Students learn more than writing working alongside former prisoners
A special section of Writing 150 — a course required of freshmen — gives eye-opening perspectives to everyone in the class.
For Horror Poet Saba Syed Razvi, Scary and Monstrous Tales Have an Irresistible Pull
A USC alumna reflects on her lifelong fascination with creepy mysteries and the darkness of language.
USC Poet Anna Journey Explores Her Darker Side
USC poet Anna Journey is unafraid to explore the quirky, creepy, scary and plain old peculiar.
USC students Skype with their favorite authors
Undergrads find inspiration by talking to best-selling writers in a contemporary prose class.
Cultural critic shifts from political satire to rocket science
USC Dornsife’s M.G. Lord recounts a career that led from New York newspapers to books on Barbie and feminism.
The frightening night that inspired Frankenstein, exactly 200 years ago
A terrifying dream on June 16, 1816, inspired Mary Shelley’s classic horror character. Learn the creepy story behind how it happened.
USC Dornsife’s Viet Thanh Nguyen wins Pulitzer Prize for fiction
He is recognized for his first novel, The Sympathizer, which explores the Vietnam War from multiple perspectives.
Los Angeles by the Book
Three highly regarded USC novelists draw from the city’s eccentrics and ordinary folk for their inspiration. But that doesn’t mean they have L.A. all figured out.
Family ties framed by the Motor City in alum’s first novel
USC Dornsife grad Angela Flournoy uses Detroit as the backdrop for work that interweaves her interests in history and urban landscapes.
Meet the 2014 Provost Postdoctoral Scholars
Built to foster strength in an array of disciplines, the humanities program brings on six exceptional scholars this semester.
Oh, that beautiful doll
Inspired by the line of American Girl dolls, a USC Dornsife student draws on her love of children’s fiction for her senior project.
Physics plus literature adds up to poetry
Many PhD students find the dissertation writing process taxing enough to inspire a break after graduation, but Elizabeth Cantwell hasn’t broken her stride.