On deep grief and finding the words… By Carolyn Bardos My relationship with language used to be sweet and easy. Thoughts came, I wrote them down, said them aloud, played around with structure, voice, and perspective. In recent years, though, certain life events have left me all but wordless, and I think I know why. I’m… Continue reading Finding The Words
Category: Alumni News
When Play Leads to a Poetry Warning
By Cody Pherigo Diane Ackerman explores the history and deeper workings of play and how it is entangled with the creative process in her book Deep Play. She opens with a definition and a premise: PLAY. It is an activity which proceeds within certain limits of time and space, in a visible order, according to… Continue reading When Play Leads to a Poetry Warning
Quest Writer’s Conference 2015
The Quest Writer’s Conference 2015 launches this June, founded by Goddard alum Jessamyn Smyth. Dates for the conference will be June 21-28 in Squamish, British Columbia (just north of Vancouver). They are rapidly approaching the application deadline of May 1st and encourage writers in all phases of their work to apply. This conference might really… Continue reading Quest Writer’s Conference 2015
Tyler Whidden Headlines Playwriting Festival
Playwright and Alum Tyler Whidden with a young actor… In an interview for the upcoming Festival, Whidden expounds on his newest play, ChocolateSexPuppyTacos (a Non-Denominational Play): Can you talk about the idea behind your play “ChocolateSex…” ? I think it’s a conglomeration of two of the many lives I’ve lived. When I was a kid,… Continue reading Tyler Whidden Headlines Playwriting Festival
Chera Hammons: The Descent of the Germanwings
Congratulations to MFAW-VT alum Chera Hammons who just had the following poem published at Rattle.com.To mark National Poetry Month, here is the poem, in its entirety: THE DESCENT OF THE GERMANWINGS Musicians know how to write silence, how to lay lines and measures across a white landscape, to show where music is… Continue reading Chera Hammons: The Descent of the Germanwings
Goddard Alum/Faculty Reception at AWP
Calling all Goddard College Faculty and Alums who will be attending AWP this year! As members of this elite squad, you are invited to our reception, to be held at the Conference. This is a great way to catch up with old friends, meet some new ones and generally feel more at home while browsing the… Continue reading Goddard Alum/Faculty Reception at AWP
The Graphic Novel with Susan Kim and Rachel Pollack
An Interview by Beatrix Gates Vermont Graphic Novel faculty Rachel Pollack and Susan Kim attended the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) Fest with MFA Graphic Novel grads Anne Bean and Ryan Wynns, ’13, see pix below. Bea Gates: How would you describe what the… Continue reading The Graphic Novel with Susan Kim and Rachel Pollack
To Read Is to Dream, Guided By Someone Else’s Hand
by Traci Dolan-Priestley Fernando Pessoa’s The Book of Disquiet, published after his death and put together by assembling notes that he left behind, was the first book I read about what it meant to be a writer. Not how to write, no, no, not even mentioned. I’ve quoted this particular passage many times. “One of the… Continue reading To Read Is to Dream, Guided By Someone Else’s Hand
Trusting the Process in Tucson
by Kristen Stone One of the most amazing things about my Goddard experience (beside the invective to TRUST THE PROCESS, something I still wrestle with, on the daily, in my writing and non-writing lives) is the connections I made with writers—who became friends—around the country. One such friend is Kristen Nelson, founder and Executive Director… Continue reading Trusting the Process in Tucson
The Goddard Salons and The Un-Book Tour
by Ann Hedreen I remember poring over my first Goddard MFA residency schedule and the way my eyes skidded to a stop at the word “salon.” We would have such things as salons? À la Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas? I felt a little frisson, a cocktail of thrill mixed with dread. My instincts… Continue reading The Goddard Salons and The Un-Book Tour
Some [tiny] examples of the EXTREMELY AMAZING THINGS THAT HAPPEN CASUALLY AT GODDARD AND NOWHERE ELSE*
