MFA Writers
103 episodes - English - Latest episode: 11 days ago -MFA Writers is the podcast where host Jared McCormack interviews creative writing MFA students about their program, their process, and a piece they’re working on.
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Episodes
Sam Herschel Wein — University of Tennessee, Knoxville
April 09, 2024 10:00 - 59 minutes - 47.4 MBOn this episode, Sam Herschel Wein tells Jared about their path to finding poetry outside of academia, co-founding and editing Underblong, and their approach to collaboration and humor in their writing. Plus, they discuss the nuances of MFA program decisions (Two or three years? English or Art departments?) and whether creative writing should live within institutions of higher education at all. Sam Herschel Wein (he/they) is a lollygagging plum of a poet who specializes in perpetual frolick...
Rerelease: Gina Chung — Debut Author Series — Sea Change
March 26, 2024 10:00 - 48 minutes - 39.2 MBThe podcast team is on spring break, giving us (and you) the perfect opportunity to revisit an episode we love. In celebration of her new short story collection, GREEN FROG, we invite you into this conversation with Gina Chung who spoke to Jared last season about her debut novel, SEA CHANGE. Gina Chung, debut author of the speculative novel SEA CHANGE, tells Jared how the book began with a writing prompt in her MFA program and how her fellow students encouraged her to turn it into a novel. ...
Deborah Jackson Taffa — Faculty Series — Institute of American Indian Arts
March 12, 2024 10:00 - 55 minutes - 44.5 MBMemoirist and director of the Institute of American Indian Arts MFA program Deborah Jackson Taffa talks to Jared about her new book, Whiskey Tender. Deborah shares how memoir writing is a form of familial and historical preservation, and offers advice on having difficult conversations with the real people who appear in our creative nonfiction. Plus, she discusses the value of the low-res IAIA program for both indigenous and non-indigenous writers, offers strategies for sustaining creative en...
Jamie Li — Vermont College of Fine Arts
February 27, 2024 11:00 - 43 minutes - 34.7 MBDrawing from her decade-long career in Silicon Valley, Jamie Li tells Jared about writing tech satire that struck her MFA colleagues as far-fetched and her tech friends as totally realistic. Plus, Jamie talks about how her background as a Chinese immigrant and the model minority myth shape her interest in writing about in-group/out-group behaviors, and her attraction to VCFA’s emphasis on experimental and cross-genre writing. Jamie Li is a Southern California-based fiction writer and produc...
Rerelease: Luna Adler — Brooklyn College
February 13, 2024 11:00 - 59 minutes - 48.1 MBThe podcast team has been busy at the annual AWP conference, so we’re bringing you a rerelease of a great conversation from Season 2. A new episode will be in your feed in two weeks. Luna Adler talks to Jared about moving between fiction and non-fiction, Brooklyn College’s unique novel-writing workshop aimed at accommodating the long form, the tension between a slow revision process and rapid MFA deadlines, and the benefit in recording one’s writing time while allowing grace for a broad def...
Kate Brody — Debut Author Series — Rabbit Hole
January 30, 2024 11:00 - 49 minutes - 39.3 MBKate Brody, debut author of the literary thriller RABBIT HOLE, sits down with Jared to talk about crafting a true crime novel that focuses on the victim’s family. Drawing from her own experiences with publishing, she also offers advice for choosing an agent, pivoting if your book doesn’t sell, and marketing your work. Finally, she shares the most memorable pieces of advice from her own MFA teachers, including Mary Gaitskill, E.L. Doctorow, and Amy Hempel. Kate Brody holds an MFA from NYU an...
Noah Evan Wilson — Rutgers University-Newark
January 16, 2024 11:00 - 43 minutes - 34.5 MBNoah Evan Wilson spent ten years finishing his undergraduate degree while developing as a musician and a photographer. On this episode, he talks with Jared about how that decade of experiences animates his current writing, how the craft of music and photography overlaps with and informs his fiction, and how the MFA has provided him the opportunity to experience college in a way he wasn’t able to before. Noah Evan Wilson is a writer and musician based in New York City, and a second-year MFA ...
Rerelease: Kayla Cayasso — University of Central Florida
January 02, 2024 11:00 - 54 minutes - 44 MBHappy New Year from the pod team! We’re ringing in 2024 with a vacation, so enjoy this episode from our last season. Regular programming will resume in two weeks. What’s it like writing historical fiction in an MFA program? On this episode, Kayla Cayasso tells Jared about the family histories and archival research that informed her collection portraying families affected by generational trauma. She also talks about the unique role of Florida in Southern literature, the advantages of multi-g...
