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The Magic of Making a Decision

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Alma’s MFA in Creative Writing director Sophfronia Scott offers decision-making advice for students approaching the graduate school application season.

There’s a wonderful quote by the Scottish mountaineer William Hutchison Murray about making decisions. Specifically he’s talking about getting to that first step of a climb. The quote goes like this:

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.

All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.

Note he says “committed,” which means you have to make a firm decision before the assistance shows up. Why? [Read more…] about The Magic of Making a Decision

March 2021 :: Point Park University Low-res MFA

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Screenshot of Point Park University Low-Res MFA in Writing for the Stage & Screen February 2021 eLitPak Flier
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Writing for the Screen and Stage: Low-residency MFA At Point Park University

Point Park University’s low-residency MFA in Writing for the Screen & Stage is accepting applications now thru June 15, 2021. Discover your creative voice with a team of professional writers and a program that will prepare you for a multi-faceted writing career. We offer generous artistic scholarships based on your submitted artistic portfolio. Applying is free! Do it today!

View the full March 2021 eLitPak Newsletter.

March 2021 eLitPak :: Coed Summer Graduate Programs

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screenshot of Hollins University Summer Graduate Programs

Pursue graduate study during an intensive six-week summer session. Programs are available in:

  • Children’s Book Writing & Illustrating
  • Children’s Literature (MA or MFA)
  • Playwriting (MFA)
  • Screenwriting & Film Studies (MA)
  • Screenwriting (MFA)

This summer courses will be offered virtually from June 21 – July 30. For more information, visit our website or call (540) 362-6575.

View the full March 2021 eLitPak Newsletter.

February 2021 eLitPak :: Writing for the Screen and Stage

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Screenshot of Point Park University Low-Res MFA in Writing for the Stage & Screen February 2021 eLitPak Flier
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Low-residency MFA At Point Park University

Point Park University’s low-residency MFA in Writing for the Screen & Stage is accepting applications now thru June 15, 2021. Discover your creative voice with a team of professional writers and a program that will prepare you for a multi-faceted writing career. We offer generous artistic scholarships based on your submitted artistic portfolio. Applying is free! Do it today!

View the entire February eLitPak here. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to get first access to future eLitPaks.

February 2021 eLitPak :: Fresno State MFA

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Screenshot of Fresno State MFA in Creative Writing February 2021 eLitPak flier
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We Grow Writers

In the heart of California, Fresno State’s Master of Fine Arts program is home to The Normal School magazine and the Philip Levine Prize for Poetry. Our creative writing program offers advanced study in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Nineteen of our alumni published their debut books in the past five years. Are you next? Fall 2021 application deadline: March 1.

View the entire February eLitPak here. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to get first access to future eLitPaks.

University of South Alabama Launches Race and Identity Lecture Series

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Screenshot of University of South Alabama Race & Identity Lecture SeriesOn January 27th the English department at the University of South Alabama launched their virtual Race and Identity Lecture Series with USA Writer in Residence Frye Gaillard and Journalist in Residence Cynthia Tucker with “Reflections on Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste: A New Perspective of Race in America.” They have three more events scheduled in the series all to be held via Zoom.

This month is Dr. Channette Romero, an associate professor of English at the University of Georgia, who will take part in a conversation on Political Humor in Indigenous Animation on February 24 at 4:30 PM. Next month features Reverend Joseph Brown on Race and Identity in Literature in Culture. In April, Dr. Mudiwa Pettus will present Against Compromise: What Black Rhetorical Education in the Age of Booker T. Washington Teaches Us About Our Current Moment.

The English department offers an MA in English with an emphasis in creative writing and is home to the Stokes Center for Creative Writing.

Write in Brooklyn with the MFA at St. Francis College

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The low-residency MFA in creative writing at St. Francis College offers a lecture series called Write in Brooklyn which features prominent writers from a range of genres. In 2019, they launched their own YouTube channel allowing you to view these discussions online. Participants in this series have included Mahogany Brown, Dominique Morisseau, Jason Reynolds, and Amber Tamblyn.

The low-residency program meets in-person twice a year in January and June. The January residency this year was moved completely online. They offer separate genre tracks in fiction, poetry, and dramatic screenwriting/playwriting. They have a 6-to-1 student to faculty ratio that offers “an intimate, focused environment for aspiring writers to flourish.”

