Low-Residency Experience: Writing to the Finish

I have one semester left in my low-residency program at Queen's University of Charlotte. I am overwhelmed by:

• How quickly time has passed. 
• How much writing I've done in the past year and a half. 
• How much more writing I will be doing in my final semester. 
• How much revision I have to do this summer on my thesis.
• How absolutely this was the best decision I've ever made.

The third residency/semester, which began in January for me, pushed my writing. Not only was I submitting new work to our workshop, but I began to seriously revise an old piece or two. Not just glance through, or make some quick changes based on recent critiques, but doing the hard work of taking something apart and putting it back together again. And then, taking it apart. Again. There are still a few pieces left, rolling around on the floor, here  - no, there. Can somebody tell me what to do with that chunk of flashback that will not go away?

There's also the reading to keep up with and this May residency, my fourth, included a few books that I could not put down. I think I've mentioned that, at Queens, we're required to read in all genres. I've found I really like the creative non-fiction selections almost as much as fiction.  Angelhead by Greg Bottoms and Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn (nope - haven't seen the movie) were two of my favorites on the list. I read Angelhead in one night. It was that good. For fiction, the Stories of Breece D'J Pancake by Breece D'J Pancake rocked my world.

Technically, I have the summer off. The first draft of my thesis (a collection of short stories) is due to my advisor in October. A few weeks later, my craft paper will also be due. However, there's that whole job thing. So I plan on spending this summer doing some serious revision on the stories. That break it apart and put it back together kind. 

The idea of spending my hard-earned eight week break from the public school system writing...well, this makes me giddy. Seriously. 

This plays into the best decision I've made...every instructor I've had at Queens has given invaluable lessons on craft and provided one-on-one, detailed feedback. My fellow graduate students are like family (Cue the violins. Maudlin is what happens the day after you return home from residency.)

In September, I'll go into academic mode and work on the craft paper and plan for my teaching seminar. I'll also submit pieces throughout the semester for workshop. This is why some folks choose to defer their final semester but I'm going for a January graduation. 

Both drafts will be turned into my advisors (one for thesis, one for craft) and I'm certain, that by November, I'll take a few things apart. And put them back together again. 

If I Had Known Then What I Know Now....

April 15th has come and gone, and hopefully all of you are starting to make your plans for next year, whatever and wherever that may be. As you are taking what feels like your first deep breath in months, I'd like you to reflect on your application process. Are there things you wish you had done differently? Something you should have known but didn't? Any advice to pass on to next year's application pool? Please post your comments below. And good luck to everyone!

Camp for Writers (2012)

*Just in case you were in the mood to fill out MORE applications (at least it will be a distraction from checking your email umpteen times a day), I thought I would re-post my blog on summer writers conferences. Enjoy!*

Trust me, no one loves the solitude of writing more than I do. I crave small, dark rooms. I relish working alone and in silence. If it were possible to write in a vacuum, I would. But I know, and we all know, that we can't. We need other people, not only to read our writing, but to critique it, massage it, cajol it, and sometimes even like it. So we join writers' groups, or apply to MFA programs, or apply to writers conferences, all in hopes of finding that writerly community where our work, and our personalities, fit in.

So how many of you are considering (or are already planning to attend) a writers conference? I've been attending the same conference for nine years now, and I can't imagine a summer without it. *FULL DISCLOSURE - I work for the Southampton Arts Summer Conference, so yes, I'm biased.* Having said that, there are a lot of conferences in the country to choose from, so you'll need to figure out what you are looking for in a conference experience before you find the one that is right for you. Are you looking to study with a particular teacher? Are you looking for industry contacts/meet-and-greet opportunities? Are you looking for a friendly, fun atmosphere or a more competitive one? Are you looking at conferences that are sponsored by MFA programs that you would like to apply to next year? It's a good way to learn about a program without making a commitment. It also gives the program a chance to learn about you, which may help them when assessing your MFA application (and a letter of recommendation from a workshop leader never hurts either).

