Writing Student & Alumni Publications

Alumni Publications

Adjunct Assistant Professor Diksha Basu '14, author of Windfall (Ballantine Books, 2018) and The Destination Wedding (Ballantine Books, 2020), has just announced that her next novel, The Affairs of Mala Sen, is forthcoming with Harper Via in 2027. Set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing India, the novel follows a young widow living with her mother-in-law in New Delhi whose world unravels after she discovers her late husband's secrets. 

Our Cavafy, a selection of new translations of Constantine P. Cavafy—widely considered the most distinguished Greek poet of the 20th century—by Constantine Contogenis '98 was released on July 10, 2026 by Finishing Line Press.

"My time at Columbia unsettled my sense of certainty," said Mansi Dahal '24, whose luminous debut poetry collection, Women in Marigold, is forthcoming from Stillhouse Press this September.

Paradise Pawn, the debut novel from Writing alum Meg Richardson '20—out July 14, 2026 with Tin House—follows the inseparable teenage duo, Jackie and Kayla, who hawk everything from luxury jewels to chainsaws at the pawn shop where they help out their fathers in Cherry Beach, Florida.

A man has been found slumped over the steering wheel of his BMW, dead, in a South Asian enclave of suburban New Jersey—and the Sharmas are at the center of the case. In Men Like Ours, the darkly comic debut novel by Writing alum Bindu Bansinath '23, coming-of-age meets murder mystery as Anita Sharma, her restless teenage daughter Leila, and the women of the neighborhood are roped into the investigation of their friend's death.

Fresh off the success of their debut novel, a writer wrestles with disillusionment, despair, and mysterious visions in surreal sophomore novel, Lucid Dreams, by Daphne Palasi Andreades '19.

Joana Urtasun '22 has published a translation of Between Fish Scales by Basque poet Leire Bilbao.

Film alum Nayantara 'Tara' Roy '17 is set to release her second novel, Sisters of a Halved Heart, this June with Algonquin Books, an imprint of Hachette Book Group.

But Octopi Don’t Sing, a chapbook by Li Zhuang '19, has been published by Purple Ink Press. 

Assistant Professor of Visual Arts Adama Delphine Fawundu '18 is following up her recent exhibitions constellating the interconnectedness of geographies and our shared humanity with the release of two new art books, Praise House and In Search of the Spirit House

As a new addition to the University of Mississippi Press’s American Made Music SeriesJohn Melendez '23 (CC '18) and has co-written the first biography of American trumpeter and composer, Kenny Dorham. 

Writing Program alum Woody Brown '24 draws from some of his own experiences as a non-verbal autistic man for his debut novel. Read more from Columbia Magazine.

Student Publications

First year Fiction student Shanley Jane Kearney will publish her debut novel, QUANT, with Simon and Schuster's Simon Six imprint in spring 2027.

Professors Wanda Strauven and Alexandra Schneider showcased children’s cinematic expressions from past and present.

Poetry student Diana Athena explores healing after loss in her debut poetry collection Echoes in Still Air.

Second-year writing student Ashley D. Escobar was selected by Eileen Myles as the 2024 Changes Book Prize winner for her poetry collection, Glib

Writing student Asha Lemmie has recently published her second novel, The Wildest Sun. This eagerly anticipated release follows her successful New York Times bestselling debut, Fifty Words for Rain. 

House Of The Dead, a chapbook by second-year Writing student Mari Yoo, is available now from Bottle Cap Press.

Imaginary Order, a debut novel from first-year Fiction student Shifra Steinberg, is out now from Austin Macauley Publishers. 

Nonfiction student Ye Odelia Lu and Fiction student Lin King are contributors to the Asian American Writers' Workshop's Queer Time: A Special Notebook of Taiwanese Tongzhi Literature, which will launch on July 26, 2021.

Reign is Over, a debut chapbook by Poetry student Emily Simon, was published on February 14, 2021 by Choo Choo Press, a small Risograph press co-founded by student Taylor Zhang and NYC-based designer Emily Bluedorn.

Writing students Samuel Granoff, Jacob Thomas Schultz, and Stephanie Wobby have founded The Line, a new nonprofit journal dedicated to publishing veteran writing, with support from Columbia Artist/Teachers. 

Playwriting student Ellis Stump’s one-act play series The People’s Toast has been published in print by Vaclav Havel Library Foundation as the winner of their 2019 Playwriting Competition. Copies are available at Vaclav Havel’s New York City library and in local bookstores. 

In September 2018, current student Raffi Joe Wartanian launched Letters for Peace (LFP), a project to publish letters between youth in Armenia and Azerbaijan.