Sarah Ann Noel — NYU Writers Workshop in Paris
December 19, 2023 11:00 - 45 minutes - 36.7 MBWhen she became a mother, Sarah Ann Noel turned to autofiction as a way to process her own childhood. In this episode, she sits down with Jared to share how those reflections became a novel about teenagers growing up in a high-control Evangelical environment. Plus, she talks about shifting from magazine editing to creative writing, attending jet-lagged residencies in Paris, and getting feedback on her work from her literary heroes. Sarah Ann Noel is a writer and editor of fiction and non-fi...
Matt Farley — Miami University (of Ohio)
December 05, 2023 11:00 - 44 minutes - 35.8 MBFinance proofreader turned full-time poet Matt Farley joins Jared to share how his transition out of the corporate world affects his perspective on his MFA program and future career. Plus, Matt talks about his manuscript on mycology and post-traumatic growth, becoming a parent during the MFA, setting up a thesis committee, and Miami University’s emphasis on play, practice, and experimental learning. Matt Farley is a queer poet, activist, and multimedia artist from Ohio. He is currently stud...
Rerelease: Jonathan Escoffery — Debut Author Series — If I Survive You
November 21, 2023 11:00 - 52 minutes - 41.9 MBDuring this season of gratitude, we are grateful for all of you, dear listeners, writers, and friends. We’re also grateful for a university-sponsored break from our laptops. So, as we take a pause from the screens, we hope you enjoy one of our favorites from Season 3. We’ll be back to our regular programming in two weeks. Jonathan Escoffery, author of the highly acclaimed debut collection If I Survive You, sits down with Jared to discuss how this book grew out of his MFA writing sample and ...
Krista Diamond — University of Nevada, Las Vegas
November 07, 2023 11:00 - 56 minutes - 45.1 MBThis week, an MFA with an international focus! Krista Diamond sits down with Jared to talk about UNLV’s required (and funded) study abroad component and its emphasis on translation. Plus, Krista shares lessons learned as a freelance writer, info on the Vegas literary community, and how her experience working and living in national parks informs her fiction and nonfiction alike. Krista Diamond is a Las Vegas based writer whose work has appeared in or is forthcoming in The New York Times, Lon...
Jess Silfa — Application Series — MFA Draft
October 24, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 64.2 MBHappy MFA Application Season to all who celebrate! Jess Silfa returns to the show bringing seven years of experience with the MFA Draft Facebook Group. On this episode, Jess and Jared offer advice for applicants across a wide range of topics: teaching, funding, health insurance, fees, faculty, letters of recommendation, writing samples, statements of purpose, negotiations, timelines, and more. Good luck, friends. Jess Silfa is a writer and poet from the South Bronx. They hold an MFA from Va...
Rerelease: Lindsay Bernal — Application Series Admissions Coordinator Edition
October 10, 2023 10:00 - 49 minutes - 39.3 MBSpooky season? More like application season! To help ease your fright, we've got our annual MFA application episode in preparation. Before then, we invite you to check in with last year's episode featuring MFA Admissions Coordinator Lindsay Bernal. Our new episode will be in your feed in two weeks. It’s the third annual MFA application episode! This time, Jared is joined by Lindsay Bernal, poet and Academic Coordinator for the MFA program at the University of Maryland. She answers listener ...
Brandon Blue — Arizona State University
September 26, 2023 10:00 - 48 minutes - 38.7 MBPoetic forms are sometimes considered limiting, but can we find freedom within the constraints? On this episode, Brandon Blue tells Jared about how recontextualizing traditional forms through the lens of identity creates an additional, sometimes subversive, layer of meaning. Plus, he discusses writing about intimacy and eroticism within and outside of sexual relationships; how he decided to pursue an MFA after teaching middle and high school for seven years; and the importance of advocating ...
Jess Silfa — Vanderbilt University
September 12, 2023 10:00 - 51 minutes - 41.1 MBWhat can you learn from a veteran of two MFA programs and an admin of the MFA Draft Facebook page? A lot! Jess Silfa joins Jared to talk about how living in New York, growing up in a Caribbean oral storytelling tradition, and being disabled has influenced their writing. They also discuss their decision to leave one MFA program for another, explain what makes Nashville a surprisingly supportive community, and offer advice for disabled applicants. Jess Silfa is a writer and poet from the Sou...
