Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Wichita State University's MFA in Creative Writing Is 35 Years Old!

Connie Kachel White writes about the WSU graduate program in creative writing in this issue of the Shocker. She beings: "The manual typewriter wasn’t such a rarity 35 years ago when the Master of Fine Arts in creative writing program was established at WSU. Today, the program — among the oldest in the nation — offers serious, aspiring writers an apprenticeship in writing fiction, poetry and nonfiction, enriched by the study of literature. And there’s nary a typewriter in sight."
She goes on to describe troglodyte Albert Goldbarth's continued aversion to electronic media, as well as his awards, "the only poet to win the National Book Critics Circle Award twice."
She also includes quotations from moi, along with other alumni, and a good description of the program: "Every academic year since the program’s founding, a core of permanent faculty members, plus distinguished visiting writers, have provided students tutorials, master class seminars and workshops. The 48-semester-hour program ends with a comprehensive exam based on an individualized reading list and the submission of a book-length thesis in poetry, short fiction, the novel or some other appropriate form."
Read the entire article at: http://webs.wichita.edu/dt/shockermag/show/features.asp?_s=600