MFA Writers

In a small program with a cohort of just three students, who you’re around makes a world of difference. On this episode, Edwards Daschle talks about finding a writing community, a welcoming environment to write both …

Most MFA programs last 2-3 years, so what’s it like to earn this degree in just 1-1.5 years? Mary Kate McGrath describes the pros and cons of Boston University’s accelerated program. Plus, she and Jared discuss …

Raise your hand if you’ve ever felt writing imposter syndrome! We all have our hands up. On this episode, De’Andre S. Holmes of Columbia College …

The podcast team is on winter break. Thanks for listening, friends. We wish you all a great end of the year. We'll be back with a new episode in two weeks. 

Chibuihe Obi Achimba sits down with Jared to talk about the …

On this episode, Kaitlyn Airy talks about how her experience as an adoptee shapes the themes of her work on abandonment, identity, and history. Plus, she and Jared discuss the benefits they have both reaped after taking …

Jonathan Escoffery, author of the highly acclaimed debut collection If I Survive You, sits down with Jared to discuss how this book grew out of his …

On this episode, Nikki Lyssy tells Jared about how, as a blind writer, she uses research to access the sighted world and fill her fiction with vivid imagery, while in her nonfiction, she explores her own experience with …

It’s the third annual MFA application episode! This time, Jared is joined by Lindsay Bernal, poet and Academic Coordinator for the MFA program at the University of Maryland. She answers listener questions (starting at …

Happy MFA application season to all who observe! As you craft and revise your applications, here's last year's annual MFA application episode from a …

It’s increasingly common for writers to get accepted in their second (or third) attempts at MFA applications. In this episode, Sean Dolan shares what …

Can you find a close community in a low-res program? Emily St. Martin, having met her best friends in her MFA, says absolutely yes. She joins Jared …

As the editor-in-chief of Peach Mag, Rachelle Toarmino is consistently focused on the work of others. She chats with Jared about her own writing …

Welcome to Season 3! It’s finally time to tackle the oldest and most famous MFA of them all: the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. On this episode, Steven …

This week, as the pod team enjoys the last of our vacation, we’ve got a rerelease of a special episode from Season 2 of the podcast: Jared's …

Pod's out for summer! We wrapped up Season 2 on our last episode and are busy planning Season 3. In the meantime, enjoy one of our favorite episodes from this past season. We’ll be back in August with brand new …

On the season 2 finale, Taylor Byas talks to Jared about how her fiction background helps her develop sharp images and accessible lines in her poetry while her poetic knowledge taught her to take more risks in her …

Luna Adler talks to Jared about moving between fiction and non-fiction, Brooklyn College’s unique novel-writing workshop aimed at accommodating the …

Taylor Sklenar of Iowa State University’s MFA in Creative Writing and the Environment talks with Jared about how growing up in a small town influenced his interests in chemistry and theatre, combining those interests in …

On this episode, James Craig Hartz Jr., a Combat Medic turned MFA graduate, tells Jared about flipping the traditional military homecoming story into one filled with resilience, hope, and hard-won healing. He also …

Siloh Radovsky sits down with Jared to talk about her path from anarchistic activism to experimental writing, the blurry line between fiction and nonfiction, and the joys and pains of teaching in an R1 institution.

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Gauri Awasthi talks to Jared about how McNeese allowed her to earn an MA and MFA in three years, decolonizing the poetry cannon, and how she first …

Jared's taking this week off to focus on finishing his thesis, so enjoy this rerelease with Vanessa Chan who recently signed a fabulous deal for two …

How does a creative writing PhD compare to an MFA? Erin Slaughter talks to Jared about the focus on professionalization in her doctoral program at Florida State University compared to the exploration and experimentation …

Chibuihe Obi Achimba sits down with Jared to talk about the anguish and extreme joy of transferring a poem from imagination to language, using writing to explore the impacts and losses of modernization and civil war in …

Over the last ten years, Katie M. Zeigler filled out an MFA application six times and never submitted. Now in her second year at St. Mary’s College …

Poet Gabrielle Grace Hogan of the New Writers Project at the University of Texas at Austin talks with Jared about using images to find theme in poetry, giving ourselves permission to write about happiness, and improving …

Jared sits down with author and Syracuse Professor George Saunders to discuss his advice for new and prospective MFA students, the value of trusting your writing intuition, the best (and worst) kind of workshop …

With a background in cinema, Jason Rodriguez of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago sits down with Jared to talk about how film influences his …

The podcast team is on vacation (re: staycation)! Enjoy one of our favorite episodes from the earliest days of the show. Regular programming will …

Both stage acting and fiction writing are practices in understanding and embodying characters. Cordis Paldano of Minnesota State University, Mankato joins Jared to discuss the ways his acting career informs his writing, …

