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mrshakeysingstheblues

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  1.    autumn wind reacted to a post in a topic: 2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum
  2.    autumn wind reacted to a post in a topic: 2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum
  3. mrshakeysingstheblues
    Right. I mean, if I write about a character who has Parkinson’s Disease and is very young (in other words, myself), am I a “dirty realist” because I portray the world as it is for someone young with a disability, or in order to satisfy their need for something experimental, I write about a world that rolls out the red carpet for you with fanfare simply because you are disabled? Hell, why not make him a unicorn that farts Sour Skittles and has a speaker in his horn that plays Cat Stevens records all day? As long as it isn’t realistic.
  4.    mrshakeysingstheblues reacted to a post in a topic: 2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum
  5.    Nicolas M. reacted to a post in a topic: 2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum
  6. mrshakeysingstheblues
    What in the hell do they mean by “dirty realist” anyway? By that metric, Faulkner and Hemingway would be told to hit the bricks. What’s more troubling to me is the idea that people go through admissions LOOKING for diversity rather than the best writers period. I’m all for it if the best writer checks a diversity box, but it’s red tape nonsense otherwise. But thus is the nature of admissions in college I figure.
  7. mrshakeysingstheblues
    Go on, George! Tell about what we're gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it. Tell about that, George.
  8.    koechophe reacted to a post in a topic: 2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum
  9. mrshakeysingstheblues
    Sadly no—my wife is a teacher and just signed a contract with a rural school near Iowa City, so we’re there for at least a year. I’m still looking forward to it, and with all the resources there for writers, it’s almost like being in a writing program of sorts. Being from Mississippi the Ole Miss acceptance did tug at my heartstrings a bit, I gotta admit.
  10. mrshakeysingstheblues
    Welp, that’s a wrap for me this year. Got the rejection letter from Iowa in the mail today. That makes two acceptances: Ole Miss Journalism and Minnesota State Mankato MFA, and two denials: Ole Miss MFA and Iowa MFA. I’m happy with my results and I’m officially retiring from the Grad School searches….getting closer and closer to 40 + having a neurodegenerative little friend inside my body = I’m pretty done. Ironically, I’ll be living literally 7 miles from the Iowa campus starting in June. If you’re in a nearby coffee house or library and see a guy typing on his iPad and furiously hitting the backspace button that looks like the love child of Colin Farrell and Shia LeBeouf, that’s me. Best wishes to all of you who got into programs and those of us who didn’t. Keep going and keep writing!
  11.    MDP reacted to a post in a topic: 2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum
  12.    mrshakeysingstheblues reacted to a post in a topic: 2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum
  13.    mrshakeysingstheblues reacted to a post in a topic: 2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum
  14. mrshakeysingstheblues
    I will honestly admit that I applied to MFA programs this go-round because I need money. I haven’t been able to work for more than a year and I’m losing time in terms of being able to work at all due to a disability. Writing and teaching were my previous career paths, so it lines up. I really don’t see them as an end all-be all of talent or success in writing. I think they are useful in terms of working with peers via workshop, but more catered to a post graduation life of academia than giving a person a ton of writing time. They definitely have a ton of merit, but your local bookstore and library are both filled with non-MFA writers. I feel somewhat like a fraud when I see the people on this forum that have worked so hard and want MFA admission so badly, when I have kinda half-assed it and only applied to Iowa because my wife found a teaching job nearby. I got into a good school with funding this round (Minnesota State) and I’m 37, so all hope is not lost for those of us pushing 40 or 40 and above.
  15.    mrshakeysingstheblues reacted to a post in a topic: 2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum
  16. mrshakeysingstheblues
    Mine still says “In Progress”.
  17. mrshakeysingstheblues
    You keep using the word “illiterate.” I do not think it means what you think it means. If readers were illiterate, they would be unable to read. Most of us may not be able to pass “The New Yorker Test”, but your posts and multiple accounts help you pass the “Living In My Parents’ Basement Test” with flying colors. I have no doubts that writing is no work for you, as evidenced by how prolific of a poster you are. But, tell me, how much work is it for you to make the trek up those winding basement stairs for another Mountain Dew Zero and bag of Cheetos? Is it taxing? Or should we stand idly by while you dig out your “Word-of-the-Day” calendar to impress us all? We, the illiterate masses, await your word! Guide us!
  18.    mrshakeysingstheblues reacted to a post in a topic: 2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum
  19.    Nightwitch reacted to a post in a topic: 2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum
  20.    RosA-R reacted to a post in a topic: 2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum
  21.    sb2798 reacted to a post in a topic: 2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum
  22. mrshakeysingstheblues
    Tee hee hee.
  23.    mrshakeysingstheblues reacted to a post in a topic: 2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum
  24. mrshakeysingstheblues
    Not to butt in, but I gotta tell ya, you may be jumping from dumpster fire to dumpster fire. I’ve worked in Higher Ed Administration (was a middle school teacher before) and it’s not that much better. Although with the whole current political climate and people going nuts about CRT and masks, I guess it could be worth it.
  25.    mrshakeysingstheblues reacted to a post in a topic: 2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum
  26.    mrshakeysingstheblues reacted to a post in a topic: 2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum
  27.    mrshakeysingstheblues reacted to a post in a topic: 2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum
  28.    mrshakeysingstheblues reacted to a post in a topic: 2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum
  29.    eternalwhitenights reacted to a post in a topic: 2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum
  30.    CHRISTOPHER QUANG BUI reacted to a post in a topic: 2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum
  31. mrshakeysingstheblues
    I echo everyone else’s feelings here. This wait is glacier slow. I really don’t have anything to lose, but it doesn’t make it less irritating. I could at least stop refreshing my email and staring at my phone.
  32. mrshakeysingstheblues
    Long time lurker, decided to come out of the shadows. Has anyone had any further word from Iowa? My wife and I will be living in Iowa City starting in June because she was lucky enough to find a teaching job near there. I’ve seen some postings but they seem suspect. I directly contacted Deb West at IWW and she stated she hadn’t heard anything from the committees as of last Thursday. I also applied to Ole Miss and Minnesota State’s MFA program, and was accepted to MSUM. I had to decline because of moving to IA, so if anyone was on the waitlist there for poetry, there’s a spot open! I’m 37 and have a disability (early onset Parkinson’s) so my pick of schools is down to proximity rather than choice. I’m unable to work full time anymore, but I figured, hey, if all I do is sit around and write anyway, why not give it a shot? Especially if I’m 7 miles from Dey House, worth a shot. If not I can still hang out at Prairie Lights and write poetry with a cup of coffee. Oh, and over time I’ve had a chance to observe the person with multiple personalities and accounts. It takes a lot of effort to be that crazy.
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