Mike Croley (MFA ’07) is a fiction writer published in the literary journals Blackbird, The Louisville Review and Narrative, where he is an associate editor. A visiting assistant professor at John Carroll University, Croley recently completed his first novel. He has won awards from the Key West Literary Seminars, Kentucky Arts Council and the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Photo by Susan Prater.

Lisa Cupolo’s (MFA ’08) fiction and nonfiction work has appeared in Ploughshares, Narrative, Art Asia Pacific and The National Post. The native Canadian won the Fiction Concentration Award at the U of M. An associate editor at Narrative, Cupolo is currently working on a novel, short story collection and memoir novella. Photo by Lindsey Lissau.

Dolen Perkins-Valdez (MFA ’98) teaches at the University of Puget Sound. Her fiction and essays have appeared in numerous literary journals. Her debut novel, Wench, was released earlier this year to positive reviews and has been featured on NPR and in Oprah Magazine, People and Essence, among others. Photo by Louie Escobar.

Mark Yakich (MFA ’01) is a poet with several collections of poetry including, The Making of Collateral Beauty, The Importance of Peeling Potatoes in the Ukraine and Unrelated Individuals Forming a Group Waiting to Cross, which won the National Poetry Series. He is an assistant professor at Loyola University in New Orleans. Photo by Annie Goldman.