MFA beneficial program

By: Korina Kaio-Maddox

Posted: 1/21/10

Every year, Pacific University's MFA program hosts a residency for its students. It has been held at the small town of Seaside, Ore. for the past few years. The residency is a rigorous, 10 day program which involves craft talks, lectures and readings for the MFA students. After each residency, students have six months in which they work with their advisers. They send in their work, which they must then write commentaries about, revise and annotate. The MFA program is made up of four semesters and five residencies.

MFA students attend residencies in place of class time, which results in an intense schedule. Days begin at nine in the morning with craft talks followed by workshops based on which genre students are writing for from 10:15 A.M. until noon. Genres include fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Although the groups for workshops stay the same, different teacher-writers rotate to visit each workshop. The afternoon schedule continues with more craft talks followed by readings in the evening.

Third semester MFA student Marcene Gandolfo said, "We are constantly taking in information and are very engaged with what we are learning. It can seem exhausting sometimes but it is an incredible program and the one-on-one time you get with your advisors is incredibly rewarding."

Gandolfo has been nominated for the prestigious Associated Writing Program award in poetry. Writers from each MFA program nominate a select few writers in each genre to earn the award. Winners are to be announced later this year.

"This whole program is absolutely beneficial, you get one-on-one time with a published writer and it's inspiring and encouraging to share your thoughts with fellow writers," said fourth semester MFA student Devika Brandt.

Although the residency is a rigorous program, students find it to be rewarding and well worth the time. "It's truly a worthwhile experience and I feel that I have grown from it," said Brandt.