Ross Gay — Faculty Series — Indiana University Bloomington
August 29, 2023 10:00 - 57 minutes - 45.9 MBPoet, essayist, and Professor Ross Gay talks to Jared about his new book, The Book of (More) Delights. Together, they discuss how social connection evokes joy, grief, humility, and heartbreak, and the value of practicing radical empathy in our writing and our daily lives. Plus, they talk about Ross’s approach to the creative writing classroom, a space he conceives of as generative, experimental, and cooperative. Finally, he offers advice for students and emerging writers. Ross Gay is the au...
Rerelease: Bryan Byrdlong — Helen Zell Writers' Program, University of Michigan
August 15, 2023 10:00 - 55 minutes - 44.3 MBThe pod team is wrapping up our summer vacation. In the meantime, we’re rereleasing one of our favorite episodes from our first season. We’ll be back with new and exciting episodes in two weeks. How is the zombie of Haitian folklore a poetic metaphor for how society treats Blackness? Bryan Byrdlong of the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan tells Jared about his project on the traditional and modern conceptualization of zombies, whether poetry can transcend fake news,...
Rerelease: Alejandro Puyana — Michener Center for Writers, University of Texas at Austin
August 01, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 49.3 MBThe pod team is on summer vacation! While we rest, recharge, and record some fabulous Season 4 episodes, we hope you enjoy this rerelease from our first season. With political and social unrest rocking his home country of Venezuela, Alejandro Puyana turned to writing as a way to process. He applied to MFA programs four times before landing an acceptance at the Michener Center for Writers. Now, you can read his work in The Best American Short Stories anthology for 2020. Alejandro and Jared ta...
Amanda E. Scott — Western Michigan University
July 18, 2023 10:00 - 43 minutes - 40.6 MBProse encompasses fiction and nonfiction, but how does the genre affect our process? On this episode, Amanda Scott discusses her “fragmented” approach to the page both across genres and with hybrid techniques. Plus, she discusses how diverse family backgrounds have shaped her identity and writing, as well as how her background in technical communication and her editorial experience informs her current PhD work. Finally, Amanda and Jared chat about the thriving literary scene in Kalamazoo and...
Simon Graham — University of Washington
July 04, 2023 10:00 - 45 minutes - 36.6 MBHow do you write about the climate crisis without becoming didactic? On this episode, Simon Graham describes their approach to activist writing, guided by their experiences growing up on the beaches of Australia and working in environmental policy. Plus, they talk about queering the crime fiction genre, the financial realities for international students living in Seattle, and remembering who you’re writing to, for, and with. Simon Graham is an Australian writer, educator, and climate change...
Kayla Cayasso — University of Central Florida
June 20, 2023 10:00 - 55 minutes - 44.2 MBWhat’s it like writing historical fiction in an MFA program? On this episode, Kayla Cayasso tells Jared about the family histories and archival research that informed her collection portraying families affected by generational trauma. She also talks about the unique role of Florida in Southern literature, the advantages of multi-genre workshops, and the importance of Black and Brown representation in literature. Kayla Cayasso is an Afro-Latina writer and poet from North Florida. She is a re...
Neil Griffin — University of Victoria
June 06, 2023 10:00 - 54 minutes - 43.6 MBMFA Writers is going to Canada! Neil Griffin, wildlife biologist turned poet and essayist, tells Jared about how both ecology and writing require patience, openness, and vision. Plus, Neil talks about whether “creative nonfiction" is a useful label, the pros and cons of a small program, and UVic’s emphasis on training students in creative writing pedagogy. Neil Griffin is a poet, essayist, and former wildlife biologist. A former finalist for CBC's Poetry Prize and multiple Alberta Magazine ...
Special Episode! Maurice Carlos Ruffin — The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You
May 23, 2023 10:00 - 41 minutes - 33.4 MBMaurice Carlos Ruffin, author and faculty member at two MFA programs, joins Jared for this special episode about Maurice’s multi-year journey from corporate lawyer to professional writer (with plenty of rejection in between), the role of a creative writing professor in guiding students’ work, and the criticality of retaining joy in our writing, despite the challenges of publication, deadlines, and stories that just aren’t working. Finally, Maurice offers advice on what makes someone a succes...