Stop by their listing on NewPages to learn more.

Becka McKay on The Poetry of Language / The Language of Poetry

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Becka McKay, director of the MFA in Creative Writing at Florida Atlantic University as well as poet and translator, was featured in the podcast series In Conversation: An Arts and Letters Podcast. This podcast features Michael Horswell, dean of FAU’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, talking with various faculty members “about research and creative activity that spans the arts, humanities, and social sciences.” New episodes are released on the second Tuesday of the month.

Screenshot of Becka McKay's Interview in the In Conversations podcast

The podcast episode was recorded from a video call back in December 2020. The first question asked was about Becka’s journey of poetry and translation. Her answer: “I have been writing poetry since I could write.” She talked about running away from poetry for awhile and how she majored in history in college and even had thoughts of going to veterinary school. With all of this she had the idea, though, that she wanted to be an historian who writes poetry.

Check out the full podcast here and don’t forget to learn more about the MFA program here.

George Mason University’s Creative Writing Program Launches New Center

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Screenshot of Watershed Lit's temporary websiteGeorge Mason University’s creative writing program has recently announced the creation of Watershed Lit: Center for Literary Engagement and Publishing Practice. This new center “represents a commitment to the dynamic ways literature connects people” as well as to students’ professional development. The name emerged from the importance of place and a connection to geography.

Gregg Wilhelm, director of Mason Creative Writing, says “if students graduate from the program without being more thoroughly prepared for the job market, we think that’s a disservice. The many ways students can get involved with Watershed Lit make for unique experiential learning, resume building opportunities.” With the new center, students will be able to explore traditional publishing, digital publishing, literary arts festival management, the evolving roles of literary journals, and so much more.

Watershed Lit’s leadership team consists of representatives of the English Department and the partner enterprises: Fall for the Book, Stillhouse Press, Cheuse Center for International Writers, Poetry Daily, Northern Virginia Writing Project, phoebe, and So to Speak.

A temporary website has launched at watershedlit.gmu.edu. Read the full press release.

Sponsor Spotlight :: Eastern Michigan University Interdisciplinary MA in Creative Writing

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The MA in Creative Writing at Eastern Michigan University is distinguished as one of the only interdisciplinary programs for creative writing in the country. They accept applications year-round with January 10 being the priority deadline for the fall term.

“Locating the writer’s work along the frontiers of social imaginaries and civic possibilities, our program nourishes opportunities to develop a conceptually rigorous and imaginatively engaged writing.” The program also emphasizes the importance of aesthetic risk and social application while also offering writers opportunities to explore multiple arts and mixed genres.

Core faculty for the program are Rob Halpern, Carla Harryman, Christine Hume, and Matt Kirkpatrick. Recent visiting writers include Latasha N. Nevada Diggs, Nathaniel Mackey, Ted Pearson, Joanna Rocco, Daniel Borzutzky, Wayne Kostenbaum, Kevin Killian, Sarah Schulman.

They also have a literary magazine, BathHouse Journal, and a reading series, BathHouse Reading Series.

Stop by their listing at NewPages to learn more about the program.

Spalding University’s School of Writing Launches Good River Review

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Good River Review website screenshotSpalding University’s School of Creative and Professional Writing, home of the flagship low-residency Spalding MFA in Writing program, is launching a new online literary magazine, Good River Review. The first issue will appear in Winter 2021.

Good River Review resides at Spalding in Louisville, Kentucky, which sits on the Ohio River, providing inspiration for the name: Ohio is a Seneca word for good river. Issues will appear twice a year. Between issues, the website will regularly publish interviews; book reviews; reviews of new plays, television, and films; craft essays; and literary news.

“We intend to publish the best writing in all the genres we teach in our graduate writing programs,” Kathleen Driskell (chair of the School of Writing who will serve as editor-in-chief) said. “We love writing that blurs boundaries, so contributors will find their work published as prose, lyrics, or drama.” The journal will also publish writing for children and young adults, as well as original web, TV, and short film productions.

The journal’s submission period will be ongoing. Good River Review allows for simultaneous submissions and does not charge reading or submission fees. For more information, email goodriverreview@spalding.edu.