I’m off to Montpelier, Vermont, tomorrow morning for my latest MFA in Writing residency, and I want to commit to you, via this post, that I will be posting highlights I pick up from lectures and readings in (semi) real time from the residency. I can’t promise a post a day, but I aim to pull that off. They’ll be nice and short, just a nugget of wisdom I jotted down in the shiny new composition book I bought for the residency.
Some possible topics (i.e., titles of some lectures I intend to attend):
- The Importance of Wasting Time
- The First Step off the Cliff is the Most Dangerous (openings)
- The Art of Dialogue
- In Defense of Excessive Detail and Sentimental Disclosures
- Using Your Ears: The Mysteries of Music in Writing
- Why Am I Laughing at This? The Grotesque and Black Humor
- Out Loud: The Relationship Between the Written and the Spoken Word
- One Writer’s Search for Structure, or It Looks Like a Mosaic to Me
Now to start packing for my two weeks away; nothing like waiting until the last minute.
The Artist's Road 
Oh, I can’t wait to read the nuggets of wisdom from residency! Always such a stimulating ride! I really hope to make it back to VCFA next summer. Until then, I’ll rely on your glimpses for sustenance 🙂
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Hi Sion! It will be exhilarating and also exhausting, which is why I’m committing to short posts! You’ll be missed; it would be great to see you next summer. You’d make a great graduate assistant.
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I envy you this trip to Vermont. I haven’t been back since I graduated in winter of 2009. I miss going to VCFA and hanging outside Dewey with wine and smoke and good friends.
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Hi Rebecca, too bad we didn’t overlap as students! This will be my first winter residency. I too loved hanging out with friends outside Dewey at night during my summer residency, but I can’t imagine students do that when it’s 15 degrees out! Do they head into Dewey Lounge?
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Oh, you must not be a smoker! I’ve been out there in my nightgown and coat when it’s twenty below! It was so cold once that my bottle of Diet Coke, which I sat down on the ramp while we smoked, was freezing before we got in!!
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Oh, of course the smokers need to go outside. I enjoy the occasional cigar, but I won’t brave sub-freezing weather to do so.
I know what you mean about your soda! Once I tailgated at a late December Bills game in Buffalo, it was below zero. We had to keep the car running with the beer in the hatch. When you wanted a beer you had to open the hatch, drink, then put the beer back. It would freeze if you kept it out of the car. What we endure for our vices!
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I know my residencies at Spalding were always so full of nuggets that I was always walking around on overload, so I look forward to hearing yours. And, if it gets to be too much, don’t worry about us, we’ll be here when you return.
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When I was looking at Spalding their residencies looked really fantastic. I’m sure it’s exactly the same as VCFA. Thank you for permission not to post, but I’m hoping knowing I plan to do one each day will help me to remember the day and reflect more deeply on a good takeaway. Cheers!
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Congratulations on your top blogger announcement. We love bloggers who are passionate about the “art of writing.” All the best regards from the team at Minstrel’s Alley for a great coming year.
MJ Hammond, Publisher
Minstrel’s Alley
http://www.minstrelsalley.com
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Thank you, MJ, that’s most kind!
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I forgot you were heading this way. Please drop me a note if you have any free time while you are in the neighborhood. I’m about 10 minutes away! Looking forward to meeting in person!
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