Suli Holum — Goddard College
May 09, 2023 10:00 - 39 minutes - 31.4 MBWhat’s it like to pursue a low-residency MFA when you’re a collaborative playwright and performer? On this episode, Suli Holum describes devised work, partnerships between writers and actors, and how she created a piece based on her research in the oil fields of North Dakota. She and Jared also talk about the details of Goddard’s creative and craft assignments, and how students in this low-res program still get teaching experience. Suli Holum is a Philadelphia-based director, performer, cho...
Special Episode! Gina Chung — Debut Author of SEA CHANGE
April 25, 2023 10:00 - 48 minutes - 39.1 MBGina Chung, debut author of the speculative novel SEA CHANGE, tells Jared how the book began with a writing prompt in her MFA program and how her fellow students encouraged her to turn it into a novel. She and Jared discuss how her experience in publishing shaped her understanding of the business of writing and the importance of a trusted writing community. Plus, Gina offers advice for making the most of your MFA experience. Gina is a Korean American writer from New Jersey currently living...
Derek Chan — Cornell University
April 11, 2023 10:00 - 48 minutes - 38.6 MBHow does our excavation of ancestral history shape our understanding of ourselves and how can writing guide us through this process? On this episode, Derek Chan discusses the role of family stories in his poetry and life, the magic of bewilderment in art, and the dissonance between our external language and our internal being. Plus, as a first-generation and international student, he offers advice for others moving to the United States to pursue higher education. Derek Chan is a writer and ...
Rerelease: Steven Duong — Iowa Writers’ Workshop
March 28, 2023 10:00 - 50 minutes - 40.1 MBSchool's out for spring break! The pod team is resting and recharging this month, so we're bringing you one of our favorites from earlier this season. We'll be back with new episodes in two weeks. Welcome to Season 3! It’s finally time to tackle the oldest and most famous MFA of them all: the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. On this episode, Steven Duong and Jared discuss whether Iowa lives up to its competitive stereotype, the challenges and freedoms of playing with writing conventions and constrai...
Rerelease: Taylor Byas — University of Cincinnati
March 14, 2023 10:00 - 55 minutes - 44.5 MBThe podcast team is on spring break, so we're rereleasing one of our favorite episodes to celebrate Dr. Taylor Byas's successful defense of her dissertation. Congratulations, Dr. Byas! On the season 2 finale, Taylor Byas talks to Jared about how her fiction background helps her develop sharp images and accessible lines in her poetry while her poetic knowledge taught her to take more risks in her fiction. She also describes the value of a social media writing community (and how to build one)...
Erica Reid — Western Colorado University
February 28, 2023 11:00 - 49 minutes - 40.1 MBPoetic constraints may feel limiting to some, but for others, they spark creativity. In this episode, Erica Reid discusses the freedom and discovery of poetic forms. Plus, she talks with Jared about returning to school 15 years after her undergraduate degree, attending a low-res program with a strong sense of community and a dedication to centering the writer in workshop, and how her experience working at a literary magazine shaped her understanding of rejection. Erica Reid lives in Fort Co...
Caroline Catlin — Pacific University
February 14, 2023 11:00 - 43 minutes - 34.7 MBOn this episode, Caroline Catlin talks about how her cancer diagnosis motivated a career change from social worker to nonfiction writer. She also describes how she pairs photography with writing, and how she found herself photographing death, grief, and loss. Plus, after transferring from one MFA program to another during the first year, she tells Jared about advice she has for other writers considering this option. Caroline Catlin is a writer, photographer, and care worker who believes in ...
Edward Daschle — University of Maryland
January 31, 2023 11:00 - 49 minutes - 39.8 MBIn a small program with a cohort of just three students, who you’re around makes a world of difference. On this episode, Edwards Daschle talks about finding a writing community, a welcoming environment to write both realism and fantasy, and inclusive workshops. Plus, he and Jared talk about mining our lives for stories, drumming up motivation to write, and what it’s like to get into an MFA on your fifth try. Edward Daschle (he/him/his) is a second year creative writing MFA candidate studyin...
Mary Kate McGrath — Boston University
January 17, 2023 11:00 - 38 minutes - 30.6 MBMost MFA programs last 2-3 years, so what’s it like to earn this degree in just 1-1.5 years? Mary Kate McGrath describes the pros and cons of Boston University’s accelerated program. Plus, she and Jared discuss voice-driven fiction, coping with workshop anxiety, and wheelchair accessibility in literary spaces. Mary Kate McGrath is a writer, journalist, and disability advocate from Massachusetts. She recently earned an MFA in fiction from Boston University. Her short fiction has appeared in ...
