Description:

Faculty and creative writing graduates of the MFA in Prose and Poetry and MA in Writing Programs at SPS will read original work. Featured readers will include Alexandria Haynes, Jared Spitz, Ryan Rivera, Betsy Haberl, Lori Rader-Day, billy lombardo, Faisal Mohyuddin. Faculty Director Christine Sneed will emcee.  This event is cohosted by Booked Bookstore.

Reader bios:

Betsy Haberl received her MFA in Creative Writing from NU in 2018 and is now co-owner of the indie bookstore Booked in Evanston. She's very grateful that her day job now includes ensuring that the bookstore's levels of whimsy and delight remain elevated at all times and using exclamation points when talking about books for all ages! Her short fiction has appeared in a number of journals. She lives in Evanston with her husband and two kids (all of them are readers and creative people). Plus she has a very cute dog who also she assumes loves books as well.

Alexandria Haynes is a recent graduate of Northwestern University's MFA Creative Writing program. Her writing focus ranges from nonfiction to fiction to screenwriting, all drawing from her personal experiences navigating the fashion industry and healthcare system as a young adult. By combining personal storytelling with a critical inquiry for those worlds, she explores the intersections of belonging, mental health, ability, memory, independence, and the cultural heritage that links us to the spiritual world. 

billy lombardo is a Nelson Algren Award winner and the founder of Polyphony Lit, an international literary magazine devoted to the development of young writers and editors. He is the author of three books of fiction: The Logic of a Rose: Chicago Stories, The Man with Two Arms, and Morning Will Come. He is also the author of a book of poetry and prose, Meanwhile, Roxy Mourns. His most recent publication is the nonfiction book, The C.A.P.E. Crusade, Your Guide to a Great College Application Personal Essay. billy is also the founder of The Writing Pros/e, a writing and editing business. He holds an MFA in Fiction from Warren Wilson College and lives in Chicago's Albany Park neighborhood.

Faisal Mohyuddin is the author of Elsewhere: An Elegy (Next Page Press, 2024), The Displaced Children of Displaced Children (Eyewear, 2018), and The Riddle of Longing (Backbone, 2017). He teaches English at Highland Park High School and creative writing at Northwestern University’s School of Professional Studies; he is also a visual artist and serves as a Master Practitioner with the global not-for-profit Narrative 4.

Lori Rader-Day is the Edgar Award-nominated and Agatha, Anthony, and Mary Higgins Clark award-winning author of The Death of Us, Death at Greenway, The Lucky One, Under a Dark Sky, and others. Lori earned a master of arts in creative nonfiction and a master of fine arts in creative writing. She lives in Chicago, where she co-chairs the crime fiction readers’ event Midwest Mystery Conference and teaches creative writing at Northwestern University. Her next novel, Wreck Your Heart, featuring a country and Midwestern singer, will be released from Minotaur/SMPG in January of 2026. Visit her at www.LoriRaderDay.com.

Ryan Rivera is a writer living in New York City after spending most of his life in Chicago. He writes across genres, blending literary insight with lived experience. His work has appeared in Voices—where he received the 2021–2022 President’s Prize for Prose—The Cauldron, and blogs exploring the intersection of technology and work. A recent graduate of Northwestern’s MFA program in Prose and Poetry, Ryan brings both creative and professional perspectives to storytelling, often taking a lyrical approach to themes of queer identity, grief, and memory.

Jared Spitz was a 2025 recipient of StoryStudio Chicago's 2025 Emerging Writer Award. He recently graduated with an MFA from Northwestern University where he received the distinguished thesis award for his thematically linked short story collection, Substance, in which are stories of wounded masculinity, the often-tragic commingling of family and addiction, and desperate attempts to connect with the disconnected.

To learn about humanities programming at the Northwestern University School of Professional Studies:

MFA in Prose and Poetry
MA in Writing
MA in Literature
Undergraduate Major in English Writing
Undergraduate Major in Humanities
Post-Baccalaureate Certificates
Graduate Certificates
Certificates of Advanced Graduate Study
The NU Summer Writers' Conference

 If you have questions about educational programming at SPS, please contact studysps@northwestern.edu.