Vermont College of Fine Arts offers four distinct graduate programs, awarding Master of Fine Arts degrees in Visual Art, Writing, Writing for Children & Young Adults and Graphic Design. The student to faculty ratio at VCFA is 4-to-1.. The faculty and alumni of VCFA have won many literary awards, including Newbery Honor Awards and a National Book Award

National Book Award

The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...

.. VCFA is one of the rare graduate schools in the United States devoted solely to low-residency graduate degrees. The college’s campus sits atop a hill above downtown Montpelier

Montpelier

Montpelier or Montpellier is the name of several places:in Canada:* Montpellier, Quebec* Montpellier , a train station in Montreal, Canadain France:* Montpellier, a city in southern France** The University of Montpellierin Ireland:...

, the capital of Vermont

Vermont

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

 and the smallest state capital in the United States.

Mission & Purpose

MISSION:
Vermont College of Fine Arts is a national center for education in the arts, fostering the excellence of emerging and established artists and advancing the arts to create a more humane world.

PURPOSE:
Vermont College of Fine Arts is a place where the creative expression of individuals is nurtured and a sense of community flourishes. For seventy years Vermont College® has been a site for progressive education. Anchored firmly on this historic campus in Montpelier, VCFA seeks to shape the global future of the arts with an emphasis on excellence that allows its members to reach for the highest artistic standards as individuals while recognizing that the arts are one of the foundations of a healthy and creative society. This is a place where national and international leaders in the arts gather, teach, and show and perform their work. The college prides itself on its openness and on creating an environment that is safe, welcoming, and built on mutual respect.

Academics

Graduate programs offered:

• Masters of Fine arts in Visual Art
• Masters of Fine Arts in Writing
• Masters of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults
• Masters of Fine Arts in Graphic Design
• Masters of Fine Arts in Music Composition

Certificates offered:

• Graduate-level picture book certificate

Low-residency

The low-residency structure allows students to attend graduate school while living at home. Vermont College requires "four six-month semesters of intensive one-on-one work under the guidance of a faculty mentor and five ten-day on-campus residencies, each of which consists of workshops, lectures, readings, panel discussions, student-teacher conferences and critiques, presentations of works in progress." The students create their own individualized program of study with their faculty mentors. A faculty member works with five or fewer students through "written correspondence, online communication, oral tapes, and/or telephone conferences" during the semester at home.

All programs feature writers-in-residence or artists-in-residence who give lectures and readings. Artists and writers-in-residence have included Jean Valentine

Jean Valentine

Jean Valentine is an American poet, and currently the New York State Poet . Her poetry collection, Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965–2003, was awarded the 2004 National Book Award for Poetry....

, M. T. Anderson

Matthew Tobin Anderson

Matthew Tobin Anderson, known as M. T. Anderson, is an American author, primarily of picture books for children and novels for young adults. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.-Biography:...

, Susan Cooper

Susan Cooper

Susan Mary Cooper is an English author best known for The Dark Is Rising, an award-winning five-volume saga set in and around England and Wales. The books incorporate traditional British mythology, such as Arthurian and other Welsh elements with original material ; these books were adapted into a...

, Gregory Maguire

Gregory Maguire

Gregory Maguire is an American writer. He is the author of the novels Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, and many other novels for adults and children...

, Holly Black

Holly Black

Holly Black née Riggenbach is an American writer and editor, best known for writing The Spiderwick Chronicles, a series of children's fantasy books she created with illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi.-Early life and education:...

, and Jane Yolen

Jane Yolen

Jane Hyatt Yolen is an American author and editor of almost 300 books. These include folklore, fantasy, science fiction, and children's books...

, who was the inaugural writer-in-residence in the Writing for Children and Young Adults program.

MFA in Writing

Established in 1981, the VCFA MFA in writing program offers degree tracks in fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry as well as a secondary concentration in translation.[6] The MFA in Writing requires 2 theses: a critical thesis and a creative thesis in addition to a giving a lecture and public reading.[10]

Each faculty member supervises five writers through written correspondence, online communication, oral tapes, and/or telephone conferences during the semester. Students in VCFA’s MFA in Writing Program convene with other writers twice each year for 10-day on campus residencies. They participate in small, faculty-guided workshops in which each writer’s work is examined. Special workshops are offered in translation, the novel, and other focused topics. In addition to workshops, daily seminars, lectures, and discussions, as well as readings by faculty, graduating students, and visiting writers, students engage in formal and informal exchanges.

The faculty of the MFA in Writing Program have published more than 300 books and have won almost every major literary award. More than two-thirds of the faculty teach at other universities.[11]

The MFA in writing program is rated as one of the top five low-residency MFA programs in the United States.

MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults

Established in 1997, the VCFA MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults Program was the nation's first MFA program focusing on writing for young readers. In the program students pursue studies in the writing of picture books, middle-grade or young adult literature and come to campus twice a year for 10-day residencies. After the residencies students begin faculty-guided independent-study projects. During the independent study project students are supervised and maintain a correspondence with faculty and peers.

The MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults requires 2 theses: a critical thesis and a creative thesis in addition to giving a lecture and public reading.[10] Candlewick Press, Houghton Mifflin

Houghton Mifflin

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is an educational and trade publisher in the United States. Headquartered in Boston's Back Bay, it publishes textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults.-History:The company was...

/Clarion, and Harcourt Trade Publishers

Harcourt Trade Publishers

Harcourt was a United States publishing firm with a long history of publishing fiction and nonfiction for children and adults. The company was based in San Diego, California, with an Editorial / Sales / Marketing / Rights offices in New York City and Orlando, Florida.In 2007, the U.S...

 have established scholarships and prizes for students in the Writing for Children and Young Adults program..

MFA in Visual Art

The Master of Fine Art in Visual Art Program at VCFA allows students to earn a 60-credit MFA degree over a period of two years through a combination of ten-day, on-campus residencies followed by six-month semesters of self-designed artistic practice. Students work in their home studios in between residencies. Whether on campus or at home, students participate in a discourse structured around their visual culture research and studio projects. Through this process of exchange, students explore their interests and make connections that help position their work within broader social, historical, and intellectual debates.

Since its founding in 1991, the MFA in Visual Art Program has been based on the principle of individualized learning. While in the program, students complete a series of interdisciplinary writing projects supervised by faculty members and pursue their studio work with guidance from local artists chosen in collaboration with the program.

The MFA in Visual Art Program’s pedagogy is based on the understanding that art does not exist in a void but within a social context, and that process is integral to the product.

MFA in Graphic Arts

In the tradition of VCFA’s graduate programs in other fields, this program requires one week of campus residence for each six-month semester and matches each student with a faculty mentor for one-on-one independent study. In VCFA's MFA in Graphic Design design professionals work closely with faculty who are leading practitioners in the field, students merge practice with design theory and research to expand their fluency in visual culture.

The program’s first residency will be held in October of 2011.

MFA in Music Composition

VCFA’s MFA in Music Composition carves out space in the lives of professional musicians and music teachers for inquiry and experimentation as well as research and critique, making room for both the exploration and the refinement of their craft. Students not only produce work but also hear and share the music they write with an engaged community of peers and faculty. Through the program’s low-residency, self-designed study model, students define their own paths in Contemporary Composition, Electronic Music, Jazz, Scoring for Media, or Songwriting, simultaneously engaged in their working lives and their artistic practice.

The Program’s inaugural residency will be in August 2011.

History

The focus of Vermont College has changed since its beginnings as Newbury Seminary in 1831. After existing in several forms including a Wesleyan

Wesleyanism

Wesleyanism or Wesleyan theology refers, respectively, to either the eponymous movement of Protestant Christians who have historically sought to follow the methods or theology of the eighteenth-century evangelical reformers, John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley, or to the likewise eponymous...

 Seminary and a Methodist Seminary, it became Vermont Junior College in 1941. In 1958 it became Vermont College. In 1972 Vermont College merged with Norwich University

Norwich University

Norwich University is a private university located in Northfield, Vermont . The university was founded in 1819 at Norwich, Vermont, as the American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy. It is the oldest of six Senior Military Colleges, and is recognized by the United States Department of...

; the two schools became fully integrated in 1993.
Union Institute acquired Vermont College in 2001.
The Master of Fine Arts

Master of Fine Arts

A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...

 (MFA) in writing program was established in 1981 and the MFA in visual art in 1991. The MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults, the first "MFA program in writing for young readers," began in January 1997.
In 2008 Vermont College of Fine Arts became an independent fine arts institution. In 2011 it launches an MFA program in Music Composition and one in Graphic Design

College Hall, the central building on campus, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
It was completed in 1872 and includes a two-story high chapel and a pipe organ from 1884.

Student profile

The average student age is 35 years old. Students live all over the world and continue working in their current careers while attending Vermont.

Faculty Profile

Approximately 60 authors and artists teach at Vermont College. All have terminal degrees in their specialty.

