Boise State alumnus and adjunct writing instructor Christian Winn has been named Writer in Residence by the Idaho Commission on the Arts. Winn earned an MFA in Creative Writing at Boise State in 2003. His three-year term includes four annual readings throughout the state, largely in rural communities, and a $10,000 award.
Winn is the author of the short story collection “Naked Me,” published by Dock Street Press in 2014. A second book, titled “What’s Wrong with You is What’s Wrong with Me,” is scheduled to be released in fall.
“It’s a huge honor to have been named the incoming Idaho Writer in Residence. Wow. I’m so wonderfully excited to have been given the opportunity to spread the love of writing, reading, artistic expression and community involvement all around Boise proper and reaching out all around the state,” said Winn. “I’m humbled and inspired, and I’m ready to take on the challenge of filling some big shoes as I look to carry on the legacy of great writers who’ve held this position before me. I’m a believer in the written word, and a long time advocate of the community we have built around great writing in Idaho.”
Winn plans to carry that advocacy forward as a writer, teacher, producer, organizer and “proponent of the good words and why they’re important.”
Winn teaches creative writing at Boise State and at The Cabin literary center. His writing has been published in the Chicago Tribune’s Printers Row, Bat City Review, McSweeney’s and more. He is the founder of the Writers Write fiction workshop series, helped found Storyfort in 2014 as part of Boise’s annual Treefort festival and is involved in a number of local literary events.