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Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

#YeahYouWrite

Spoiler alert: We have no dearth of reading series here in New York City. But there’s a fairly new one that I had the good fortune to discover last week.

And I’ll be returning.#YeahYouWrite

I found out about #YeahYouWrite when the amazing Sara Lippmann, whom I’m lucky enough to call a good friend, let me and a few other people know that she’d been invited to participate. I would have gone to support Sara in any case (even if she hadn’t generously offered to feed her fans). But the fact that Jacob Appel was on the roster to read the same evening was a definite plus: I’ve admired Jacob’s work for years but had never had the chance to meet him. (Unfortunately, the third featured reader, E.J. Levy, turned out to be unable to be there.)

Sara read, and Jacob read (and, to my delighted surprise, gave me one of his books in addition to the one that I bought on site), and the excellent event curator led a terrific Q&A session. Throughout, there were delicious drinks (including the specialty cocktails described to the right) and yummy food.

And then, the evening segued into an open mic session during which audience members read from their work. (We were told that the first reader was an MFA student who was appearing in order to earn class credit! An interesting idea for all of you instructors out there, yes? If you have reading series nearby?) I read two (as yet unpublished) poems.

And I was photographed! (more…)

Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

Oklahoma!

What an amazing weekend I had.

RedEarthMFALast spring at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) conference in Minneapolis, I found myself at dinner with a group that included Jeanetta Mish, the director of the Red Earth MFA program in creative writing, which is a low-residency program based at Oklahoma City University. And then I found myself invited to visit the program and teach in the winter 2016 residency.

Which has just ended.

The class I led on Saturday afternoon is a staple that I’ve offered for MFA programs and writing conferences and centers many times in the past. “Writing What We Know: For Love and for Money” is essentially a mini-course on freelance writing within the specialty of “writing about writing,” whether that may mean assignments with writing-related publications and websites, or author interviews, book reviews, and other writing-focused content for a variety of venues.

I think that the class went well, but you’ll probably have to ask the students about that for confirmation. What I’m certain of is that the director has developed a simply wonderful program and community. If you’re considering low-residency MFA programs, do consider this one! (more…)