[NB: The following note does
not advertise a commercial service].
{For those looking to skip right to the link, you can find the new ALC MFA blog
here}.
Chris Leslie-
Hynan and I have decided to start up a new MFA blog to answer questions for applicants that are
not covered by the for-fee services offered by
Abramson Leslie Consulting. The new
Abramson Leslie blog (
link) is a
free service for MFA applicants, and will be staffed by Chris, myself, and, as time goes on, a good portion of
ALC's talented roster of poetry and fiction
associates.
If you're wondering who Chris and I are, here's
his bio and
mine. I'm hoping that our particular backgrounds--my own, as one of the co-authors of
The Creative Writing MFA Handbook, and author of the comprehensive MFA rankings forthcoming in November from
Poets & Writers; and Chris's, as both a published writer, a recipient of the highest honors offered by the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and someone who actually
read MFA applications for Iowa for two years(!)--will make this new blog one of the best MFA discussion boards around. We'll also feature polls, many spaces for current students to plug/discuss their programs, lists of MFA resources, news stories about MFAs (including insider looks at Iowa and news on Harvard's on-the-horizon MFA program), and of course regular Q&A posts.
Once again,you can find the
Abramson Leslie blog
here. And please vote in our first poll! While, as with every MFA discussion board, we'll be relying on you all to help one another out as well as offering advice and guidance ourselves, we're certain you'll find the answers you're looking for one way or another. And if you like the blog, please do spread the word. We feel it's high time someone created another centralized space for MFA discussions (right now there are still only a handful), and hopefully the
ALC blog will serve that function and complement this blog nicely. Plus, this gives Chris and I a space in which we can continue to offer the sort of free advice we've been offering applicants privately for years.