MFA Writers
110 episodes - English - Latest episode: 12 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
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 ...
Siloh Radovsky — UC San Diego
May 10, 2022 10:00 - 57 minutes - 46.1 MBSiloh Radovsky sits down with Jared to talk about her path from anarchistic activism to experimental writing, the blurry line between fiction and nonfiction, and the joys and pains of teaching in an R1 institution. Siloh Radovsky is a prose writer invested in the overlap between narrative and criticism. A recent graduate of the cross-genre MFA program at UC San Diego, she is currently at work on a collection of linked essays. Her essays, articles, and stories have appeared or are forthcomin...
Gauri Awasthi — McNeese State University
April 26, 2022 10:00 - 56 minutes - 45.2 MBGauri Awasthi talks to Jared about how McNeese allowed her to earn an MA and MFA in three years, decolonizing the poetry cannon, and how she first found poems through Bhakti poetry, love poems to the divine. Gauri Awasthi is an Indian poet and environmentalist who recently graduated with an MFA in poetry from McNeese State University. She has won awards from Sundress Academy For The Arts, Louisiana Office of Cultural Development, Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, and Kundiman. Her writing has...
Rerelease: Vanessa Chan — The New School
April 12, 2022 10:00 - 50 minutes - 40.8 MBJared's taking this week off to focus on finishing his thesis, so enjoy this rerelease with Vanessa Chan who recently signed a fabulous deal for two books, THE STORM WE MADE, and THE UGLIEST BABIES IN THE WORLD. Regular programming will resume in two weeks. Do we write because we understand or do we write to reach understanding? Jared and Vanessa Chan of The New School unpack this question. Along the way, they discuss writing about home while living in a foreign country, the long arm of col...
Erin Slaughter — Florida State University
March 29, 2022 10:00 - 1 hour - 49.9 MBHow does a creative writing PhD compare to an MFA? Erin Slaughter talks to Jared about the focus on professionalization in her doctoral program at Florida State University compared to the exploration and experimentation she found as part of the inaugural cohort of the Western Kentucky University MFA program. Along the way, she discusses her many experiences in the publishing industry and offers advice for emerging writers to demystify the submission process. Erin Slaughter is the author of ...
Chibuihe Obi Achimba — Brown University
March 15, 2022 10:00 - 1 hour - 49.6 MBChibuihe 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 MFA program. Chibuihe Obi Achimba grew up in southeastern Nigeria. He's a poet and essayist completing his MFA in Poetry at Brown University. Chibuihe's writi...
Katie M. Zeigler — St. Mary's College of California
March 01, 2022 11:00 - 56 minutes - 52.3 MBOver the last ten years, Katie M. Zeigler filled out an MFA application six times and never submitted. Now in her second year at St. Mary’s College of California, she talks to Jared about pursuing her MFA 25 years after finishing her Masters, her program’s emphasis on the business of writing, and crafting a novel about caregiving, dementia, and the sandwich generation. Katie M. Zeigler is a second-year Fiction student in the MFA program at St. Mary's College of California. Before the MFA, s...
Gabrielle Grace Hogan — The New Writers Project, University of Texas at Austin
February 15, 2022 11:00 - 59 minutes - 47.8 MBPoet Gabrielle Grace Hogan of the New Writers Project at the University of Texas at Austin talks with Jared about using images to find theme in poetry, giving ourselves permission to write about happiness, and improving lesbian representation in the literary world. Along the way, they break down the similarities and differences between the New Writers Project and its sister program, the Michener Center for Writers. Gabrielle is a poet in her third and final year of the New Writers Project M...
Special Episode! George Saunders — Story Club
February 01, 2022 11:00 - 53 minutes - 42.8 MBJared sits down with author and Syracuse Professor George Saunders to discuss his advice for new and prospective MFA students, the value of trusting your writing intuition, the best (and worst) kind of workshop feedback, and how Saunders is creating community through discussions of craft, life, and process in his new project, Story Club. George Saunders is the author of eleven books including Tenth of December, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, Lincoln in the Bardo, which wo...
Jason Rodriguez — School of the Art Institute of Chicago
January 18, 2022 11:00 - 52 minutes - 42 MBWith a background in cinema, Jason Rodriguez of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago sits down with Jared to talk about how film influences his poetry. They unpack how Jason captures movement in visual poems, how the bombardment of media and pandemic isolation influence his work, and how he found an MFA program that allows him to investigate all areas of writing without confinement to a single track. Jason Rodriguez is a second-year MFA in Writing student focusing on design, interacti...
