Kenyon has a long history of nurturing talented poets and fiction writers, and many students attend Kenyon for its creative writing courses. Each year, ten members of the Department of English faculty teach a variety of workshops in fiction, poetry or creative nonfiction, and many students choose to complete the English major with an emphasis in creative writing.
In addition, many special opportunities are available to students interested in creative writing at Kenyon, including numerous readings by writers of national reputation, internships with the Kenyon Review Student Associates Program and opportunities to publish creative work in a wide assortment of student literary journals. Students interested in pursuing creative writing courses during the summer may also apply to the Kenyon Review Writer's Workshop for an intensive eight-day program in fiction, poetry or creative nonfiction. The Kenyon Review also offers a summer workshop for high-school students (ages 16-18) interested in developing their creative and critical abilities during the years before applying to college.
The Kenyon Review Fellows Program
The Kenyon Review Fellows Program honors a long-standing tradition of supporting gifted young writers emerging onto the literary scene. In previous iterations of the program, renowned literati such as Flannery O'Connor and W.S. Merwin were fellows of the review. The program offers a unique opportunity for students, faculty, and the visiting writers themselves. Fellows reside in Gambier for two years while working on significant writing projects, teaching creative writing courses in the English department and receiving editorial as well as teaching experience.
Kenyon Review Fellows for 2023-2025
Jennifer Galvão (prose) is a graduate of the Helen Zell Writer's Program at the University of Michigan. Galvão's short fiction has been published in The Masters Review. She is the recipient of the Geoffrey James Gosling Novel Prize and a Hopwood Novel Award. She is at work on a story collection and a novel about shellfish, dementia, and Portugal's Carnation Revolution.
Cindy Juyoung Ok (poetry) is the author of "Ward Toward" (forthcoming from Yale University Press, 2024), chosen by Rae Armantrout for the 2023 Yale Series of Younger Poets. A former high school physics teacher, Ok now teaches creative writing at the college-level.
The Richard L. Thomas Chair in Creative Writing
The Richard L. Thomas Chair in Creative Writing brings internationally-recognized poets and fiction writers to Kenyon to teach creative writing workshops and literature courses.