Fiction & Poetry
Fiction and poetry are the lifeblood of Under the Volcano. Seekers of story and argonauts of the imagination, our participants may be published or unpublished, “emerging” or seasoned, speculative or realistic, but all are deeply committed to honing their work in a community of accomplished peers. We invite applications from writers across the Americas and beyond—in both English and Spanish—who are ready to take their voice to the next level.
Thanks to a major grant from the Poetry Foundation, poetry was center-stage in January 2024, with two new full fellowships and a financial aid fund specifically for poets who write in English, Spanish or an indigenous language of the Americas. In addition to our core poetry faculty of Jennifer Clement, Rafael Segovia and Keetje Kuipers, confirmed guest poets included Homero Aridjis, Cyrus Cassells, Sandra Lorenzano, Enriqueta Lúnez, Elizabeth Rosner, Natalia Toledo and Javier Zamora.
Click here to see a video clip from the inaugural reading we hosted at the Museo del Ex-Convento de Tepoztlán, on January 13, 2024, with images featuring our poetry master class participants.
Who's Who
in Creative Writing @ UTV
Our masterclasses are led by master writers from across the English- and Spanish-speaking worlds. Current and past faculty include:
Founding faculty: Maureen Howard & Grace Paley
Russell Banks
Breyten Breytenbach
Francisco Cantú
Cyrus Cassells
Alberto Chimal
Sandra Cisneros
Jennifer Clement
Gabriela Damián
Mark Doty
Álvaro Enrigue
Carolyn Forché
Adam Foulds
Betty Fussell
Reyna Grande
Jessica Hagedorn
Maureen Howard
David Huerta
Joyce Johnson
Mónica Lavín
Jonathan Levi
Sandra Lorenzano
Valeria Luiselli
Tim MacGabhann
Sabrina Orah Mark
Paul Muldoon
Verónica Murguía
Sabina Murray
Tom Orange
Grace Paley
Alicia Quiñones
Emily Raboteau
Nelly Rosario
Elizabeth Rosner
Aysegül Savas
Francisco Segovia
Rafael Segovia
Owen Sheers
Sheree Renée Thomas
Ginger Thompson
Luisa Valenzuela
Socorro Venegas
Chuck Wachtel
Alison Wearing
Javier Zamora
What makes our program unique
Our writers
at a glance..
Fellowships
for Poets and Fiction Writers
We currently offer seven full fellowships to writers of fiction or poetry—four in English and three in Spanish. Our Black Writers Matter Fund offers sliding scale support to qualified Black applicants (talent + need).
Selected Alumni Books
Our alumni are publishing non-stop and we couldn’t be more proud. Hardly a week goes by without word of another novel, short story collection, memoir or poetry chapbook by one of our graduates. Many of the titles on this page began at Under the Volcano and grew by leaps and bounds before our eyes.