So what interests you about the conference experience? What would deter you? I'm more than happy to give advice based on my own conferencing adventures. Let the comments begin.

Where Are You Applying? Part 6

Three more weeks until April 15th!

Where Are You Applying? Part 5

Are we in the home stretch yet? Hang in there, folks!

Where Are You Applying? Part 4

And the posts just keep on coming! As usual, use this thread to post your lists of applications, acceptances, rejections, and waitlists. Fingers crossed for all of you!

Where Are You Applying? Part 3

The previous "Where Are You Applying?" and "Where Are You Applying?" Part 2 are up over 200 comments now, so I'm starting another one to keep it reasonable. Please post where you are applying, which program (fiction, poetry, CNF, etc.) and if you've heard anything back yet (acceptances, rejections, waitlists, etc.)

Where Are You Applying? Part 2

The previous "Where Are You Applying?" post is up over 200 comments now, so I'm starting another one to keep it reasonable. Please post where you are applying, which program (fiction, poetry, CNF, etc.) and if you've heard anything back yet (acceptances, rejections, waitlists, etc.)

Mailbag (2.14.12)

Feel free to post questions/pertinent information here. Happy Valentine's Day!

Southampton Writers Conference

Southampton Arts, Summer 2012
Session I: July 11 – 15
Session II: July 18 – 29

Creative Writing
Visual Arts
Theatre
Film

Our Distinguished Faculty and Lecturers include: Roger Rosenblatt, Melissa Bank, Emma Walton Hamilton, Stephen Hamilton, Ursula Hegi, Matt Klam, Jules Feiffer, Meg Wolitzer, Nick Mangano, Marsha Norman, Annette Handley Chandler, Robert Reeves, Lou Ann Walker, Julie Sheehan, Billy Collins, Scott Sandell, Donald Sultan, Steve Miller, Christina Lazaridi, Eric Fischl, Keith Sonnier, Frank Pugliese, Paton Miller, Paul Chojnowski, Daniel DeSimone, Angela Scott, Kathryn Markel, Mitchell Kriegmann, Jon Robin Baitz, Jay McInerney, Mary Karr, David Rakoff

SUMMER PROGRAM INFORMATION AND APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE NOW!
Courses in Acting, Bookmaking, Children's Literature, Creative Nonfiction, Directing, Filmmaking, Fiction, Memoir, Playwriting, Personal Essay, Poetry, Portraiture, Printmaking, and Screenwriting

Southampton Arts
Stony Brook Southampton
239 Montauk Highway
Southampton, NY 11968
http://www.stonybrook.edu/writers
631-632-5030
Southamptonwriters@notes.cc.sunysb.edu

Another Response to Shivani

Over a year ago, I wrote a response here to one of Anis Shivani's Huffington Post blogs about creative writing MFAs. He has struck again and, along with several of my colleagues, I have responded, this time on the Huffington Post itself. I hope you'll check it out. I direct the Arkansas Writers MFA Program as well and I hope you'll take the seriousness with which we take this subject as an indication of how seriously we take our students' educations.

Where Are You Applying?

Let the lists begin! Please post where you are applying, which program (fiction, poetry, CNF, etc.) and if you've heard anything back yet (acceptances, rejections, waitlists, etc.)

Mailbag (1.17.12)

Feel free to post questions/pertinent information here.

To MFA, or Not

If you're on the fence about whether to apply to an MFA program, check out Eric Wyatt's blog post To MFA, or Not.

Eric is a Queen's cohort and gives a balanced list of the pros and cons in deciding on an MFA. There are plenty of ways to improve your writing outside of academia, and also less costly ways to do so. In summary, he writes:

What it really comes down to is this: What do you get from an MFA program?

