Ithaca College Department of Writing

Congratulations to the team for the launch of their 64th issue! This annual art and literary magazine showcases the talent & diversity of the artistic voices of IC students.

The magazine’s outgoing editor-in-chief, Sasha Roter, will graduate next week. Junior Writing major Pat Keeble will take over as the incoming editor-in-chief for next year.

You can pick up a copy of Issue 64 around Smiddy Hall, or check it out online using the link in our bio!

Last week, we held the Annual Writing Contest Awards Ceremony. Excellent work to all of the talented students who submitted their work to the contest, and a special shoutout to the wonderful winners! Congratulations!

Thank you to everybody who joined us for the Writing Department’s Senior Celebration on Tuesday! It was such a joy to celebrate our graduating seniors with a lovely dinner and speeches from faculty and students.

Congratulations to the Class of 2026! 🎉🎓

We are excited to invite you to this year’s Senior Project Showcase next Wednesday, May 6th! Please join us in Business 104 at 6pm to celebrate these excellent writers as they read from their senior projects. All are welcome!

Last week, the Distinguished Visiting Writers Series welcomed its final writer of the semester’s series, novelist Torrey Peters. Torrey read from her debut book, “Detransition, Baby”, published by One World/Random House in 2021, as well as her newest book, “Stag Dance”, published by Random House in 2025.

Before her reading, Torrey met with the Visiting Writer Workshop class and led a fiction workshop with the students. Visiting Writer Workshop student Robyn Jensen-Tode gave an introduced and welcomed Torrey to the podium. Fellow students Cormac Abbey and Ashan Chandrasena moderated a meaningful and insightful Q&A after the reading.

Thank you, Torrey!

As part of Local News Day, a new local holiday celebrated on April 9th, the City of Ithaca honored Barbara Adams for her work on the Ithaca Times!

Read more here: https://ithacavoice.org/2026/04/tompkins-county-declares-april-9-local-news-day/

Earlier this month, Professor Jamaica Baldwin and four writing majors— Pete Dorman, Cormac Abbey, Maggie Childers, and Ashan Chandrasena— attended the AWP conference in Baltimore!

AWP, or the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, is an annual conference that gathers over 100,000 writers to celebrate MFA programs, writing residencies, retreats, and presses. Attendees could choose from dozens of panels on subjects ranging from teaching pedagogy and writing craft to more urgent, topical concerns, such as AI, climate change, mass migration, social justice, and war.

At one session, hosted by YesYes Books, students supported Professor Baldwin as she read from and discussed her poetry collection, “Bone Language” (2023). Roaming the Baltimore Convention Center, they briefly reunited with our Distinguished Visiting Writer Kai Coggin, who visited our campus in February.

Last month, poet Kai Coggin visited the Writing Dept. for the Distinguished Visiting Writers Series to read from her book “Mother of Other Kingdoms”. Before her reading and Q&A, Kai led a poetry workshop with students from the DVW course.

During the workshop, each student was given a jar filled with natural materials. They studied its contents and wrote poetry inspired by what was inside. Through this exercise, Kai encouraged students to collect “glimmers instead of triggers” from the natural world and fill their hearts with “all that brings us joy, wonder, curiosity, and awe”.

Thank you, Kai!

Submissions for the annual Louise Cannon Poetry Prize are now open! This award commemorates the longtime contributions of Louise Cannon, assistant professor of writing at Ithaca College. This year’s judge is Heather Bartlett. Submissions close on Friday, April 3rd, at 5pm.

The prize includes a $100 gift certificate to Buffalo Street Books. The Louise Cannon Poetry Prize is made possible through the generosity of the M. Louise Cannon Fund. All current IC students are encouraged to apply.

Scan the QR code or go to the IC website for more information about submission guidelines.

We are now accepting submissions for the 2026 Writing Contest! Submit a piece of work in one of the categories to [email protected] for a chance to win a prize! Submissions close April 1st and the awards ceremony will take place on April 30th. Contact Professor Jim Stafford with any questions!