All posts tagged: low-res

Preslaysa Williams Introduction (Seton Hill University)

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Image: www.unsplash.com  I applied to a MFA program in Fiction to salvage a long-lost dream and save my creative life. Close to twenty years ago when I was an undergraduate, I had set a goal to earn my MFA. I’d planned to earn an MFA right after college. After getting my MFA, I’d planned to embark on my life as an artist. But life doesn’t always work according to plan. After earning my undergraduate degree, I earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration. I later secured a job in government. I had figured I’d put my cute little creative itch on the back burner and focus on my “real” career. A few years into working a nine-to-five, I was soul-restless and unhappy. I needed to pursue art and so I took up writing nine years ago. I’ve been pursuing a writing career ever since. So why pursue a MFA with years of writing experience under my belt? I wanted to keep the promise I’d made to myself all those years ago. Also, I’ve been on the …

2017 Notifications

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Image: Beate Meier It’s our third annual notifications post! Below, you’ll find information about creative writing acceptance, rejection and waitlist notifications; MA and low-res programs are included. We collect this information from Gradcafe. We cannot guarantee the data is 100 percent accurate as it is user submitted and unverifiable. Please let us know if a program is still notifying applicants, or if anything is inaccurate. Where did you apply? Have you heard back from programs? Share below and good luck! ***** Updated 4/9/17 8:42 PM Programs that have notified so far according to GradCafe results. This does not necessarily mean they are done notifying. Programs are listed in alphabetical order. Adelphi University: fiction acceptance and rejection. University of Alabama: some poetry and fiction notifications. University of Alaska: creative non-fiction acceptance. American University: poetry and CNF acceptances, and a poetry rejection. University of Arizona: all notifications sent. Arizona State: fiction acceptance and poetry rejection. University of Arkansas: poetry acceptance and fiction rejections. University of Baltimore: acceptance. Bennington College: fiction acceptance. Boise State University: all notifications sent. Boston University: all notifications sent. Bowling …

Change is Inevitable

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I have never been a strong proponent of change.  In fact, I have gone to extremes to not have to change.  Nothing frightens me more.  However, being a writer is one place that I must accept change because without it, I lessen my chances of writing a masterpiece.  This isn’t an easy thing to do especially after I’ve poured my heart out on 50 pages of prose only to be suggested my mentor to scratch it all.  In my past writing semester, this is exactly what happened.  However, I didn’t realize until later into the semester that mentor was struggling as much as I in the process.  I felt supported. The project I’m working on is a spiritual memoir.  My original idea was to write my traumatic experiences growing up in a home that eventually created PTSD in me.  Then I was going to explain how I found a God that I could relate to.  The more we talked, the more my mentor felt that my dog’s story was the story that needed to  be …

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year… To Work

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Happy Holidays, everyone!  This season marks a lot of things, the observances of many religious and secular celebrations, cold weather and for many a break from work and school. For some this time of year is happy and filled with family, and friends. Unfortunately for others this is a tough and sad time. I sincerely wish for everyone that they are able to get whatever it is they need now and over the next few months as we brave the cold and dark inside and outside while we wait for the warm light of spring. One thing we all have in common is that a new year is coming. No matter what we thought of 2016 it is coming to a close for better or for worse. While it is important to take stock, celebrate, and have rest and relaxation it is equally if not more important to prepare for a brand new year. Folks are talking about resolutions, and while I’m not a fan of the concept of ‘New Year, New Me’ for many …

Cara Summerfield Introduction (Regis University ’17)

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Image credit: Prayitno I am a Southerner. I was born in New Orleans and raised by two strong Southern women who loved the letters I wrote to them from the time I was 5 years old. When living with my birth family, I experienced a high level of trauma. Life’s experiences have directed me down paths that I had never thought I would travel. For instance, in my early teens, 20s and 30s, I was strung out on drugs and alcohol. Who would have thought the tears that fell most nights would turn into the ink that dripped out of the fountain pen I used to write down my thoughts in my composition journal. I have two pens now.  One was not enough to hold all my tears. The words that scrawled across the paper would follow one another until a memoir had been written.  I have discovered that my favorite genre for writing and reading is nonfiction. Or my grandmother standing on the front porch watching me as I played with the neighborhood children, …

An Inside Look With Kenny Stoneman, Kingston University ’15

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Image: Barnyz A note from Kenny: There didn’t seem to be a natural place to mention it, but I attended the MFA program at Kingston University – London from September 2014 – September 2015.  Because I only finished the first year, I received an MA, rather than the full MFA.  Most schools in the UK work that way – the MA is the first year, while the MFA is the second. What was it like living in London? How did you navigate the cost of living there? Lesson #1 about living in London: it’s expensive. There is absolutely no way around that fact, although I don’t think it’ll come as a surprise to very many people. Be prepared to budget, and also be ready for exorbitant prices on just about everything. But there are a few things most Americans won’t realize about London until they get there. For thing, if you’re on a student visa, you are legally not allowed to work more than 20 hrs/wk, so unless you’re independently wealthy, you will need student loans to support yourself. I …

Lessons in Lasagna For MFA Applicants

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Tis the season for hearing back from M.F.A programs. Not only are people hearing back about fall but they are still applying to  workshops and fellowships for Summer. The next few weeks will determine where cohorts of people land, where people move, what they will pack, where they will live. Anywhere from the next few months to the next three years are being decided in these moments. I know it seems silly to give a lasagna recipe in the midst of all the decision making, chaos and motion so I won’t. To quote Lil’ Wayne “real G’s move in silence like lasagna”.   Granted this is not the best line in music, in my opinion it’s not even the best line that Wayne has said. The point is that there is a value to silence, and keeping some things close to the vest. There is value in not letting excessive opinions, and agendas into the process of how you live the next months and years of your life. It should go without saying that those …