Literary fiction on Monday, pulp on Tuesday, YA on Wednesday, poetry on Thursday. Luke Larkin of the University of Montana tells Jared about crossing …

Skiing to campus and living without running water may not be typical aspects of the MFA experience, but they are common at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. On this episode, Keely O’Connell tells Jared about her …

As we approach the first application deadlines of this MFA cycle, enjoy this rerelease to help you tackle questions such as: Should I get an MFA? …

The annual MFA application episode is back! This year, Jared is joined by Gregory Spatz, Professor and Program Director of the MFA program at Eastern Washington University, who explains what the application process …

Jared talks to O. Henry Prize winner Adachioma Ezeano of the University of Kentucky about finding her love of literature through Nigerian novels and …

Natalie Warther of Bennington College talks to Jared about the potential of flash fiction to introduce literature to nonreaders, making the writer’s …

Jared and Ashley Sojin Kim of the University of Florida discuss learning about suppressed historic events through poetry, adding form restrictions to enhance the creative process, and networking with publishers at UF’s …

In this episode, Jared talks with Katie Schorr of Hunter College about overcoming rejection and the failure to sell her first novel, finding her …

Welcome to Season 2! Jared is joined by Shreya Fadia of Indiana University Bloomington to discuss incorporating genre elements in literary work, making a career change from law to writing, and how editing Indiana Review …

With deep gratitude, we have reached the end of Season 1. The pod team is taking a little vacation and launching Season 2 in two weeks. In the meantime, enjoy this rebroadcast of Music at Midnight, a podcast published …

Drawing attention to American and Israeli occupation in the Middle East, Tarik Dobbs of the University of Minnesota crafts experimental poetry based on extensive research and personal experience. Tarik joins Jared to …

How do emotional pacing and narrative structure influence one another in a story? Jared talks to Aggie Stewart of the Newport MFA at Salve Regina University about her memoir, a braided narrative examining family trauma. …

Fantasy. Sci fi. Literary absurdist fiction. Keith Enterante of San Diego State University’s novel excerpt has it all. He joins Jared to talk about the support and warmth of his program, the importance of starting and …

Pursuing an MFA is not only about improving your own writing, but also that of your peers. Evan Fleischer of Emerson College talks to Jared about how …

Humor. Experimentation. Sound play. Ellie Black of the University of Mississippi talks to Jared about how her poetry has gotten increasingly weird, the influence of the Gurlesque movement, and the benefits of a high …

What does a bilingual MFA program look like in practice? Antonio Villaseñor-Baca of the University of Texas El Paso joins Jared to talk about studying cross-genre work in English and Spanish, launching a music magazine …

Creative writing workshops have remained largely unchanged since their creation in 1936. But what if there’s a better, more empowering, more inclusive way? Jared talks to Felicia Rose Chavez about her new book, The …

With political and social unrest rocking his home country of Venezuela, Alejandro Puyana turned to writing as a way to process. He applied to MFA …

In Singapore, a young nation focused on economic prosperity, the path to the writer’s life can seem uncertain. Against this backdrop, Jemimah Wei of …

A joint MA+MFA program allows students to deepen their understanding of literary criticism and theory while crafting creative works. Jeremiah Barker of Northwestern University tells Jared how they balance the workload, …

A low-residency MFA program helped Koyé Oyedeji of Warren Wilson College develop the discipline to work full-time while writing his composite novel. …

An MFA-sponsored trip to the Mariana Islands allowed Danielle P. Williams of George Mason University to reconnect with her ancestral culture. She …

What’s it like to work on a research-driven nonfiction book in an MFA while freelancing on the side? Sarah Ruth Bates of the University of Arizona joins Jared to talk about how the nonfiction genre is more than memoir, …

How is the zombie of Haitian folklore a poetic metaphor for how society treats Blackness? Bryan Byrdlong of the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Clancy Tripp of Ohio State University talks to Jared McCormack about what happens when people believe your satire, how OSU encouraged her to …

Jared McCormack talks with Ali Geren of the University of Arkansas about writing accessible poetry, growing up in small-town America, coming out in a poem, working a second job during the MFA, and drawing inspiration …

On this episode, Jared sits down with Preety Sidhu of Louisiana State University to discuss how to finance an MFA (Hidden fees? Healthcare? Cost of living?), how to outline a novel, and how to write stories that …

Sasha Debevec-McKenney of New York University joins us to talk about completing her thesis during a pandemic, diversity in MFA programs, networking …

Mary Henn of the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Missouri State University joins us to talk about gender, trauma, writing as healing, and …

Host Jared McCormack describes the upcoming MFA Writers podcast launching in June 2020.