Exciting time at UNCG!

by Whitney Gray

This semester, by some miracle, UNCG has been given the green light to hire another poet. As a poet myself, I find this extremely exciting to have someone join our team and help enrich my education. Last semester, I worked with only one poet, as our other resident poet was on leave. This semester I'm working with two poets, and I am eager for next fall when I can work with someone new.

Working in the English department has allowed me to learn a bit about the hiring process. Right now, it's too early for me to look ahead and imagine myself applying for (real!) jobs, so I've never really thought about what it would be like to interview for a faculty position. Aside from sending resumes, dossiers and books, I knew there would also be an interview (or a series of them). I had no idea that presentations and/or readings would be required as well. We brought the poet to campus for a series of events this week, which will also include the poet visiting and conducting our workshop. MFA students were required to attend the reading and presentation this week, and it was very insightful. Not only did we get to hear the basic job interview questions (i.e. "What is your pedagogical style?"), but we heard some wonderful poetry and discussion regarding writing. I am really excited about workshop today to see how the candidate handles a classroom of strangers (and their work). Not only will the poet be working with the students in the workshop, they will have to endure a room full of faculty members and second-year poets watching the workshop. (As a side note, I have to admit I find this whole workshop equally terrifying on my end!)

Is there a discussion about job placement after your MFA is complete? What information or advice has been given to you about furthering your education and/or joining the job market? The faculty at UNCG are constantly reminding us that we should keep the post-graduation lectureships in mind because they want us to have a decent job after completing our MFA and they want to help us further our careers as writers and as professors (editors, etc.). It seems that though we aren't getting major career tips (i.e. workshops for resumes, job placement, etc.), we do have a lot of support in the form of networking and letter-writing. Writing should, of course, be a number one priority and outcome of your MFA, but jobs are part of reality. How have you been preparing yourself pedagogically (those of you interested in teaching)? What "next step" are you working toward?

Long overdue!

by Whitney Gray

Whew--finally got around to writing a detailed report of my first semester in the UNCG MFA program. It was a long semester, and yet it flew by. I made it through with all A's (which is not an accomplishment), no drama and no tears.

Semester's coming to an end!

by Whitney Gray

I have 4 weeks left in my semester and I am anxiously awaiting Thanksgiving. What about you? How has your workload been thus far?

How was the economy impacted your program?

by Whitney Gray

It's no secret that the economy has effected colleges and universities. For awhile, I was able to ignore it because it didn't directly effect me. It wasn't until I was accepted to the schools that I realized how serious the financial crisis was. Thankfully, I was able to pick up some federal funding that doesn't have to be paid back (whew!), but I've noticed other things happening with my program.

Our budget for readings has been cut dramatically, and at one point, I was preparing myself for a year without readings. Thanks to some generous donations (mostly provided by staff members!), we have been able to hold several readings, including one by Tracy Kidder. While we haven't been able to have extravagant receptions, we at UNCG have made due with homemade chocolate covered strawberries and the occasional pot-luck supper.

On the business-end of things, UNCG's program has been dealing with the loss of two poets. One moved on, and the other is taking leave for this semester. This has left our only poet to carry the weight of workshop, teaching undergraduate courses and holding tutorials with the second year students. As of now, we are searching for a replacement, which is quite obviously a delight and a relief.

Things seem to be on the upswing. If UNCG can continue to support the MFA program, our budget for recruiting may once again flourish. I'm hoping for the sake of new applicants that the financial troubles schools face don't result in hiking up application fees. (I think I read somewhere that Columbia's fee is $100+?!) I do want to say that I don't feel like I've been missing out on anything so far. I was worried that lack of teachers and lack of money would result in a dull semester, but it has been anything but.

So, what about you? Have your programs been faced with tough decisions or sacrifices because of loss of funding? Are you turning to fund-raising to help support the "extra-curricular" activities of your programs?

