The Mark Twain Distinguished Writer-in-Residence Program began in 2019 with funding from the Bloom Endowment Fund which was established by Lynn and Martin Bloom. Lynn was the former Aetna Chair of Writing and Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor in English and Martin was Professor Emeritus of Social Work at the University of Connecticut. The Program invites a nationally or internally-known prose author to campus for a two-day residency every other fall semester in October. The author gives a public reading of their work and offers one-on-one tutorials with undergraduate and graduate student prose writers. Recent authors are Justin Torres and Alexander Chee.

The Aetna Writer-in-Residence Program began in 2003 with funding from the Aetna Chair of Writing. The Program invites a nationally or internationally-known poet to campus for a two-day residency every other fall semester in October. The poet gives a public reading of their work and offers one-on-one tutorials with undergraduate and graduate student poets. Recent poets include Ilya Kaminsky, Camille Dungy, Jericho Brown, Kimiko Hahn, Tara Betts, Eduardo C. Corral, G.C. Waldrep, and Shara McCallum.

The Creative Sustenance Reading usually invites Connecticut-based prose writers, poets, and playwrights to give a reading or performance. This event is usually held in November as a benefit for the Covenant Soup Kitchen in Willimantic, Connecticut and audience members are invited to make a donation or bring canned goods.

Spring Semester

The Writers Who Edit, Editors Who Write Series, as the title states, invites a writer to give a public reading of their work, to discuss how they balance their roles as both writer and editor, and holds a Q&A with the audience. This reading is particularly useful and exciting for English majors who are considering careers in editing and publishing. Past readers include Camille Dungy, Jennifer N. Baker, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Allison Joseph, Heidi Lynn Staples, Matvei Yankelevich, Matt Hart, Nate Pritts, and Benjamin S. Grossberg.

The Wallace Stevens Poetry Program began in 1964 with funding from The Hartford to honor Modernist master poet Wallace Stevens, a former Vice-President at that company. In the years since then, the Program has brought a roster of the most important national and international poets of the last five decades to Connecticut.

The Aetna Celebration of Creative Nonfiction honors a literary master whose work has shaped the essay canon. It also recognizes the undergraduate and graduate winners of a student essay contest. It’s a festive occasion for the University community to celebrate both an established presence and emerging voices. Past writers include Stephen Kuusisto, Emily Rapp Black, M. T. Anderson, Ginger Strand, and Rigoberto González.

Poetic Journeys was developed in 2000 by the Creative Writing Program and inspired by the New York MTA’s Poetry in Motion series, itself inspired by London’s Poems on the Underground. The Poetic Journeys Release Party unveils excerpts of poems or poetic prose written by UConn students, faculty, and staff on placards designed by students in the University’s Design Center Studio.