MFA in Writing Faculty Awards

Name	Award	Book	Year
Rigoberto González Rigoberto González Rigoberto González is an American writer and book critic. He is an editor and author of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and bilingual children's books, and self-identifies in his writing as a gay Chicano...	Shelley Memorial Award Shelley Memorial Award The Shelley Memorial Award of more than $3,500, given out by the Poetry Society of America, was established by the will of the late Mary P. Sears, and named after the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. The prize is given to a living American poet selected with reference to genius and need. The selection is...		2011
David Wojahn David Wojahn David Wojahn is a contemporary American poet who teaches poetry in the Department of English at Virginia Commonwealth University, and in the low residency MFA in Writing program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts...	O. B. Hardison, Jr. Poetry Prize O. B. Hardison, Jr. Poetry Prize The O.B. Hardison, Jr., Poetry Prize was awarded by the Folger Shakespeare Library to honor a U.S. poet whose art and teaching demonstrated great imagination and daring...	poet's teaching and art	2007
Jean Valentine Jean Valentine Jean Valentine is an American poet, and currently the New York State Poet . Her poetry collection, Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965–2003, was awarded the 2004 National Book Award for Poetry....	National Book Award National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...	Door In the Mountain	2004
Diane Lefer	Mary McCarthy Prize for Short Fiction	California Transit	2005
Sascha Feinstein	Pennsylvania's Governor's Award for Artist of the Year		2008
Sascha Feinstein	Hayden Carruth Award	poetry collection Misterioso	2008
David Wojahn David Wojahn David Wojahn is a contemporary American poet who teaches poetry in the Department of English at Virginia Commonwealth University, and in the low residency MFA in Writing program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts...	O. B. Hardison, Jr. Poetry Prize O. B. Hardison, Jr. Poetry Prize The O.B. Hardison, Jr., Poetry Prize was awarded by the Folger Shakespeare Library to honor a U.S. poet whose art and teaching demonstrated great imagination and daring...	poet's teaching and art	2007
Douglas Glover Douglas Glover Douglas Glover may refer to:* Douglas Glover , British politician* Douglas Glover , Canadian writer presently living in New York state...	Governor-General's Award for Fiction	Elle	2003
Douglas Glover Douglas Glover Douglas Glover may refer to:* Douglas Glover , British politician* Douglas Glover , Canadian writer presently living in New York state...	Writers' Trust of Canada Timothy Findley Award Timothy Findley Award The Timothy Findley Award was a Canadian literary award, presented each year from 2002 to 2007 by the Writers' Trust of Canada in memory of the writer Timothy Findley...		2006
David Wojahn David Wojahn David Wojahn is a contemporary American poet who teaches poetry in the Department of English at Virginia Commonwealth University, and in the low residency MFA in Writing program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts...	The Carole Weinstein Prize in Poetry		2008
David Wojahn David Wojahn David Wojahn is a contemporary American poet who teaches poetry in the Department of English at Virginia Commonwealth University, and in the low residency MFA in Writing program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts...	Pulitzer Prize finalist	Interrogation Palace: New and Selected Poems 1982–2004	2007
David Wojahn David Wojahn David Wojahn is a contemporary American poet who teaches poetry in the Department of English at Virginia Commonwealth University, and in the low residency MFA in Writing program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts...	O. B. Hardison Award from the Folger Shakespeare Library		2007
Natasha Sajé Natasha Sajé -Life:She grew up in New York City, and New Jersey. She graduated from the University of Virginia, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Maryland, College Park.She teaches at Westminster College...	Fulbright fellowship
Natasha Sajé Natasha Sajé -Life:She grew up in New York City, and New Jersey. She graduated from the University of Virginia, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Maryland, College Park.She teaches at Westminster College...	Robert Winner and Alice Fay di Castagnola Awards from the Poetry Society of America
Natasha Sajé Natasha Sajé -Life:She grew up in New York City, and New Jersey. She graduated from the University of Virginia, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Maryland, College Park.She teaches at Westminster College...	Campbell Corner Poetry Prize
Betsy Sholl Betsy Sholl Elizabeth "Betsy" Sholl is an American poet and a former poet laureate of Maine. She was appointed by Governor John Baldacci to the position in 2006 and held it until 2011. She is the author of seven collections of poetry, most recently, Rough Cradle...	Poet Laureate Poet Laureate A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...  of Maine		2009
Domenic Stansberry	Edgar Award Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...  Best Paperback Original	The Confession	2005
Mary Ruefle Mary Ruefle Mary Ruefle is an American poet, essayist, and professor. She has published eleven collections of poetry, most recently, Selected Poems...	National Endowment for the Arts National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...  fellowship
Mary Ruefle Mary Ruefle Mary Ruefle is an American poet, essayist, and professor. She has published eleven collections of poetry, most recently, Selected Poems...	Whiting Award
Mary Ruefle Mary Ruefle Mary Ruefle is an American poet, essayist, and professor. She has published eleven collections of poetry, most recently, Selected Poems...	Guggenheim Fellowship		2002
Mary Ruefle Mary Ruefle Mary Ruefle is an American poet, essayist, and professor. She has published eleven collections of poetry, most recently, Selected Poems...	Award in Literature from The American Academy of Arts and Letters
Robin Hemley Robin Hemley Robin Hemley, born May 28, 1958 in New York City, is a Jewish American nonfiction and fiction writer, author of eight books, most recently, DO-OVER! In which a forty-eight-year-old father of three returns to kindergarten, summer camp, the prom, and other embarrassments...	Pushcart Prize	“The Big Ear”	1994
Robin Hemley Robin Hemley Robin Hemley, born May 28, 1958 in New York City, is a Jewish American nonfiction and fiction writer, author of eight books, most recently, DO-OVER! In which a forty-eight-year-old father of three returns to kindergarten, summer camp, the prom, and other embarrassments...	Pushcart Prize	“Installations”	1990
Robin Hemley Robin Hemley Robin Hemley, born May 28, 1958 in New York City, is a Jewish American nonfiction and fiction writer, author of eight books, most recently, DO-OVER! In which a forty-eight-year-old father of three returns to kindergarten, summer camp, the prom, and other embarrassments...	First Prize Nelson Algren Award for Fiction from The Chicago Tribune		1996
Robin Hemley Robin Hemley Robin Hemley, born May 28, 1958 in New York City, is a Jewish American nonfiction and fiction writer, author of eight books, most recently, DO-OVER! In which a forty-eight-year-old father of three returns to kindergarten, summer camp, the prom, and other embarrassments...	Editor's Choice Award for Nonfiction from The American Library Association.	Invented Eden	2003
Robin Hemley Robin Hemley Robin Hemley, born May 28, 1958 in New York City, is a Jewish American nonfiction and fiction writer, author of eight books, most recently, DO-OVER! In which a forty-eight-year-old father of three returns to kindergarten, summer camp, the prom, and other embarrassments...	Guggenheim Fellowship		2008
Xu Xi Xu Xi Xu Xi, Xu Xi, Xu Xi, (originally named Xu Su Xi(许素细) (born 1954) is an English language novelist from Hong Kong.She is also the Hong Kong regional editor of Routledge's Encyclopedia of Post-colonial Literature (second edition, 2005) and the editor or co-editor of the following anthologies of Hong...	O. Henry Prize Story Collection, shortlist for the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize		2006
Xu Xi Xu Xi Xu Xi, Xu Xi, Xu Xi, (originally named Xu Su Xi(许素细) (born 1954) is an English language novelist from Hong Kong.She is also the Hong Kong regional editor of Routledge's Encyclopedia of Post-colonial Literature (second edition, 2005) and the editor or co-editor of the following anthologies of Hong...	New York State fiction fellowship
Xu Xi Xu Xi Xu Xi, Xu Xi, Xu Xi, (originally named Xu Su Xi(许素细) (born 1954) is an English language novelist from Hong Kong.She is also the Hong Kong regional editor of Routledge's Encyclopedia of Post-colonial Literature (second edition, 2005) and the editor or co-editor of the following anthologies of Hong...	Ploughshares Ploughshares Ploughshares is an American literary magazine founded in 1971 by DeWitt Henry and Peter O'Malley in The Plough and Stars, an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1989, Ploughshares has been based at Emerson College in the heart of Boston...  Cohen Award		2005

MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults Faculty Awards

Name	Award	Book	Year
Franny Billingsley Franny Billingsley Franny Billingsley is the author of two award-winning children's fantasy novels, Well Wished and The Folk Keeper, as well as the newly released novel Chime and the picture book Big Bad Bunny. She lives in Illinois....	National Book Award National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...  Finalist	Chime	2011
Tim Wynne-Jones Tim Wynne-Jones Tim Wynne-Jones is an English–Canadian author of children's literature, including picture books and novels for children and young adults, novels for adults, radio dramas, songs for the CBC/Jim Henson production Fraggle Rock, as well as a children's musical and an opera libretto.-Biography:Born...	Boston Globe – Horn Book Award	Blink & Caution	2011
Franny Billingsley Franny Billingsley Franny Billingsley is the author of two award-winning children's fantasy novels, Well Wished and The Folk Keeper, as well as the newly released novel Chime and the picture book Big Bad Bunny. She lives in Illinois....	Boston Globe – Horn Book Honor	Chime	2011
Rita Williams-Garcia	Newbery Honor	One Crazy Summer	2011
Rita Williams-Garcia	Coretta Scott King Award Coretta Scott King Award The Coretta Scott King Award is an annual award presented by the Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table, part of the American Library Association...  winner	One Crazy Summer	2011
Rita Williams-Garcia	NAACP Image Award NAACP Image Award An NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature....  finalist	One Crazy Summer	2011
Rita Williams-Garcia	National Book Award National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...  Finalist	One Crazy Summer	2010
Rita Williams-Garcia	National Book Award National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...  Finalist	Jumped	2009
Tim Wynne-Jones Tim Wynne-Jones Tim Wynne-Jones is an English–Canadian author of children's literature, including picture books and novels for children and young adults, novels for adults, radio dramas, songs for the CBC/Jim Henson production Fraggle Rock, as well as a children's musical and an opera libretto.-Biography:Born...	Governor General’s Literary Award Finalist	The Uninvited	2009
Kathi Appelt Kathi Appelt -Biography:Kathi Appelt was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina and grew up in Houston, Texas. She graduated from Texas A&M University. She and her husband, a researcher in adult literacy at Texas A&M, have two grown sons. She lives in College Station, Texas....	PEN Award PEN American Center PEN American Center , founded in 1922 and based in New York City, works to advance literature, to defend free expression, and to foster international literary fellowship. The Center has a membership of 3,300 writers, editors, and translators...	The Underneath	2009
Kathi Appelt Kathi Appelt -Biography:Kathi Appelt was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina and grew up in Houston, Texas. She graduated from Texas A&M University. She and her husband, a researcher in adult literacy at Texas A&M, have two grown sons. She lives in College Station, Texas....	Newbery Honor Book	The Underneath	2009
Shelley Tanaka Shelley Tanaka Shelley Tanaka is a Canadian editor of numerous award-winning young adult novels, an award-winning author of nonfiction for children, a translator and writing teacher.-Biography:Shelley Tanaka was born in Toronto, Canada...	Orbis Pictus Award Orbis Pictus Award The Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children recognizes books which demonstrate excellence in the “writing of nonfiction for children.” It is awarded annually by the National Council of Teachers of English to one American book published the previous year...  for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children	Amelia Earhart: The Legend of the Lost Aviator	2009
Kathi Appelt Kathi Appelt -Biography:Kathi Appelt was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina and grew up in Houston, Texas. She graduated from Texas A&M University. She and her husband, a researcher in adult literacy at Texas A&M, have two grown sons. She lives in College Station, Texas....	National Book Award National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...  finalist	The Underneath	2008
A. M. Jenkins	Printz Honor Book Michael L. Printz Award The Michael L. Printz Award is an annual award in the United States for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature. It is named for a school librarian from Topeka, Kansas, who was a long-time active member of the Young Adult Library Services Association...	Repossessed	2008
Laura McGee Kvasnosky	Theodor Seuss Geisel Award Geisel Award Established in 2004, the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award is given annually to the author and illustrator of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year. The winner receive a bronze medal at the ALA Annual Conference...	Zelda and Ivy: The Runaways	2007
Tim Wynne-Jones Tim Wynne-Jones Tim Wynne-Jones is an English–Canadian author of children's literature, including picture books and novels for children and young adults, novels for adults, radio dramas, songs for the CBC/Jim Henson production Fraggle Rock, as well as a children's musical and an opera libretto.-Biography:Born...	Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Book	Rex Zero and the End of the World	2007
Sarah Ellis	TD Canadian Children's Literature Award	Odd Man Out	2007
