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Visit the archive to view past Literary House newsletters.
Our Schedule
Our Activities
Acclaimed author Neil Gaiman joined us for a reading and conversation on the campus green, part of the "Pictures + Words: The New Literature of Graphic Narrative" festival.
Welcome
A Home for Creative Writing
Welcome to the Rose O'Neill Literary House, a comfortable, sociable place that appeals particularly to creative writing minors, English and drama majors, performance artists and aficionados of the literary and book arts. This refurbished Victorian—with its rows of books, wraparound porch, quiet garret retreats, antique letterpresses and expansive outdoor deck—is the perfect venue for co-curricular activities that bring together students and faculty with visiting writers, scholars, editors and other literary artists.
The College's writing community calls this place home. On any given afternoon, you might gather with your friends for a faculty talk, a presentation on digital poetry, a student reading, a creative writing workshop, or a reception honoring a visiting writer. This is where poems and stories are shared, where literature is discussed, where poetry is letter-set and printed by hand, where the Washington College Review debuts, where festivals are devoted to humor and satire. This is where creativity happens.
The creative writing culture so much in evidence here is grounded in the College's longstanding commitment to foster good writing across all disciplines, and to connect our students and faculty to the wider culture of literature and the creative arts. In collaboration with the English Department and the Sophie Kerr Committee, which oversees the Sophie Kerr Prize, the Literary House has hosted a succession of the best writers in America.
Describing Washington College's creative writing program and the flourishing community of young writers who find their literary voices here, Colman McCarthy noted in The Washington Post two decades ago that the posters on the wall of the Literary House "tell the story that this is the Carnegie Hall of literary readings."
Want to know more about what's going on at the Lit House? Join our mailing list or read BitLit, our blog.