An Excerpt from the Introduction
“Introduction: On Choosing the Writing Program Best for You” by D.W. Fenza, Executive Director of AWP: “…. Here at the offices of AWP, we often receive letters and phone calls from aspiring writers of all ages. “Which are the very best programs? How would you rank such-and-such?” they ask. Since these are questions they should answer for themselves, we can only refer them to this guide and reply with other questions: Which authors do you love to read? With which contemporary authors would you like to study? Do you need to improve your knowledge of literature’s long history? Some callers become annoyed with us. Hearing questions in response to their own questions, they feel we are being evasive, cowardly, too diplomatic. But really, we have their best interests in mind. After all, no brand-name degree nor any amount of schmoozing with literary movers and shakers will necessarily make someone a better writer. Ultimately, a writer’s career is forged in solitude, individual choice by individual choice, word by word, line by line, sentence by sentence. If you succeed as a writer, you will make billions of such choices; you can’t let others make your artistic choices for you. The same is true for choosing a writing program. Rather than rely on any top-ten list made by others, you should rank these programs yourself. Just as a good writing teacher will help you see how many options you have in telling a story or shaping a poem, this guide will help you realize how many choices you have; but in the end, you must decide what’s best for you and your work. “No artist wants to work without a full palette, but there are countless ways of filling and mixing the colors on that palette. Some writers need to study 16 th-century literature to learn how to make their rhetoric stretch with pleasure—to impart allusive music, grace, and a greater elasticity to their sentences. Other writers may find such study silly or oppressive—an antique corset stuffed with stays of whale bone—and prefer to keep only the company of moderns and fellow contemporaries. Others may wish to reclaim a heritage not represented in the literature of English-speaking countries. Some writers will find teaching assistantships necessary or inspiring; others will not. Some writers will thrive in the ruckus and hustle of a large urban university, while others would only be intimidated there. This guide will help you clarify your own preferences. The hallmarks of successful writing programs, which are enumerated in the appendix of this guide, will also help you list the features you may seek in a writing program. “So who are the contemporary writers you most admire? With whom would you like to study? In what genre do you plan to specialize, or do you plan to work in more than one genre? From which authors would you learn the most for the particular style of writing you hope to perfect? Which teachers write about the subject matter that inspires you most? Or do you need to find the time and financial support to write apart from the nine-to-five, work-a-day world? Would you benefit most from working on your own writing or from studying the work of other writers? Or both? Would you like, in addition to practicing the art of writing, to complete some scholarly research as well? Are you looking for teaching experience? Editorial experience? Can you spend a year, two years, or three or more years to educate yourself in your craft? Would your writing benefit from your living in a city? Beside an ocean? Close to mountains? Or a desert? A small town? Would you prefer a big program or a small program—having a dozen classmates or a hundred? Happily, the programs listed here are as various as the answers to these questions. “You should keep in mind that one writing program may differ greatly from the next, even if both programs offer the same degree. The basic requirements are listed in this guide so you may decide which curriculum is best for you. In some programs, students must satisfy many traditional requirements for literary scholarship: proficiency in one or more foreign languages; distribution requirements in the arts, sciences, and humanities; an overview of literature from three or more centuries; and a command of scholarly research and documentation skills. Other programs have few of these requirements, if any, as the emphasis is mainly on the progress of the student’s writing. Most programs offer writing workshops in two genres only: poetry and fiction. A few programs offer workshops in only one genre, and an increasing number of programs offer workshops in a multitude of genres: creative nonfiction, playwriting, screenwriting, technical writing, translation, and writing for children. For admission, some programs require previous study in literature, a high grade-point average, and good scores on aptitude tests or graduate examinations; other programs will require only an original writing sample that demonstrates talent and promise….” |
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Members of AWP are invited to read the Association of Writers & Writing Programs Strategic Plan 2000 - 2010. This document details the goals, objectives, and strategies that the association will pursue throughout this decade. The complete Strategic Plan is available as a downloadable file in Portable Document Format (PDF). If you are a member of AWP, the AWP Board of Directors encourages you to send your comments on the Strategic Plan. Write to services@awpwriter.org or to any board or staff member of AWP. |
