For more than twenty years, the Writing Popular Fiction (M.F.A.) Program at Seton Hill University has been helping fiction writers and moving their careers forward. Each year, the program has two on-campus residencies to supplement its yearlong online courses. These residencies provide students an opportunity to attend workshops, receive feedback from peers, and get one-on-one guidance from their mentors. By the end of the program, students have earned a Master’s of Fine Arts degree, and have completed a novel-length writing project.

"The passion that everyone brings to their craft is truly infectious."

Gwendolyn Kiste is a 2nd year adjunct mentor for the program. She recently found victory at StokerCon, a convention hosted by the Horror Writers Association (HWA). The convention’s main event is the Bram Stoker Awards. The award ceremony, named after the author of “Dracula,” recognizes writings and authors of “superior achievement.”

Kiste received the Superior Achievement in the Novel category this year. Often thought of as the top award at the ceremony, winning the novel category is a big achievement. It has been won by only seven women in the past, making Kiste the eighth.

“While I think all the categories are equally important, there is something very special about winning in this category in particular, especially since this book is so very personal to me,” Kiste says. “In general, there have been so many female authors winning in other categories at the Stokers… I hope very much that there will be even more women who win the award in this category over the next few years. Horror has so many talented female writers; I want to see them all shining in the spotlight they deserve!”

Kiste’s winning novel is called “The Haunting of Velkwood” and it follows “three childhood friends who must return twenty years later to their old neighborhood, which has become an entire street of ghosts. It's a story about the past, grief, and of course the phantoms in our life that we can't let go.”

Kiste credits the energy of the Writing Popular Fiction Program as a motivator in her career. “Residency in particular is always such an exciting time. Simply being around the students and my fellow mentors reminds me why I'm doing this, and it helps me get back into the creative flow. The passion that everyone brings to their craft is truly infectious.”