Hughes Fellow in Creative Writing (Prose)

Description

The English Department at Southern Methodist University welcomes applications for the Hughes Fellowship in Creative Writing (Prose), for a two-year position beginning Fall 2026. Fellows will be expected to make significant progress on a major project, teach one course in creative writing per semester, and engage in the intellectual and creative life of the department and the larger Dallas literary community. This engagement will include a public reading of the fellow's own work in the first year and, in the second year, a public conversation with an established writer about their creative practice. Fellows should also be available to mentor undergraduates on an informal basis.

Annual compensation is $60,000 with full benefits. During the academic year, each Hughes Fellow will be expected to live in the Dallas area and hold no other professional or academic obligations.

About SMU:

SMU is an inclusive community of teachers and scholars. We seek bold, curious, and creative faculty to position our students for success. We offer the rare confluence of a comprehensive global research institution and a close-knit intellectual enterprise in the liberal arts tradition. Like our hometown of Dallas, our campus is vibrant. Here, innovative thinkers conduct research that has lasting impact and transform big ideas into new products, inventive technology and world-changing solutions. Our welcoming learning community of faculty and nearly 12,000 students in seven schools embraces a world of people and ideas. To learn more about the rich cultural environment of SMU, please see

Qualifications

Minimum qualifications: To be eligible, applicants must have completed-or be scheduled to complete by August 2026-an MFA or PhD in creative writing, and have published no more than one full-length book of creative work. As the Hughes Fellowships are meant to support emerging writers, applicants with second books in print or under contract will not be considered.

Preferred qualifications: A publishing record in nationally relevant periodicals is desirable but not required.

Application Instructions

Review of applications will begin immediately. To ensure full consideration for the position, the application must be received by 11:59 p.m. CST on Thursday, April 30, 2026. The committee will notify applicants of its employment decisions after the position is filled. Hiring is contingent upon the satisfactory completion of a background check.

Applicants should submit a cover letter, CV, a writing sample (maximum 6,500 words of prose), and two letters of recommendation at The cover letter should address what the applicant hopes to accomplish as a writer during the fellowship period at SMU. Questions about the position may be directed to the chair of the search committee, Richard Hermes (View email address on click.appcast.io).