Lecture Passes for this summer's in-person MFAC residency at Hamline University are available for purchase.
Full Pass: Access to all lectures
Half Pass: Access to eight lectures of your choice
Food and Lodging
Hotel: If you are traveling to St. Paul, you might need somewhere to stay during your visit! The Residence Inn, which is located in Roseville (north of campus) is our hotel. You can call them at 651-636-0680 for booking.
Food: There is no shortage of dining options along Snelling Ave where campus sits.
Virtual Lectures: If you purchase a virtual option, please reach out to Sarah Ahiers at [email protected] to let her know which lectures you will need the links for, so she can send them to you.
LECTURE SCHEDULES (most lectures are held in Anderson 111 or GLC 100E)
* Events that are public and do not count toward half pass limit.
Friday 7/10/26
1:45-2:45 Faculty Lecture, “Plot in Fiction,” Swati Avasthi—Drew Science
Alums will be joining us for this presentation
3:00-4:00 Alumni Guest Lecture, “Writing for Ourselves,” Molly Beth Griffin—Drew Science
Alums will be joining us for this presentation
*6:30-7:30 READING of Marsha Wilson Chall’s Picture Books
(Alums, current faculty, Marsha’s daughter Lindsay Matvick; Claire Rudolf Murphy, Marsha Qualey, Phyllis Root, and Mary Logue—former faculty members; Kelly Krebs—former assistant to Mary; and a few more surprises)
Saturday, 7/11/26
1:00-2:00 Visiting Agent Presentation, “Agenting 101: Be Prepared to Seize Opportunities,” Chelsea Eberly—Drew Science
Alums will be joining us for this presentation
2:15-3:15 Alumni Master Class Guest Presentation, “TBD” Will Alexander—Drew Science
*6:30-9:00 Launch Party for Ari Tison’s Together We See, with faculty member Swati Avasthi, alum Claire Forrest, Shannon Gibney, and Ty Chapman
Open Book, 1011 Washington Ave. S., MN. 6:30 pm—light apps and bevs. 7-8 pm event, then signing
Sunday, 7/12/26
1:00-2:00 Faculty Lecture, “Deconstructing Picture Book Plot,” Lisa Jahn-Clough—GLC 100E
2:15-3:15 Faculty Lecture, “Working with Backstory,” Coe Booth—GLC 100E
Monday, 7/13/26
1:00-2:00 Faculty Lecture, “Alternative Plot Structures,” Ari Tison—AND 111
2:15-3:45 Faculty Lecture, “Use of Dialect and Colloquialisms,” Elizabeth Wein—AND 111
Tuesday, 7/14/26
1:00-2:00 Faculty Lecture, “Chapter Endings in Charlotte’s Web: A Look Under the Hood,” Eliot Schrefer—AND 111
2:15-3:15 Faculty Lecture, “Nonfiction Plot,” Sherri L. Smith—AND 111
Thursday, 7/16//26
1:00-2:15 Faculty Lecture, “Kill the Cat: Let Kids Be Sad,” Nicole Melleby—AND 111
Friday, 7/17/26
10:45-11:45 Faculty Writing Prompts, “Writing Prompts with MFAC Faculty”—AND 111
1:15-2:45 Student Lectures—AND 111
Cassie Andresky
Kimberlee Bonura
3:00-4:00 Guest Lecture, “What Makes an Award-Winning Book,” Lisa Von Drasek, curator of the Kerlan Collection, University of Minnesota Library—AND 111
*6:45-8:00 Graduate Readings, Peter Zuckerman, Tim Baase, Ellen Stumbo—GLC 100E
Saturday, 7/18/26 Prospective Student Day
9:15-10:15 Guest Lecture, “Inviting Readers and Listeners In: Tools for Creating a Third Space in Picture Books ,” Phyllis Root—GLC 100E
10:30-11:45 Alumni Panel (virtual), Claire Forest, I Gave You My Heart (YA); Aimee Lucido, Words Apart (MG Verse); Barbara Roberts, When George Washington Bowed to the New Nation (NFMG); Daniel Bernstrom, A Bear, A Man, and a Donut Man (PB)–GLC 100E
1:00-2:00 Student Lectures—GLC 100E
Jillian Fiore (Virtual)
Danielle Peterson
2:15-3:15 Faculty Presentation, “The Writer’s Life: Creating a Writing Practice,” Ari Tison, Elizabeth Wein —GLC 100E
*6:30-8:15 Graduate Readings, Amanda Chiu, Sarah Wyatt Pennington, Suzanne Goldsmith-Hirsch—GLC 100E
Sunday, 7/19/26
10:30-11:30 Jerry Craft: Virtual Talk—GLC 100E
1:00-3:00 Faculty Roundtable, New Releases (Eliot Schrefer, Ari Tison, Coe Booth, and Tae Keller interviewed by Elizabeth Wein and Sherri Smith)——GLC 100E
*3:30-4:30 Commencement Ceremony, “A Life in Revision: Breadcrumbs for the Messy Middle,” Natalie Lloyd—Sundin Hall
Virtual Link