July 8, 2024

Carly Willsie MFA ‘25, an MFA student in fiction, has been selected to be the thirteenth Residential Teaching Fellow at Bennington Writing Seminars. The fellowship is the first of its kind in the country to offer full-time undergraduate teaching experience in a low-residency MFA format. Benefits include full tuition remission for one term, housing and board, and enrollment in an on-campus class. Willsie will begin in February.

“This competitive fellowship is a unique opportunity for our MFA students and affords them intensive teaching experience under the guidance of an established faculty member,” said Megan Culhane Galbraith, Director of the Bennington Writing Seminars. “We are delighted to have Carly as this term’s teaching fellow and I am thrilled this program continues to thrive.”

Willsie will be working with visiting literature faculty member Nicolette Polek in the class Fundamentals of Creative Writing. Willsie’s duties include grading, advising, assisting in the development of course materials, guest lecturing, and research, among other responsibilities, along with continuing her regular MFA coursework.

"I'm thrilled to serve as the Residential Teaching Fellow this term,” said Willsie. “I look forward to working with Professor Nicolette Polek and getting to know Bennington's unique undergraduate community. It's such an honor to contribute to the long legacy of literary excellence at Bennington College."

Carly is a writer and farmer-florist based in New York's Hudson Valley, where she lives with her two young sons. She spends her summers planting seeds and designing with flowers for her studio, Daisywild Farm, while her winters are spent substitute teaching in her local school district. All year long she struggles to write her latest book and reads as much as possible. Prior to her time at Bennington, Carly worked as the director of the Logan Nonfiction Program, a residency for journalists and documentary filmmakers. You can find her most recent work in Necessary Fiction, The Rumpus, and Ms.

The competitive teaching fellowship is open to enrolled Bennington MFA students rising into their second, third, or fourth term. Students are mentored 1:1 with the faculty member with whom they are working, and continue to work on their MFA coursework and manuscript.

For more information about the Bennington Writing Seminars, or to apply to the MFA program, please visit the website. The application deadlines are September 1 (for entry to the winter term) and March 1 (for entry to the summer term).