Field Day 2026

Emeline Atwood is the author of the debut novel A Real Animal, published by Catapult in July 2026. The novel received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and Shelf Awareness; was selected as an American Booksellers Association Indie Next pick and 2026 Indies Introduce title; and has been longlisted for The Center for Fiction 2026 First Novel Prize. The book has been recommended by Vogue, People, TIME, The New Yorker, New York Magazine, and the Chicago Review of Books, among others. Atwood grew up in Milton, Massachusetts, and graduated summa cum laude from Harvard. She received her MFA in fiction and poetry from the Michener Center for Writers. She lives in Austin, Texas.

Hilal Isler teaches at the University of Texas. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in McSweeney’s, New York Magazine, The Believer, The Baltimore Review, The Paris Review online, and elsewhere. She lives with her family in Austin. Her doctorate is from the University of Pennsylvania.

Bret Anthony Johnston is the internationally bestselling author of the novels We Burn Daylight and Remember Me Like This, the award-winning Corpus Christi: Stories, and Encounters with Unexpected Animals: Stories. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, The Paris Review, American Short Fiction, The Best American Short Stories, and elsewhere. A recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship and the Sunday Times Short Story Award, he is the director of the Michener Center for Writers.

Rose Smith’s writing can be found in The Missouri Review, Literary Hub, CRAFT, Five Points and others. She was the winner of The Missouri Review‘s 27th Annual Editors’ Prize. As a film producer, her work has screened at Sundance, SXSW and MoMA Documentary Fortnight and has aired nationally on PBS and elsewhere. She is a graduate of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson. She lives in Austin, Texas. Her debut novel, The Shared Life of Egan and Lucian, will be published on November 3, 2026.

Mary Helen Specht is the author of the newly released novel Mudlark and the novel Migratory Animals, a New York Times Editors’ Choice and winner of the Texas Institute of Letters Best First Fiction Award and the Writers’ League of Texas Fiction Prize. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times and numerous other publications, including American Short Fiction. A Fulbright Scholar to Nigeria and Dobie-Paisano Writing Fellow, Specht currently teaches creative writing at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, where she lives with her family.

Deb Olin Unferth is the author of seven books, including the novels Earth 7, Barn 8, and Vacation, the story collection Wait Till You See Me Dance, and the memoir Revolution, finalist for the National Book Critics’ Circle Award. Her stories and essays have appeared in Harper’s, the Paris Review, Granta, New York Times Magazine, and American Short Fiction. She has received fellowships from the Guggenheim and Creative Capital Foundations, and has won four Pushcart Prizes. A professor at the University of Texas at Austin, she teaches for the Michener Center for Writers and the New Writers’ Project.

Che Yeun was born in Seoul, Korea. Her debut novel, Tailbone, received starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Booklist and was named one of the Best Debut Books of 2026 So Far by the editors of Spotify. Translations are forthcoming in Turkish, Portuguese, and French. Her short stories can be found in Granta, AGNI, Virginia Quarterly Review, and elsewhere. She has completed residencies with Hedgebrook, the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, and the David TK Wong Fellowship. After completing her PhD in History of Science at Harvard University, she serves as an Assistant Professor of History of Science and Technology at Texas A&M University.

Jenny Tinghui Zhang is the nationally bestselling author of the novels Superfan and Four Treasures of the Sky. Her writing has appeared in Elle, Vogue, The New York Times, and elsewhere. She has received support from Yaddo, Hedgebrook, and the Hawthornden Foundation, and in 2024, she was named a 5 Under 35 Honoree by the National Book Foundation. She lives in Austin, Texas.