Solstice MFA Virtual Info Session, April 15 at 6 p.m. Eastern
Tune in to our last virtual info session ahead of our summer/fall 2026 deadlines. This event kicks off April 15 at 6 p.m. ET. Register here: applygrad.lasell.edu/register/?id...
a smartphone graphic showing reminders for materials needed for a Solstice MFA application, including a personal statement, writing sample, transcripts, and 2 recommendations, all due in six weeks Text that reads Solstice MFA upcoming deadlines: Fellowship consideration on April 27 and general applications on May 11
Summer/fall '26 deadlines are approaching! Apply by May 11 (April 27 for fellowship consideration). Decisions in as few as 10 biz days if we have your personal statement, writing sample, and 2 recommendation forms. (Transcripts are due July 1 at the latest.)
More info: buff.ly/9osPRIt
The 2026 Best of the Net Anthology is live! Check out all of this year's award-winning poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and art plus our full list of 2026 finalists! https://bestofthenetanthology.com/
@notebookscltv.bsky.social was thrilled to nominate Mary for Spotlight Poet. Her debut collection is luminous & haunting & I love it. It's 4 months out but I'm counting the days...Join us 7/13!
Photo of Mary standing next to a tree in the woods with a hand under her chin and an image of her book's cover. Text says Spotlight Poet Mary Simmons
"I want my poetry to inspire curiosity, conversation, and self-reflection." -Mary in an interview for SHP Anthology
Excerpt from "Trespass" in Baltimore Review And it won’t have meant anything more than a smooth, white pebble in the face of sandstone. And the only trace will be pine needles scattered across the path, sinking into the mud. It’s raining, and the crows are little scorched things, burnt all the way through. This is what home means when home is a sunspot waving over the field. When we’re gone, we’ll love more. We’ll have more to lose.
"The best way to keep growing is to keep doing the work, and a writer’s work is never done." -Mary in an interview with Arkana Literary
Get to know our July 2026 Spotlight Poet Mary Simmons, nominated by @notebookscltv.bsky.social! Her book Mother, Daughter, Augur is available from June Road Press, and she will participate in a Q&A for our community and give a public reading during our upcoming summer residency.
pencil, pen, coffee, and notepad with text CARRIE WATSON LEGACY FELLOWSHIP for Young People's Literature, Apply by April 27 "The Carrie Watson Legacy Fund is a testament to the woman who ignited my love of storytelling: my mother, Carrie Elizabeth Watson. She was my first and greatest supporter. With every grant awarded, her legacy lives on. It is my deepest honor to pass her steadfast encouragement forward to new writers as they pursue their own dreams." –Renée Watson Watson Fellowship Underwriter $1,500 Award
Applying to our MFA program to start this summer? Check out our Carrie Watson Legacy Fellowship for Young People's Literature. Apply by April 27 to be considered. The selected writer receives a $1,500 discount on first-semester tuition. See more details here: www.lasell.edu/graduate-stu...
![pencil, peen, coffee cup, and notepad with text
FRANCIS L. TONER FELLOWSHIP for Veterans, Apply by April 27
"[It was] an honor to receive the 2024 Francis L. Toner Fellowship, provided by Mark Jednaszewski. This fellowship is a significant milestone in my writing journey, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to propel my aspirations as a novelist and educator."
–Ryan LaBee
Toner Fellow
$1,500 Award](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:xlwwgg3fj77pem76wjewajsq/bafkreic4baiqortsotbjt32sf4zytpiesrgr6hznij3s75uzj52ds6nfq4)
pencil, peen, coffee cup, and notepad with text FRANCIS L. TONER FELLOWSHIP for Veterans, Apply by April 27 "[It was] an honor to receive the 2024 Francis L. Toner Fellowship, provided by Mark Jednaszewski. This fellowship is a significant milestone in my writing journey, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to propel my aspirations as a novelist and educator." –Ryan LaBee Toner Fellow $1,500 Award
Applying to our MFA program to start this summer? Check out our Frances L. Toner Fellowship for Veterans. Apply by April 27 to be considered. The selected writer receives a $1,500 discount on first-semester tuition. See more details here: www.lasell.edu/graduate-stu...
pencil, pen, coffee cup, and notepad with text MONICA HAND FELLOWSHIP for Nontraditional Students. Apply by April 27 "Receiving the 2024 Monica Hand Fellowship for Nontraditional Students meant a great deal to me as I embarked on my MFA degree. It is my hope that I can make a difference in both my classroom and my community with this degree, and the fellowship was a great help." –Jay B. Snyder Hand Fellow $1,500 Award
Applying to our MFA program to start this summer? Check out our Monica Hand Fellowship for Nontraditional Students. Apply by April 27 to be considered. The selected writer receives a $1,500 discount on first-semester tuition. See more details here: www.lasell.edu/graduate-stu...