Rerelease: Marcus Jamison — University of South Carolina
January 04, 2022 11:00 - 45 minutes - 36.5 MBThe podcast team is on vacation (re: staycation)! Enjoy one of our favorite episodes from the earliest days of the show. Regular programming will resume in two weeks. Can writing be a form of protest? And if so, is there room for hope? Jared sits down with Marcus Jamison of the University of South Carolina to talk about Confederate monuments and economic justice, as well as finding solace in writing and crafting poetry after our literary heroes. Marcus Jamison is a poet and scholar from Ha...
Cordis Paldano — Minnesota State University, Mankato
December 21, 2021 11:00 - 40 minutes - 32.4 MBBoth stage acting and fiction writing are practices in understanding and embodying characters. Cordis Paldano of Minnesota State University, Mankato joins Jared to discuss the ways his acting career informs his writing, the pros and cons of starting the MFA at an older age, and the experience of publishing a children’s novel he wrote in under two months. Cordis Paldano is a third-year MFA student in Fiction at Minnesota State University. Previously, he was a theatre artist studying acting a...
Luke Larkin — University of Montana
December 07, 2021 11:00 - 54 minutes - 43.7 MBLiterary fiction on Monday, pulp on Tuesday, YA on Wednesday, poetry on Thursday. Luke Larkin of the University of Montana tells Jared about crossing and mixing genres in a program with a literary pedigree, how queerness and Catholicism influence his writing, and surviving (and thriving!) in the natural beauty and long winters of Missoula. Luke Larkin earned his BA in creative writing at the University of Montana before entering UM's MFA program, where he is a second-year fiction student an...
Keely O’Connell — University of Alaska Fairbanks
November 23, 2021 11:00 - 57 minutes - 46.4 MBSkiing to campus and living without running water may not be typical aspects of the MFA experience, but they are common at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. On this episode, Keely O’Connell tells Jared about her yurt-to-campus commute, writing nonfiction about wilderness experiences, and surviving comprehensive exams. Keely O'Connell is a third-year MFA student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Her focus is nonfiction. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Northwest Review, Hipp...
Rerelease: Special Episode! Cady Vishniac — MFA Applications
November 09, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 65.8 MBAs we approach the first application deadlines of this MFA cycle, enjoy this rerelease to help you tackle questions such as: Should I get an MFA? What should I consider when applying? How can I strengthen my application? In this special episode, Jared is joined by Cady Vishniac, Editor-in-Chief of The Workshop and MFA graduate from The Ohio State University. Together, they address MFA applicants’ most common questions and concerns, like crafting a solid statement of purpose and finding a pro...
Special Episode! Gregory Spatz — MFA Applications Faculty Edition
October 26, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 49.2 MBThe 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, who explains what the application process looks like from a faculty member’s point of view. Answering listener questions, they discuss what to include (and avoid) in your personal statement, what makes a writing sample stand out, why to bother with an MFA at all, and more. Gregory Spatz is the author of the collection of...
Adachioma Ezeano — University of Kentucky
October 12, 2021 10:00 - 40 minutes - 32.1 MBJared 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 card critique musings. Adachioma Ezeano is a 2021 O. Henry Prize recipient. She is a second-year fiction candidate in the MFA program at University of Kentucky. She is an alum of Purple Hibiscus Workshop. Her fiction appears ...
Natalie Warther — Bennington College
September 28, 2021 10:00 - 50 minutes - 40.3 MBNatalie Warther of Bennington College talks to Jared about the potential of flash fiction to introduce literature to nonreaders, making the writer’s life work with a full-time job in advertising, and pursuing a dual-genre degree at her low-residency program. Natalie Warther is a senior writer at 72andSunny and a recent M.F.A graduate from the low-residency program at Bennington College where she was a dual major in poetry and fiction. She is a prose reader for GASHER Journal and a recent fi...
Ashley Sojin Kim — University of Florida
September 14, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 49.6 MBJared and Ashley Sojin Kim of the University of Florida discuss learning about suppressed historic events through poetry, adding form restrictions to enhance the creative process, and networking with publishers at UF’s annual Visiting Editors weekend. Ashley Sojin Kim received her MFA from the University of Florida and her BA from The Johns Hopkins University. Her work appears or is forthcoming in Literary Matters, Faultline Journal, RHINO Poetry, Spoon River Poetry Review, Gulf Stream Maga...
