Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Allison Leigh Peters Joins the MFA Blog

Thanks to Tom for allowing me to be part of this blog and its intelligent conversations. I look forward to posting, reading everyone's posts and tuning in to your comments as we take on the creative world.

This April I'll be finishing my BA in English Language & Literature and Honors Creative Writing at the University of Michigan. As a 21-year-old, I'm currently applying to a number of MFA programs, including the University of Michigan's highly-acclaimed program, as well as Brown's, and the generously-funded Wallace Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University (which, incidentally, does not actually offer an MFA, although it is a fully-paid with stipend two-year writing residency).

I'm all for the idea that you shouldn't have to pay to perfect your art. So with my blog posts I'd like to concentrate on information and tips for applying to schools that offer exceptional financing, whether it be in terms of fellowships, grants, paid teaching assistantships, scholarships, publishing gigs, or whatever else may come up. As someone who is not yet admitted to an MFA program, I'm also interested in creative alternatives—including various national and international writing fellowships and residencies, as well as publishing opportunities and creative writing contests—which I hope to discuss as options to either precede the MFA to better prepare a student for intense creative study or to supplement the MFA.

I look forward to sharing and exchanging knowledge and information with you. Here's to it!

Allison Leigh Peters won an Academy of American Poets Prize in 2010. Her most recent work has been published in The Michigan Quarterly Review, Connotation Press, Oberon Poetry Magazine, Fortnight Literary Press and Third Wednesday, among others. She studies English Language & Literature, Creative Writing and Global Media Studies at the University of Michigan, where she works as a Digital Publishing Assistant for MPublishing and as an Editorial Assistant for UM's Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning. She is a contributing writer and editor for Portico, Associate Editor for the UM Undergraduate Research Journal and the Co-Editor-in-Chief for Xylem Literary Magazine. She volunteers at 826Michigan and lives in Ann Arbor.

Check out Allison's own poetry blog, Knuckle Twenty-Nine.

11 comments:

AbqPoet said...

Allison, welcome!

-Adam N.

Allison Leigh said...

Thanks so much! I'm glad to be here!

WanderingTree (Sequoia N.) said...

Welcome aboard, Allison!

Open Spaces said...

Welcome.

I'm all for the idea that you shouldn't have to pay to perfect your art as well. Unfortunately, I grew up and would like to remain in the northeast. It seems like there is a lack of full funding out this way. There is Syracuse, Cornell, and Brown, but not much after that. It's too bad that states like Vermont and Maine don't have fully funded programs. These seem like the perfect states to spend two-years writing.

Claire Dawn said...

All in favour of not spending your own money say AYE! Welcome aboard.

Adam Atkinson said...

Excited to be blogging with you--I'm pulling for you this app season!

Allison Leigh said...

Thanks so much, guys!

And, Open Spaces . . . That's definitely true. In fact, I feel like that's true for most places around the U.S., not just in the northeast. I'll be doing some research to try to find well-funded programs out there, and I'll also be looking at some great alternatives, too. I was surprised to find that even low-residency programs (especially ones out east) were incredibly expensive, given most are just 10-day-long workshops twice a year. We'll keep looking together . . . I'll keep a special eye on this.

Karen Martin said...

I am keen to apply to UC San Diego. It came to my attention as one of Seth Abramson's 25 underrated. He says it has full funding, but the website doesn't seem to support this. Perhaps I'm not interpreting it properly. I'm South African, and the systems are unfamiliar to me. Any insights?

Palomino said...

"I'm all for the idea that you shouldn't have to pay to perfect your art."

OK.

So who should pay for you to perfect your art, and why?

college consulting said...

I Like the post . Please visit our website for Freshman and Transfer College Admissions Consulting | San Francisco Bay Area college consulting

myessaypro1 said...

Wishing you the finest
of luck for your entire blogging efforts......
Nice Post. Please visit our website for essay editing