Pen, pencil, coffee, and notepad with text BILLY STILL FELLOWSHIP for Social Action & Writing, Apply by April 27 “Being a professional, working writer has been a goal of mine for quite some time. Receiving this fellowship has added to my drive to become the writer I’ve always wanted to be.” –Sarah Lewis Still Fellow $1,500 award
Applying to our program to start this summer? Check out our Billy Still Fellowship for Social Action & Writing. Apply by April 27 to be considered. The selected writer receives a $1,500 discount on first-semester tuition. See more details here: www.lasell.edu/graduate-stu...
Notepad, pen, pencil and text KURT BROWN FELLOWSHIP for Diverse Voices, Apply by April 27 "Receiving the Kurt Brown Fellowship for Diverse Voices gave me confidence that my work as a transgender poet is deserving of readers. This fellowship gifted me the strong, supportive writing community that is Solstice." –Konner Jebb Brown Fellow
Applying to our MFA program to start this summer? Check out our Kurt Brown Fellowship for Diverse Voices. Apply by April 27 to be considered. The selected writer receives a $1,500 discount on first-semester tuition. See more details here: www.lasell.edu/graduate-stu...
Three Solstice MFA community members standing together and smiling
Three Solstice MFA community members standing together and smiling
Solstice MFA alums Becca Connors and Lisa Allen, who founded and run The Notebooks Collective, standing and smiling with Mary Simmons, Solstice MFA’s 4th Spotlight Poet
It was a time #AWP26! Thank you to all who stopped by to meet us in the bookfair.
Also, many thanks to Mary Simmons, our upcoming Spotlight Poet nominated by @notebookscltv.bsky.social, who stopped by the table.
Four Solstice MFA alums behind a table with branded paraphernalia
Four Solstice MFA alums behind a table with branded paraphernalia
Solstice MFA alum Lisa Allen sitting and signing a copy of her book It’s What I’ve Got Left
Five Solstice alums standing together and smiling
Some more #AWP26 Solstice sightings and signings! See you at table 1164 for the final day of the bookfair.
Group of smiling Solstice MFA writers standing behind table with program-branded paraphernalia
Three Solstice MFA alums standing together and smiling
Solstice MFA associate director Quintin Collins standing and smiling with Solstice faculty member Anne-Marie Oomen
Solstice alum Melissa Lucken sitting at a table and signing a book
Some Solstice sightings featuring our faculty, staff, and alums from #AWP26 today! Come chat with us at table 1164 in the bookfair.
Icon graphics of two people sitting at laptops with Q and A in speech bubbles. Solstice MFA Virtual Info Session, March 18 at 12 p.m. Eastern
Join us for our next virtual info session on March 18 at 12 p.m. ET to learn about program start dates, faculty, and more. Register here: applygrad.lasell.edu/register/?id...
Line of people waiting outside an entrance to a building. On the wall of glass windows, a banner reads 2026 AWP Conference and Bookfair
Table featuring branded Solstice MFA signage and paraphernalia
Two smiling Solstice MFA staff and faculty standing together and smiling
Hello #AWP26! We’re in Baltimore and ready to meet you. See you tomorrow in the bookfair at table 1164.
We’ve already spotted our Associate Director Quintin Collins and faculty member @jennifermurvin.bsky.social!
Photos of eight writers against a background featuring illustrations of books on a shelf and text that says Solstice MFA July 2026 Special Guests: Charles Baxter, Jedediah Berry, Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Aaron Caycedo-Kimura, Zoraida Cordova, Anne-Marie Oomen, Mary Simmons, Richard Smith
We recently revealed our July 2026 special guests, as well as our commencement speaker Charles Baxter and Spotlight Poet Mary Simmons, nominated by our partner @notebookscltv.bsky.social! Check out their bios on our website: www.lasell.edu/graduate-stu...
Congrats to our alum Maryann Jacob Macias, whose new picture book Nisha Knows Best is now available from Dial Books! Get your copy here:
Congrats to our alum @backtoallen.bsky.social, whose debut poetry collection It's What I've Got Left is now available from Lily Poetry Review! Get your copy here:
SOLSTICE MFA at AWP 2026 in Baltimore: Bookfair Table 1164, Thursday, March 5 12:00pm Incidental Pollen Book Signing featuring Solstice alum Ellen Austin-Li Bookfair Booth 626, Baltimore Convention Center 12:10pm Alternative Nation, or Whatever: Gen X Perspectives on the Writing Life featuring Solstice Faculty Member Tara Betts Room 317, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center 02:00pm All the Possible Bodies Book Signing featuring Solstice Faculty Member Iain Haley Pollock Bookfair Booth #1044, Baltimore Convention Center 04:00pm Adverse Abstraction Offsite Reading featuring Solstice Faculty Member Iain Haley Pollock Meander Art Bar FRIDAY, MARCH 6 09:00am Beauty vs. Fidelity: The Poetry Translator’s Gamble featuring Solstice Writer-in-Residence Dzvinia Orlowsky Room 323, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center 01:45pm Sustaining and Building Robust Literary Partnerships featuring Solstice Faculty Member Gina Chung Room 302, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center Rewriting the Archive: Poetic Voices on Who Defines History featuring Solstice Faculty Member Iain Haley Pollock Ballroom I, Level 400, Baltimore Convention Center 03:20pm Widening the Bridge of Ekphrasis: Writing the Saturation Poem featuring Solstice Faculty Member Jennifer Jean Room 326, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Attending AWP26 in Baltimore next month? Come see us at bookfair table 1164 to learn more about Solstice and earning an MFA in Creative Writing with us. Plus, you can check out on- and off-site events featuring our staff, faculty, and alums below.
