Monday, February 9, 2015

In Which I Had My MFA Residency

January is full of fun things, the most fun of which is my MFA residency. That's when all the students gather on campus for ten filled days of workshopping, lectures, intensives, presentations, readings from faculty and students, banquets and a graduation.

It is so much fun. I love so many of the people in the program, and my class (we call ourselves The Front Row, because that's where we sit) are just the most awesome people. We're really close as a class which makes it even more fun because we all get along so great.

AND, of course, they are awesome, awesome writers. I don't think I convey how great they are, but I seriously have no doubts that they will all be publishing sooner rather than later. And, like, winning awards and stuff.

The Front Row Peeps (missing one who was traveling)


Residency is when we part ways with our semester advisor, too, and get a new advisor. It's always a bit bittersweet, because you don't really want to leave your current advisor (for me it was Laura Ruby I'd be saying goodbye to. She was so awesome and I loved working with her (also, she has a new book coming out next month--BONE GAP. Buy it, guys. It's going to so amazing. SO AMAZING) but you're also excited to see who you get for your new advisor (you get to submit a list of faculty you're interested in working with and then the powers that be pair you up with one of them).

This semester I'll be working with the wonderful Phyllis Root! I had her as one of my workshop faculty this residency and she was great and I'm so excited to work with her. She's already making me write a Picture Book, which I'm excited for (and maybe already wrote the draft for).

I'm officially half way done with my MFA, which is exciting, yes, but also pretty sad. It's so much fun and I love it so much that I don't want it to ever end.

6 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

That's probably to your writing advantage that you get moved around to a different advisor. You get a different angle every time.

Rena said...

I love that they're all "now write a picture book ". Stuff like that really makes you grow. So exciting. Also, I think the front row is an awesome nick name.

Leandra Wallace said...

Being able to gather together like that and learn sounds like an awesome time. I've no doubt there all as amazing as you say!

dolorah said...

You sound excited. I don't miss being in school, but this looks fun. Love the nickname "Front Row."

Maria Zannini said...

I forget. How long is your residency? I'm sure you'll have some of those friends for life.

LD Masterson said...

That sounds like a fabulous program.

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