2014, Archives, October 2014, The MFA Years

From Week 6 to Week 10: Bending Genre

The above picture is one I snapped a few weeks ago while biking around downtown Flagstaff. Yes, biking, something I've only recently been able to do on the daily for the first time in just about 10 years. Before I moved out west, I was super dependent on my car. I needed it for everything.… Continue reading From Week 6 to Week 10: Bending Genre

2014, Archives, October 2014, The MFA Years

How To Write A Lyric Poem (and how to challenge yourself with your writing)

Classes at Columbia College Chicago are chugging along, so much so that I can see the end of the semester creeping up, and it’s terrifying. (The rapid forward motion of time seems incongruent with the stasis inside my head. Or is it stasis? Is it just being stuck in the past?) I’m taking three courses… Continue reading How To Write A Lyric Poem (and how to challenge yourself with your writing)

2014, Archives, October 2014, The MFA Years

(Re)defining Genre

At the beginning of the month I scheduled individual student conferences. Students had a chance to discuss their poetry portfolios before submitting them; this was all done before we began the fiction unit of the course. At the University of Minnesota creative writing courses delve into the three popular genres—fiction, nonfiction, and poetry—and that gives… Continue reading (Re)defining Genre