If you were to start over, without the MFA, what would teaching and learning about creative writing after the undergraduate degree (or in its absence) look like?
How would you do it? How would you like to see it done?
I wonder sometimes about a more community-based model. Just local workshops and events put on by centers and schools and writing organizations. This would I guess mean that there would be no such thing as a formal degree qualifying you to teach writing--but I think I basically agree with that. I just think this would force people to really examine their programming (to keep it alive) and also their writing practice (to keep it constant, rather than a homework-based model, which school has trouble escaping). It might be interesting to see prestigious institutes and residencies rise up in place of prestigious programs--I wonder if it would ultimately give more people more of a chance, or if it would even be able to take off without the support that a full-time, tuition-funded program guarantees.
I dunno. I like the MFA all right, too. But I feel like it's getting further and further from the sort of colloquium or conservatory model I think it was originally meant to imitate.
I wonder sometimes about a more community-based model. Just local workshops and events put on by centers and schools and writing organizations. This would I guess mean that there would be no such thing as a formal degree qualifying you to teach writing--but I think I basically agree with that. I just think this would force people to really examine their programming (to keep it alive) and also their writing practice (to keep it constant, rather than a homework-based model, which school has trouble escaping). It might be interesting to see prestigious institutes and residencies rise up in place of prestigious programs--I wonder if it would ultimately give more people more of a chance, or if it would even be able to take off without the support that a full-time, tuition-funded program guarantees.
ReplyDeleteI dunno. I like the MFA all right, too. But I feel like it's getting further and further from the sort of colloquium or conservatory model I think it was originally meant to imitate.