MFA students further their love of writing
By Jane Henderson
POST-DISPATCH BOOK EDITOR
Sunday, Feb. 10 2008
Reading may be on the decline, but writing is another story.
From the number of books published annually to the Web's blogosphere to
magazine submissions, most indicators show that creative writing is growing.
Even the National Endowment for the Arts, which spreads bad news about reading
like a Colorado brush fire, acknowledges that writing is up. But the interest
isn't usually fueled by fantasies of wealth.
As Mary Troy says, "The rewards are so few and the competition so fierce."
Director of the master of fine arts program in creative writing at the
University of Missouri-St. Louis, Troy is a well-published short-story writer.
But she doesn't feed students any fiction about a writer's real life.
"Publication is difficult," she says. "I edited the edition of Natural Bridge
that will come out in June. We had nearly 1,000 submissions, and we took 30."
Natural Bridge is the literary journal published by the university. It's also a
class for the MFA program.
Troy, her UMSL colleagues and students will celebrate the 10th year of the MFA
program Feb. 16 with faculty readings and a party that's open to the public.
With fiction writers and poets so hard-pressed to get published — let alone
make a living from their imaginations — what's to celebrate?
For one thing, writers love the act of writing, along with nurturing new talent
and publicizing success. For another, the program was hard-won: A writer who
long fought to create it, novelist David Carkeet, was so worn out by the time
it was approved that he asked Troy to run it.
Finally, Troy believes that UMSL's relatively young program is making a
difference in the "whole atmosphere of literary art in town."
She ticks off some of the evidence: Five or six writers are brought to town to
read; other readings are given by the university's students and faculty; MFA
students may visit high schools and continuing education programs; graduates
continue to work for other literary journals, such as River Styx, or serve on
arts panels.
And then there is the testimony of how studying creative writing changed at
least one life.
The program was "literally life-altering for me," says Denise Bogard, 53, of
Creve Coeur.
Bogard joined the program's first class 10 years ago, when she worked in public
relations.
Since then, she's quit PR and is teaching writing at Lift for Life Academy, a
charter school in Soulard. She runs the writing lab for the middle school
students and looks for what's "right" in a piece of work, not the bad spelling.
She also started St. Louis Writers Workshops, offering workshops to other
writers (www.stlww.com).
"I've discovered there are so many talented writers in St. Louis," Bogard says.
Another woman who went back for the MFA as a working adult, Patti
Smith-Jackson, said she had no intention of leaving St. Louis and "didn't have
the pocketbook" for Washington University's program.
"I had always wanted to write fiction, but I didn't understand the craft," she
says. "I am not expecting to make a living writing fiction, but it feeds my
soul."
She liked UMSL's diversity and the range of students from 20-year-olds to
retirees.
Now working on a collection of short stories, Smith-Jackson, 48, says she's
improved as both a writer and reader. She's not sure when her collection will
be done, but she hopes to have it finished by her 50th birthday.
Robert Lowes, 54, earned his degree last year. The University City resident has
published poetry in at least a dozen journals and magazines, including the New
Republic.
"One of the most important lessons I learned during my time in the program is
that to write good poetry, you need to read good poetry," Lowes said.
UMSL's students are older than those in the better-known Washington University
program, Troy says. They have more "living experience." But they don't get
treated as well in terms of wooing: "We call applicants and say,
'Congratulations. You can come if you can afford it.'"
Although it's not among the top MFA writing programs — there are about 125 in
the United States and Canada — UMSL's gets more applicants each year and is
compiling a long list of graduates' publications.
The program receives roughly 60 applicants for 12 positions, six in fiction and
six in poetry. It requires 39 hours of class time, so a degree for Missouri
residents costs about $11,000. Classes are at night: Many students have
families and jobs in St. Louis. (Washington University's MFA program receives
about 200 applications and takes five to eight candidates each in fiction and
poetry, director Mary Jo Bang says.)
Even if MFAs aren't always a promising vocational pursuit, Troy has confidence
in her students.
"We know that every one of our students can be one of the next great writers,"
she says. "They have the talent. Of course, they also must work hard — and need
some luck."
UMSL's website for the MFA program is http://www.umsl.edu/~mfa.
jhenderson@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8107
Published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
on February 10, 2008. Copyright (C) 2008, St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
