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Kelly Writers House

Healing with words, through writing workshops for cancer patients
Deborah Burnham sits in Kelly Writers House, surrounded by wooden chairs

Deborah Burnham of the English department leads each Writing a Life workshop held at the Kelly Writers House. 

Healing with words, through writing workshops for cancer patients

Writing a Life, organized by the Abramson Cancer Center and held at Kelly Writers House each month, provides such patients the opportunity to creatively examine and express their experiences.

Jacob Williamson-Rea

Best seller: author and alum Jennifer Egan to teach spring semester literature course
"Jennifer Egan headshot"

Author and journalist Jennifer Egan, a Penn alumna, will teach an English literature course in the spring semester as an artist-in-residence in the School of Arts and Sciences. (Photo by Pieter M. Van Hattem.)

Best seller: author and alum Jennifer Egan to teach spring semester literature course

Best-selling author and journalist Jennifer Egan, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, will teach a literature course at Penn in the spring as an artist-in-residence.
Writing with purpose
Lorene Cary leading a discussion in her safekids class

Writing with purpose

Students in Lorene Cary’s creative writing course focus on voting, midterm elections, and exploring the big questions of their generation.
20 years on, remembering Matthew Shepard
Matthew Shepard A family photo of Matthew Shepard. Photo courtesy: The Matthew Shepard Foundation

20 years on, remembering Matthew Shepard

Two decades after his murder, Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, the Kelly Writers House, and the Penn LGBT Center will host a memorial reading to celebrate Shepard’s life.
Behind the Scenes
Penn student Nicholas Seymour in the Kelly Writers House recording studio.

Penn student Nicholas Seymour, Class of 2020, pictured in the Kelly Writers House recording studio where he has a work-study job. 

Behind the Scenes

Rising senior Nicholas Seymour is a summer intern at Philadelphia’s 1812 Productions, helping with all aspects of running a theater. The communications major has experience working on technical crews at Kelly Writers House and in student theater productions.
A reading and discussion with Charles Blow, following a deep dive into his work
New York Times columnist Charles Blow and Penn Professor Al Filreis at Kelly Writers House.

New York Times columnist and author Charles Blow (left) speaks with Penn English Professor Al Filreis at the Kelly Writers House. 

A reading and discussion with Charles Blow, following a deep dive into his work

For their class at Kelly Writers House, Penn students read 82 columns and a personal memoir written by Charles Blow, an opinion writer at The New York Times.