Cynthia Leitich Smith Cynthia Leitich Smith Cynthia Leitich Smith is a New York Times best-selling author of fiction for children and young adults. A member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, she writes fiction for children centered on the lives of modern-day American Indians. These books are taught widely by teachers in elementary, middle...	National Book Festival National Book Festival The National Book Festival is an American event organized by the Library of Congress annually in Washington, D.C. Held in early autumn, the festival attracts tens of thousands of people each year . Over fifty nationally published authors, illustrators, and poets are invited for lectures,...  book	Tantalize	2007
Martine Leavitt Martine Leavitt Martine Leavitt is an American-Canadian author of award-winning young adult novels and a writing teacher. She is one of the distinguished writers in the “beginnings of a Canadian tradition in high fantasy.”-Biography:...	National Book Award National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...  finalist	Keturah and Lord Death	2006
Julie Larios	Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Book	Yellow Elephant	2006
Julie Larios	Pushcart Prize Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are invited to nominate up to 6 works they have featured....  and Academy of American Poets Academy of American Poets The Academy of American Poets is a non-profit organization dedicated to the art of poetry. The Academy was incorporated as a "membership corporation" in New York State in 1934...  Prize	Poetry
Leda Schubert	NY Times Editor's Choice	Ballet of the Elephants	2006
Margaret Bechard Margaret Bechard Margaret Bechard is an American author of contemporary science fiction for children and young adults.-Biography:Bechard was born in 1953 in Chico, California. She received her bachelor’s degree in English literature from Reed College in 1976. She is married to Lee Boekelheide and they have three...	ALA American Library Association The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....  Best Book for Young Adults	Spacer and Rat	2006
Sharon Darrow	Junior Library Guild selection	Trash	2006
Uma Krishnaswami Uma Krishnaswami Uma Krishnaswami is an author of picture books and novels for children, and a writing teacher. She is “recognized as a major voice in the expanding of international and multicultural young adult fiction and children’s literature.”-Biography:...	Notable Book for a Global Society--International Reading Association International Reading Association The International Reading Association is an international professional organization that was created in 1956 to improve reading instruction, facilitate dialogue about research on reading, and encourage the habit of reading....	Naming Maya	2005
Kathi Appelt Kathi Appelt -Biography:Kathi Appelt was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina and grew up in Houston, Texas. She graduated from Texas A&M University. She and her husband, a researcher in adult literacy at Texas A&M, have two grown sons. She lives in College Station, Texas....	PEN finalist in Children's literature	My Father's Summers	2005
Rita Williams-Garcia	ALA Best Book for Young Adults	No Laughter Here	2005
Margaret Bechard Margaret Bechard Margaret Bechard is an American author of contemporary science fiction for children and young adults.-Biography:Bechard was born in 1953 in Chico, California. She received her bachelor’s degree in English literature from Reed College in 1976. She is married to Lee Boekelheide and they have three...	School Library Journal School Library Journal The School Library Journal is a monthly magazine with articles and reviews for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with a focus on technology and multimedia. Reviews are included for preschool to 4th grade,...  Best Book of the Year designation, and ALA Best Book for Young Adults	Hanging onto Max	2003
An Na An Na An Na is an American author of children's literature. Like most authors, she was a fervent reader as a child. She eventually became a middle school English and History teacher. She turned to writing novels after taking a young adult literature class while enrolled in a M.F.A. program at Vermont...	Michael L. Printz Award	A Step From Heaven	2002
An Na An Na An Na is an American author of children's literature. Like most authors, she was a fervent reader as a child. She eventually became a middle school English and History teacher. She turned to writing novels after taking a young adult literature class while enrolled in a M.F.A. program at Vermont...	Children's Book Award in YA Fiction-International Reading Association	A Step From Heaven	2002
An Na An Na An Na is an American author of children's literature. Like most authors, she was a fervent reader as a child. She eventually became a middle school English and History teacher. She turned to writing novels after taking a young adult literature class while enrolled in a M.F.A. program at Vermont...	National Book Award Finalist	A Step From Heaven	2001
Franny Billingsley Franny Billingsley Franny Billingsley is the author of two award-winning children's fantasy novels, Well Wished and The Folk Keeper, as well as the newly released novel Chime and the picture book Big Bad Bunny. She lives in Illinois....	Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Book	The Folk Keeper	2000
Franny Billingsley Franny Billingsley Franny Billingsley is the author of two award-winning children's fantasy novels, Well Wished and The Folk Keeper, as well as the newly released novel Chime and the picture book Big Bad Bunny. She lives in Illinois....	The Mythopoeic Fantasy Award	The Folk Keeper	2000
Ellen Howard	Christopher Award (Canadian)	The Log Cabin Quilt	1997
Tim Wynne-Jones	Governor General's Award (Canada)	The Maestro	1995
Tim Wynne-Jones	Governor General's Award (Canada)	Some of the Kinder Planets	1993
Sarah Ellis	Governor General's Award (Canada)	Pick-Up Sticks
Marion Dane Bauer	Newbery Honor Award	On My Honor	1987

