I’m in the middle of grading poetry exam, and thinking about how difficult it is to teach writers about rhythm, especially meter. This group of students is doing pretty good discussing it, but this always reminds me of the challenges they have in actually scanning a poem or hearing stressed and unstressed syllables in aContinue reading “A Thought on Meter”
Author Archives: Kendall Dunkelberg
In Memoriam: Dorcas Dorow
This week a major force has passed. Dorcas Dorow wasn’t famous, though she was well known in my home town of Osage, Iowa, and half-way around the world in Lermontov, Russia, our sister city, a relationship she was the driving force behind. And her influence spread through her work at Waldorf and with the many choirsContinue reading “In Memoriam: Dorcas Dorow”
Low-Residency MFA Steps Closer To Reality
I’ve written a few posts about my ideas on a low-residency MFA in creative writing. Last week, those ideas became a lot closer to reality. You might say they’ve been realized at Mississippi University for Women, when our governing board voted to approve our proposal. But I’ll really believe it’s real when we have students.Continue reading “Low-Residency MFA Steps Closer To Reality”
Book Review: Sympathetic Magic by Amy Fleury
Sympathetic Magic by Amy Fleury My rating: 5 of 5 stars As the title poem announces, “Sometimes what is needed comes to hand.” These poems are both needed and close at hand. Amy Fleury’s voice is never overly intellectual, never too familiar. These poems are calm and contemplative, yet they bring necessary images to life,Continue reading “Book Review: Sympathetic Magic by Amy Fleury”
Eudora Welty Writers’ Symposium Wrap-Up
It is hard to believe that two weeks ago today we at Mississippi University for Women were in the throes of another fabulous Eudora Welty Writers’ Symposium. Hard to believe that two weeks have passed and hard to believe what a great weekend it was. Every year we say it was the best and couldn’tContinue reading “Eudora Welty Writers’ Symposium Wrap-Up”
Book Review: The Last Days of California
The Last Days of California by Mary Miller My rating: 5 of 5 stars I loved the narrative voice given to Jess, and the immediacy of her story, where every moment is painted with vivid detail. Miller’s dry, sometimes sardonic sense of humor gives the story just enough of an edge, and the four familyContinue reading “Book Review: The Last Days of California”
Book Review: Fear and What Follows
Fear and What Follows: The Violent Education of a Christian Racist, A Memoir by Tim Parrish My rating: 5 of 5 stars Fear and What Follows, takes a chilling and at times difficult, even challenging look at America of the 1970’s, specifically the city of Baton Rouge and the school and neighborhood where Parrish grewContinue reading “Book Review: Fear and What Follows”
Lessons from Hitting the Road
It’s hard to believe it’s been over a month since my last post! This is what happens once the semester gets going in earnest, and this semester I’ve been even busier. Besides working on various proposal documents for our MFA in Creative Writing (see recent posts), I’ve been hitting the road to promote the EudoraContinue reading “Lessons from Hitting the Road”
New Graduate Program Proposal: Nuts and Bolts
I’ve been writing the past few days about our new MFA proposal for a Low-Residency program in creative writing. You might think that sounds nice, and it is exciting to consider and put together a brand new academic program from the ground up. You get to rethink how you want to structure a program, whatContinue reading “New Graduate Program Proposal: Nuts and Bolts”
Creative Writing as Economic Development
Why get a degree in creative writing? Or for that matter, why take a class? Recently when writing grant proposals and proposing our new Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing, I’ve argued for creative writing as a form of economic development. In those contexts, I trot out statistics that show the creative economy is oneContinue reading “Creative Writing as Economic Development”
Kendall Dunkelberg 