When we designed Alma College’s low-residency MFA in creative writing, we knew we wanted an emphasis on “place,” and for our students to understand that writing from place goes beyond changing locations and being inspired by new and pretty views. It’s about understanding the dirt beneath our feet in Michigan, the old-growth pine that grows from it in the north, and the industry in the south that often supports such beauty. It’s about learning what it means to live and work in a space, and what aspects of the place can seep into their being so that it rises from them when they are writing. “It’s about beautiful spaces, and how we care for them,” said faculty member Robert Vivian, who, during summer residencies, takes our students fly-fishing on Michigan’s revered Au Sable River.

With such thoughts in mind, we knew it was only a matter of time before our residencies reached beyond our state’s borders. Venice, Italy called, and we answered. But one question, among many, was, How would our students respond? As the program director, all I can do is plan the logistics. For the rest I can only dream and hope.

We set it up and I wondered, Will the students be attracted or distracted by the travel? Can the magic of residency still happen? The answers: Attraction with a capital A, and yes—a major yes.
 

We began with a lecture by poet and faculty member Benjamin Garcia, a National Endowment for the Arts fellow, entitled “The Poetic i(Phone): Creative Video Poems, Essays, and Narratives.” Professor Garcia encouraged the students to, in the days to come, go beyond taking the usual sightseeing photos. He spoke of developing an artistic, poetic eye from which to see and capture during the trip videos that could be companions to their writing.

From there we launched into adventure, touring the Grand Canal in our own private water taxis and exploring Piazza San Marco, as well as a small printshop and other tiny treasures. I could already see a deeper kind of inspiration at work. One student noted, “Venice should only exist within a fantasy book . . . but it’s real!” His thoughts on world-building had shifted, helping him see that he didn’t necessarily have to create a fantastic location from scratch—the foundation of wonder already exists in places like Venice.
 

Throughout our residency in the region, we spent time in lectures and workshops, but we also toured several Venetian islands: Torcello, Burano, Murano. And we walked the grounds of the immense Villa Pisani and traveled to Padova to view Giotto’s frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel depicting the life of Christ, and to discuss Giotto’s storytelling choices. We heard from authors such as Tobias Jones and Philip Gwynne Jones (not related), both British writers who moved to Italy, on what it means to make the bold decision to pursue a writing career in a country other than one’s own.
 

I especially appreciated how the students allowed the culture and beauty of Italy to shape them. Our tour leader, Janet Simmonds of Grand Tourist UK, would give brief talks and share maps with the students so they would know what to expect of both the landscape and day-to-day life in Italy. For example, the lunches and dinners were often multicourse affairs offered by the family proprietors of the Hotel Villa Franceschi, who took prodigiously good care of us. The students realized this increased the amount of carefree timelessness we could spend with each other. Third-term student Lynda Blevins loved the long gatherings. “No one could grab food and go back to their room,” she said, adding that the dining “increased the bonding and camaraderie of our group. It was important because the more comfortable you feel with the people who provide critique of your work, the more you trust what they have to say about [it].”
 

To top it all off, we graduated another group of MFA students, the second for our three-year-old program. They chose to wear laurel wreaths in honor of the tradition of Italian academics.
 

For our students who didn’t go to Venice, we held a smaller residency in Detroit, Michigan with faculty member Jim Daniels running a multigenre workshop. We dovetailed the schedule so that the students in Detroit could Zoom in on our Venice lectures and have their own excursions on the days we were out and about on tour. They visited the Ford Motor Company factory and the Detroit Institute of Arts. I imagine we will continue to offer such an option when our residencies are overseas, because though it would have been easier for the two residencies to have a separate curriculum, the students valued the opportunity to still be together, even across time zones. In fact, we Zoomed one of the graduating students into the degree ceremony from Detroit.

This summer we will be together again for residency on our beloved Alma College campus. But students are already looking forward to hitting the road again when we head to Lake Junaluska, North Carolina next winter and then to Oxford, England in August 2025. The sense of place in our program has now blossomed, and we’re excited to see how our students’ writing will grow from that sense.

Sophfronia Scott is the founding director of the Alma College MFA in creative writing, the only low-residency program located in Michigan.