MFA in Creative Writing Mentors
The writers who serve as MFA Mentors are outstanding for both their level of literary achievements and for their teaching records and abilities. These accomplished authors bring careful attention and diverse writing styles and voices to the mix.

Ramona Ausubel
Biography

Kimberly Blaeser
(White Earth Nation)
Biography

Jamie Figueroa
(Boricua)
Biography

Brandon Hobson
(Cherokee Nation)
Biography

Chip Livingston
(Mixed-blood Creek)
Biography

Tommy Orange
(Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma)
Biography

Brooke Swaney Pepion
(Blackfeet Nation Citizen and Salish Descendant)
Biography

Esther Belin
(Navajo Nation)
Biography
Belin’s art and writing reflect the historical trauma from those policies as well as the philosophy of Saah Naagháí Bik’eh Hózho, the worldview of the Navajo people. Her writing is widely anthologized, and her poetry examines identity politics, checkerboard land status, and the interplay of words (abstraction) and image (realism). In 2000, she was awarded an American Book Award for her first book of poetry, From the Belly of My Beauty. Her most recent poetry collection is Of Catrography: Poems. She holds degrees from Antioch University, the Institute of American Indian Arts, and the University of California at Berkeley.

Abigail Chabitnoy
(Tangirnaq Native Village Member and Koniag Descendant)
Biography

Jennifer Elise Foerster
(Muscogee [Creek] Nation of Oklahoma)
Biography

Raquel Gutiérrez
Biography

Pam Houston
Biography

Michaela m.s. RedCherries
(Northern Cheyenne Nation)
Biography

Deborah Taffa
(Quechan Nation, Laguna Pueblo, Chicana)
Biography

Sherwin Bitsui
(Diné)
Biography

Zayre Ferrer
Biography

Kelli Jo Ford
(Cherokee Nation)
Biography

Geoff Harris
Biography

Toni Jensen
(Métis)
Biography

Layli Long Soldier
(Oglala Lakota Nation)