The University of St. Thomas Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program will host its annual Summer Literary Programs June 8–17, 2026. The series will feature three major events for writers, aspiring authors, students, and those who want to encounter the beauty of the written word and participate in the exciting life of the mind and imagination.
Summer Literary Series
The Summer Literary Series brings leading authors from around the world to the St. Thomas campus to deliver readings and lectures June 8-16.
James Matthew Wilson, Cullen Foundation Chair in English Literature and the founding director of the MFA in Creative Writing at UST, said, as the series enters its fifth year, UST plans to fulfil some long-held ambitions.
“We will host one of the most distinguished line-ups of guest authors that Houston has ever seen,” Wilson said. “Hear from some of the greatest writers of our day, including novelists, poets, scholars and literary critics.”
These events are free and open to the public. All events begin at 7:15 p.m. in Cullen Hall Auditorium.
The series opens June 8 with poet and memoirist Sally Read sharing the story of her conversion in a presentation titled “Night’s Bright Darkness: The Art of Memoir.” Read will return June 9 for a second evening sharing her moving life story in “An Evening of Poetry with Read.”
“At the heart of our series will be three nights dedicated to the future of the novel,” Wilson said. “The great historical novelist, Ron Hansen, author of ‘The Assassination of Jesse James’ by the Coward Robert Ford, will read from his recent work. Christopher Beha, who has published several critically acclaimed novels, will join us to discuss his books as well as his latest book, ‘Why I Am Not an Atheist.’ On the middle evening of their visit, Hansen and Beha will join novelist and MFA writer-in-residence, Katy Carl, to discuss the future of the literary novel, especially in the context of the Catholic tradition. We will also welcome the celebrated Australian poet, philosopher and theologian, Kevin Hart, acclaimed novelist Karen Ullo, and the New England poet, Alfred Nicol, both of whom will read from their most recent work.”
This year’s lineup includes:
See all the photos and bios of these impressive writers below.
Summer Writers Institute
The Summer Writers Institute, June 11–13, is a three-day immersive program in the Catholic literary tradition, that occurs during the Summer Literary Series. Open to the public, participants must be 18 or older, submit an application and be accepted into the program. During the institute, participants will hear from distinguished writers of poetry and fiction; engage in seminars on art and beauty, Catholicism and literature, and the craft of writing; and receive counsel and help with their own work in creative writing workshops.
This year’s fiction faculty will be Brigid Pasulka and the poetry faculty will be James Matthew Wilson.
MFA Summer Residency
The MFA Summer Residency, June 8–17, is a special in-person course for MFA students and alumni, featuring an intensive series of seminars, workshops and literary events.
Details for all events, seminars and workshops are on the MFA in Creative Writing webpage.
New Track in the MFA in Creative Writing
As the MFA in Creative Writing at the University of St. Thomas celebrates its fifth anniversary, the program is also announcing a new track, Literary Non-Fiction and Memoir, which will complement existing courses in poetry and fiction.
“We invite applicants for the first class in this exciting new initiative to cultivate a new generation of writers to publish works of serious merit and to serve as a leaven to contemporary literary culture,” Wilson said.
Wilson said the MFA has several purposes, including apprenticing writers in the great artistic and intellectual traditions of the Church and helping them master their craft to produce works of enduring interest.
All of the MFA summer events are meant to enhance the creative writing experience as scholars, novelists and poets, and budding writers come together to allow the imaginative spirit to overflow.
“To that end, the Summer Literary Series is our opportunity to invite the people of Houston onto campus so that we can all participate in the joys of the arts of the beautiful,” Wilson said. “We are so fortunate to be able to introduce these fine writers to a Houston audience.”
All are invited to explore the many opportunities the MFA in Creative Writing at UST has to offer. For more, visit the MFA in Creative Writing webpage or reach out to Wilson at wilsonjm1@stthom.edu.
Christopher Beha is the author of five books, among them the novels What Happened to Sophie Wilder and The Index of Self-Destructive Acts, as well as the memoir Why I Am Not an Atheist: The Confessions of a Skeptical Believer. His new novel, Oppo: An Entertainment, will be published next year.
Ron Hansen was born and raised in Omaha and is a 1970 graduate of Creighton University. He is the author of nine novels, two collections of stories, a children’s book, two collections of essays, and several screenplays. Mariette in Ecstasy was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and won the Gold Medal in Fiction from the Commonwealth Club of California. His novel Atticus was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award. His novel The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was also a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and was made into a movie starring Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck. His most recent novel is The Kid and in 2020 his essays were collected in Hotly in Pursuit of the Real. Before his recent retirement, he taught film and creative writing at Santa Clara University as the Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ Professor in the Arts and Humanities. In 2007 Ron was ordained a permanent deacon for the Diocese of San Jose. He and his wife, novelist Bo Caldwell, now reside in North Bethesda, Maryland where he is a Senior Deacon in the Archdiocese of Washington.
Kevin Hart is the Jo Rae Wright Distinguished University Professor at Duke University where he teaches in the School of Divinity and the Department of English. His most recent collections of poetry are Carnets (Cascade) and Firefly(Pitt St. Poetry), and a new “selected poems,” 101 Poems is forthcoming. Volumes of prose include Dark-Land: Memoir of a Secret Childhood (Paul Dry Books), Contemplation: The Movements of the Soul(Columbia UP) and his Gifford Lectures, Lands of Likeness: For a Poetics of Contemplation(Chicago UP).
Alfred Nicol’s collection of poems, After the Carnival, was published this spring by Wiseblood Books. Nicol, who worked in the printing industry for over twenty years after graduating from Dartmouth College, published his first book of poems in 2004, Winter Light, which was chosen for the Richard Wilbur Award. His other publications include Animal Psalms, Elegy for Everyone and Brief Accident of Light, a collaboration with Rhina Espaillat. With Espaillat and classical/flamenco guitarist John Tavano, he is part of the music-and-poetry ensemble, The Diminished Prophets. Nicol’s translation of the lyrics for “Sing the Triumph of the Lord” were used for the official anthem of International Eucharistic Congress convened in 2021 by Pope Francis in Budapest. His translation of One Hundred Visions of War by Julien Vocance, has been called “an essential addition to the history of modernist poetry.”
Sally Read is the award-winning editor of Word on Fire’s “100 Great Catholic Poems”, and author of four of her own poetry collections. Her most recent, and the first since her conversion from atheism to Catholicism, “Dawn of this Hunger” was fruit of her time as poet in residence at the Hermitage of the Three Holy Hierarchs. Sally’s poetry has been recorded for the UK’s Poetry Archive, and her writing, in both poetry and prose, has appeared in numerous publications and anthologies including, The Times Literary Supplement, The Picador Book of Love Poems, and Forward’s Poems of the Decade. Her poetry has also featured on BBC Radio, and episodes of her Radio Maria England show, “Poetry for the Season”, are available on Spotify. Sally is also the author of two memoirs, Night’s Bright Darkness, and The Mary Pages, and the meditation to her daughter, Annunciation, a Call to Faith in a Broken World. Her first children’s book, Bell and the Joyful Mysteries, is published by Word on Fire in 2026, and her poetry guide, The Secrets to Reading Poetry: Unlocking the Language of God, will follow later in the year.
Karen Ullo is the author of three award-winning novels, Jennifer the Damned, Cinder Allia, and To Crown with Liberty. She’s the editorial director of