Annabel Schwedes Monaghan

Author, Columnist, Self-Employed

Class Year

1991

Professional Background

My first job out of college was at Goldman Sachs in New York. I got swept into Wall Street and went on to get an MBA from The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania. After many years, I have returned to writing and am the author of three books for young adults. I am also Lifestyle Columnist at The Week and am a regular contributor to The Huffington Post. I also teach novel writing at The Writing Institute at Sara Lawrence College.

How has being an English graduate from Duke University help shape your professional success?

The quality and breadth of my education at Duke allowed me to venture far from my literature studies to take a job in investment banking. But the seed was planted at Duke for my career as a writer. In particular, the essay writing class that I took with Christina Askounis is the basis for the work I do at The Week. I am so grateful to have had that workshopping experience.

Annabel Schwedes Monaghan