MFA in Creative Writing Hosts Pulitzer Prize Winner Anthony Doerr

The MFA in Creative Writing program hosted a virtual writing seminar fundraiser on Thursday, August 20, led by Professor Lysley Tenorio, and featuring Pulitzer Prize–winning author Anthony Doerr. The evening focused on scenes and their function in fiction writing––how they can help develop a character or build conflict. Tenorio told attendees to ask these questions when they write a scene: “Who is the character at the start? Who are they by the end? What have they become?” 

Tenorio, a fiction writer and professor in the Creative Writing Program, led the beginning seminar portion of the evening. He is the author of the novel The Son of Good Fortune and the winner of the 2020 New American Voices award. 

Following the seminar, Doerr, the author of All the Light We Cannot See, which won the Pulitzer prize for fiction in 2015, arrived for questions. He discussed in detail how long it takes for him to craft a scene in his writing process. “Scenes don’t come fully formed. It’s OK if it takes you a month to get a scene going. I take a long time with scenes. You have to give yourself permission to take that time,” he said. 

The seminar was sponsored by Lambda Literary, an organization that uplifts emerging LGBTQ writers. The event’s entry fee will go toward funding scholarships in the MFA program for writers of color and writers in the LGBTQ community.

To learn more about the MFA in Creative Writing program, click here.