Pulitzer-Prize Nominated

Back in my undergrad days, there was an upperclass man who touted himself as a "theater major who had never read Shakespeare." He was bald by choice, Hispanic and loud. He wanted everyone to know that he was in da house. But hey, something worked. A decade after he's done with his badass self from NYU, he went to Brooklyn College, he has six plays under his belt, grew hair, and was recently nominated for a Pulitzer for his latest play, "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Diety." The playwright's name - Kristoffer Diaz. He splices hiphop and theater.

Somehow, even if it's not me, I feel heartened. Kris is only 32. I'm not that far away from his heels. I'll be there one day on that coveted pedestal, standing, raising my arms and looking up at the sky saying, "I made it."

Brooklyn College

Victory! My sister just called and said I received a letter from Brooklyn College. I went to work so I missed the mail this afternoon.

I got in! It's not the MFA but the MA. It's still good. What a load off!

I will still write fiction but I will be doing a lot of theory work.

Bhaktin, Saussure, Foucalt, Derrida, Lacan...here I come (again).

Meera Nair

I am taking a six-week writing course at the Asian American Writer's Workshop with the writer Meera Nair (no, not the filmmaker and yes, they have the same name). She wrote a short story collection called VIDEO. I haven't read it yet. I recently put it on hold from my library. I heard it's good. She caught the wave after Jhumpa Lahiri so she wasn't as publicized I guess.

"Get your characters in trouble as soon as possible otherwise it's not interesting."
- Meera Nair

"Fiction is a waste of time."

This week-end, I was invited to have dim sum in Chinatown by a fashion designer. She said she would have a gathering of her friends and acquaintances working in different fields. We were supposed to go to Dim Sum Go Go in East Broadway but it was closed for renovations so we ended up going to the Golden Unicorn across the street which offered a sumptuous feast.

One of the guests during dim sum was a writer of some import. His name is Dennis Smith. As the course of the meal went on, I found out that Mr. Smith is a retired firefighter, a writer of fifteen books such as REPORT FROM ENGINE CO. 82, a business owner, one of the founders of the New York Foundation of Arts, one of the (non-official) first responders during the September 11 tragedy and, most importantly, he said that "fiction is a waste of time."

During that time, I was in the throes of politeness embedded in me from habit and culture. I smiled and said, "Yes, Dennis. I understand your opinion."
But I do, I really do. For my personal edification, I asked him how many of his books were fiction and he replied three out of fifteen were books of fiction. The ones that were NY Times best sellers were his non-fiction works, those that involved heroics and fire. After all, his entire career (or in publishing-speak, his 'platform') is based on the fact that he was a firefighter for eighteen years and everything else involving that fact. I think his opinion is a bit biased as is mine of course. Being a fiction proponent myself, I do not agree with his assesment.
Fiction can be based on fact.

Mr. Smith kept insisting that the writing of fiction is based on craft. I agree. Of course I agree. What keeps a story going? Plot, voice, characters? But his 'objective' opinion is still based on his own experiences (as are mine, of course). Doesn't that infer that his craft of fiction is not as good as his craft of non-fiction? His opinion is based on his success or lack thereof in the fiction department. His voice in fiction may be non-existent whereas his non-fiction voice is developed and rich. No question about that since the numbers say is all.

Anyway, lunch was good and though I differ in opinion with Mr. Smith, I am still glad I met him. It's good to meet a successful writer like himself even though he believes fiction is not a necessity but a frivolous activity. He even offered me help if I needed it - with craft questions, of course.

Alternate Route

When all hope was vaporized, I received a letter from Brooklyn College saying that my application was strong enough to be redirected to the MA English program. Since I am already planning to do that through College of Staten Island anyway, this is even better. BC is a stronger program. They even have a language requirement! (CSI does not)

I'll find out in May what the status is. I asked about what my chances are of getting in and I was told that most redirected MFA applicants get into the MA program.

So, we'll see.

Getting My Hands Dirty (Figuratively)

I just did something that was long overdue. To implement my plan of getting published, I've started reading literary magazines. I should have done it in the first place but I thought I could get by without so much as glancing at one. But lit mags, as I've come to realize, are the pulse of the publishing world. Everyone worth their salt checks this pulse - agents do it to find new clients and writers look at them obsessively trying to figure out the formula to get one of their submissions in. This is a gross analogy but I guess it's almost like a sperm cell trying to get to the egg before the other billions of sperm tadpoles do.

Lit mags are expensive. They cost almost as much as a regular book. I went to Barnes & Noble in Union Square a few days ago to pick up a few. If I had all the time in the world, I probably would have just stayed there and read whatever I could. But time is scarce and my brain can only process so much literature in one sitting. So I spent almost sixty dollars on the Paris Review, The Glimmer Train, Tin House, The Hedgehog Review (though it's a cultural criticism journal rather than a lit journal/mag) and the Writer's Digest special on getting agents.

So far, it's worth it.

Reasons Why Getting Rejected from an MFA program (or anything) is Good

1) It gives you a chance to re-evaluate your position and tactic.
(Why in the world did I tell them in my bio about how annoying high-heeled women were in Kiev?)

2) It gives you a challenge.
(As Rocky Balboa so eloquently said, "Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place. And I don't care how tough you are - it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't not about how hard you hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! Now, if you know what you're worth, now go out there and get what you're worth but you got to be willing to take the hits and not pointing fingers saying because you ain't where you want to be because of him, or her or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that!)

3) It builds character - if you let it.
(See above, and really, there's nothing like humble pie to keep the belly from getting too big.)

4) It's a blessing in diguise.
(Maybe it really is good that I got rejected because my alternatives have suddenly increased. I mean, there were lots of things I didn't seriously consider before. After all, I only applied to 2 MFA programs. They probably rolled their eyes at my statement of purpose - I did say that I only applied for their school because it was my cheapest option. They were probably like, yawn, tell us something we don't know and that we'd be interested in. Now, I'm attacking my Russian language class with gusto. I'm applying for an MA in English at another CUNY program and I'm seriously considering applying for a grant to do research abroad. So it isn't as terrible as I initially thought.)

5) Things can only get better from here.
(Because I got a taste of "defeat," I automatically have the choice to use this and re-direct this energy in a positve way or a negative one. Self-preservation dictates that I do something uplifting that will make me feel like I'm worth something. Now I KNOW for a fact that my writing samples were too experimental and not polished enough in their eyes. Now I KNOW for a fact that there are just things you don't say in a bio or statement of purpose. It's like going on a first date and telling a guy telling a girl, I'm only going out with you because you're a cheap date. That's just insulting. So really, things are looking up for me - now more than ever.

Thank God for that.