Katie Schorr — Hunter College
August 31, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 49.5 MBIn this episode, Jared talks with Katie Schorr of Hunter College about overcoming rejection and the failure to sell her first novel, finding her voice through the writing and revising process, and navigating the MFA while raising two kids. Katie Schorr earned her MFA in Fiction from Hunter College. She’s written for McSweeney’s and Motherly and she has also written and performed one-person shows at the UCB Theater, Ars Nova, and Joe’s Pub. She is an audiobook narrator and the mother of two ...
Shreya Fadia — University of Indiana-Bloomington
August 17, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 49.4 MBWelcome to Season 2! Jared is joined by Shreya Fadia of Indiana University Bloomington to discuss incorporating genre elements in literary work, making a career change from law to writing, and how editing Indiana Review has helped Shreya cope with rejection. Shreya Fadia is a third-year fiction candidate in the MFA program at Indiana University, where she currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of Indiana Review. Her fiction appears or is forthcoming in Black Warrior Review, Cream City Review, ...
Shreya Fadia — Indiana University Bloomington
August 17, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 49.4 MBWelcome to Season 2! Jared is joined by Shreya Fadia of Indiana University Bloomington to discuss incorporating genre elements in literary work, making a career change from law to writing, and how editing Indiana Review has helped Shreya cope with rejection. Shreya Fadia is a third-year fiction candidate in the MFA program at Indiana University, where she currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of Indiana Review. Her fiction appears or is forthcoming in Black Warrior Review, Cream City Review, ...
Special Episode! — Jared on Music at Midnight
August 03, 2021 10:00 - 19 minutes - 15.8 MBWith deep gratitude, we have reached the end of Season 1. The pod team is taking a little vacation and launching Season 2 in two weeks. In the meantime, enjoy this rebroadcast of Music at Midnight, a podcast published by Hobart's Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo. You'll hear an interview between Jared (as interviewee!) and past guest Evan Fleischer (as interviewer!). They discuss MFA programs, what has surprised Jared about making this show, and graduate student unionization. Plus, Lily MacHugh reads...
Tarik Dobbs — University of Minnesota
July 20, 2021 10:00 - 59 minutes - 47.9 MBDrawing attention to American and Israeli occupation in the Middle East, Tarik Dobbs of the University of Minnesota crafts experimental poetry based on extensive research and personal experience. Tarik joins Jared to discuss the role of poetry in shaping political perspectives, writing as a collaborative process, and how universities can create a more inclusive and diverse academic community. Tarik Dobbs is an Arab American queer writer born in Dearborn, MI, on stolen land of the Chippewa, ...
Aggie Stewart — Newport MFA at Salve Regina University
July 06, 2021 10:00 - 51 minutes - 41.2 MBHow do emotional pacing and narrative structure influence one another in a story? Jared talks to Aggie Stewart of the Newport MFA at Salve Regina University about her memoir, a braided narrative examining family trauma. They discuss embracing false starts and taking the scenic route to her MFA, a low-res program that lets students practice pitches with agents and editors, encourages cross-genre experimentation, and offers a residency in Havana, Cuba. Aggie Stewart is a Rhode Island-based wr...
Keith Enterante — San Diego State University
June 22, 2021 10:00 - 44 minutes - 35.9 MBFantasy. Sci fi. Literary absurdist fiction. Keith Enterante of San Diego State University’s novel excerpt has it all. He joins Jared to talk about the support and warmth of his program, the importance of starting and finishing pieces, and how the best writing lights up your nerve endings. Keith Enterante is a writer with an MFA from San Diego State University, where he spent three years drafting his third book, an absurdist fantasy titled Man-so-called-kind (previously titled Phooka Road)....
Evan Fleischer — Emerson College
June 08, 2021 10:00 - 58 minutes - 46.9 MBPursuing an MFA is not only about improving your own writing, but also that of your peers. Evan Fleischer of Emerson College talks to Jared about how the workshop is like teaching, how editing at Hobart benefits his work, and how the best writing is full of surprises. He also does a pretty good Bob Dylan impression. Evan Fleischer is set to graduate from Emerson College with a MFA in fiction at the end of 2021. He has been a fiction editor at Hobart Pulp for two and a half years. He has als...
