The New Writers Project at UT Austin

Congratulations to NWP alum for being inducted into the into the Texas Institute of Letters, a prestigious organization that honors some of Texas’ most recognized and serious writers!

Congratulation to NWP alum Colwill Brown, whose debut novel “We Pretty Pieces of Flesh” has been long listed for several prestigious awards: the 2026 Dylan Thomas Prize, the 2026 PEN/Hemingway award, and the Gordon Burn Prize. We can’t wait to see what this year brings for you !

Congratulations to NWP alum Lucas Schaefer, whose debut novel “The Slip” was ranked as a finalist for the 2025 John Leonard Prize!

Over two decades after coming to teach creative writing at the University of Texas, NWP faculty Oscar Cásares confesses that he still doesn’t feel quite at home: Austin has a different culture than Brownsville where Cásares grew up. In a touching essay in he recounts his reunion with an old friend and ponders the role of place in his life. For students feeling unsettled or out of place at UT, this essay offers a friend.

Thanks to all who joined the NWP 1st-Year Reading last night! These writers took us to outer space to traverse fleshy corridors and emptiness, 🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑, and brought us back to earth with flatulence, wheelbarrows, and rotations. These writers already displayed so much talent, and we can’t wait to hear how they continue to develop during the program.

The will host a reading this Thursday with the Michener Center for Writers’ spring Guest Poetry Faculty, Daniel Khalastchi and Guest Fiction Faculty, Kevin Powers!

Date: January 22nd
Time: 6-8 p.m.
Location: Harry Ransom Center

The Poetry Foundation recently conducted an interview with NWP faculty Lisa Olstein about archival sources, erasure, and mythology in her “Distinguished Office of Echoes.”

Interviewer Alina Stefanescu writes that Lisa Olstein: “speaks with care, and punctuates her thoughts with generosity, curiosity, and precision...Across her body of work, she plays language in counterpoint to itself, probing the distances between words and the embodied experiences they attempt to define. No definition is definitive. No story is final. Lyric is distilled from the sharp moments of reckoning.”

Read more about inspiration, writing process, and craft decisions in the Poetry Foundation Interview.

We’re excited to announce the first NWP reading of the semester: a reading with our First-Year Writers! Join us at on Wednesday, January 28th for poetry & fiction readings from First-Year NWP students Libby Williamson, Daniel Espinosa, Ruth Buchwald, Nikita Jacob, Manika Ajmani, and Julie Anne Larick.

Please mark your calendars for our first event of the semester: The New Writers Project Reading Series ✨ presents ✨ The 1st-Year Writers.

▪️When: Wednesday, January 28th at 6pm
▪️Where: (613 W. 29th St)
▪️What: Fiction, poetry, snacks, and camaraderie!

Exciting news! NWP Faculty Deb Olin Unferth’s novel “Barn 8” will be adapted into a film directed by Taika Waititi and scripted by Jessica Gao. We can’t wait to see this satirical novel by onscreen.

As we enter the new year, congratulations are in order for NWP student for being included in the “Best Debut Short Stories of 2025.” The story, “Ride Me Up to Heaven,” first appeared in StoryQuarterly.

The will host NWP Faculty Elizabeth McCracken for the launch of her book “A Long Game: Notes on Writing Fiction.” This book contains wisdom from a great writer and beloved teacher. She will be in conversation with Greg Marshall and NWP Alum Lucas Schaefer, two brilliant writers who studied with Elizabeth at UT. A book signing and reception will follow.

Date: December 4
Time: 6-8 p.m.
Location: Harry Ransom Center