Friday, March 5, 2010

Waiting



It's been only a few months since I've hit the send button for the MFA for Creative Writing program for Hunter College and posted my application for the Brooklyn College MFA. But since I sent my children to be dissected, judged and quite possibly rejected, I have been biting my nails in anticipation whether I was accepted or not. Now that it's March, the letters or calls for interviews should be coming in.

Meanwhile, I've been doing what 'normal' people do in this situation: writing, reading, working, eating bananas with peanut butter and visiting museums or indulging in things of the mundane nature. There's also this blog I recently started.

Anyway, why go to an MFA program? Here's a list that I recently read from Korean writer Alexander Chee's blog:

When a student tells me he or she is interested in pursuing a MFA, this is what I look for before I agree to recommend them:

■You write on a regular basis, even sneaking off to do so from whatever your job is, perhaps even becoming a bad employee.

■You frequently attend reading series at your local bookstore, college or university, you buy books to the point you have personal relationships with booksellers and you typically wander off to used bookstores at the drop of a hat.

■You talk about writing with friends and are friends with other aspiring or established writers.

■You have sent work out to magazines and journals, and have had work published or at least rejected with a personal note, or have placed as a finalist or winner in a competition.

■You have taken a writing workshop and found the criticisms helped your writing.

■You feel you’ve reached the limit of what the community around you can offer, or worse, that community is unsupportive or even hostile to the idea you want to be a writer.

■You seek a credential that would allow you to teach creative writing at a college or university level.


I don't necessarily fit into all the categories but I do most of them.
Anyway, there's nothing to do now but wait. If I don't get in this year, there's always next year. Maybe I'll expand my horizons and apply to other schools. It all depends.

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