MASTER OF FINE ARTS
[HISTORY]
It takes a great deal of history,” wrote Henry James, “to produce a little literature.” From Anne Bradstreet to Phillis Wheatley to Poe to Longfellow—and through James himself to Lowell and Bishop—Boston has been either a starting point or a residence for writers whose work makes up the heart of American literature. Today, Robert Pinsky, Derek Walcott, Seamus Heaney, Sue Miller, Ha Jin, Susannah Kaysen, Gish Jen, James Carroll, Dennis Lehane, and many other visitors and residents share in creating a vibrant literary community in and around the city. Small presses, magazines, myriad bookstores, readings, and other literary events thrive here, as do students in one of the largest academic communities in the country.
The UMass Boston Creative Writing MFA Program began in Fall 2007 with 6 fiction writers and 5 poets. Today the program has grown to include more than 30 students from locations all across the globe! Fall 2009 begins our third year and already the Creative Writing MFA Program has established itself as part of Boston's ongoing literary history.
MFA students enjoying the Fall 2009 Boston Harbor Sunset Cruise and Student Orientation
Our MFA students are very active in the literary community in and around Boston. Current and past projects include:
- organizing a monthly reading series at a local bookstore
- teaching creative writing to public school students at Boston Public Library branches in Allston and Roxbury
- managing the Breakwater Review, an online literary journal
- organizing and managing the Annual Grace Paley Memorial Prize reading
- attending the annual AWP (Association of Writers &Writing Programs) Conference, most recently in NYC and Chicago
2009 AWP Conference: Teaching Our Students to Teach Creative Writing Panel (l. to r. : Stephanie Vanderslice; UMB MFA student Jeremy Lakasczyck; Brian Bouldrey; UMB MFA Director Joyce Peseroff)
2009 AWP Conference Dinner (l. to r. : UMB MFA students Jeremy Lakasczyck and Angela Voras-Hills, UMB MFA Director Joyce Peseroff, UMB MFA students Jenn DeLeon and Kris Evans)
Creative Writing MFA students at UMass Boston have multiple achievements to celebrate. Most recently:
- Fiction student Kris Evans participated in the Bread Loaf Slice Conference in Nairobi. Kris is also an Astrea Lesbian Writers Fund Finalist, Fiction (2008/2009)
- Jeremy Lakaszcyck placed third in the Playboy College Fiction contest for his story, "Casual Encounters". Jeremy also participated in a panel on teaching creative writing at this year's AWP Conference
- Gregory Stenta published his poem "A Dialogue on Egon Schiele's Painting, Embrace (Lovers II)" in the inaugural issue of the online journal The Ledger Line
- Two poems by MFA poetry student Shea Mullaney, "Pendulum" and "Drink Me Black", were published in the online political journal www.pemmicanpress.com
- Angela Voras-Hills was the recipient of this year's Martha Collins Prize for her poem "Condemned"
- Fiction student Jenn DeLeon attended the Voices of Summer Workshop in San Francisco and recently interviewed Rob Arnold on The Review Review. In addition, Jenn was among eight emerging Latino/American writers this year to be accepted into the Macondo Writing Workshop
- Poet Barbara Perez won a full scholarship to attend the 2009 NY Summer Writer's Institute. Barbara also won the Academy of American Poets Prize for the second year in a row! This year's prize was awarded by Frank Bidart, Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.
- Alex Gang, Jon Papas, and Jeffrey Taylor were each Honorable Mentions for the Academy of American Poets Prize.
- Poetry student George Kovach launched Consequence, a literary magazine "focusing on the culture of war in the 21st century".
- Poetry students Jeffrey Taylor and Alex Gang founded Temporary Press and published Another Book.
- Poetry student Jeffrey Taylor published a chapbook entitled don’t put it in your mouth
- Poetry student Jeffrey Taylor and fiction student Gene Kwak collaborated on the book a small, good thing.
- Poetry student Crystal Koe was invited to be on a panel at the 2009 Writing By Degrees Conference