bluecheese

I think it had something to do with missing material (I read that somewhere... I could be wrong though). I suspect the department called because they were missing some aspect of their application... but who knows.

Sorry, I didn't see the last season parenthetical. Yeah, I said it should be fine, either way! Cool that you got in somewhere!

Yeah, that sounds fine. I don't think that will hurt your application whatsoever. I do suspect a lot of this depends on your level of teaching experience... I think I made a similar gesture when I had only tutored as an undergrad. Either way, they're going to base their decisions more on the research goals/writing sample stuff.

There is NOTHING embarrassing about liking Sylvia Plath. She is amazing.

It looks like people have been contacted for interviews at Emory as well:

Congrats again!

Congrats!!!!!!

Yeah, Middlesex. My partner read The Marriage Plot and thought it was like candy. Not good, but candy-like.

I'm both excited and nervous (though I will be too busy to worry about much of this while we're in the middle of it... right now I'm filled with anticipation).

obviously!

You too! I hope we both get into one of the early ones so we can just coast through the rest of it pleasurably.

I applied there when I applied for my MFA and got in (I'm not applying this time around). They gave me tuition remission, but no stipend. The faculty is great! Barrett Watten and Steven Shaviro (also Carla Harryman probably comes to things)! Best of luck, I hope you get in!

I mean, it will make sense when they read it.

Are you teaching it in conjunction with Things Fall Apart and Achebe's essay on racism in the text?

One of the reading groups at my school just put together a Harry Potter panel as a half-joke/celebration-thing for halloween. The papers were actually kind of serious/interesting (I mean, if nothing else Harry Potter is a highly interesting pop cultural phenomenon, and has sparked a complete overhaul of the YA genre). Also, I have a friends who study children's literature. It's sad that it isn't taken more seriously. Anyway, it was a cool pseudo-conference (not that it couldn't have been a real conference). And Harry Potter totally counts (even though I actually don't like them very much... despite the paragraph I just wrote... heh).

Wayne State on the 18th!

I wasn't being that serious. I was just pointing out that there is something about the rhetoric of such discussions that bothers me (it is a kind of shame, but not that serious of one.... but it is ultimately tied to discourse on what is and isn't canonical, etc.).

The MFA is not a good route to a teaching career in the academy (unless you publish a couple of books, and even then it is hard to get a job). It can help to build a resume for lots of other things though, so it isn't just "time to spend working on art" (although it is that also).

There are programs listed in the Nonfiction column here: http://www.pw.org/files/topfifty_secured.pdf I believe Minnesota, WUSTL, Iowa (only partial), and NC Wilmington have some sort of funding (also maybe New Hampshire). They are actually easier to get into than either poetry or fiction (less people know about Nonfiction, and it is a growing discipline .. so the job prospects are better, to a degree... especially if you attend a multi-genre program like Minnesota and branch out into Fiction and Poetry). I think some programs get 60 nonfiction applications, while they get 300 in fiction (or something like that). If you're looking for examples of nonfiction writing, you might want to check out John D'Agata's Next American Essay anthology, Best American Essays, the Philip Lopate anthology, etc. (check out Amazon recommended books and branch out from there).

Proust and Wuthering Heights are currently eating at me as things I need to read. Also, I have never made it past the first 100 pages of War and Peace (I hear it gets good at around page 200... I've tried like 5 times and I just end up stopping). I also really want to read Hopscotch, and while I don't feel guilty for not having read it... people should probably feel guilty for not having read it... myself included. My poetry self also says Dante! & Zukofsky's A. Also, I think the whole rhetoric of these kind of things bothers me... like we're supposed to feel some sort of guilt over canonical materials... I definitely suffer from some of that guilt, but I'm also really skeptical of it. I have massive numbers of things that I want to read (/need to read) and most of them are too marginal to fit into any of the typical structures of guilt/shame.

agree. I still think there are situations in which this might get overlooked (& maybe it will hurt more at top tier schools), also it is probably okay (if not the best) for most MA programs.

"VAS: an Opera in Flatland" looks amazing. I just ordered a copy. sebastiansteddy: you might want to check out "A Whaler's Dictionary" by DBQ, it is an amazing reflection on Moby Dick.

I would love to get an acceptance at the end of January. That would eliminate a lot of stress.

The classes I've taught are on my C.V., and a desire to obtain a TT position is implicit. So is a love of literature. That said, the only thing among these that I can see being a negative is the "love of literature" angle... since I've seen it mentioned as a negative in some interviews about the application process as being a negative (I suspect they get a lot of applications that start off with that, so it gets old quickly)--that said, I don't think it is going to get you automatically rejected. I wouldn't worry too much about any singular statement/angle on anything (especially at this point in the application season). If they want to work with you based on your research interests, and they like your writing sample... you'll be okay. Edit: also, I think the negativity towards the "love of literature" angle may not apply to all instances--It could work if it were tied into something like teaching poetry to students in inner city schools, etc. I don't think any blanket statements are true. I suspect the only reason the "love of literature" thing is mentioned as a negative is because it tends to be generic.