Ellie Black — University of Mississippi
May 25, 2021 10:00 - 45 minutes - 36.8 MBHumor. Experimentation. Sound play. Ellie Black of the University of Mississippi talks to Jared about how her poetry has gotten increasingly weird, the influence of the Gurlesque movement, and the benefits of a high faculty-to-student ratio. Ellie Black is a poetry MFA candidate entering her third year at the University of Mississippi and the incoming senior poetry editor of the Yalobusha Review. Her poetry can be found in Black Warrior Review, DIAGRAM, Booth, Best New Poets, and elsewhere....
Antonio Villaseñor-Baca — University of Texas at El Paso
May 11, 2021 10:00 - 52 minutes - 41.8 MBWhat does a bilingual MFA program look like in practice? Antonio Villaseñor-Baca of the University of Texas El Paso joins Jared to talk about studying cross-genre work in English and Spanish, launching a music magazine between degrees, and how reading a diverse canon helped him take pride in his Xicanx identity. Antonio Villaseñor-Baca is a Xicanx bilingual journalist, photographer, poet and writer from El Paso, Texas. He spends his time listening to music and working towards his MFA in cre...
Special Episode! — Felicia Rose Chavez and The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop
April 27, 2021 10:00 - 57 minutes - 45.9 MBCreative writing workshops have remained largely unchanged since their creation in 1936. But what if there’s a better, more empowering, more inclusive way? Jared talks to Felicia Rose Chavez about her new book, The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop: How to Decolonize the Creative Classroom. They unpack MFA student advocacy, discuss the benefits of collaboration over competition, and reconceptualize the workshop. Felicia Rose Chavez is an award-winning educator with an MFA in Creative Nonfiction ...
Alejandro Puyana — Michener Center for Writers, University of Texas at Austin
April 13, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 49.4 MBWith 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 talk rejection, revision, and reimagining the world through fiction. Alejandro Puyana is a second-year fellow at the Michener Center for Writers whose primary foc...
Jemimah Wei — Columbia University
March 30, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 51.7 MBIn Singapore, a young nation focused on economic prosperity, the path to the writer’s life can seem uncertain. Against this backdrop, Jemimah Wei of Columbia University tells Jared about her country’s emerging literary canon, how flash fiction taught her restraint, and how open conversations about funding make MFAs more accessible. Jemimah Wei is a writer and host based in Singapore and New York. Her fiction has received nominations for the 2021 Pushcart Prize, support from Singapore's Nati...
Jeremiah Barker — Litowitz MFA+MA, Northwestern University
March 16, 2021 10:00 - 54 minutes - 43.6 MBA joint MA+MFA program allows students to deepen their understanding of literary criticism and theory while crafting creative works. Jeremiah Barker of Northwestern University tells Jared how they balance the workload, how they find self-compassion in the face of pandemic-induced writer’s block, and how writing about trauma is and is not like therapy. Jeremiah Barker is an essayist currently based in Chicago. They are a third-year student in the MFA and MA Litowitz Graduate Program at North...
Koyé Oyedeji — Warren Wilson College
March 02, 2021 11:00 - 57 minutes - 46.4 MBA low-residency MFA program helped Koyé Oyedeji of Warren Wilson College develop the discipline to work full-time while writing his composite novel. He and Jared discuss the ins and outs of the low-res experience, as well as how being a British person of Nigerian descent living in the US inspires Koyé to write about Black relationships through the lens of identity and class. Koyé Oyedeji’s writing has appeared in Ploughshares, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Believer, Wasafiri (UK), The Good...
Danielle P. Williams — George Mason University
February 16, 2021 11:00 - 51 minutes - 41.1 MBAn MFA-sponsored trip to the Mariana Islands allowed Danielle P. Williams of George Mason University to reconnect with her ancestral culture. She sits down with Jared to discuss exploring Chamorro history through poetry, learning ancient language through translation, and meeting mentors and allies through her program. Danielle P. Williams is a Pushcart-nominated poet, essayist, and spoken-word artist from Columbia, South Carolina. She strives to give voice to unrepresented cultures, expandi...
Sarah Ruth Bates — University of Arizona
February 02, 2021 11:00 - 47 minutes - 38 MBWhat’s it like to work on a research-driven nonfiction book in an MFA while freelancing on the side? Sarah Ruth Bates of the University of Arizona joins Jared to talk about how the nonfiction genre is more than memoir, how science and philosophy inform her work, and how pandemic writing can help us center our shared humanity. Sarah Ruth Bates is a second-year nonfiction MFA candidate at the University of Arizona, where she edits the program's student-run literary magazine, the Sonora Review...
