Vonda,
Yeah, I'd like an MFA in order to teach. You know, make a fair
living doing something I like a lot--teaching. I like it as much as
writing SF when I get to talk about SF, writing SF, stuff like that.
Brooks Landon, one of this year's Philip K. Dick Award judges,
advises me that it'd be better to get into Clarion. That'll carry a lot
more weight w/the community (SF) that I seem to love than an MFA.
-Sean
>Hi Sean,
>
>I'm not an academic -- I don't even have a degree
>in English or anything close. Don't teach except
>on the rare occasion when I'm bullied into doing a
>workshop. I don't know the answer to your
>question. But I'm sure tons of folks on this list
>would be able to help clue the both of us in.
>
>Is your prospective MFA for writing credentials or
>teaching credentials? (I have been told by a
>friend who's made her living writing for 20 years
>that she wasn't even considered for a teaching
>position she applied for, because she didn't have
>an MFA. This makes me wonder what the people doing
>the hiring are using for brains, but it does
>explain to me why people who want to teach want an
>MFA in creative writing.)
>
>The people I know who have gotten into MFA
>programs with non-sf in order to write sf have
>spent the next several years generally being shat
>upon and insulted, so I think your impression that
>this is a bad strategy is an accurate one.
>
>Best,
>
>Vonda
>
>On Thu, 20 Nov 1997 18:29:27 -0600, Sean Johnston
><sean-johnston@uiowa.edu> wrote:
>
>>Vonda,
>> Any idea why academic insts. like UW-Seattle are so reluctant to
>>deal with writing SF? I'm trying to get into an MFA program, but I'd like
>>to not get there under false pretenses, which is what I might feel like I'm
>>doing if I submit something that's not really what I write just to get my
>>foot in the door.
>>
>
>
>
>
>http://www.sff.net/people/Vonda
>The Moon and the Sun -- One of Publishers Weekly's
>"Best Books of 1997"
>http://www.bookwire.com/pw/bestbooks97.article$3946
"I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees."--Charles H. Houston
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