The Hemingway Center Reading Series and Creative Writing MFA Program present author Whitney Collins, winner of the Mary McCarthy Prize.
"Collins exhibits a contagious appreciation for the world’s strange horrors, big and small.”
- Publisher’s Weekly
Event Details
At 7 PM on Thursday, October 16, 2025, Collins will give a reading of her work, followed by a Q and A and book signing. Free and open to the public, the Hemingway Center Reading Series brings renowned writers to campus each year.
About Whitney Collins
Whitney Collins authored two story collections: "Ricky and Other Love Stories," longlisted for The Story Prize, and "Big Bad," which won the Mary McCarthy Prize, a Gold Medal IPPY, and a Bronze Medal INDIES.
The Best American Short Stories 2022 selected Whitney’s story “Lush” as a Distinguished Story. She also won a Pushcart Prize for “The Entertainer,” a Pushcart Special Mention for “The Pupil,” the American Short(er) Fiction Prize for “Ricky,” and the ProForma Contest for “Cray.”
Her stories have appeared in American Short Fiction, AGNI, The Idaho Review, Gulf Coast, The Pinch, The Los Angeles Review, and swamp pink, among others.
Currently, she is finishing up her third story collection and on the fiction faculty at Spalding University’s Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing, where she received her MFA.
Praise for Whitney Collins
Praise for "Big Bad":
"[Collins] lays on the verve and wit across the 13 stories in this crisp collection ...[and] exhibits a contagious appreciation for the world’s strange horrors, big and small."
―Publishers Weekly
"Beautifully written, wildly imaginative stories."
―Kirkus
Praise for "Ricky and Other Love Stories":
With her trademark brevity, insight, and wit, Whitney Collins beautifully blurs the line between love and obsession. These stories yank aside the curtain, exposing the raw, and often rusty, inner workings of human affection.”
—Jen Fawkes, author of Tales the Devil Told Me
“In her latest collection, Whitney Collins doubles down on her reputation as a fiercely imaginative and devastatingly astute writer. The characters within possess humor, passion, and (sometimes) crazy outlooks on life but are capable of striking moments of clarity. Reading Ricky & Other Love Stories, I couldn’t help but be reminded of such witty and singular writers as Jill McCorkle and Bobbie Ann Mason.”
—Hannah Pittard, author of We Are Too Many
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