Education

What I Learned in the Pacific University MFA in Writing Program

I have been asked to give the student speech in the upcoming MFA commencement ceremony. Needless to say, I am honored. I have been meditating on the experience of having completed this remarkable journey, now from a distance of about five months, and looking back over material from my time in the program. One piece …

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The Phoenix Art and Literature Contest Judge

Logo by Alex Phelps, FTHS ’11 Today I had the pleasure of judging finalists in the poetry category of The Phoenix Art and Literature Contest. Sponsored by the Journalism Club at Foothill Technology High School, the contest received 564 entries in five categories–157 entries in poetry alone–from teenagers across Ventura County. I was truly impressed …

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Emulation, Originality, and the Writing Tradition

“A writer is a reader moved to emulation” –Saul Bellow I have been preparing notes for my upcoming talk on “Emulation, Originality, And The Writing Tradition” at the Ojai Center For The Arts. There is no better place than London to have spent time thinking about the English literary tradition. In this talk I intend …

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