It's mid-term at UNCG, can you believe it?

by Whitney Gray

If I were to shoot a TV pilot for the comedy of my life, it would go something like this. "Man!" exclaims the cheerful, female narrator, "grad school sure is easy!" We would see a young, beautiful, impossibly brilliant woman sitting on the couch, flipping through her planner, doodling pictures in all the blank dates. (I believe Rachael McAdams would be a suitable actress to play me.) Then, we would hear a booming voice interrupt her doodling and humming by saying, "Not so fast, missy!" Cue the goofy sitcom music and credits, and then you would have the beginning of "My So-Called Easy Life at Grad School." (Sarcasm, anyone?)

So what would happen in this sitcom? Well, for one, it would be more "sit" than "com" if ya know what I'm sayin'. Head over to my blog to read more!

Published!

by Whitney Gray

Hey everyone--

Hope the semester is going well for you. While I'm wrapping up my sixth week, I am amazed that some of you are starting your first week. Crazy. Well, in the midst of all this homework and reading and y'know, attending class, I had almost forgotten that I am one of the featured poets over at Contemporary American Voices, an online publication.

At the request of my beloved professor and mentor, Judson Mitcham, I submitted three poems, all of which were included in my writing sample. My best friend, Dot, is also featured on the site. We went to the same undergrad, and now she is enjoying her time as a low-res student at Pacific. My heart jumped when I saw she had new poems. (Does anyone else get like this? You see a new poem by someone you love/admire/work with and you get so totally excited?)

So, yes, this is a post to brag, but mostly to gush, and to say I hope you all share your publication news with us. It's a small victory for me, but I'm proud to have it and to share it with you. I've only been published in one other journal, and I'm 99% sure they lost funding and fizzled out after only one issue. (Bummer!) Anyway, you can check out the poems here. Enjoy! I can't wait to read your reactions!

weekend, whew

by Whitney Gray

It's hard to believe next week will begin my 4th week in grad school! I'm feeling the weight of everything now, and I think I'm finally in full-swing. I have plenty of assignments to complete for my classes, and I've been doing quite a bit of work for my Instructional Assistant (IA) position. I'm having a lot of fun, but also doing a lot of work. You can read the entire post here, at my blog.

I hope you all are having a great time so far! I've really enjoyed checking in and reading all these posts. And hey, thanks for answering my questions I posted a few weeks ago!

Questions for contributors!

by Whitney Gray

I thought it might be fun to post a few questions to our contributors.

All of us have very different backgrounds, and yet, we've made it to the same place. It hit me today that it is September, and the end of the year is drawing closer. A year ago, I was beginning my job at a children's shoe store. (I am not even kidding.) The thought of an MFA program never really crossed my mind. I was still recovering from a hectic senior year at my undergrad, and the summer was a good time to relax. I made a few trips, adopted a cat, moved into my new place with a new roommate, and made a point not to work. But, I needed a job, and I ended up working at this store. It was fun (sometimes), and easy money (not commission-based, yay!), and allowed me to do a lot of reading. I sat in on a couple workshops hosted by my favorite professor at my undergrad, and then I began to realize I wanted to be a part of a writing program. I knew I lacked discipline and wanted a rigorous work-load and the opportunity to keep workshopping. So, now I turn to you, my fellow MFA'ers--where were you one year ago? What were you doing? Were you considering grad school at that point?

The programs are a lot of work, yes, but I would be lying if I said the MFA'ers (at least at UNCG) didn't party hard. Has anyone been to a good party (or other social gathering)? The director of UNCG's program, Jim Clark, held a barbecue the night before classes began. Many students live within walking distance to Jim's house, so we congregated in the streets, drinking beer, swapping stories and introductions, and nibbling on Jim's delicious North Carolina-style bbq'ed ribs. I find the unofficial "orientations" to be far more exciting than the official meetings. I've also attended a Mad Men-themed party, which I was more than happy to attend. (I LOVE THAT SHOW!) There is also talk of another themed party (dinosaurs! dinosaurs?), and I'm sure there are many more to come. So how have you been enjoying your time in the program? Have you been to any great parties?

I can't wait to hear your answers!

First workshop completed

by Whitney Gray

This is going to sound overly dramatic, and I'm certainly playing it up a bit, but there's always a hint of truth in comedy.. right?