by Kristen E. Nelson I got to study with Rebecca (mother-f***ing) Brown. That’s sometimes how I say her name when I get excited about Rebecca, and once you read/meet/encounter/learn from Rebecca, you continue to be excited about her. I read her short story collection What Keeps Me Here and then read all of her books.… Continue reading Some [tiny] examples of the EXTREMELY AMAZING THINGS THAT HAPPEN CASUALLY AT GODDARD AND NOWHERE ELSE*
Alumni News: Michelle Embree Interviews Sarah Shellow
Michelle writes: “The week has gifted me with numerous pleasures. The best being an opportunity to ask a few questions of a fellow writer and Goddard graduate, Sarah Shellow. Her words always give me a sense of healing and I very much would like to share them with all of you. Thank you and enjoy.”… Continue reading Alumni News: Michelle Embree Interviews Sarah Shellow
So Someone Called Me a Narcissist…and other thoughts on writing, learning and teaching
My name is Regina Tingle and I write memoir. According to a recent statement by a fiction writer who will remain unnamed, this makes me an “attention-seeking narcissist.” Fine. I’ll step up to that. In fact, I’ll indulge my narcissistic self by sharing a story from my own experience. I don’t find it coincidental that… Continue reading So Someone Called Me a Narcissist…and other thoughts on writing, learning and teaching
Autumn in Tuscany – A Writing Retreat
If inspiration, landscape, mouthfuls of words and food and wine are what you’re looking for. If getting away, delving deep, writing, being heard, writing some more and attentive feedback are what you’re looking for. If gentle morning yoga, invigorating hikes, days of sun and the occasional afternoon rain are what you’re looking for. If unexpected… Continue reading Autumn in Tuscany – A Writing Retreat
EMILY STERN IN ENTROPY MAGAZINE
An excerpt from MFAW-VT alum Emily Stern’s memoir When Doves Cry, which is the evolution of her thesis, is in Entropy Magazine today. Author’s Note from Emily: “When Doves Cry is about my mother and her death from complications of HIV/AIDS in 1993. Beneath all of this, When Doves Cry is a story about the indestructible,… Continue reading EMILY STERN IN ENTROPY MAGAZINE
Traveling Toward Publication
by Kristen Ringman From the moment I arrived on campus, I felt the magic of Goddard. It wasn’t just the gorgeous woods fringing the campus. It wasn’t the music building, where the students gathered every evening and often remained until morning. It wasn’t Darla, the little dog that Program Director Paul Selig always had by… Continue reading Traveling Toward Publication
Out of the Shadows: Join the Conversation
by Lizz Schumer Stephen Hawking once said, “Sometimes I wonder if I’m as famous for my wheelchair and disabilities as I am for my discoveries.” And it’s true that Hawking’s face is as recognizable as his science; as is Einstein’s, as is Ben Franklin’s. But would anyone know Einstein without his characteristically crazy hair, or… Continue reading Out of the Shadows: Join the Conversation
The Edge of Normal: Italian edition
From Carla: “I’m thrilled by the beautiful cover of the Italian edition of my novel, THE EDGE OF NORMAL. (The Italian title is “The Survivor.”) Carla Norton’s debut fiction, The Edge of Normal, was a Thriller Award finalist and a Royal Palm Literary Award winner. The sequel, What Doesn’t Kill Her, will be released in… Continue reading The Edge of Normal: Italian edition
Seam, Pen, Needle: Jill Magi on “A Textile Poetics”
from Jan Clausen Over at Jacket2, that slightly obscure but thoroughly indispensable resource for thinking poetry, MFAW alum Jill Magi (most recent book: Labor) is pursuing a multi-month reflection on connections between textile production and the making of poetry. I love her description of the thread she’ll be following: not the easy equivalence of text = textile,… Continue reading Seam, Pen, Needle: Jill Magi on “A Textile Poetics”
The Transfiguration of Recovery and Creativity
by Brianna Johnson As my degree was conferred, I felt/I understood a quantum shift. The first, or first perceived, of a series of seemingly religious experiences. Saints and colors and relics and snags of bone. I spoke about bravery. And then, I found myself in a desert. Eight months out of Goddard and three months… Continue reading The Transfiguration of Recovery and Creativity