Author: MFA Writing

Lost in a Dark Forest, I Come upon a Wall

Goddard MFAW director Elena Georgiou: I am “midway upon the journey of [my] life”, in a dark forest; in a world where rising levels of disrespect and unkindness are called “pendulum swings”. I’m so profoundly, overpoweringly, overwhelmingly, dreadfully, devastatingly disappointed. And I am also lost.
A wall cannot solve.
A wall does not equate.
A wall is bad math.

Risks and Revelations

Goddard MFAW faculty Victoria Nelson: The whole thing about risks is that you don’t know whether the risk is a good one or a bad one until after you take the plunge. That’s why it’s a risk.

Reflections from the Lighthouse Writers’ Conference & Retreat

Eight workshop sessions.  Thirteen alums.  One Faculty-Alumni dinner.  Four days of writing immersion (counting sleep).  Impromptu community gatherings at Taps Pub, at NCO House 334, in the Commons Café, and on the beach.  Poems and protest pieces and neo-myths and flash-fiction and characters and T.S. Eliot and Borges arising amid a supportive, friendly, welcoming, safe,… Continue reading Reflections from the Lighthouse Writers’ Conference & Retreat

Congratulations to the Newest MFAW Alumni!

  On behalf of the Clockhouse Writers’ Conference‘s Board of Stewards and the alumni community of the Goddard College MFAW program, I want to extend my congratulations and warmest welcome to those who’ve graduated in Port Townsend, Washington, during the February 2017 residency:   Sarah Beahan   Molly Dwyer   Cara Lang   Anna Martin… Continue reading Congratulations to the Newest MFAW Alumni!

On Trump Protests: You Never Know What You’ll Get to Be Grateful For

Goddard MFAW faculty Aimee Liu: “You never know what you’ll get to be grateful for.” That’s what Carolyn would have said, had she lived to see the waves of protests marching across America since Donald Trump’s inauguration.

CWC&R Registration Opens Wednesday, February 15

Registration  for the Clockhouse Writers’ Conference & Retreat (CWC&R) opens on this Wednesday, February 15.   This year’s CWC&R will take place from July 3 – 7 on Goddard’s Plainfield, Vermont, campus.  As always, this conference and retreat will feature:    Opening Plenary Panel Stations of the Word Writing Workshops Individual, Quiet Writing Time A “Life… Continue reading CWC&R Registration Opens Wednesday, February 15

A Darrah Cloud, MFA Faculty, Premiere

Darrah Cloud, Goddard MFA Faculty member, premieres Prairie Diary on February 14, 2017, at 7pm at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space in NYC.  Soprano Allison Charney, cellist Kajsa William-Olsson and pianist Reiko Uchida (aka the Ark Trio) will be presenting Love Resounding,  six world premieres of compositions written for them by American composers, including Kim D. Sherman and… Continue reading A Darrah Cloud, MFA Faculty, Premiere

Prophetic Writing

Goddard MFAW faculty John McManus: The attorney general, having sought and won the presidency, set out to dismantle the government. He dissolved the White House Press Corps. He prank-called other world leaders, hanging up on them or threatening war. He trusted no one but his beloved daughter. He commanded the Joint Chiefs of Staff to declare DEFCON 1, just for the sake of the adrenaline rush it gave him.

If You’re Going to AWP, Stop by Goddard’s Table

  Are you and your writer friends going to the 2017 AWP Conference?  If so, do stop by Goddard College’s table, which will be in Booth No. 304-T.  Assuming packages arrive safely, and as long as supplies last, you’ll also be able to pick up a free copy of CLOCKHOUSE Volume Four:     There’s… Continue reading If You’re Going to AWP, Stop by Goddard’s Table

Goddard MFA Faculty Michael Klein’s Poem “Beginners”

Goddard MFA in Creative Writing Program faculty member Michael Klein’s poem “Beginners” was chosen for the Poem-a-Day project of the American Academy of Poets.  The poem appeared online yesterday (January 29)  and can be read here. Poem-a-Day is the original and only daily digital poetry series featuring over 200 new, previously unpublished poems by today’s talented poets each… Continue reading Goddard MFA Faculty Michael Klein’s Poem “Beginners”

Last Call: CLOCKHOUSE Submissions

If you’d like your creative non-fiction, drama, fiction or poetry considered for inclusion in CLOCKHOUSE’s Volume Five, this is your last chance to submit–February 1 is the deadline!  We are pleased and excited to announce that Goddard MFAW faculty member Aimee Liu will curate the volume’s Folio.  Aimee is the bestselling author of the novels Flash… Continue reading Last Call: CLOCKHOUSE Submissions

REIKO RIZZUTO on CBC’s “Out in the Open”

MFAW-VT faculty member Rahna Reiko Rizzuto was interviewed for the show Out in the Open with Piya Chattopadhyay on CBC Radio.  The episode was called “What Moms Can’t Say.” Hosted by Piya Chattopadhyay, Out in the Open tackles one timely subject each week from many different angles with energy, wit, and journalistic rigor.  A diverse range of… Continue reading REIKO RIZZUTO on CBC’s “Out in the Open”

Hope is a Form of Energy

Goddard MFAW faculty Michael Klein: The beautiful writer, John Berger, who died a day into the New Year once said to the living: “hope is not a form of guarantee; it’s a form of energy, and very frequently that energy is strongest in circumstances that are very dark.” For all of you, I wish radical hope.

Congratulations to the Newest MFAW Alumni!

On behalf of the Clockhouse Writers’ Conference‘s Board of Stewards and the alumni community of the Goddard College MFAW program, I want to extend my congratulations and warmest welcome to those who graduated in Plainfield, Vermont, during the January 2017 Residency:    Derrick Bergeron    Jasmine Evans    Kris Johannesson   Bethany Kelly   Karen… Continue reading Congratulations to the Newest MFAW Alumni!

Book Club for the New Administration

Which three books would you give our new president in order to shape our future? In the 1960 movie adaptation of H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, the hero– H.George Wells– returns home from a far-flung future to retrieve three books with which to rebuild humanity.  The movie ends with the question, “Which three would you… Continue reading Book Club for the New Administration

The CLOCKHOUSE Folio

It’s a bit of legal language between the covers:  “Clockhouse is a national literary journal published in partnership with Goddard College by the Clockhouse Writers’ Conference, the alumni association of Goddard’s MFA in Creative Writing Program.”  This partnership is more than a formality, though:  it’s one graced by the advice, care, and hands-on-work of Clockhouse’s faculty… Continue reading The CLOCKHOUSE Folio

Dear Young Disabled Writer and Disabled Writers Not Yet Born,

Goddard MFAW faculty Kenny Fries: Dear Young Disabled Writer and Disabled Writers Not Yet Born,

You might ask: What does this have to do with the disturbing results of the recent U.S. election? Why is this story important for me to impart to you at this time?

When I was born in 1960 nobody knew whether I would live or die. When, after four weeks in an incubator, my parents were able to take me home, nobody knew whether I’d be able to walk.

Now, here I am fifty-six years later, alive and, most of the time, still walking.