George Saunders Comes to JSC -- April 11th!

Choosing and MFA Program

Puerto Del Sol's new blog offers a great discussion on choosing an MFA program in creative writing:


"At the end of the day, pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing should be about one thing: becoming a better writer. Yet, for those looking into MFA programs, the amount of options can be daunting. There are over 300 MFA programs in North America alone and the reputations, faculty and focus of many programs are constantly shifting. Furthermore, each applicant has needs and responsibilities independent of academic concerns, so how and why one decides on a program ultimately boils down to the individual. Before making the leap, every applicant should be aware of the following considerations: . . . ."
            
                                                                                Read the rest of this article here.

Earl Lovelace reads at UVM on March 20

Earl Lovelace reads from his new book:

Is Just a Movie 

 

WHEN:  Tuesday, March 20 -- 5:30 p.m.
WHERE:  John Dewey Lounge, Old Mill, University of Vermont (Burlington, VT)

Novelist, playwright and short-story writer Earl Lovelace was born in Toco, Trinidad in 1935 and grew up in Tobago. He worked for the Trinidad Guardian, then for the Department of Forestry and later as an agricultural assistant for the Department of Agriculture, gaining an intimate knowledge of rural Trinidad that has informed much of his fiction.

He studied in the United States at Howard University, Washington (1966-7) and received his MA in English from Johns Hopkins University in 1974. In 1980 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and spent that year at the University of Iowa. After teaching at a number of other American universities, Lovelace returned to Trinidad in 1982, where he now lives and writes, teaching at the University of the West Indies. A collection of his plays, Jestina's Calypso and Other Plays, was published in 1984.

His first novel, While Gods Are Falling, was published in 1965 and won the British Petroleum Independence Literary Award. It was followed by The Schoolmaster (1968), about the impact of the arrival of a new teacher in a remote community. His third novel, The Dragon Can't Dance (1979), regarded by many critics as his best work, describes the rejuvenating effects of carnival on the inhabitants of a slum on the outskirts of Port of Spain. In The Wine of Astonishment (1982) he examines popular religion through the story of a member of the Baptist Church in a rural village. His most recent novel, Salt, was published in 1996 and won the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Overall Winner, Best Book) in 1997. Set in Trinidad, the book explores the legacy of colonialism and slavery and the problems still faced by the country through the story of Alford George, a teacher turned politician.

--British Council Literature website

Eileen Myles Reading and Slideshow TONIGHT at Vermont Studio Center, Red Mill, 8PM

Undergraduate Poetry Contest -- Submit!

The Poetry Society of New Hampshire offers contests for college student poets.  This year's contest will be coordinated by Green Mountains Review contributor Jennifer Militello.  Below is an overview; check the mains contest website for complete guidelines:

The Poetry Society of New Hampshire is launching a small format poetry book competition open to all college undergraduates. The winning poet will receive a $100 prize and a single copy of the winning book. The initial print run will be a minimum of one hundred copies. The contest will be judged by a poet who is not a member of the society. There is no entry fee. Publication rights will revert to the author upon publication. Poems will not be returned. Please submit 12 to 20 pages of poetry with no identifying information via snail mail to: 

Coordinator, Jennifer Militello
River Valley Community College
One College Drive
Claremont, NH 03743

Postmark deadline is January 30th. Please include a separate page with a brief bio, your complete contact information, a suggested title for your collection, a list of poems in your submission, and the name of the college you are attending. The winner will be announced in the spring. [email Jennifer]

"Can Creative Writing Be Taught?"

Anis Shivani, a contributor to Green Mountains Review and writing here for the Huffington Post, explores the question of "Can Creative Writing Be Taught?  Therapy for the Disaffected Masses":

Yes, of course, creative writing can be taught, and it is very successfully taught. It might be the most successful humanities enterprise in the American university, if success is to be measured by stated goals. As for "improvement," yes to that too, if by "improvement" we mean internalizing the principles of creative writing. Dramatic and measurable improvement are not only possible but happen all the time.  

 Now, having gotten the provocative answer out of the way, let me be clear. Creative writing is not literary writing as has been understood for all of the history of writing. Creative writing is a subset of therapy, with the same essential modalities -- except, like everything else in our culture, it comes in a stripped, dumbed down version that partakes little of the rigors of psychotherapy. More appropriately, we might call it the Oprahfied mindset that penetrates workshop. Life lessons and living a more authentic life are always just beneath the surface of any workshop discussion.

New Yorker Fiction Podcast

Want to hear Salmon Rushdie read Donald Barthelme?  Or Antonya Nelson reading Mavis Gallant, or ZZ Packer reading Stuart Dybek, or Sam Lipsyte reading Thomas McGuane, or Daniel Alarcon reading Roberto Bolano, or A. M. Holmes reading Shirley Jackson?

The New Yorker's free Fiction podcast features these and dozens of other readings and discussions of short stories that have appeared in The New Yorker Magazine as chosen (and read) by short story writers currently featured in the magazine.  These readings and discussions are moderated by The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman.

Some of the best stories written over the last half century, read and discussed by the best writers writing today . . . all for free.

Download this podcast here.