foster Jones. Initially the fellowship was for three writing fellows per year, many of whom were

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

veterans returning home from overseas. In 1973, then-director John L'Heureux expanded the program to include eight fiction writers and eight poets per year. In 1992, the program expanded again to ten fiction writers and ten poets each year.

Faculty

The current poetry faculty for the program consists of

A. Van Jordan A. Van Jordan (born 1965) is an American poet. He is a professor at Stanford University and was previously a college professor in the Department of English Language & Literature at the University of Michigan and distinguished visiting professor ...

, Amaud Jamaul Johnson, and

Patrick Phillips Patrick Phillips is an American poet, writer, and professor. He teaches writing and literature at Stanford University, and is a Carnegie Foundation Fellow and a fellow of the Cullman Center for Writers at the New York Public Library. He has been ...

. The current fiction faculty for the program consists of Elizabeth Tallent, Adam Johnson,

Kirstin Valdez Quade Kirstin Valdez Quade is an American writer. Early life and education Quade was born to a white father and a Hispanic mother in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her father was a desert geologist and her family lived throughout the Southwestern United St ...

Chang-Rae Lee Chang-rae Lee (born July 29, 1965) is a Korean-American novelist and a professor of creative writing at Stanford University. He was previously Professor of Creative Writing at Princeton and director of Princeton University's Program in Creative ...

, and

Molly Antopol Molly Antopol (born February 26, 1978) is an American professor and author, writing both fiction and nonfiction. As of 2023, she is an Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing at Stanford University. Her primary research interests inc ...

."Wallace Stegner Fellowship,"
Stanford University Creative Writing Department website. Accessed Nov. 3, 2012.

Louise Glück Louise Elisabeth Glück ( ; April 22, 1943 – October 13, 2023) was an American poet and essayist. She won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature, whose judges praised "her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existe ...

taught five workshops in poetry between 2015 and 2022 before her death in 2023. Other notable writers often serve as guest instructors for a quarter as part of other endowed lectureships. Recent visiting writers include

Heather McHugh Heather McHugh (born August 20, 1948) is an American poet notable for ''Dangers'', ''To the Quick'', ''Eyeshot'' and ''Muddy Matterhorn.'' McHugh was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in the US and a Griffin Poetry Prize in Canada, and was elected ...

Nobel Laureate The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...

J. M. Coetzee John Maxwell Coetzee Order of Australia, AC Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, FRSL Order of Mapungubwe, OMG (born 9 February 1940) is a South African and Australian novelist, essayist, linguist, and translator. The recipient of the 2003 ...

Bharati Mukherjee Bharati Mukherjee (July 27, 1940 – January 28, 2017) was an Indian American-Canadian writer and professor emerita in the department of English at the University of California, Berkeley. She was the author of a number of novels and short story ...

Robert Pinsky Robert Pinsky (born October 20, 1940) is an American poet, essayist, literary critic, and translator. He was the first United States Poet Laureate to serve three terms. Recognized worldwide, Pinsky's work has earned numerous accolades. Pinsky ...

Colm Toibin Colm (; ) is a masculine given name of Irish origin. It is not an Irish version of ''Colin'', but like '' Callum'' and ''Malcolm'' derives from a Gaelic variation on ''columba'', the Latin word for "dove". The reason for the name's use for ov ...

Li-Young Lee Li-Young Lee (李立揚, pinyin: Lǐ Lìyáng) (born August 19, 1957) is an American poet. He was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, to Chinese parents. His maternal great-grandfather was Yuan Shikai, China's first Republican President, who attempted t ...

and, just before his death in 2004,

Thom Gunn Thomson William "Thom" Gunn (29 August 1929 – 25 April 2004) was an English poet who was praised for his early verses in England, where he was associated with Movement (literature), The Movement, and his later poetry in America, where he adop ...

. Notable previous long-term faculty include W. S. Di Piero and Denise Levertov in poetry; and John L'Heureux and Nancy Packer in fiction.

Notable Stegner Fellows

Edward Abbey Edward Paul Abbey (January 29, 1927 – March 14, 1989) was an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views. His best-known works include the nov ...

Gregory Abbott Gregory Joel Abbott (born April 2, 1954) is an American singer, musician, composer and producer. Although he continues to record to date, he is best known for his singles in the mid-1980s including his platinum single, " Shake You Down", from ...

Adedayo Agarau Adedayo Agarau is Nigerian poet, essayist and art administrator. Agarau is a member of the UnSerious Collective. He is the editor-in-chief of '' Agbowo'', an African literary magazine. He was a founding editor at IceFloe Press, Canada as the New I ...

* Aamina Ahmad *

James Arthur James Andrew Arthur (born 2 March 1988) is an English singer and songwriter. He rose to fame after winning the ninth series of ''The X Factor'' in 2012. His debut single, a cover of Shontelle's " Impossible", was released by Syco Music aft ...

