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News
Sangeeta Mall (MFA Fiction, 2007) Debuts Cloud Nine Minus One
HarperCollins India proudly presents its newest release, Cloud Nine Minus One, by Pitt MFA Alumnus Sangeeta Mall (MFA Fiction, 2007).
Mall's debut novel has already been garnering great reviews, as evidenced by a recent write-up in India Today:
The novel, an inquiry into "friendship, relationships, nostalgia and moving on," tells the story of a woman caught between her husband and the memories of long-lost love.
Pitt Alumnus Rebecca Skloot Featured on Cover of Publisher's Weekly
Rebecca Skloot (MFA Nonfiction, 2008) is featured on the cover of the current issue of Publishers Weekly in promotion of her upcoming book from Crown, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which has been making quite the literary splash. The book, also her MFA thesis here at Pitt, delves into the fascinating and transcendent legacy of Henrietta Lacks, a Southern tobacco farmer, and more importantly, her cells.
From Publisher's Weekly:
"Henrietta Lacks was an accidental medical heroine. The black, 31-year-old mother of four died of cervical cancer in Baltimore in 1951. But before her death, doctors took cervical tissue samples that proved to be medicine's holy grail—Henrietta's cells (known as HeLa) were the first ever to survive in the laboratory, and the cells reproduced ad infinitum, providing material for medical research to be done outside the human body.”
Skloot's book was also recently named a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Pick.
Read the profile of Skloot and her amazing journey to publication at the Publishers Weekly website.
Eugene Cross on the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference
Eugene Cross (MFA Fiction, 2006) attended the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference this summer and wrote about the experience for the Hayden's Ferry Review Blog.
A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to return to the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference in Ripton, Vermont, where since 1926, writers have been gathering to compare notes on the craft, discuss their respective triumphs and frustrations, and listen to countless readings and lectures. It’s an amazing place, rich with the type of natural beauty you find imitated in paintings hanging from the walls of doctors’ offices. There’s a sense when you’re there that you’re taking part in some great tradition, and of course, there’s the lore to back that up, famous anecdotes concerning the conference’s founder, Robert Frost, and various faculty who’ve taught there over the years, stories as old and treasured as the place itself. It was my fourth trip there and as lame as it might sound, I fall a little more in love with the place each year.
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Graduate Testimonials
Elaine Vitone (Creative Nonfiction MFA 2006)
Freelance magazine writer
“
Pitt was an ideal place to find my voice, build a support system, and get my feet wet in the biz. My mentors and peers challenged me to stretch and grow. They gave me the straight dope without beating me down or coddling me.
”Books We've Written
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