Well, today we had our first poetry workshop at good ol' UNCG.. and it was.. interesting. I really loved the pacing of the class. In three hours, we covered six poems out of the ten submitted. Each poem received a lot of time for reading and critiquing. At times, I struggled with the format of the workshop, because the poet is given no time to defend or clarify anything within the poem. (One friend pointed out that if you were reading a poem out of the canon, you wouldn't have the luxury of asking the poet. Point taken.) In previous workshops, we would discuss a poem, and then turn to the poet so that he or she could answer any questions, or to ask his or her own. It helped clear up some confusion for both the readers and the writers. We discussed this with our professor, who said we may turn to the poets in later classes, but for now, we will stick to the layout.

Another interesting part of the class was how the poems were ordered. Stuart Dischell implemented the method that however the poems were turned in, no matter the order, was the order that would be used in class. It just so happens this "random order" stacked all of the first year poets back-to-back and at the front of the pile. I didn't have the pleasure of going first, but being a part of the first group wasn't as intimidating as I had expected. I did, however, go last, and with only a few minutes remaining in class. I was worried that people would begin shuffling around, preparing to leave the course, but no one glanced at the clock and hinted that they were ready to leave. I received an equal amount of attention to my poem that the previous poets received. I appreciated the equality, as well as the pacing of the class allowing us to fit my poem into this session, rather than leave it to next week.

I will say, however, that the experience in the workshop was very tough. My classmates are far more trained that classmates I had in my undergrad workshops. People know exactly what they want to say, and how to say it. When they have any confusion or difficulty with a part of a poem, they say it. I'll admit, my poem wasn't the strongest, but I was very surprised to hear the reactions. My poem was read to be quite hilarious, when really, it was intended to have a very sarcastic, but not necessarily humorous tone. The misreading made it difficult for me to focus. Then, I had that moment every warned me of: The Moment of Self Doubt. I began noting on my poem--"is this poem a failure? What have I done wrong? How can I clarify?" Those notes didn't hold the real questions though. "Am I a failure? How did I get in this program? Do I really know how to write? Does everyone think I'm stupid?"

The feelings, thankfully, have passed, but that little bit of self doubt will always be in the back of my mind. I think this doubt will help drive me to write better poems and to focus on the things I value in poetry: precision, and above all else, clarity. I wrote about the importance of clarity in my Statement of Purpose, for Pete's sake! It was a good dose of reality, albeit difficult to swallow, but it can only help me.

1st workshop--coming up!

by Whitney Gray



Last week, I visited all of my classes and got a feel for what I'll be learning. Thursday was the workshop, and we didn't do anything other than introductions and discussing the syllabus and a poem or two. We turned in our poems on Monday and by the afternoon, we had packets prepared and placed in the mailboxes. (I have a mailbox! Exciting!) I picked mine up after a long day of work in the English department, and looked them over as I walked home.

After I made it home, I sat down and re-read the poems, paying closer attention to the writing and styles. As one of my classmates joked, "we all wrote the same poems." It was interesting how many insects (or other creatures like mangy cats) and dead folks popped up in all of our poems. The best surprise of all? All of the writing was good.

I'm sure we've all been in workshops where there were a few folks who meant well but didn't get it. I don't say this to sound superior or snotty, but I do feel like I can point some fingers at my fellow classmates who joined the classes for an "easy" grade. These are the folks who didn't turn in poems, or would turn in 4-lines about the stalker "who watches the woman at her house/he waits for her quietly like a mouse."

Suddenly the caliber of the work has sky-rocketed and there's an obvious sense of commitment. Each poem is thoughtful, well-written, but with plenty of room for improvement and discussion. The styles were varied, as were the lengths of each piece. I'm looking forward to discussing these poems and really digging into them. I can't wait to read a poem and get a response other than, "I liked it." (I had a class of people who would say "I agree with [name here]" but they would never offer their own comments.)

Has anyone else been to workshop yet? Has anyone else had bad experiences with their workshops (or the people involved)? Or was I the only one fortunate enough to read rhyming poetry about sorority rush?