Bryan Byrdlong — Helen Zell Writers’ Program, University of Michigan
January 19, 2021 11:00 - 55 minutes - 44.3 MBHow 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, how poetry can transcend fake news, and how his MFA program gave him an inner editorial voice. Bryan Byrdlong is a Black poet from Chicago, Illinois. In high school, he was part of Chicago’s Louder than a Bomb poetry slam competition. ...
Emily Holland — American University
January 05, 2021 11:00 - 50 minutes - 40.1 MBShould I go straight into an MFA or take some time between degrees? Emily Holland of American University talks to Jared about how she decided to go back to school, how the structure of a poem influences the reader, and how she’s thinking creatively about the post-MFA job market. Emily Holland is a lesbian writer with poems appearing in publications including Nat. Brut, Homology Lit, bedfellows, and Wussy. She is the author of the chapbook Lineage (dancing girl press 2019). Her work has rece...
Kaj Tanaka — University of Houston
December 22, 2020 11:00 - 56 minutes - 44.9 MBHave you ever wondered how contest winners are selected? Kaj Tanaka of the University of Houston takes us behind the scenes of Gulf Coast’s Barthelme Prize for Short Prose. He and Jared also talk about building tension in a story, careers in prison education, and what he learned from his BFA and MFA that influences his PhD work today. Kaj Tanaka is a PhD candidate in fiction at the University of Houston. His fiction has appeared in New South, The New Ohio Review, Joyland and Tin House. His ...
Michal “MJ” Jones — Mills College
December 08, 2020 11:00 - 49 minutes - 39.7 MBWhat’s it like to write a poem from the perspective of someone you despise? Michal “MJ” Jones of Mills College joins Jared to discuss their thesis project about the 2018 Hart family murders, writing from a place of anger, and pursuing an MFA as a working parent. Michal "MJ" Jones is a poet and parent in Oakland, CA. Their work is featured or forthcoming at Anomaly, Kissing Dynamite, and Borderlands Texas Poetry Review. They are an Assistant Poetry Editor at Foglifter Press, a journal curati...
Special Episode! Cady Vishniac — MFA Applications
November 24, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 64.7 MBShould I get an MFA? What should I consider when applying? How can I strengthen my application? In this special episode, Jared is joined by Cady Vishniac, Editor-in-Chief of The Workshop and MFA graduate from The Ohio State University. Together, they address MFA applicants’ most common questions and concerns, like crafting a solid statement of purpose and finding a program that accommodates student parents. Cady Vishniac attended The Ohio State University as the first MFA student to be awar...
Dana Liebelson — University of Wyoming
November 10, 2020 11:00 - 41 minutes - 33 MBWhat’s a journalist doing in an MFA program? Dana Liebelson of the University of Wyoming tells Jared how her journalistic habits facilitate and complicate her fiction writing, how her work has become increasingly experimental, and how she wound up with a literary agent. Dana Liebelson is an MFA candidate in creative writing at the University of Wyoming. Her flash fiction was recently published in Cheap Pop, and she attended the 2020 Tin House summer workshop. She is represented by Sarah Man...
Marcus Jamison — University of South Carolina
October 27, 2020 10:00 - 45 minutes - 36.1 MBCan writing be a form of protest? And if so, is there room for hope? Jared sits down with Marcus Jamison of the University of South Carolina to talk about Confederate monuments and economic justice, as well as finding solace in writing and crafting poetry after our literary heroes. Marcus Jamison is a poet and scholar from Hamlet, North Carolina. He is in his final year as an MFA candidate in poetry at the University of South Carolina, where he served as a senior editor for Yemassee Journal...
Vanessa Chan — The New School
October 13, 2020 10:00 - 49 minutes - 39.6 MBDo we write because we understand or do we write to reach understanding? Jared and Vanessa Chan of The New School unpack this question. Along the way, they discuss writing about home while living in a foreign country, the long arm of colonialism, and the pros and cons of studying in the literary capital of the world. Vanessa Chan is a Malaysian writer who writes about race, colonization, and women who don't toe the line. Her fiction and nonfiction have been published or are forthcoming in E...