Oakland, CA - Mills College has hired two prominent writers and a medieval scholar to join the English Department faculty: Daniel Alarcon, Cristina Garcia, and Diane M. Cady.

• Daniel Alarcón’s first book of stories, War By Candlelight, was just published by HarperCollins, who will also publish his first novel next year. A graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop, he has published his writing in The Best American Non-Required Reading, The New Yorker, and other magazines. This year, Alarcon received the prestigious Whiting Writers Award. Named Mills’ Distinguished Visiting Writer, he will teach Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction for the next two years.

• Cristina Garcia is the author of three highly regarded novels: Dreaming in Cuban, The Aguero Sisters, and Monkey Hunting, all published by Knopf. A former writer for Time magazine, she has also published essays and edited The Vintage Book of Contemporary Cuban Literature. Garcia was a finalist for the National Book Award and has held a Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University, as well as a Whiting Writers Award. She will teach Beginning Fiction and Graduate Workshops next year.

• Diane M. Cady is an expert in medieval literature, hired on the tenure track. She just won the W. M. Keck Foundation fellowship from the Huntington Library - an award that includes a stipend and research opportunities at the Library in San Marino, CA.  The author of Damaged Goods: Gender and Commerce in the Canterbury Tales, Cady focuses her scholarly interests on the intersections of gender and economics in medieval literature and culture. She earned her PhD at Cornell University. Cady will teach Early British Literature with an emphasis on Chaucer.

In addition to providing distinguished undergraduate studies in creative writing and literature, Mills offers two graduate degrees in English: the master of arts in English and American literature, and the master of fine arts in creative writing.

Mills College is a nationally renowned, independent liberal arts college offering innovative degree programs for undergraduate women and graduate degree and certificate programs for women and men. Consistently ranked among the top 75 liberal arts colleges in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Mills is also recognized as one of the country’s 15 most diverse colleges. Nestled in the foothills of Oakland, California on 135 lush acres, Mills provides a dynamic liberal arts education fostering women’s leadership, social responsibility, and creativity.

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