De’Andre S. Holmes — Columbia College Chicago
January 03, 2023 11:00 - 47 minutes - 38.2 MBRaise your hand if you’ve ever felt writing imposter syndrome! We all have our hands up. On this episode, De’Andre S. Holmes of Columbia College Chicago shares his experience with self-doubt, exacerbated by pursuing an undergrad degree in business administration, not English. Plus, he talks about taking a fully-funded semester in Paris through his MFA program, provides advice for students coping with grad school burnout, and describes why racial and ethnic diversity is so critical in the MFA...
Rerelease: Chibuihe Obi Achimba — Brown University
December 20, 2022 11:00 - 1 hour - 49.7 MBThe podcast team is on winter break. Thanks for listening, friends. We wish you all a great end of the year. We'll be back with a new episode in two weeks. Chibuihe Obi Achimba sits down with Jared to talk about the anguish and extreme joy of transferring a poem from imagination to language, using writing to explore the impacts and losses of modernization and civil war in his home country of Nigeria, and the necessary balance between encouraging independence and fostering community in an M...
Kaitlyn Airy — University of Virginia
December 06, 2022 11:00 - 48 minutes - 38.9 MBOn this episode, Kaitlyn Airy talks about how her experience as an adoptee shapes the themes of her work on abandonment, identity, and history. Plus, she and Jared discuss the benefits they have both reaped after taking breaks from their rigorous writing habits, and Kaitlyn describes how UVA students get to design and teach their own undergraduate creative writing class. Kaitlyn Airy is a Korean American poet. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, she was raised in the San Juan Archipelago off th...
Special Episode! Jonathan Escoffery — Debut Author of If I Survive You
November 22, 2022 11:00 - 52 minutes - 42.2 MBJonathan Escoffery, author of the highly acclaimed debut collection If I Survive You, sits down with Jared to discuss how this book grew out of his MFA writing sample and how he plays with form while exploring “the unsolvable problem of family.” A recent MFA graduate and current PhD student, Jonathan also offers advice for emerging writers and shares what it’s like to go on your first book tour. Jonathan Escoffery is the author of the linked story collection, If I Survive You, a New York Ti...
Nikki Lyssy — University of South Florida
November 08, 2022 11:00 - 51 minutes - 41.3 MBOn this episode, Nikki Lyssy tells Jared about how, as a blind writer, she uses research to access the sighted world and fill her fiction with vivid imagery, while in her nonfiction, she explores her own experience with blindness and plays with ideas about which forms translate between braille and the page. Plus, Nikki talks about diversity and disability representation in young adult fiction, formal training in creative writing pedagogy, and support from faculty, friends, and family when sh...
Special Episode! Lindsay Bernal — MFA Applications Admissions Coordinator Edition
October 25, 2022 10:00 - 50 minutes - 40.1 MBIt’s the third annual MFA application episode! This time, Jared is joined by Lindsay Bernal, poet and Academic Coordinator for the MFA program at the University of Maryland. She answers listener questions (starting at 27:15), including: What makes a personal statement good? Should I submit similar or varied poems? How do I know whether a program is truly invested in anti-racist work? Plus, Lindsay describes her path to an MFA, taking time between degrees, and the pros and cons of academic jo...
Rerelease: Special Episode! Gregory Spatz — MFA Applications Faculty Edition
October 11, 2022 10:00 - 1 hour - 49.1 MBHappy MFA application season to all who observe! As you craft and revise your applications, here's last year's annual MFA application episode from a faculty member's perspective. We hope it provides you with insight, solace, and direction. The new (third annual) MFA application episode will be in your feed in two weeks. The annual MFA application episode is back! This year, Jared is joined by Gregory Spatz, Professor and Program Director of the MFA program at Eastern Washington University, ...
Sean Dolan — Western Washington University
September 27, 2022 10:00 - 46 minutes - 37.1 MBIt’s increasingly common for writers to get accepted in their second (or third) attempts at MFA applications. In this episode, Sean Dolan shares what he did differently his second time around that strengthened his application and landed him a spot in a fully-funded, genre-flexible program. Plus, he and Jared talk about how they return to the page even when it’s hard, the blurred line between autofiction and fiction, and, in Sean’s words, “the ephemeral experience of a short story.” Sean Dol...
