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The Victorian MFA Debate
The next time you get into a debate over the value of a creative writing MFA, try this handy visualization exercise: imagine that everyone involved is wearing a monocle.As I realized while researching...
View ArticleMaking Sense of the MFA Debate
We’re all familiar with the great MFA debate: Can an MFA program teach you how to write? Is it just a Ponzi scheme? Why should you enroll in one, or not?Jia Tolentino, a University of Michigan MFA...
View ArticleMaster of Feeling Ambivalent
There are a lot of people who have very strong feelings about MFA programs, but Blake Butler’s Vice piece ”What I Remember from Getting an MFA in Creative Writing,” just sort of lays out the details...
View ArticleThe Eternal Question: To MFA or Not?
Writers who are currently trying to decide whether an MFA is right for them will find that the questions being raised today are not unlike those addressed by Flannery O’Connor:What first stuns the...
View ArticleThe People You Want to Share Your Brain With
“Why are you so interested in MFAs and whether they’re a good idea or not?” asked Rumpus friend Sheila Heti, in a recent interview with the New Yorker. Heti, who did not attend grad school, believes...
View ArticleYou Write or You Don’t
As if we weren’t already torn over MFA programs, Joseph Scapellato recounts their pros, cons, joys, uncertainties, and (of course) costs:MFA is dreamy, and the more MFA talks the dreamier MFA becomes,...
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