MIU's Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing

FALL 2021 MFA RESIDENCY

• Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni • Eugenia Kim • Mark Spragg • Virginia Korus Spragg • Debra Marquart • Vince Gotera • Rustin Larson • Nicole Walker • Joshua Jennifer Espinoza • Daniel M. Lavery • Zoë Estelle Hitzel • Diane Frank • Prartho Sereno • Erin Elizabeth Smith • Sara Henning • Steven Schneider • Diane Thiel • Daniel Tobin • Christine Schrum • Rustin Larson • Linda Egenes • Dylene Cymraes •
Sundress Publications • Blue Light Press •

Our Fall residency had a dual focus: creativity s and narrative. It started with the heart of writing—the creative process itself. Poet Alan Shapiro said that writing allows us to focus on the “right here, right now, the deep joy of bringing the entire soul to bear upon a single act of concentration. In that extended moment, opposites cohere: the mind feels and the heart thinks, and receptivity is a form of fierce activity. Quotidian distinctions between mind and body, self and other, space and time, dissolve.”

Our headliner in this residency was novelist Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, who offered a reading and master class; she also participated in a panel called "Saying the Unsayable" about the mystical aspects of the writing process together with novelists Eugenia Kim and Mark Spragg.

We had four narrative workshops. One was offered by Virginia Korus Spragg, who talked about theme and plot. Eugenia Kim taught character; Susan Daniels offered a 3-session short story workshop; and Stuart Tanner taught narrative from the angle of plot, also diving into speculative fiction. Our English dept. co-chair, Terry Fairchild, offered another narrative master class on plot structure.

Iowa Poet Laureate Debra Marquart joined us for several sessions. A poet, memoirist, eco-writer, and former rocker, she read her poetry together with poets Vince Gotera and Rustin Larson. She also read creative nonfiction with eco-writer and memoirist Nicole Walker, plus offered two master classes, one on eco poetry and one on exile and belonging.

One of the highlights of our residency was a reading followed by a Diversity and Creativity panel with LGBTQ authors Joshua Jennifer Espinoza, Zoë Estelle Hitzel, and Daniel M. Lavery. Diane Frank joined us for a Creativity panel together with her colleague and co-founder of Blue Light Press, Prartho Sereno, former Marin County Poet Laureate, and poet Loretta Diane Walker. Prartho and Diane presented their most recent anthology, Pandemic Puzzle Pieces, from Blue LIght Press, dedicated to the pandemic experience.

Poet Erin Elizabeth Smith read with poet Sara Henning, plus presented her publishing house, Sundress Publications, which brings into print underrepresented voices. Poet and MFA Co-Directort Ben McClendon led series of workshops called "Social Issues and Ethical Dilemmas in the Literary Arts," some for the incoming students and some for all students. Poet Steven Schneider taught narrative poetry and offered a narrative poetry reading with his two guests, poets Diane Thiel and Daniel Tobin. Christine Schrum, Rustin Larson, and Linda Egenes offered a fiction and creative nonfiction reading, while Dylene Cymraes and Marty Caplan offered a storytelling workshop. There were several generative workshops, including one on Tarot offered by Zoë Estelle Hitzel, and there was a session on women's voices with Nynke Passi. Nynke Passi also offered a session on the healing power of writing.

A recap of our wonderful Fall ‘21 Residency in pictures below. You can learn more about our low-residency MFA program, which I am co-directing with Ben McClendon, here.