Hi Sean,
Getting the MFA for a teaching gig makes perfect
sense. I think it's kinda silly that established
writers can't get hired to teach, but if the
system wants that MFA, then the system wants that
MFA.
For writing, I'd agree with Brooks Landon. Most of
the folks I know who did MFA programs ended up
abused and burnt out.
Here's the Clarion West (in Seattle) URL:
http://www.sff.net/clarionwest/
They have scholarships, by the way.
People come out of the various flavors of Clarion
burnt out, too, but at least it's only six weeks
long, and anyone who can manage to take critiquing
without taking it personally (which can be hard)
can get a great deal out of it.
I'll spare the list my rant on how some people go
to the workshop with an attitude of dogged
professionalism (which I think is a giant huge
mistake), and just say I think one should attend
with one's heart open and aiming for
experimentation and growth.
Vonda
On Fri, 21 Nov 1997 18:30:00 -0600, Sean Johnston
<sean-johnston@uiowa.edu> wrote:
>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
>
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
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu May 25 2000 - 19:07:33 PDT