"It seems weird to say so, but we need more poems now." Read more from Charles Baxter in @literaryhub.bsky.social:
Solstice MFA Virtual Info Session, February 11 at 6 p.m. Eastern
Ready to prioritize your writing life? Join us for our next virtual information session to learn more about what it takes to earn an MFA with Solstice. We're excited to see you on February 11 at 6 p.m. ET. Register here: applygrad.lasell.edu/register/?id...
Seven smiling Solstice MFA graduates standing together in front of a wooden bench and large windows
Seven smiling Solstice MFA graduates, along with commencement speaker Malinda Lo, Lasell University President Eric Turner, and Lasell University Assistant Provost Kenneth Calhoun standing together in front of a wooden bench and large windows
Seven smiling Solstice MFA graduates, along with their presenting faculty members, standing together in front of a wooden bench and large windows
Seven Solstice MFA graduates smiling and holding their diplomas while standing together and facing an applauding audience in an auditorium
Last Saturday during our winter 2026 #SolsticeMFARes, we held our 32nd commencement ceremony. Congrats to our seven grads, and many thanks to our speaker @malindalo.bsky.social. Here are just a few highlights by our photog Staci Halt, with more available here: www.instagram.com/p/DT0iW3ijjH...
Group of smiling writers standing together on and in front of a stage in an auditorium with a chalkboard behind them
And that's a wrap on our 40th residency! We wish our faculty and students a prolific semester of writing. Stay tuned for more highlights from this latest #SolsticeMFARes!
Three smiling writers standing on or next to a set of stairs
A woman writer standing at a music stand with a branded banner. She speaks into a microphone with one hand raised. Behind her are a chalkboard, TV screen, and chair.
A woman writer standing at a music stand with a branded banner. She speaks into a microphone with one hand raised. Behind her are a chalkboard, TV screen, and chair.
A male writer standing at a music stand with a branded banner. He speaks into a microphone. Behind him are a chalkboard, TV screen, and chair.
Thank you to Laura Williams McCaffrey, Gina Chung, and Terrance Hayes for such an awesome reading to close out our January 2026 #SolsticeMFARes series. The recording is now up on our YouTube: youtu.be/M_WM5QPoZ6I
A woman writer standing at a music stand with a branded banner and speaking into a microphone
A male writer standing at a music stand with a branded banner and speaking into a microphone
A male writer standing at a music stand with a branded banner and speaking into a microphone
Three smiling writers standing in front of a textured wall with high windows
Awesome job to Jennifer Jean, Steven Huff, and David Yoo on their #SolsticeMFARes reading last night! The recording is now available on our YouTube: youtu.be/5zJJdW6SuKk
Grid photo collage of four writers standing at a lectern and speaking into a microphone
Grid photo collage of four writers standing at a lectern and speaking into a microphone
Grid photo collage of four writers standing at a lectern and speaking into a microphone
Grid photo collage of five writers standing at a lectern and speaking into a microphone
Congrats to our non-graduating students on another awe-inspiring #SolsticeMFARes Student Reading last night!
a male writer standing at a lectern with a laptop speaking into a microphone and standing next to a raised projector screeen
a male writer standing at a lectern and speaking into a microphone
Two smiling male writers standing in front of a textured wall and high windows
Thank you again to @joshneufeld.bsky.social and Noah Shea for their hilarious and suspenseful #solsticemfares readings last night. If you missed out, watch the recording on our YouTube channel: youtu.be/a-F5oT9sx-4
Group of smiling Solstice MFA graduates standing together in front of a textured wall and high windows
Huge congrats to our seven graduating students on their readings last night. If you missed it, check out the recording on our YouTube channel: youtu.be/m8xEiPcgHh4
Group photo of Solstice MFA faculty, students, staff
It's been such a wonderful #solsticemfares as we begin our second half today. Here's a look at many of students, faculty, and staff.
Many thanks to our faculty-at-large and special guests who read via Zoom last night for our #solsticemfares evening reading series. Check out the recording here: