MFA Writers

Should I go straight into an MFA or take some time between degrees? Emily Holland of American University talks to Jared about how she decided to go back to school, how the structure of a poem influences the reader, and how she’s thinking creatively about the post-MFA job market.

Emily Holland is a lesbian writer with poems appearing in publications including Nat. Brut, Homology Lit, bedfellows, and Wussy. She is the author of the chapbook Lineage (dancing girl press 2019). Her work has received support from the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities and Sundress Academy for the Arts. Currently, she is the editor of Poet Lore and the Editor-in-Chief of FOLIO at American University, where she is a second-year MFA student in poetry. You can learn more at her website emily-holland.com.

MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at MFAwriters.com.

Twitter: @MFAwriterspod

Have you ever wondered how contest winners are selected? Kaj Tanaka of the University of Houston takes us behind the scenes of Gulf Coast’s Barthelme Prize for Short Prose. He and Jared also talk about building tension in a story, careers in prison education, and what he learned from his BFA and MFA that influences his PhD work today.

Kaj Tanaka is a PhD candidate in fiction at the University of Houston. His fiction has appeared in New South, The New Ohio Review, Joyland and Tin House. His stories have been selected for Best Small Fictions, Best Microfiction, and Wigleaf's top 50. Kaj teaches creative writing classes at the Harris County Jail in Houston, TX. He is the online reviews and interviews editor for Gulf Coast. Find him at kajtanaka.com or tweet to him @kajtanaka.

MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at MFAwriters.com.

Twitter: @MFAwriterspod

What’s it like to write a poem from the perspective of someone you despise? Michal “MJ” Jones of Mills College joins Jared to discuss their thesis project about the 2018 Hart family murders, writing from a place of anger, and pursuing an MFA as a working parent.

Michal "MJ" Jones is a poet and parent in Oakland, CA. Their work is featured or forthcoming at Anomaly, Kissing Dynamite, and Borderlands Texas Poetry Review. They are an Assistant Poetry Editor at Foglifter Press, a journal curating queer and trans voices, and have fellowships from the Hurston/Wright Foundation, VONA/Voices, & Kearny Street Workshop. They are currently an MFA graduate fellow at Mills College. They can be found on Twitter @JustSayMJ and at their website michal-jones.com.

MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at MFAwriters.com.

Twitter: @MFAwriterspod

Should I get an MFA? What should I consider when applying? How can I strengthen my application? In this special episode, Jared is joined by Cady Vishniac, Editor-in-Chief of The Workshop and MFA graduate from The Ohio State University. Together, they address MFA applicants’ most common questions and concerns, like crafting a solid statement of purpose and finding a program that accommodates student parents.

Cady Vishniac attended The Ohio State University as the first MFA student to be awarded a Distinguished University Fellowship. Her stories have been published in Joyland, Glimmer Train, and New England Review, winning the contests at Ninth Letter, Greensboro Review, Mid-American Review, New Millennium Writings, Lascaux Review, American Literary Review, New Letters, and Salamander, as well as the anthology prize in New Stories from the Midwest. Her most recent publications are two stories in Tikkun and a Yiddish translation in Los Angeles Review. She has been writing for The Workshop since 2015 and became its Editor-in-Chief in 2020.

MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at MFAwriters.com.

Twitter: @MFAwriterspodInstagram: @MFAwriterspodcastFacebook: MFA WritersEmail: [email protected]

What’s a journalist doing in an MFA program? Dana Liebelson of the University of Wyoming tells Jared how her journalistic habits facilitate and complicate her fiction writing, how her work has become increasingly experimental, and how she wound up with a literary agent.

Dana Liebelson is an MFA candidate in creative writing at the University of Wyoming. Her flash fiction was recently published in Cheap Pop, and she attended the 2020 Tin House summer workshop. She is represented by Sarah Manning of the Bent Agency. Her journalism has appeared in The Atlantic, Insider, ELLE.com, Mother Jones and HuffPost. She is also the recipient of a Writers’ Guild Award. She grew up in Bozeman, Montana. You can find her at her website dliebelson.com and on Twitter @dliebelson.

MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at MFAwriters.com.

