Deborah Brevoort (Faculty MFAW-VT) was commissioned to write new libretto for Mozart’s comic masterpiece THE IMPRESARIO for the Anchorage Opera in Anchorage, Alaska, where it opens on February 20. Deborah’s adaptation places Mozart himself at the center of the story as he struggles to bring a new opera to the stage. Pitted between two dueling… Continue reading A new libretto for a Mozart masterpiece
Author: MFA Writing
MFAW-VT Alumni News!
MFAW-VT Alum (’14), Kelly Avery’s essay, “How to Wait for Morning” was published in The Quotable which then nominated the essay for a Pushcart Prize.In October, Kelly signed with agent Michelle Johnson of Inklings Literary, who will represent the novel that started as her Goddard thesis. Congratulations, Kelly!
Future Anxiety and Young Adult Fiction
I was doing some research (i.e. “avoiding work/killing time online”) when I found an old piece on Quora, a content partner with Slate. It posits the hypothetical question, “what would happen if oxygen were to disappear for five seconds?” The respondent, a self-described science junkie named Andrew Cote, describes a series of truly eye-popping events… Continue reading Future Anxiety and Young Adult Fiction
MFAW-WA Alum Drew Dillhunt Won a Prize!
Drew Dillhunt’s poetry collection, Leaf is All was selected as the winner of the 2014 Dorothy Brunsman Poetry Prize, and will be published by Bear Star Press. Leaf is All is the further revised and polished version of his Goddard thesis. Congratulations, Drew!
MFAW Alum Publishes a new book of Poetry!
Donnelle McGee’s new poetry book, Naked, was released today by Unbound Content. Congratulations, Donnelle!
Short Story News from MFAW Students
MFAW-VT students Paul Molyneaux’s short story “Roll or Die” just came out in Maine Boats and Harbors. And student Lucy Snyder’s short story “The Abomination of Fensmere” was just published in the anthology Shadows Over Main Street (Hazardous Press). Congratulations, all!
Isla McKetta: Things I Wish I’d Known When I Graduated from Goddard
It seems like ages ago that I graduated from Goddard’s MFA program in creative writing at Port Townsend. It was only the summer of 2010, but I still remember the rush of holding that diploma in my hand. My classmates and I were ready to take on the literary world. Or so we thought. It’s… Continue reading Isla McKetta: Things I Wish I’d Known When I Graduated from Goddard
ALUMNI NEWS
MFAW-VT Alum (Spring 14) Joslyn Robinson just had her second article published on the online literary genre magazine, The Artifice. Here is the link: http://the-artifice.com/writers-guide-hero-journey/ Congratulations, Joslyn!
STUDENT NEWS FLASH
Lucy Snyder’s story “Spinwebs” was just published in the anthology Not Our Kind (Alliteration Ink). Congratulations, Lucy!
Attention lovers of Serial, the podcast!
Los Angeles Review of Books has just published an essay by Faculty member Aimee Liu comparing Sarah Koenig’s brainchild to Sebastian Junger’s A Death in Belmont — with shouts out to Anthony Doerr and Alan Dershowitz in the bargain. This essay was written with the theme of the upcoming MFA residency in Port Townsend —… Continue reading Attention lovers of Serial, the podcast!
Robert Gober’s Heart
“The Heart is Not a Metaphor”, Robert Gober’s retrospective at MOMA ended on January 18th, which makes me happy I saw it but unhappy for those who missed it. Gober works in various mediums—installations being, of course, the most enveloping and most beautiful. Installations remind me of the other worlds that artists live in and… Continue reading Robert Gober’s Heart
Resistance and Change: Ursula K. Le Guin’s Radical Imagination
Post State of the Union, the speech that is still sounding in my mind is one that was given back in November: Ursula Le Guin’s address at the National Book Award ceremony. Yes, she chided us for selling books “like deodorant,” but these are the words that are resonating in me: “Hard times are coming,… Continue reading Resistance and Change: Ursula K. Le Guin’s Radical Imagination
My Queer Shoulder and the Veil
Arielle Greenberg includes a meaty, enthusiastic discussion of Jan Clausen’s Veiled Spill: A Sequence in her latest American Poetry Review column under the heading “What to Read Now: Some Vital Books from 2014.” Greenberg’s nuanced appreciation for work that refuses to separate artistry from history is infectious, and lamentably rare in our literary press. Read the… Continue reading My Queer Shoulder and the Veil
John McManus stories everywhere!
Yes, Goddard MFA faculty member John McManus has just returned to us after a year in South Africa on a Fulbright scholar grant, but living and teaching on another continent does not mean that he disappeared from publishing life. John has a new story collection called Fox Tooth Heart that’s forthcoming later this year from… Continue reading John McManus stories everywhere!
Toward a Messy and Uncertain Grace
Goddard MFA Faculty member Aimee Liu’s essay, inspired by the author Meredith Hall, has been published by the Los Angeles Review of Books. A version of this essay was Aimee’s commencement address last summer in Port Townsend, Goddard’s West Coast MFA campus. Here’s the beginning of the essay: I’VE BEEN THINKING a lot about… Continue reading Toward a Messy and Uncertain Grace
Writing residencies and retreats
Who’s been where, and which writing retreats do you recommend? Aerogramme’s new list of retreats for 2015 includes Hedgebrook, an oasis for women writers near and dear to my heart: hard to get into (with 1500 applications this year!) but worth reapplying for, since, once you are a Hedgebrook alumna, you have a family for… Continue reading Writing residencies and retreats
Welcome to Vermont!
winter garden at GoddardGoddard silo in the snowgoddard as narnia New students on campus today for the winter residency. Snow on the ground; mini writing retreats on the new schedule; plus the return of Rebecca Brown, John McManus, and Jane Wohl. Looking forward to meeting everyone!
queer divine dissatisfaction – words to live by
Searing, soaring advice from the master Martha Graham… “There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium… Continue reading queer divine dissatisfaction – words to live by
Disability Theater: A Note from Berlin
The past five months, I’ve been in Berlin researching a new book. Much of my time is spent learning about difficult things, such as how disabled people were killed under the Nazi Aktion T4 program. But much of my time is also spent partaking in the extraordinary cultural riches of Berlin. The past few years,… Continue reading Disability Theater: A Note from Berlin
The Most Beautiful Sentences in Literature
This is the “best sentence” that resonates most with me today. What’s yours? Click on this link, or the photo, for Jennifer Schaffer’s list on Buzz Feed. Here, not the best sentences, but the first sentences of the books that happen to be on my desk as I prepare for my memoir workshop at the… Continue reading The Most Beautiful Sentences in Literature