That headline is, of course, absurd. The vast majority of published books are written by authors lacking MFAs, and I suspect that few works of literature we now rank as great were written during an MFA program. That said, Committed: A Memoir of the Artist's Road was my creative thesis in a low-residency MFA program …
Continue reading Do You Need an MFA to Write and Sell a Book?
Enough about my journey to book publication. Let's hear from another author, novelist Sheila R. Lamb. I first encountered Sheila on Twitter in 2010. We were on the same road, creative writers looking to grow. Since connecting, we both researched, enrolled in, and graduated from low-residency MFA programs. We also both became published authors (well, …
Fans of my MFA Nugget series--posts sharing the wisdom and personal experiences of my on-site Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA residencies--likely assumed there would be no more such posts after I graduated last summer. Well, I'm delighted to revive that series--for one post at least--with a guest blog by J.M. Cooper. J.M. currently is …
I am in an intimate relationship with two different muses. I never allow them to meet. What do I mean by that? I'm referring to the two worlds in which I apply creative thinking as well as my writing experience and training. Readers of The Artist's Road know me as the recent MFA graduate who …
I have a confession to make. It has been six weeks since my last serious effort at creative writing. One thing I've learned from interviewing artists is that even the best of them sometimes find themselves in a slump. And we can be very supportive of each other in these times, as I discovered when …
"How does it feel to have earned an MFA?" It's a question I have heard frequently from well-meaning people, and I have had no answer. It has been exactly one month since I received my diploma in front of my wife, daughter and son in the grand chapel of College Hall at the Vermont College …
MONTPELIER, VT: At 8:45 am I will give a one-hour lecture on creative writing craft, part of my graduation requirements in my MFA in Writing with the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Assuming that goes well, I will receive my diploma during our graduation ceremony this afternoon. At this 10-day residency, I have also given …
MONTPELIER, VT: I would never miss a lecture by Vermont College of Fine Arts instructor Patrick Madden. Like his essays, his lectures provoke curiosity and reflection. And like his essays, he remains frustratingly elusive when it comes to the simple takeaways that so work in a blog summation. But in this lecture on the "postmodern memoir" …
Continue reading MFA Nugget: What the Heck is a Postmodern Memoir?
MONTPELIER, VT: This is supposed to be a ten-day celebration of two years of hard work. At the conclusion of this Vermont College of Fine Arts residency I will hear my name called and be handed a diploma signifying I am a Master of Fine Arts. So why have I been so crippled with anxiety …
Continue reading MFA Nugget: Identifying A Nagging Sense of Anxiety
MONTPELIER, VT: "In a creative writing project, voice is everything." So said Sue William Silverman at a lecture here at the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Writing summer residency. Sue, an accomplished memoirist and longtime VCFA instructor, was joined in the lecture--titled "Containing Multitudes: Shifting Voices in Fiction and Creative Nonfiction"--by fellow VCFA …
Continue reading MFA Nugget: Finding Your Creative Writing Voice(s)
The Artist's Road 