MFA in Visual Art Faculty Awards

Name	Award	Book	Year
Ashley Hunt	BAK Center for Contemporary Arts, Research-In-Residence, Utrecht, NL		2008
Ashley Hunt	Ford Foundation Social Justice Grant for Independent Media Production	Documentary: Close Tallulah Now!	2002
Ashley Hunt	New York Foundation for the Arts, Swing Space Fellowship		2007
Ashley Hunt	Ford Foundation Social Justice Grant for Independent Media Production	Documentary: Close Tallulah Now!	2002
Ashley Hunt	2011 David Deitcher Creative Capital/Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant recipient.>	2006–2007
David Deitcher	Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...	Book: Dear Friends: American Photographs of Men Together, 1840–1918	2001
David Deitcher	Canada Council, Independent Critics and Curator Award		2004–2005
David Deitcher	Canada Council, Independent Critics and Curator Award		2006–2007
David Deitcher	Fellow Swann Foundation for Cartoon and Caricature		1982
Dont Rhine	Mid-Career Artist Award: California Community Foundation, Los Angeles		2007
Dont Rhine	Individual Research Residency: Interface Centre, University of Ulster, Belfast		2006
Dont Rhine	Individual Studio Residency: Banff Centre for the Arts, Alberta, Canada		2005
Faith Wilding Faith Wilding Faith Wilding is a Paraguayan-American multidisciplinary artist, writer and educator, widely known for her contribution to the progressive development of feminist art.Faith Wilding immigrated to the United States from Paraguay in 1961...	Guggenheim Foundation Fellow		2009
Faith Wilding Faith Wilding Faith Wilding is a Paraguayan-American multidisciplinary artist, writer and educator, widely known for her contribution to the progressive development of feminist art.Faith Wilding immigrated to the United States from Paraguay in 1961...	Creative Capital Emerging Fields Grant (with subrosa)		2004–2006
Lana Lin	New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship		2001
Lana Lin	Fulbright Foundation Fellowship		2003–2004
Lana Lin	Jerome Foundation Media Arts Grant		1996
Marie Shurkus	Doctoral Award of Excellence, Graduate Fellowship, Concordia University, Montreal		2001–2003
Marie Shurkus	Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Pomona College		2007–2009
Michael Minelli	Wexner Center for the Arts Commission	Exhibition: Shiny	2006
Sowon Kwon		Book: Dear Friends: American Photographs of Men Together, 1840–1918	2005
Sowon Kwon	New York Foundation for the Arts in Sculpture		1995
Dont Rhine	California Community Foundation Fellowship		2007

Alumni

Alumni and students are published with major publishing houses. They work as "librarians, editors, freelance writers, teachers, directors of arts organizations, illustrators, and publishers."

Alumni Awards

Name	Award	Work	Year
Debby Dahl Edwardson Debby Dahl Edwardson Debby Dahl Edwardson is an author of young adult fiction from Barrow, Alaska. In 2011 she was a finalist for the National Book Award in the young adult category...	National Book Award National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...  Finalist	My Name Is Not Easy	2011
Kekla Magoon	Nominee NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work Youth/Teens	The Rock and the River	2010
Kekla Magoon	Coretta Scott King Award Coretta Scott King Award The Coretta Scott King Award is an annual award presented by the Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table, part of the American Library Association...  John Steptoe John Steptoe John Steptoe is an award winning author and illustrator for children’s books dealing with aspects of the African American experience....  New Talent Author Award	The Rock and the River	2010
Sundee T. Frazier	Coretta Scott King Award Coretta Scott King Award The Coretta Scott King Award is an annual award presented by the Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table, part of the American Library Association...  John Steptoe John Steptoe John Steptoe is an award winning author and illustrator for children’s books dealing with aspects of the African American experience....  New Talent Author Award	Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It	2008
April Pulley Sayre	Geisel Honor Book Award	Vulture View	2008
Ann Parr	National Council of Social Studies Honor Award for ethnicity	Gordon Parks: No Excuses	2007
Robin Oliveira	James Jones First Novel Fellowship	My Name is Mary Sutter	2007
Martine Leavitt Martine Leavitt Martine Leavitt is an American-Canadian author of award-winning young adult novels and a writing teacher. She is one of the distinguished writers in the “beginnings of a Canadian tradition in high fantasy.”-Biography:...	National Book Award finalist	Keturah and Lord Death	2006
Stephanie Greene	ALA Notable Book	Queen Sophie Hartley	2006
Deborah Wiles	National Book Award finalist	Each Little Bird That Sings	2005
Ed Briant	Publishers Weekly Flying Start	Paper Parade	2004
An Na	Printz Award	A Step From Heaven	2002
Deborah Wiles	Coretta Scott King Award Coretta Scott King Award The Coretta Scott King Award is an annual award presented by the Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table, part of the American Library Association...  John Steptoe John Steptoe John Steptoe is an award winning author and illustrator for children’s books dealing with aspects of the African American experience....  New Talent Author Award	Freedom Summer	2002

