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Mary Rogers Field and Marion Field-McKenna 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.

Iveliisse Rodriguez

“Ivelisse Rodriguez conceives exquisite misery and
makes alchemy of hopelessness in her debut short
story collection Love War Stories.”

—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.Love Stories Iveliisse Rodriguez

"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."