• Time to work on your writing. (Motivation)

• Focused learning. (Increased skill/Growth of your art)

• Deadlines and expectations. (Motivation, Experience)

• Work with other writers. (Community, Opportunity, Networking)

• Experience taking and giving constructive, helpful criticism. (Feedback)

• A degree. (Credentials, Opportunity)

There are other ways to achieve the first four (if you are dedicated and focused) but the fifth one is where an MFA program sets itself apart. 

Introducing... The Masters Review

The Masters Review is a new literary journal showcasing the best in graduate-level creative writing. Each year, their editors and judges select the ten best stories submitted by writers in MA, MFA, and PhD creative writing programs. Their aim is to expose the field's top emerging writers by publishing progressive, diverse, and well-crafted fiction. The Masters Review is an annual publication with a submission deadline of December 31, 2011. Twenty-five stories will be selected for their shortlist, with the top ten stories from that pool published in the spring.

Their guest judge this year is Lauren Groff, who has this to say about what she’s hoping to see in submissions: “Simply put, I’m looking for a story I’ve never read before, a story that feels as if it could only come from the person who wrote it. Surprise me, thrill me, make me fall in love with your language and sensibility. I want to feel as if your story had been somehow dangerous for you to write it. If you write about things I’ve read about fifty-thousand times, write about them in a way that adds something to a larger conversation, one well beyond the bounds of your story. Above all, I’m asking you to please move me, make me laugh or weep or feel furious. Write your heart out, always.”

Another from Solstice: The Foundation for Children's Books Partnership

SOLSTICE MFA in CREATIVE WRITING PROGRAM ANNOUNCES

NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH THE FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN’S BOOKS

 The Solstice Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing Program of Pine Manor College is proud to announce a new partnership with The Foundation for Children’s Books (FCB), a nonprofit organization that cultivates children’s curiosity, creativity, and academic achievement by igniting in them a love of good books. The FCB and Solstice MFA Program will co-host the first in a series of biannual events, “What’s New in Children’s Books” —a half-day conference featuring authors, illustrators, and library and bookstore professionals— Saturday, November 5^th from 8 a.m.–noon on the Pine Manor College campus, 400 Heath Street in Chestnut Hill.

“What's New in Children's Books?” will feature illustrator Bryan Collier, winner of the Caldecott Honor Award and the 2011 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave, written by Solstice MFA faculty member Laban Carrick Hill; middle-grade and teen novel writer Mark Peter Hughes, whose book Lemonade Mouth is now a Disney Channel movie; Penny Noyce, doctor, educator, mother of five, and author of Lost in Lexicon: An Adventure in Words and Numbers; and Terry Schmitz, owner of the Children's Book Shop in Brookline, MA. The conference includes coffee and refreshments, new books from the Children's Book Shop, and book sales and signing.

As one of the few low-residency MFA programs to offer a concentration in writing for children and young adults, the Solstice MFA Program of Pine Manor College has worked to integrate writers whose work is targeted toward a variety of audiences.“The Solstice MFA Program believes that our children and young people deserve high quality literature that reflects the diversity of America,” says Solstice MFA Director Meg Kearney. “Our new partnership with the Foundation for Children’s Books underscores our mutual goals of putting good books into the hands of young readers, and introducing writers and illustrators to the people who play a vital role in exciting children about literature: teachers and librarians.”

ABOUT SOLSTICE & PINE MANOR COLLEGE

As an undergraduate institution consistently ranked among the most diverse in the country, Pine Manor College emphasizes an inclusive, community-building approach to liberal arts education. The Solstice MFA in Creative Writing reflects the College’s overall mission by creating a supportive, welcoming environment in which writers of all backgrounds are encouraged to take creative risks. We strive to instill in our students an appreciation for the value of community-building and community service, and see engagement with the literary arts not only as a means to personal fulfillment but also as an instrument for real cultural change.