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of the program include:

• Ed Briant
• W.E. Butts
• Marcus Cafagna
  Marcus Cafagna
  Marcus Cafagña is an American poet and professor. He is author of two poetry collections, most recently, Roman Fever , and has published poems published in literary journals and magazines including AGNI, Witness, and Poetry Magazine, and in anthologies.-Life:He graduated from Michigan State...
  
  
• Mary Clyde
  Mary Clyde
  Mary Clyde is an American short story writer, author of Survival Rates , which won the 1999 Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction from the University of Georgia Press...
  
  
• Mark Cox (poet)
  Mark Cox (poet)
  -Life:He graduated from DePauw University and Vermont College with an MFA.He teaches in the Department of Creative Writing at University of North Carolina Wilmington, and Vermont College.He served as poetry editor of Passages North and Cimarron Review....
  
  
• Olena Kalytiak Davis
  Olena Kalytiak Davis
  Olena Kalytiak Davis is an American poet.She is the author of two poetry collections, most recently, Shattered Sonnets, Love Cards, And Other Off-And-Back Handed Importunities . Her first book, And Her Soul Out Of Nothing, won the Brittingham Prize...
  
  
• Alison Hawthorne Deming
  Alison Hawthorne Deming
  Alison Hawthorne Deming is an American poet, and essayist.-Life:Deming is a descendant of Nathaniel Hawthorne. She worked in health care for fifteen years.She graduated in 1983 with a M.F.A...
  
  
• Ted Deppe
  Ted Deppe
  Theodore Deppe is an American poet and professor, author of four books of poetry. His most recent collection is Orpheus on the Red Line , and he has had his poems published in many literary journals and magazines including The Kenyon Review, Harper’s Magazine, Poetry, The Southern Review,...
  
  
• Alicia Erian
  Alicia Erian
  -Biography:Alicia Erian was born 1967 in Syracuse, New York to an Egyptian father and American mother of Polish descent. She received a B.A. in English from SUNY Binghamton and a M.F.A. in writing from Vermont College. A writer of short stories, some of her work has appeared in Zoetrope and the...
  
  
• Sundee T. Frazier
• Frank Giampietro
  Frank Giampietro
  Frank Giampietro is an American poet. He is author of Begin Anywhere . He is the 2010-2012 resident scholar at The Southern Review and has had poems, book reviews, and nonfiction published in many literary journals and magazines including 32 Poems, Columbia Poetry Review, CutBank, Exquisite...
  
  
• Stephanie Greene
• Gail Gregg
  Gail Gregg
  Gail Gregg is an artist, photographer and journalist based in New York City.-Education:Gregg received her bachelors degree in journalism from Kansas State University in 1972, a master's in journalism from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1975, and an MFA from Vermont College in 1998...
  
  
• Pamela Harrison
  Pamela Harrison
  Pamela Harrison is an American poet and educator. She is the author of five poetry collections, most recently, Out of Silence...
  
  
• Katherine Hastings
  Katherine Hastings
  Katherine Hastings is an American Poet living in Northern California. She has had poems published in numerous journals and anthologies, including The Comstock Review, Roque Dalton Redux , Rattle, Calyx, California Quarterly, Diner, Birmingham Arts Journal, Potpourri, New College Review and ...
  
  
• Allison Hedge Coke
  Allison Hedge Coke
  Allison Adelle Hedge Coke is an American Book Award-winning American/Canadian poet of mixed Wendat/Huron/Metis/Tsalagi/ Creek/French Canadian/Portuguese/Irish/Scot/English ancestry.-Background:...
  
  
• LeAnne Howe
  LeAnne Howe
  LeAnne Howe is an author and scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. An enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Howe's work has been published in a variety of journals and anthologies. Her book Shell Shaker received the Before Columbus Foundation's American Book...
  
  
• Patricia Spears Jones
  Patricia Spears Jones
  Patricia Spears Jones is an American poet. She is the author of two collections books of poetry: The Weather That Kills and Femme du Monde. Patricia Spears Jones was the co-editor for Ordinary Women: Poems of New York City Women. Her poem, "Beuys and the Blonde" was nominated for a Pushcart...
  
