Re: [New-Poetry] An Era of Détente for Creative-Writing Programs

[almaginnes at aol.com]

I teach in a community college so the MFA gig looks impossibly sweet and unattainable to me (one day I will post my long and bitter ran about this). In hte reading series I run, I make it a point to only get folks who want to be there. Anyone who acts like a CC is beneath htem goes off hte list immeditely. I might add that over the years, we've had some pretty impressive folks--three Kinglsy Tufts winners, one Pulitzer winner, many others with major prizes and publications.  One of the beauties of my campus is that with hte exception of me and one or two others, thsoe prizes and honros mean nothing, so readers are judged on their ability ot connect with the students.  As ot should be.


-----Original Message-----
From: David Graham <grahamd at ripon.edu>
Sent: Thu, Jul 2, 2009 12:09 pm
Subject: [New-Poetry] An Era of Détente for Creative-Writing Programs


Yes.  While I don't teach in an MFA program, I imagine it's irksome to be lectured on how cushy and safe one's life is by someone who skims off the cream of the university creative writing system while shouldering no institutional commitments or responsibilities--never teaching big sophomore lit classes or freshman comp; never chairing a department or faculty committee; never advising or counseling students; never writing letters of recommendation; never serving on institutional task forces or search committees; and, of course, never organizing the visiting writers' series which provides the blowhard in question the platform for such lofty dismi
ssals. 






========================================

David Graham

grahamd at ripon.edu




Home Page:

http://web.mac.com/drjazz




Poetry Library:

http://web.mac.com/drjazz/iWeb/Site/DGPoLibrary.html

==========================================









On Jul 2, 2009, at 10:51 AM, AlMaginnes at aol.com wrote:



True. August Kleinzhaler might find "real life" a lot more real if he practiced what he preached and didn't take any university or grant money.


Make your summer sizzle with fast and easy recipes for the grill.

_______________________________________________

New-Poetry mailing list

New-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu

http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/new-poetry



= 


_______________________________________________
ew-Poetry mailing list
ew-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu
ttp://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/new-poetry

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/pipermail/new-poetry/attachments/20090702/64e7f68a/attachment.html