Featured Writing

Image by Noel Bauza from Pixabay

Starfield

by Redde Michaels Did you see Aurora take flight? I overheard there was no Southern coy, so long as you had a camera to capture her streaking. Such a hasty raving from the harbinger of dawn, though her escapade was largely unnoticed here, where the vibrancy was lost against the…

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Word for Word Graduate Spotlight, Wednesday, June 11, 2025, with photos of the five readers: Ashleigh Worley, Nikki White, Jessica Matson, Bethany Willard, and Kayleigh Michael

Word for Word Graduate Spotlight, Spring 2025

Each spring, SNHU’s online literary salon, Word for Word, honors recent graduates of the online BA, MA, and MFA creative writing programs in a special Graduate Spotlight event. Recommended by instructors and selected by Associate Deans Jacob Powers and Paul Witcover for their high literary achievement, these outstanding writers read…

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A typewriter showing the words "Stories matter" typed onto a white page

Meet the Winners of the 2024 Fall Fiction Contest

The 10th annual Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) Fall Fiction Contest brought writers from across the country together for a chance to win a scholarship to SNHU and publication in The Penmen Review. After receiving more than 750 submissions, a panel of creative writing experts considered several factors during their…

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Close-up of typewriter keys

Announcing the Winners of the 2023 Fall Fiction Contest

The 9th annual Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) Fall Fiction Contest brought writers from across the country together for a chance to win a scholarship to SNHU and publication in The Penmen Review. After receiving more than 700 submissions, a panel of creative writing experts considered several factors during their…

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Silhouette of people throwing graduation caps

6 Creative Writing Graduates Discuss Their Next Chapters

On Wednesday, June 14, 2023, Word for Word, Southern New Hampshire University’s (SNHU) online literary series, held its final event of the season, where we spotlighted six recent graduates of the Master of Arts in Creative Writing and Online Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing programs. Because of the…

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Coping With Parental Death: Insights and Tips for Teenagers

Alumna Writes a Resource for Grieving Families While Earning 2 Degrees

By Rebecca LeBoeuf Michelle Shreeve ’15G ’16G was a child when she lost her mother, and resources were limited for young families coping with the death of a parent. This experience fueled her desire to help others deal with similar grief, and through her love of writing, she addressed what…

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"What I Know [How to Do]" chapbook cover.

The Penmen Profile: SNHU Alumnus Publishes Debut Chapbook

Michael Garrigan was in his capstone class for his MA in English & Creative Writing program when he first dreamed up “What I Know [How to Do].” Using an instructional “how-to” theme, he wrote a poem he knew would be the beginning of a collection. Sure enough, Garrigan published his…

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The Penmen Profile: Award-Winning Faculty and Writer Elane Johnson

by Tricia Dannhauer The past year was momentous for one of Southern New Hampshire University’s faculty, Elane Johnson. At the 2016 commencement, she received the “Excellence in Teaching Award,” followed by earning “Best Essay Prize” in Creative Nonfiction magazine for her work, “The Math of Marriage,” in July. In addition…

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Fall Fiction Competition Winner Syche Phillips

by Rebecca LeBoeuf Syche Phillips’ short story, “Genesis,” was selected as the winner of SNHU’s 2015 Fall Fiction Short Story Competition. A writer of fiction, creative nonfiction and plays, Phillips is pursuing her online Master of Arts in English and Creative Writing with a concentration in Fiction with Southern New…

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9 Questions with SNHU Student Danielle Kellar, Founder of VIMFIRE Magazine

by Amber E. Box A student at Southern New Hampshire University, Danielle Kellar is following her childhood dream of starting her own literary journal. She has created VIMFIRE Magazine, a journal focused on words and art to showcase the passion she shares with both her contributors and her readers. In…

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Finding A Way: First-Time Novelist Mike Hancock

by Richard Adams Carey Mike Hancock was that lucky first-time novelist snapped up by one of New York’s legendary literary agents. Fate intervened, but Hancock has found another route. JULY 22, 2014, MANCHESTER, N.H.—First-time novelist Mike Hancock was so close. The former pack horse handler and hunting guide had graduated…

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