* Talvikki Ansel *

Ken Babbs Ken Babbs (born January 14, 1936) is a Merry Prankster who became one of the psychedelic leaders of the 1960s. He along with best friend and Prankster leader, Ken Kesey, wrote the book '' Last Go Round''. Babbs is best known for his participat ...

Tom Barbash Tom Barbash is an American writer of fiction and nonfiction, as well as an educator and critic. Speaker, panelist, and interviewer Barbash has served as host for onstage events for The Commonwealth Club, Litquake, BookPassage, and the Lannan ...

* Peter S. Beagle * Frank Bergon *

Wendell Berry Wendell Erdman Berry (born August 5, 1934) is an American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer. Closely identified with rural Kentucky, Berry developed many of his agrarian themes in the early essays o ...

* Val Brelinski *

Jamel Brinkley Jamel Brinkley is an American writer. His debut story collection, ''A Lucky Man'' (2018), was the winner of the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award and the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. It was also a finalist for the National Boo ...

David Biespiel David Biespiel (born 1964) is an American poet, critic, memoirist, and novelist. He was born and raised in the Meyerland section of Houston, Texas. He is the founder of the Attic Institute of Arts and Letters in Portland, Oregon and Poet-in-Resi ...

* Edgar Bowers *

Geoffrey Brock Geoffrey Brock (born October 19, 1964) is an American poet and translator. Since 2006 he has taught creative writing and literary translation at the University of Arkansas, where he is Distinguished Professor of English. Biography Brock is the s ...

* Jason Brown *

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* Bo Caldwell * Kai Carlson-Wee *

Raymond Carver Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He published his first collection of stories, '' Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?'', in 1976. His breakout collection, '' What We Talk About ...

* Samantha Chang *

Marilyn Chin Marilyn Chin (陈美玲) is a prominent Chinese American poet, writer, activist, and feminist, as well as an editor and Professor of English. She is well-represented in major canonical anthologies and textbooks and her work is taught all over the ...

Eddie Chuculate Eddie Chuculate (born 1978) is an American fiction writer who is enrolled in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and of Cherokee descent. He earned a Wallace Stegner Fellowship in creative writing at Stanford University. His first book is ''Cheyenne Mad ...

Evan Connell Evan Shelby Connell Jr. (August 17, 1924 – January 10, 2013) was a U.S. novelist, short-story writer, essayist and author of epic historical works. He also published under the name Evan S. Connell Jr. In 2009, Connell was nominated for the M ...

* Lydi Conklin * Madeleine Cravens *

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Donald Davie Donald Alfred Davie, FBA (17 July 1922 – 18 September 1995) was an English Movement poet, and literary critic. His poems in general are philosophical and abstract, but often evoke various landscapes. Biography Davie was born in Barnsley, ...

* Catherine Davis * Stephen Dixon * Harriet Doerr * Geri Doran * Safia Elhillo *

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* Peter Everwine *

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* Charles Gullans *

* James Baker Hall * Ron Hansen *

Vicki Hearne Victoria Elizabeth "Vicki" Hearne (February 13, 1946 – August 21, 2001) was an American author, philosopher, poet, animal trainer, and scholar of literary criticism and linguistics. Biography Hearne was born in Austin, Texas, but, because ...

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* Skip Horack * James D. Houston * Maria Hummel *

Scott Hutchins Scott Hutchins (born March 4, 1974) is an American novelist and short story writer. Biography Scott Hutchins is an American novelist and short-story writer. A native of Arkansas, he was awarded a Stegner Fellowship from Stanford University. His w ...

* Adam Johnson *

Donald Justice Donald Rodney Justice (August 12, 1925 – August 6, 2004) was an American poet and teacher of creative writing who won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1980. Early life and education Justice was born on August 12, 1925, in Miami. He attended the ...

* Christopher Kempf *

Ken Kesey Ken Elton Kesey (; September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist and Counterculture of the 1960s, countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies o ...

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* H. T. Kirby-Smith *

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* Dana Kletter * Jamil Kochai * Philip Levine *

Anthony Marra Anthony Marra (born 1984) is an American fiction writer. Marra has won numerous awards for his short stories, as well as his first novel, '' A Constellation of Vital Phenomena,'' which was a ''New York Times'' best seller. Personal life Marra ...

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* James McMichael *

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* Thomas H. McNeely * Joanne Meschery *

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* Julie Orringer * Nancy Packer *

ZZ Packer Zuwena "ZZ" Packer (born January 12, 1973) is an American writer, primarily of works of short fiction. She is the recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award, a Whiting Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Her book ''Drinking Coffee El ...

* Charlotte Painter *

* Eric Puchner *

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* William Pitt Root *

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Vikram Seth Vikram Seth (born 20 June 1952) is an Indian people, Indian novelist and poet. He has written several novels and poetry books. He has won several awards such as Padma Shri, Sahitya Akademi Award, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, WH Smith Literary Awar ...

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* Robert Vasquez * Emily Warn *

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* Mark Wunderlich *

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Notes

References

External links

* {{Stanford University Stanford University American literary awards American poetry awards San Francisco Bay Area literature updated Lydi Conklin's name