Guardians, the final installation in the young adult trilogy written by Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan, is coming out in paperback from HarperTeen later this month. TW: What was the inspiration for the story? Laurence and I watch a lot of old movies and had originally conceived of this as a kind of post-apocalyptic Western:… Continue reading And have you read… Guardians?
Author: MFA Writing
Contested Spaces
Kenny Fries, Goddard MFA faculty member living in Berlin, visits “Homosexualität_en” exhibit at the Deutsches Historisches Museum and the Schwules Museum: “I was reminded of how the word “homosexual” was used for the first time around the same time as the word “normal,” and how historically the issue of “cure” has pertained to both homosexuality and disability. I noted how there have been laws “outlawing” both homosexuality and disability, including the “ugly” laws in the United States, which made it illegal for disabled people to appear in public. Most of these laws were not repealed until the 1970s. Chicago’s 1911 ordinance that stated, “It is hereby prohibited for any person who is diseased, maimed, mutilated, or deformed in any way so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object to expose himself to public view,” was the last to be repealed, in 1974.”
Congratulations to the Newest MFAW Alumni!
By Kathryn Cullen-DuPont 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 will graduate in Port Townsend, Washington, during the February 12-20 residency: Peter Geerlofs Katrina Barnes … Continue reading Congratulations to the Newest MFAW Alumni!
And have you read… Winner Take None?
Goddard MFAW alum Greg Comer’s Master’s Thesis Winner Take None as been published! The Writer caught up with Greg after he got done with the chores, in this case, feeding horses. TW: What was the impetus for this book? Serial failure. I could never figure out how to end a short story, or sustain a novel.… Continue reading And have you read… Winner Take None?
The Elements of Memory (or, two days ago was my birthday)
Goddard MFA Program Director, Elena Georgiou muses on memory, writing, history, art and inheritance, and offers you a writing prompt. “In my culture, it is the person who is celebrating a birthday who treats others (not the other way round). So in the spirit of my people, I offer you three gifts…”
Are We Not Everyone? The Writer as Siddhartha
Goddard MFAW faculty member Darrah Cloud confesses to reading Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, for the 11th time. “Last night, on the 71st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, I put it down and binge-watched a television show on HBO called Master of None…”
One Registration Closes, Another Opens
By Kathryn Cullen-DuPont It’s been wonderful to see the Lighthouse Writers’ Conference & Retreat (LWC&R) come together and welcome the registrations of its first participants. February 12-15 promise to be four wonderful conference and retreat days on the Port Townsend program site, featuring: An opening panel featuring Sarah Kishpaugh, Alison Bailey, and Theresa Barker Writing… Continue reading One Registration Closes, Another Opens
And have you read… Lay Down Your Weary Tune?
W.B (Bill) Belcher’s (Goddard MFAW ’07) debut novel, Lay Down Your Weary Tune, which he began at Goddard, was released on January 26th from Other Press.
Poetry & Masks Collaboration: Beatrix Gates
Poetry and masks at the Farm/Arts Exchange in Down East Maine’s Hancock County with Goddard MFAW faculty member Bea Gates and her old friend Ron King–farmer, weaver, queer activist (Stonewall to present day), social worker, and wearer of masks–on Faerie Kingdom Road, King Hill Farm, Penobscot.
A Long Weekend of Good Work: Offerings at the First Annual Lighthouse Writers’ Conference & Retreat
New writers’ conference created by Goddard MFAW alumni in Port Townsend is launching next month. An exciting four days of programming is in the works right now. Join us!
Mark Doty talks with Elena Georgiou on WGDR
Praised by the New York Times for his “dazzling, tactile grasp of the world,” award-winning poet, Goddard alumnus (MFA ’80) and former faculty member Mark Doty read from his work in the Haybarn Theater on January 6, 2016. (Presented by Goddard’s MFA in Creative Writing Program’s Visiting Writers Series). The next morning, he spoke with Program Director… Continue reading Mark Doty talks with Elena Georgiou on WGDR
And have you read… The Walking?
The Walking, Goddard MFAW faculty member Laleh Khadivi’s historical novel, began as a meditation on migration, all kinds of migration, bird, whale, antelope, fish and human… The Writer asked her how she got started.
What Keeps You Up At Night?
What comes to you when you think of Goddard? At the Goddard MFAW graduation in Vermont, graduate Laura Cyphers mused about “radical imagination” means. And we ask you: What does it require of us to be a writer in the world? If we said to you, “Write for the World,” would that imply a social consciousness, a personal urgency, or an exhortation (along with the skills you will need) to reach the greatest audience possible?
Seeking Asylum: 100,000 Stories
You could say I lost my belief in our politicians. They all seemed like game show hosts to me. — “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You,” Sting I. Empathy and the Iliad I read an article this week, published four years ago in Scientific American, about how empathy had declined 40 percent among… Continue reading Seeking Asylum: 100,000 Stories
In the Inbox
from the indomitable AMY KING, who visited us in Plainfield a few residencies back. VIDA is currently seeking submissions & we would love to hear from you! Please see our submission guidelines for pitches & articles & anything else you have in mind – http://www.vidaweb.org/submissions/ Here’s a sampling of what we’ve published – * Twenty… Continue reading In the Inbox
Congratulations to the Newest MFAW Alumni!
By Kathryn Cullen-DuPont 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, in January 2016: Samuel Cristeal Laura Cyphers Rachel Harding Lisa Hartsgrove Peter… Continue reading Congratulations to the Newest MFAW Alumni!
And have you read…Once You Go Back?
Goddard College faculty member Douglas Martin’s sixth book! The Writer interviewed him below: 1. What was the impetus for this book? I wanted to do something similar to what Anna Kavan had done in her book, Sleep Has His House. I also wanted to revisit the terrain of my first novel, pretending that one of… Continue reading And have you read…Once You Go Back?
On Aretha Franklin and the Art of Showing Up
By Julie Parent By now you’ve probably heard about the spectacular performance by Aretha Franklin at the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors which was telecast on December 29. In tribute to one of the honorees that evening, singer and prolific songwriter Carole King, Ms. Franklin sang the song (co-written by King and the late Gerry Goffin)… Continue reading On Aretha Franklin and the Art of Showing Up
Post-Operative Depression, Inflammatory Cytokines… or Writer’s Block?
The operation was over, my gallbladder was out, and its massive infection had not killed me. I’d been free of physical pain for a week, and was days away from my “all-clear” follow-up check-in with my surgeon. My recovery, in other words, was well underway, and I ought to have been ecstatic to be free… Continue reading Post-Operative Depression, Inflammatory Cytokines… or Writer’s Block?
New Convergence
When I graduated from the Port Townsend campus in July 2014, I knew what I would miss the most about the Goddard MFAW program was the semi-annual convergence of word people that constitutes residencies at Fort Worden. Though I was aware that our MFAW alumni association offered a conference and retreat in Vermont, the landmark… Continue reading New Convergence