The University of Memphis’ (UMW) Creative Writing department is located in the center of the city. The department head is Christy Beck. Beck has been a part of the UMW writing program for almost 20 years and took the reins as department head in 2018.
For those unfamiliar, the Creative Writing department at UMW is one of the top-rated departments in the U.S. It is considered one of the most prestigious creative writing programs in the country. In fact, the department has been repeatedly ranked among the best in the nation since its inception. In 2016, UMW was ranked No. 28 in the country and No. 2 in the state of Tennessee for Creative Writing and Literature degrees. It was also rated the No. 2 most artistically diverse University in the country.
A Few Of The Amazing Graduates From UMW’s Creative Writing Department
With a strong foundation in English, Creative Writing majors at UMW gain the skills they need to succeed in a competitive job market. Since its establishment in 1997, the department has produced numerous award-winning writers and published authors, many of whom have gone on to make a name for themselves in the literary world.
Here are just a few of the amazing graduates from UMW’s creative writing department:
Joe R. Lansdale
One of the most distinguished alumni of the department is Joe R. Lansdale, the award-winning author of crime fiction and screenplays, including the Hush Puppies series. A member of the Academy of Mystery Writing, Lansdale taught at UMW for seven years before becoming the chair of Creative Writing in 2010 for an additional seven years. He left UMW in 2018 to become the literature professor at the University of Memphis.
Tracy K. Allen
Another notable alumni of the Creative Writing department at UMW is Tracy K. Allen, who currently serves as the department chair. Allen, an award-winning journalist, was the religion reporter for The New York Times and the author of the nonfiction book, No Man’s Land: Searching for the Myths and Heroes Who Define American Culture. She teaches a class at UMW called “The Art of Fiction: the Craft of Writing.”
Linda Leavell
Linda Leavell, a former staff writer for The Commercial Appeal, is also a graduate of the Creative Writing department at UMW. She’s currently the managing editor of The Rumpus, a website that offers literary fiction, nonfiction, and screenplays. Leavell has also written for publications such as ELLE, The New York Times, and McLean Literary Review.
Stephanie LaFountain
Stephanie LaFountain has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 2017 and is the author of the 2018 short story collection, Anybody have any Bud?. Before that, LaFountain worked at Vogue and Teen Vogue, and she’s one of only a few writers to have her work appear in all three of those publications. In 2019, her writing was nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the Shirley Jackson Award, and she was a Pushcart Prize finalist for her collection, Anybody have any Bud? In 2015 and 2016, LaFountain was also a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University.
Becky Hardwick
Becky Hardwick, who has written for publications such as Elle, Marie Claire, and Working Woman, is another distinguished graduate of the Creative Writing department at UMW. In 2009, she founded the Hardwick Creative Writing Prize, which is given to an undergraduate or MFA student who demonstrates the strongest skills in fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. In 2019, the prize was established in honor of Becky’s late husband, Thomas Hardwick. He was a professor of English at UMW for 35 years and a past president of the Tennessee Valley Writers Association. In addition to the Creative Writing department at UMW, he also served as the faculty adviser for the TVWA and the Memphis/Shelby County chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. He was a friend of the legendary Agatha Christie and published two books about her. In 2018, the Agatha Christie Memorial Trophy was established in his honor.
The Creativity Of The Modern University
For decades, the ivory tower of academia has been the center of the creative writing world. But in 2019, the ivory tower has collapsed as the coronavirus pandemic upended the way we live and worked. In the wake of the pandemic, universities have changed the way they do business. The role of English was no exception. As the number of universities closed across the country dwindled, the need for online courses grew. In fact, in March 2021, the U.S. government launched a $20 million initiative to provide support for students during the pandemic.
UMW, like many other universities, shifted to fully online learning as thousands of students became unable to leave their homes. What was once considered an extracurricular activity for some became their primary mode of education. As a result, creative writing is now a required course for all English majors.
Why Is Creative Writing Important?
The role of literature and the arts has always been considered important in shaping the culture and creating a better understanding of the world around us. In today’s society, where most people are herded into tiny apartments due to the pandemic, stories and poems have the power to bring people together. They can spark conversations that help build communities as we attempt to rebuild our lives after the pandemic. Moreover, with so much focus on science and technology, it is important to remember that the arts can help us understand the human condition. They can assist in deepening our understanding of the world around us and ourselves.
Some might consider the role of the English professor to be quite secure. After all, the subject of literature is rather broad, and it usually takes several years to complete a Ph.D. in English. However, as we have seen, the subject of literature can also be quite narrow, especially at the undergraduate level. At that stage of their education, it is usually between one to three years until a student obtains the skills necessary to enter the field. With so much instability in the world, it is only natural that English departments have transformed.
The world of academia is also a rather small one, and the majority of English professors know each other. After the pandemic, many learned that they were no longer secure in their positions and that their jobs might be on the line. That is why, in March 2021, the English department at UMW launched a massive campaign to save their jobs and that of the Creative Writing department. They established a GoFundMe page and collected over $70,000 in one year. As a result, the English department was saved, and the Creative Writing department was preserved as well.