Faculty, Emerson College

As one of the longest-running creative writing MFA programs in the country, our Writing, Literature and Publishing Department has attracted an industry-active faculty that offers a diverse range of perspectives and expertise.

Our creative writing faculty are all actively writing and publishing in their respective genres. Recent faculty accolades include:

Pulitzer Prize in Biography and Memoir
Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts
Guggenheim Fellowship in Creative Arts
Fiction Honors from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association
Massachusetts Book Award in Nonfiction

Meet Your Program Director

Your Graduate Program Director, Mako Yoshikawa, will serve as your primary faculty advisor, guiding you on course selection to ensure that you will achieve your learning objectives and satisfy the program requirements. You will also receive program and department news from your program director along with any on- and off-campus opportunities that might be of interest to you.

Mako Yoshikawa

Professor and Graduate Program Director
Address
mako_yoshikawa@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing

Creative Writing Faculty

Jabari Asim

Professor - On Leave
Address
jabari_asim@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Ben Brooks

Pronouns: (He/Him/His)

Senior Writer-in-Residence
Address
ben_brooks@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Christine Casson

Senior Writer-in-Residence II
Address
christine_casson@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Julia Glass

Senior Distinguished Writer-in-Residence
Address
julia_glass@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Alden Jones

Pronouns: (She/Her/Hers)

Writer-in-Residence
Address
alden_jones@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Mary Kovaleski

Sr. Lecturer II
Address
mary_kovaleski@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Megan Marshall

Charles Wesley Emerson Professor
Address
megan_marshall@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Frederick Reiken

Professor
Address
frederick_reiken@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Peter Shippy

Senior Affiliated Faculty
Address
peter_shippy@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Daniel Tobin

Pronouns: (He/Him/His)

Professor
Address
daniel_tobin@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Novuyo Tshuma

Pronouns: (She/Her/Hers)

Assistant Professor
Address
novuyo_tshuma@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Jerald Walker

Professor
Address
jerald_walker@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Steve Yarbrough

Professor
Address
steve_yarbrough@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Katie Williams

Pronouns: (She/Her/Hers)

Assistant Professor and Graduate Program Director
Address
katie_williams@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing

Literature and Teaching College Composition Faculty

Yu-jin Chang

Associate Professor and Assistant Dean
Address
yujin_chang@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248983

Department School Of Arts
Steven Himmer

Pronouns: (He/Him/His)

Sr Lecturer II and First Year Writing Program Director
Address
steven_himmer@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Maria Koundoura

Pronouns: (She/Her/Hers)

Interim Dean, School of Arts & Assistant Provost
Address
maria_koundoura@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248983

Department Academic Affairs

Department School Of Arts
Adele Lee

Pronouns: (She/Her/Hers)

Associate Professor and Associate Chair
Address
adele_lee@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Stephen Shane

Pronouns: (He/Him/His)

Senior Lecturer - On Leave
Address
stephen_shane@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing & Academic Resource Center
Areas of Focus: Writing Center Coordinator
Adam Spry

Associate Professor
Address
adam_spry@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Rosario Swanson

Pronouns: (She/Her/Hers)

Associate Professor
Address
rosario_swanson@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Wendy Walters

Professor - On Leave
Address
wendy_walters@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
(she/her/hers)

Publishing Faculty

Susanne Althoff

Pronouns: (She/Her/Hers)

Associate Professor
Address
susanne_althoff@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Bill Beuttler

Pronouns: (He/Him/His)

Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director
Address
bill_beuttler@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Bill Beuttler, a Chicago native, broke into journalism as a police reporter at the legendary City News Bureau of Chicago. His first teaching job was as a visiting professor of magazine journalism at Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism.

Before joining Emerson, Beuttler spent three years covering jazz for The Boston Globe, which he continues to do occasionally, and teaching journalism at Boston University. His magazine work includes stints as a senior editor at the Discovery Channel, Men's Journal, and Boston magazine, and as an associate editor at DownBeat and American Way. He has also been published in JazzTimes, Jazziz, The Atlantic, Esquire, Chicago magazine, The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Travel Holiday, Cooking Light, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and The New York Times Book Review.

His first book, Make It New: Reshaping Jazz in the 21st Century, was published in 2019 by Lever Press and is available in paperback and open access editions. DownBeat magazine called Make It New “a rewarding book that examines some of the key voices directing contemporary jazz.”
Sarah Cole

Assistant Professor
Address
sarah_cole@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Benoit Denizet-Lewis

Associate Professor
Address
benoit_d_lewis@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Lisa Diercks

Pronouns: (She/Her/Hers)

Professor
Address
lisa_diercks@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Gian Lombardo

Senior Publisher-in-Residence
Address
gian_lombardo@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Raquel Pidal

Pronouns: (She/Her/Hers)

Assistant Professor
Address
raquel_pidal@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
John Rodzvilla

Pronouns: (He/Him/His)

Assistant Professor - On Leave
Address
john_rodzvilla@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
John Rodzvilla has worked on a variety of editorial, production, and subsidiary rights endeavors in publishing. He acquired and developed non-fiction titles for Da Capo Press, Perseus Publishing, and Basic Books, including titles on business writing, weblog development, forensic science, and general non-fiction.

At Perseus, Rodzvilla was responsible for a print-on-demand program that took out-of-print backlist titles and put them back into print as paperbacks. Rodzvilla also worked in the subsidiary rights department of the Perseus Books Group where he licensed titles for translation in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa. Additionally, at Perseus, he was part of the digital rights team that developed digital initiatives with Google, Amazon, Sony, and Microsoft.
Kyanna Sutton

Pronouns: (She/Her/Hers)

Assistant Professor
Address
kyanna_sutton@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing
Daniel Weaver

Senior Publisher/Editor-in-Residence
Address
daniel_weaver@emerson.edu Telephone 6178248750

Department Writing Literature & Publishing