Twitter: @MFAwriterspod

Can writing be a form of protest? And if so, is there room for hope? Jared sits down with Marcus Jamison of the University of South Carolina to talk about Confederate monuments and economic justice, as well as finding solace in writing and crafting poetry after our literary heroes.

Marcus Jamison is a poet and scholar from Hamlet, North Carolina. He is in his final year as an MFA candidate in poetry at the University of South Carolina, where he served as a senior editor for Yemassee Journal. His poems have appeared in Barely South Review and Quarterly West, as the 2017 winner of an AWP Intro Journals Award. He has also been a finalist for the Scotti Merrill Award and for 92Y's Discovery Poetry Contest. A fellow of The Watering Hole, he is also an avid fiction and nonfiction writer. He can be found on Twitter @theRarePoet.

MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at MFAwriters.com.

Twitter: @MFAwriterspod

Do we write because we understand or do we write to reach understanding? Jared and Vanessa Chan of The New School unpack this question. Along the way, they discuss writing about home while living in a foreign country, the long arm of colonialism, and the pros and cons of studying in the literary capital of the world.

Vanessa Chan is a Malaysian writer who writes about race, colonization, and women who don't toe the line. Her fiction and nonfiction have been published or are forthcoming in Electric Literature, Conjunctions, The Rumpus, Pidgeonholes, Porter House Review, and more. Vanessa is a Fiction Editor at TriQuarterly Magazine, an Assistant Fiction Editor at Pithead Chapel, and an MFA candidate in fiction at The New School, class of 2021. This follows a 12-year career in public relations, including most recently as director of communications for Facebook in California. Her writing has received support from Tin House, Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference, Aspen Words, and Disquiet International. She can be found at her website vanessajchan.com or on Twitter @vanjchan.

MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers on social media.

Twitter: @MFAwriterspod

Every word matters when writing flash fiction and poetry. Jared sits down with Hannah Cajandig-Taylor of Northern Michigan University to talk about writing and revising short works, crafting plot twists and unexpected imagery, taking a course that includes an overnight island trip, and fighting for an increase in stipends and better access to healthcare.

Hannah Cajandig-Taylor is a poet and flash writer residing in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where she is a 3rd year MFA candidate at Northern Michigan University. She also reads for Passages North and Fractured Lit. She likes to write anything that's less than 1000 words. Her work has recently appeared in mutiny!, Hobart Pulp, and Perhappened Mag, with new words coming soon. Her debut chapbook, Romantic Portrait of a Natural Disaster, is now available for preorder at finishinglinepress.com. She can be found at her website www.hannahcajandigtaylor.com or on Twitter @hannahcajandigt.

MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers on social media.

t: @MFAwriterspod

ig: @MFAwriterspodcast

fb: MFA Writers

e: [email protected]

Singer-songwriter turned novelist Matthew Dougherty of West Virginia University joins Jared to talk about writing songs versus writing prose, fictionalizing family lore, and winning three literary contests.

Matthew Dougherty grew up in Ohio, taught elementary school in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas and is now completing his third and final year in the MFA fiction program at West Virginia University. His short stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Sonora Review, Salamander, and Crab Orchard Review—all as contest winners—and have been praised by writers such as Molly Antopol and Lucy Corin. Matthew is a Teach For America alumnus, and he also enjoys writing and performing original songs under the artist name Matt Skerk. He can be found on Twitter @matt_skerk.

MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers on social media.

t: @MFAwriterspod

ig: @MFAwriterspodcast

fb: MFA Writers

e: [email protected]

What’s it like to be a YA writer in an MFA program? Jared talks to Marcos Damián León of the University of California, Riverside about crafting young adult fiction, taking courses outside the department, navigating higher ed as a first-generation student, and helping young readers consider big themes like gender roles and educational equity.

Marcos Damián León is a teacher and writer from the Salinas Valley. He is a first-year Ph.D. student at Texas Tech University, and a recent graduate of the University of California, Riverside's MFA program. He is currently working on a young adult novel about two boys deciding what kind of men they want to be. His work has appeared in The LA Review of Books, The Acentos Review, under the gum tree, and The Monterey County Weekly. Follow him on Instagram @damleon.

MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers on social media.

t: @MFAwriterspod