  
• Nancy Lagomarsino
  Nancy Lagomarsino
  Nancy Lagomarsino is an American poet. She is the author of three books of prose poems, the most recent being Light from an Eclipse , a memoir covering the years of her father’s experience with Alzheimer’s disease...
  
  
• Wally Lamb
  Wally Lamb
  Wally Lamb is an American author known as the writer of the novels She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True, both of which were selected for Oprah's Book Club.Lamb was born in Norwich, Connecticut...
  
  
• Martine Leavitt
  Martine Leavitt
  Martine Leavitt is an American-Canadian author of award-winning young adult novels and a writing teacher. She is one of the distinguished writers in the “beginnings of a Canadian tradition in high fantasy.”-Biography:...
  
  
• Moira Linehan
  Moira Linehan
  Moira Linehan is an American poet. She graduated from Boston College, and Vermont College of Fine Arts, with an MFA.She lived in Winchester, Massachusetts, where she worked as an academic administrator...
  
  
• Jo-Ann Mapson
  Jo-Ann Mapson
  Jo-Ann Mapson is the author of ten works of fiction, set mainly in the American Southwest. She was born and raised in Southern California, and now lives in Anchorage, Alaska....
  
  
• Alyce Miller
  Alyce Miller
  Alyce Miller is an award-winning American writer who currently lives in Bloomington, Indiana.- Biography :She was born in Zurich, Switzerland and lived "most of her life" in the San Francisco Bay Area. Currently, she lives in Bloomington, Indiana....
  
  
• David Mura
  David Mura
  David Mura is a Japanese American author, poet, novelist, playwright, critic and performance artist. His most recent book is his novel, Famous Suicides of the Japanese Empire...
  
  
• An Na
  An Na
  An Na is an American author of children's literature. Like most authors, she was a fervent reader as a child. She eventually became a middle school English and History teacher. She turned to writing novels after taking a young adult literature class while enrolled in a M.F.A. program at Vermont...
  
  
• Sandra Novack
  Sandra Novack
  Sandra Novack is an American writer of a novel and short stories. Her debut novel, Precious, was a Booklist Top 10 First Novels of 2009....
  
  
• April Ossmann
  April Ossmann
  April Ossmann is an American poet, teacher, and editor. She is author of Anxious Music , and has had her poems published in many literary journals including Harvard Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Puerto del Sol, Seneca Review, Passages North, Mid-American Review, and Colorado Review, and in...
  
  
• Ann Parr
• Jamie Parsley
  Jamie Parsley
  Jamie Parsley is an American poet and Episcopal priest. The author of ten books of poems, in 2004, he was appointed an Associate Poet Laureate for the state of North Dakota by current Poet Laureate Larry Woiwode.-Biography:...
  
  
• Melissa Pritchard
  Melissa Pritchard
  Melissa Pritchard is an American short story writer, novelist, essayist, and journalist.-Life:Melissa Pritchard was born on December 12 in San Mateo, California. She grew up in San Mateo, Burlingame and Menlo Park and attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart High School in Atherton, California...
  
  
• Bill Rasmovicz
  Bill Rasmovicz
  Bill Rasmovicz is an American poet. He is author of The World in Place of Itself , a 2006 Kinereth Gensler Award winner, which also won the 2008 Sheila Motton Award from the New England Poetry Club...
  
  
• Trent Reedy
• April Pulley Sayre
• Tim Seibles
  Tim Seibles
  Tim Seibles is an American poet and professor. He is the author of five collections of poetry, most recently, Buffalo Head Solos...
  
  
• Betsy Sholl
  Betsy Sholl
  Elizabeth "Betsy" Sholl is an American poet and a former poet laureate of Maine. She was appointed by Governor John Baldacci to the position in 2006 and held it until 2011. She is the author of seven collections of poetry, most recently, Rough Cradle...
  
  
• Jennifer K. Sweeney
  Jennifer K. Sweeney
  -Life:Jennifer K. Sweeney is the author of two poetry collections, most recently, How to Live on Bread and Music , winner of the 2009 James Laughlin Award and the 2009 Perugia Press Prize. Her first collection, Salt Memory won the 2006 Main Street Rag Poetry Award...
  
  
• Marjorie Welish
  Marjorie Welish
  Marjorie Welish is an American poet, artist, and art critic.Welish is a graduate of Columbia University and received her M.F.A. degree from Vermont College and Norwich University...
  
  
• Deborah Wiles
  Deborah Wiles
  Deborah Wiles is an award-winning children's book author. Her second novel, Each Little Bird That Sings, was a 2005 National Book Award finalist.-Personal life:...
  
  
• Valerie Wohlfeld
  Valerie Wohlfeld
  -Life:She was educated at American University, and Sarah Lawrence College, and received an M.F.A. from Vermont College in 1983. Valerie Wohlfeld’s 1994 collection, Thinking the World Visible, won the Yale Younger Poets Prize. Her book, Woman with Wing Removed, came out in 2010 from Truman State...
  
  

External links

• Vermont College of Fine Arts
• The T.W. Wood Art Gallery and Arts Center
• Vermont College MFA in Visual Art alumni website