Mary Rogers Field Distinguished University Professor Of Creative Writing

Created by a generous endowment gift by J. David Field, Professor Emeritus of English

The English Department is proud to announce that Ivelisse Rodriguez is our current Mary Rogers Field and Marion Field-McKenna Distinguished University Professor of Creative Writing.

—Electric Literature

Ivelisse Rodriguez’s debut short story collection Love War Stories was a 2019 PEN/Faulkner finalist and a 2018 Foreword Reviews INDIES finalist. It was noted as a must read or best book of the year in over thirty publications, including O magazine, Women’s Health, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, and more. She is a contributing arts editor for the Boston Review, where she acquires fiction. She is a 2022 Letras Boricuas fellow, a Tanne Foundation award winner, a Kimbilio fellow, and a VONA/Voices alum. She earned an M.F.A. in creative writing from Emerson College and a Ph.D. in English-creative writing from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

"This book will leave you breathless."
—Bustle

"A tough smart dazzling debut by a tough smart dazzling writer. Ivelisse Rodriguez is a revelation."
—Junot Díaz, Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

"This is the short story collection I've been waiting for…. Love War Stories is extraordinary. Punto y final."
—Angie Cruz, author of Dominicana

On January 3, 2015, David Field formally executed a modification to the professorship agreement, which now reads: 

"To honor the memory of my daughter Marion Field-McKenna, it is my wish that the name of the Mary Rogers Field Distinguished University Professorship be modified to include Marion’s name. Marion was a 2008 graduate of DePauw. Accordingly, the fund shall now be known as the Mary Rogers Field and Marion Field-McKenna Distinguished University Professorship for Creative Writing."