Emily St. Martin — UC Riverside, Palm Desert Low-Residency
September 13, 2022 10:00 - 44 minutes - 41.4 MBCan you find a close community in a low-res program? Emily St. Martin, having met her best friends in her MFA, says absolutely yes. She joins Jared to talk about how her program has helped her craft her memoir-in-progress, the fear and reward of vulnerability in creative nonfiction, and how writing lets us acknowledge and redefine our pasts. Emily St. Martin is an independent journalist based in Los Angeles, CA. She has written for the New York Times, InStyle Magazine, Cosmopolitan, VICE, L...
Rachelle Toarmino — UMass Amherst
August 30, 2022 10:00 - 45 minutes - 36.6 MBAs the editor-in-chief of Peach Mag, Rachelle Toarmino is consistently focused on the work of others. She chats with Jared about her own writing career, including finding and using playfulness in her poetry, coping with MFA faculty turnover through collective cohort support, and how learning a second language opened her mind to poetic craft. Rachelle Toarmino is a poet, editor, and educator from Niagara Falls, New York. She is the author of the poetry collection That Ex (Big Lucks Books, 20...
Steven Duong — Iowa Writers’ Workshop
August 16, 2022 10:00 - 50 minutes - 40.5 MBWelcome to Season 3! It’s finally time to tackle the oldest and most famous MFA of them all: the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. On this episode, Steven Duong and Jared discuss whether Iowa lives up to its competitive stereotype, the challenges and freedoms of playing with writing conventions and constraints, and why he—a long-time poet—decided to pursue a fiction degree. Steven Duong is a writer from San Diego, California. He is the recipient of fellowships from the Academy of American Poets, the ...
Rerelease: George Saunders — Story Club
August 02, 2022 10:00 - 53 minutes - 42.7 MBThis week, as the pod team enjoys the last of our vacation, we’ve got a rerelease of a special episode from Season 2 of the podcast: Jared's conversation with George Saunders. This episode is full of advice for emerging writers, especially those considering an MFA. We’ll be back in two weeks with an all-new episode, the first of Season 3. MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find mor...
Rerelease: Adachioma Ezeano — University of Kentucky
July 19, 2022 09:00 - 39 minutes - 32 MBPod's out for summer! We wrapped up Season 2 on our last episode and are busy planning Season 3. In the meantime, enjoy one of our favorite episodes from this past season. We’ll be back in August with brand new episodes. Jared talks to O. Henry Prize winner Adachioma Ezeano of the University of Kentucky about finding her love of literature through Nigerian novels and folktales, learning craft from strong women, and workshopping without the gag order in favor of Crystal Wilkinson’s wild car...
Taylor Byas — University of Cincinnati
July 05, 2022 09:00 - 55 minutes - 44.4 MBOn the season 2 finale, Taylor Byas talks to Jared about how her fiction background helps her develop sharp images and accessible lines in her poetry while her poetic knowledge taught her to take more risks in her fiction. She also describes the value of a social media writing community (and how to build one), whether publishing success eliminates imposter syndrome (spoiler: it does not), and how her scholarly studies in her PhD program inform and enrich her creative work (and how to survive...
Luna Adler — Brooklyn College
June 21, 2022 09:00 - 59 minutes - 47.8 MBLuna Adler talks to Jared about moving between fiction and non-fiction, Brooklyn College’s unique novel-writing workshop aimed at accommodating the long form, the tension between a slow revision process and rapid MFA deadlines, and the benefit in recording one’s writing time while allowing grace for a broad definition of writing time that may or may not include thinking time. Luna Adler is a Brooklyn-based writer and illustrator. She’s currently an MFA candidate in fiction at Brooklyn Colle...
Taylor Sklenar — Iowa State University
June 07, 2022 10:00 - 1 hour - 49 MBTaylor Sklenar of Iowa State University’s MFA in Creative Writing and the Environment talks with Jared about how growing up in a small town influenced his interests in chemistry and theatre, combining those interests in the MFA, and the myriad considerations that go into writing for the stage. Along the way, they talk about the many unique opportunities at ISU, including editing the Flyway Journal, running the Emerging Writers Reading Series, participating in political action through the Eco...
James Craig Hartz Jr. — Oregon State University
May 24, 2022 10:00 - 1 hour - 62.4 MBOn this episode, James Craig Hartz Jr., a Combat Medic turned MFA graduate, tells Jared about flipping the traditional military homecoming story into one filled with resilience, hope, and hard-won healing. He also discusses the role of mythology in modern fiction, the criticality of OSU’s graduate student union for pay and benefits, and his experience of concentrated solitude and intentional boredom at a graduate student writing retreat in the Oregon woods. James Craig Hartz Jr. earned his ...