Remember all those pictures of kids on their first day of school? The pictures may be a little different this year. Yesterday was the first class day at Mississippi University for Women, where I have taught for 26 years, and though campus was abuzz with activity (at least compared to being a ghost-town during quarantineContinue reading “First Day of School”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
The Poet as Plumber
I don’t mean to brag with a title like this, but I did fix our kitchen sink this week. The title sounded too good not to use, and what I really want to do, which is one part of this blog, is just to say that poets are people, too. Last month as we wereContinue reading “The Poet as Plumber”
On Listening to Virgil Suarez and Watching AWP Squirm
Last night I went to hear Virgil Suarez read on a panel with two other poets at #AWP18. The other two poets were good and all, but not ones I knew well. They first poet was Ishion Hutchinson a Jamaican poet who combined surreal meditations with literary allusions to Wordsworth and Keats. Then came MaggieContinue reading “On Listening to Virgil Suarez and Watching AWP Squirm”
Why Rank MFA Programs? Or Why Not…
News appeared recently on the Creative Writing Pedagogy Facebook Group about a new ranking of MFA programs based on publishing history in annual prize anthologies. Naturally, a discussion ensued about the value of rankings (which is dubious, and to credit this one, they even begin their post with a disclaimer about why you shouldn’t careContinue reading “Why Rank MFA Programs? Or Why Not…”
Building Community for A Writer’s Craft
Not long ago, I wrote about setting up the companion website for A Writer’s Craft. That is now up and running, but one thing I had always wanted to add was a discussion area, where teachers could talk about using the book and teaching introductory creative writing in 4 genres, and where students and teachersContinue reading “Building Community for A Writer’s Craft”
Companion Website for AWC
The companion website for my textbook A Writer’s Craft is now available at https://www.macmillanihe.com/companion/Dunkelberg-A-Writers-Craft/ Materials for teachers and students are publicly available, including: Teaching with A Writer’s Craft Why Teach 4 Genres Cross-Genre Teaching The Small Group Workshop Full-Class Workshop Midterm and Final Portfolios Teaching Creative Writing with Literary Magazines Plagiarism For Students Journal Exercises Online Resources ForContinue reading “Companion Website for AWC”
Book Review: Always Happy Hour by Mary Miller
Always Happy Hour: Stories by Mary Miller My rating: 5 of 5 stars Mary Miller’s wit sparkles in these stories like a stiff drink with a healthy dash of bitters. They are dry, acerbic, and full of bitter irony. Consider the title, taken from a line on one of the later stories in the collection:Continue reading “Book Review: Always Happy Hour by Mary Miller”
Barrier Island Suite
Be sure to check out my new book page, featuring my third collection of poems, Barrier Island Suite, and the gracious comments from T. R. Hummer, Adam Vines, and Beth Ann Fennelly that will appear on the back cover. It is scheduled for publication in spring 2016. I’ve enjoyed working with the Anderson family on theContinue reading “Barrier Island Suite”
2015 in review (by WordPress)
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 57,000 times in 2015. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 21 sold-out performances for that manyContinue reading “2015 in review (by WordPress)”
2015 Year in Review
Before WordPress tells me what happened this year, let me do a little review. 2015 will be best remembered as the start of The W’s low-res MFA program in creative writing. As the year began, we had just been approved and were only starting to recruit students. By June, we had 11 students enrolled andContinue reading “2015 Year in Review”