—more—

ABOUT THE FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Founded in 1983, the FCB has served librarians, teachers, and children’s authors and illustrators by presenting a professional development speaker series and workshops. Beginning in 2005, the Foundation expanded its mission to serve teachers and urban students in grades K-8 by bringing acclaimed children’s book authors and illustrators into under-served schools in Boston. As part of its mission to build a bridge between the inspiring and dynamic creators of children’s books and their audience of young readers, the FCB has brought 23 authors and illustrators into 18 elementary and middle schools in Boston; these visits include book donations.

Directions to Pine Manor College, complete bios of our authors, and more information about the Solstice MFA in Creative Writing Program can be found at www.pmc.edu/mfa.

Solstice/Pine Manor Fellowship Opportunities

Check out these fellowship opportunities from Pine Manor/Solstice Low Residency MFA program. The deadline is October 14, 2011.

THE SOLSTICE MFA IN CREATIVE WRITING PROGRAM OF PINE MANOR COLLEGE

OFFERS FOUR FELLOWSHIPS FOR WRITERS

[Chestnut Hill, MA, September 2011]  The Solstice Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing Program of Pine Manor College is pleased to offer four $1,000 fellowships for writers: The Dennis Lehane Fellowship for Fiction; the Michael Steinberg Fellowship for Creative Nonfiction; the Jacqueline Woodson Fellowship for a Young People’s Writer of African or Caribbean Descent; and the Sharon Olds Fellowship for Poetry.

All fellowship awards are based on the quality of a writing sample.

Fellowship applications are due October 14, 2011 (not a postmark date; materials must be received in our offices before or on October 14). Fellowship applicants are strongly encouraged to apply early. Notification letters will be mailed to winners only on November 15, 2011. Awards must be applied toward the winter residency/spring semester directly following acceptance; fellowships cannot be deferred or applied toward a summer residency/fall semester start.

About our donors (underwriters of the Sharon Olds Poetry Fellowship wish to remain anonymous):

A former staff writer for HBO’s The Wire, Solstice MFA writer-in-residence Dennis Lehane is author of nine novels, including Mystic River, Shutter Island, and Gone, Baby, Gone —each of which has been made into a feature film— and the fall 2010 release, Moonlight Mile.

Solstice MFA writer-in-residence Michael Steinberg is a memoirist, essayist, and founding editor of the literary journal, Fourth Genre: Explorations in Nonfiction. His memoir Still Pitching was named the 2003 Independent Press memoir of the year.

Solstice MFA consulting writer Jacqueline Woodson is author of numerous books for children and young adults, including Feathers, a Newbery Honor Book; Miracle’s Boys, winner of the Coretta Scott King Award; and Locomotion, winner of the Horn Book Award.

ABOUT PINE MANOR COLLEGE

As an undergraduate institution consistently ranked among the most diverse in the country, Pine Manor College emphasizes an inclusive, community-building approach to liberal arts education. The Solstice MFA in Creative Writing reflects the College’s overall mission by creating a supportive, welcoming environment in which writers of all backgrounds are encouraged to take creative risks. We strive to instill in our students an appreciation for the value of community-building and community service, and see engagement with the literary arts not only as a means to personal fulfillment but also as an instrument for real cultural change.

Directions to Pine Manor College, complete bios of our authors, and more information about the Solstice MFA in Creative Writing Program can be found at www.pmc.edu/mfa.

Workshops for New York-based MFA applicants

I'm running two writing workshops, open to both fiction and nonfiction writers, starting in September. If you live in or near New York, and you want some feedback on your MFA manuscripts before turning in your applications, here's an opportunity (though please note, the workshops are not exclusively for MFA applicants - you'll be alongside other published and experienced writers).

Previous students and one-on-one clients of mine have been accepted at some of the top programs in the country, including Iowa, UT Austin, Syracuse, Purdue, UNC Greensboro, Brooklyn College, and Hunter, to name a few.

Check out my website for more info, and get in touch with me asap if you'd like to sign up. Only five spots left now!