For the first time in seventeen years—since I began writing books in my late twenties when I undertook advanced studies and completed my MFA—I found, in the fall of last year, that I no longer felt the urge to write anything. It was if for seventeen years I had been, without knowing it, on a… Continue reading Urgency & the Word
Tag: Writing Advice
The Confidence Code: Joining the Party
As long as I can remember, I have had my nose to the grindstone, learning early in life how to tune out the noise of the rest of the world around me. I developed such a keen muscle for exclusion that when I had children, I actually had to train myself to pay attention to… Continue reading The Confidence Code: Joining the Party
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
On Being a Student Again
Last month I attended a writing workshop as a student for the first time since becoming an MFA advisor nine years ago. That’s embarrassing to admit. Not that I went but that it took me so long. I should have known better. I’d delayed decades before getting my MFA. For years I’d told myself that… Continue reading On Being a Student Again
A Master Class with Mozart
By Deborah Brevoort It is often said that Mozart is the greatest composer to have ever lived. After writing a new libretto for his comic opera The Impresario I understand why. I got the first inkling of his genius when I began work on the first aria sung by Madame Heartmelt. There was something in… Continue reading A Master Class with Mozart
Autumn Phillips on John Edgar Wideman
From an article by Goddard student Autumn Phillips, a journalist in southern Illinois: I’ve been reading a book by John Edgar Wideman called “The Homewood Books.” It’s a collection of stories about Homewood, a predominantly African-American neighborhood in Pittsburgh. It’s some of the best writing I’ve encountered in years, because Wideman is somehow able to… Continue reading Autumn Phillips on John Edgar Wideman
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
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
Preparing for the Teaching Practicum
The teaching practicum is one of the cornerstones of Goddard’s MFA. Students graduate from Goddard having developed and conducted a writing workshop in their communities. As she gets ready for her own practicum, current student Catherine Aarts is reading Wallace Stegner, and here she shares her musing about her upcoming role as facilitator. “Stegner reminds… Continue reading Preparing for the Teaching Practicum
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
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!
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
Writing Schedules and Inspiration
I get asked a lot of questions about how to develop good writing habits. Mostly this boils down to the idea of keeping a schedule. Depending on what stage I’m in with whatever novel I happen to be working on, I’ve found that my writing schedule changes. When I’m writing a first draft I tend… Continue reading Writing Schedules and Inspiration