MFA in Creative Writing Announces Sally Thomas as Visiting Professor in Poetry

Renowned poet, author and editor Sally Thomas will serve as Visiting Professor in Poetry this spring for the University of St. Thomas' (UST) MFA in Creative Writing program.

She is the author of two poetry chapbooks. Her full-length poetry book, "Motherland," was a finalist for the Able Muse Book Award. Her debut novel, "Works of Mercy," was published to notable acclaim in 2022, and "The Blackbird & Other Stories" appeared in 2024. With Micah Mattix, she is co-editor of a poetry anthology, "Christian Poetry in America Since 1940."

She is former Associate Poetry Editor of The New York Sun. She is also co-founder, with Joseph Bottum, of the "Poems Ancient and Modern" Substack newsletter, for which she writes regularly.

Thomas lives with her family in North Carolina.

During the past three decades, her writing has appeared in Anglican Theological Review, Dappled Things, Ekstasis, First Things, the New Yorker, North American Anglican, the New Republic, Plough Quarterly, Presence, Public Discourse, Southern Poetry Review, Sonora Review, THINK, Windhover, and many other journals in the U.S. and U.K.

Her poetry and fiction have received awards from the Associated Writing Programs, the Academy of American Poets, the North Carolina Literary Review and Relief: A Journal of Art and Faith.

"Works of Mercy" was a 2022 Commonweal Book-of-the-Year.

Dr. James Matthew Wilson, the Cullen Foundation Chair of English Literature and the Director of the MFA program, commented on the announcement.

"Sally joins us after years of earning a reputation as a superb poet in rhyme and meter, a novelist, and a short story writer of appealing characters and compelling storytelling," he said. "I still remember the first time I read her prose, in a book review, back in the early 2000s, and knew she was a kindred spirit. Our students will grow so much with Sally for mentor."

Thomas is also delighted to join the MFA teaching faculty.

"It's an honor to join James Matthew Wilson, Joshua Hren, Ryan Wilson, Brigid Pasulka and Katy Carl in the faculty for the MFA program in Creative Writing at UST," Thomas said. "The community in this MFA program is like nothing I've ever seen, and I am so grateful to be a part of it in this new way."

In addition to teaching the spring poetry workshop, Thomas will also continue in her role as thesis supervisor in fiction.

Third Track Added for Literary Non-Fiction and Memoir

As the MFA in Creative Writing at the University of St. Thomas celebrates its fifth anniversary, it also announced a new track through the program, Literary Non-Fiction and Memoir, to complement the existing courses in poetry and fiction. Applicants are invited 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. Visiting writers from around the world will assist students in their craft.

"We will celebrate this addition to the MFA by welcoming Sally Read to our Summer Literary Series for two wonderful evenings," Dr. Wilson said.

Read is the author of "Night's Bright Darkness: A Modern Conversion Story"and many other books, and the editor of the popular anthology, "100 Great Catholic Poems."

Writers can join the Series in Houston in June 2026 and consider applying for the online/low-residency MFA program. Learn more on the MFA website.