What to do

I am taking on CA Conrad's idea of PACE, because, quite frankly, I'm not sure how effective I am without speaking. Sometimes I shout. Poetry saved my life. Can it save others' lives? Can I read poems about institutionalized racism, sexism, the end of the world (see Allison Cobb), and the need to stop HEGEMONIC IGNORANCE and make a difference in Downtown Topeka? Maybe it is in these conversations we can find one way to address it?

Topeka Radical-Compassion-Immersion Poetry Project #7

aka protests against comPLACEncy

coming

Poetic Memoir

I am excited that my class "took." Even as two people dropped out, two people came on.

Is an email of thanks to those students too much?

This is my dream class. As in, my dreams are coming true!

MFA Programs and Admission

This came out of a question posed to creative writing faculty at Washburn:

Applicants should choose locally and globally.

KU might be a good choice to apply to, as well as schools taught by other well-known writers.

This link: http://www.pw.org/content/mfa_programs?cmnt_all=1

This link has many legitimate programs listed: http://www.pw.org/mfa

Also, GTAs, grants, etc. are rewarded with the acceptance, listed with the application process. The deadlines are important to keep in mind.

Start by taking the GRE ASAP, then begin researching--keeping track of deadlines, what each school wants, etc.

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From Liz:

1. Funding: Today Huffington Post released its second annual (presumably?) list of underrated creative writing programs, noting that the programs they list "fully fund a sizable percentage of incoming students." Some programs still don't offer CNF, and others have students work in all three genres, so more digging would be necessary, but it's not a bad place to start: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-abramson/underrated-mfa-programs_b_850147.html

2. Location: I started my search for MFA programs based on where I wanted to live. I don't know that I would necessarily recommend that as a strategy for everyone, but it worked out pretty well for me, so I can't entirely knock it, either. ;) If your student wants to stay close to home (and if Kansas is indeed home), KU is a great choice--a solid CNF program, and it's been mentioned on the above list both years, too.

3. Teachers/mentors: There are a couple of ways to approach this. If she already has writers she admires who do the sort of writing she's hoping to do, she can look them up to see whether they teach in an MFA program somewhere. If not, getting a hold of copies of the Best American Essays, the Best American Travel Writing, and/or the Best American Science and Nature Writing from the past several years and seeing which writers tickle her fancy might not be a bad idea.

Mabee has Best American Essays from 1986-2008; it also has electronic copies of Best Women's Travel Writing 2014 and Best American Magazine Writing 2014, which I'm not directly familiar with but sound worth looking at!

4. Specific programs: There are some niche programs that focus on the sort of writing I associate with National Geographic: for example, Chatham University has an MFA program that has a focus on writing about place (travel/nature/environment/etc.): http://www.chatham.edu/mfa/. A search for "literary journalism" also turned up Ball State's graduate certificate in literary journalism, which I don't have any solid knowledge about, but it seems like it could be an interesting way to test the waters (the courses may be applied to a master's in journalism), or just learn some useful skills without having to commit to an entire degree: http://cms.bsu.edu/academics/collegesanddepartments/journalism/graduateprograms/literary-journalism-certificate

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From Izzy:

Students should apply to lots of programs, because 1. getting admitted and funded is tough, and it's good to have options, and 2. sometimes it's only the process of getting accepted that makes it clear which school is the best fit. I'd love to know what others have advised students to do, but when finances allow it I usually suggest applying to 6-8 programs.

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Nightboat Books is Amazing!

I so want to be a part of this! Maybe in November?
http://www.nightboat.org/prize

Project for UHOT

Sustain Ability
Elegy for Randy the Rooster

Ayn Rand Paul

“As I travel across the country and speak to my constituents,” “Money is the tool” “I have found that their top concern is” “of men who have reached a high level” “our national debt”  “of productivity” “We are currently spending” “and a long-range control over their lives.” “this reckless habit” “buys time for future production.” “To fulfill this requirement,” “money has to be some material commodity” “has gone on for way too long” “which is imperishable, rare, homogeneous,” “easily stored, not subject to wide fluctuations of value,” “This is unsustainable” “and always in demand among those you trade with.” “As President of the United States,” “the transaction is as safe as simple barter.” “I will work to balance our budget” “When you store your savings in the form of gold coins,” “As President, I will work to authorize common sense solutions that will solve our nation's fiscal crisis.”  “they represent the goods”

Omaha Things

I want to begin keeping track of things to do in different cities if you are a like-minded poetry enthusiast. So here are things I have found:


Best bookstore in town? Jackson Street Booksellers in the Old Market, based on a poet's suggestion.


Strange Machine is a poetry reading series curated by Natasha Kessler-Rains.


A unique film theatre: http://www.filmstreams.org/filmstreams_about.asp


http://www.drinkbrickway.com/ Brickway Brewing
1116 Jackson Street


Please let me know of any other things!